on the noon LAN flight from Lima. I have read somewhere that flights later in the day are often delayed or even canceled, but today the opposite is the case. When we arrive to the Lima airport around 10 am, it seems that none of the previous Cusco flights have taken off yet. That is not a good sign. But we take off on time, and even arrive to Cusco 10 minutes ahead of schedule. (Later, on the train to Machu Picchu, a Brazilian family will recount to us how they were on the 6 am flight, but were turned back from Cusco due to bad weather. They finally got to Cusco only about an hour before we did).
Well, not sure what the weather was before, but during our flight it's beautiful (only a little bumpy), so we get a lovely view of the mountains spread out under us. And I discover my new favorite airplane snack on this flight:
While I am very excited about this trip, part of me is not looking forward to it at all. I am talking about the
of course. Both my husband and I have had bad experiences with high altitudes, and are really worried that it will happen again. In fact we have been postponing this trip for years, but now we finally decided that it was time. As the trip approaches I get less and less sure that it is a good idea, and I get mild altitude sickness symptoms just by reading about it (silly, I know).
But here we are, and, to increase our chances of actually enjoying this trip, yesterday my husband and I started to take
, a medication which should help prevent altitude sickness. It works by making the blood more acidic, which somehow increases the amount of oxygen carried in the blood. If I can believe the internet, then in many countries it is prescription-only, but in France I got it over the counter. Still, it's strong enough (with a long list of possible side effects) that we decide not to give it to our 10 year old daughter. She will be the only one in the family having to deal with the altitude without any chemical help.
One of the possible side effects of Diamox is tingling in the hands or feet. In my husband's case it's his fingers which tingle, for me it's the toes. And during the last 10 minutes of the flight my heels too, which is very unpleasant, almost painful.
We land, and as soon as the plane door opens my daughter gets a nose-bleed, but otherwise we are symptom free.
is small, smaller than I expected with so many tourists arriving regularly. It looks like it rained quite a lot - must be the reason why the morning flights were delayed.
Because Cusco is at a quite high elevation (3,400 meters, 11, 200 feet) we opted not to stay here, but rather in the town of Urubamba in the Sacred Valley. So we only drive through the outskirts of Cusco, and it is a much larger city than I expected, more spread out. I heard that the historic center is pretty, but the areas we pass through are not exactly appealing.
As we drive out of the city, we get a lovely view of it from one of the hills. We can clearly make out
is quite enjoyable. The scenery is lovely, and so far we are symptom free. We see lots (lots!) of dogs, some donkeys, sheep, cows and pigs. But no llamas yet.
In a lot of ways the place is different than I thought, in some aspects more- and in some aspects less- modern. On one hand there are many traditionally dressed women carrying loads (including their children) on their backs, and the majority of houses seem to be built from locally made mud bricks (we can see them drying in the sun in the outskirts of Urubamba). At the same time the area is more densely populated than I thought, and the road we are travelling on is modern and in excellent shape.
and the driver points out our hotel. The town is not exactly a tourist gem, in fact Lonely Planet calls it "unappealing", so we will probably not make much of an effort (if any) to explore it. The nicest feature so far seems to be the large number of colorful
, but I will just abbreviate it to Tambo del Inka in this post. It's a lovely hotel, but when we check in it seems quite empty. One of the waiters tells us that they are currently only 40% occupied, and it seems even emptier than that. Perhaps everyone is out sightseeing?
. At first it's about as enjoyable as let's say spinach tea would be, but after a couple of sips I get used to the taste. It's not bad at all, and after mixing in some sugar even our 10-year old drinks it.
Speaking to locals one could get the impression that coca leaves have miraculous powers, treating every ailment possible. We are drinking it for one reason only: to prevent altitude sickness. Apparently even in this form the leaves contain enough traces of coca alkaloids to cause positive results on cocaine drug tests, but the locals reassure us that it is safe for children. And let's face it, all tourists visiting this region drink it, and swear that it helps with the altitude. The only warning we get is to not drink it late in the afternoon, because we might have trouble sleeping.
We didn't really have lunch today, so at 5 pm we head to the hotel bar for a meal. While we wait for our food, we are watching a fashion photo-shoot in the garden, and munching on a bowl of roasted corn. This little bowl contains more varieties of corn than I have seen in my entire life. Fifty-five varieties of
are grown in Peru, more than anywhere else on the planet. Of course that is nothing compared to the roughly 4,000 (yes, 4,000!) varieties of
, the popular Peruvian soft drink she first tasted in Lima. Like all children, she loves it. Based on it's smell, I find it way too sweet, a bit like bubble gum. Based on the actual taste? I can't really tell you. Yet another side effect of Diamox is that it changes the taste of fizzy drinks quite dramatically. I have read about this on the internet, but it still surprised me when it happened. All I can feel on my tongue is the fizziness. No actual flavor. We try our taste buds on something more familiar, a Coke, but again, no taste. My husband is not happy. He lives on Diet Coke, and it will be hard for him not to enjoy any all week.
And speaking of Diamox side effects. My heels are tingling like crazy again. But at least we are all altitude symptom free for the time being. Urubamba, at 2,870 meters (9,400 feet) is considered a good place to acclimate, let's hope it works for us.
We wake up at 5 am, which is not that difficult, considering that we are still jet-lagged, our bodies still on Paris time.
We all have coca tea with breakfast, and my husband and I take our Diamox. We still have no altitude sickness symptoms, and I forget completely about the elevation until after breakfast, when we rush up the stairs. It will take me minutes to catch my breath.
At 6:30 am we walk to the small train station on the hotel's grounds, where we board the
to Machu Picchu (or, as our daughter calls it, the Machu Picchu choo-choo). Because the Vistadome has ceiling windows I expected it to be a large train, like the Rocky Mountaineer in Canada. But it's small, with no separate locomotive. Basically a commuter train, just with more comfortable seats.
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| Vistadome train to Machu Picchu, Peru |
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| Vistadome train to Machu Picchu at the Tambo del Inka hotel station, Urubamba, Sacred Valley, Peru |
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| Interior of the Vistadome train to Machu Picchu, Peru |
We don't have very good seats, because we can't see out the front window. Luckily at this point the train is almost completely empty, so we can sit wherever we want. We depart at 6:50 am and at first we pass through densely populated areas. In fact in Urubamba our train behaves more like a tram than a train, sharing the road with other vehicles.
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| View of Urubamba street from the Vistadome train to Machu Picchu, Peru |
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| View of Urubamba mototaxis from the Vistadome train to Machu Picchu, Peru |
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| View of Urubamba street from the Vistadome train to Machu Picchu, Peru |
The surroundings become more and more scenic. We stop at a small station to pick up a couple of people, and after about an hour arrive to the busy station of
Ollantaytambo. Here our train fills up completely, so we need to get back to our assigned seats. On the track next to us we catch a glimpse of what seems to be the larger version of the Vistadome. That one is a real train, even has a separate locomotive. But it seems just as full as ours. And then a regular train passes, used mostly by locals, which is so crowded that there is barely any room to move. I guess I really shouldn't complain about our comfortable seats just because they don't have the perfect view.
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| View from the Vistadome train between Urubamba and Ollantaytambo, Sacred Valley, Peru |
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| View from the Vistadome train between Urubamba and Ollantaytambo, Sacred Valley, Peru |
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| View from the Vistadome train between Urubamba and Ollantaytambo, Sacred Valley, Peru |
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| View from the Vistadome train between Urubamba and Ollantaytambo, Sacred Valley, Peru |
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| View from the Vistadome train between Urubamba and Ollantaytambo, Sacred Valley, Peru |
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| View from the Vistadome train between Urubamba and Ollantaytambo, Sacred Valley, Peru |
Past Ollantaytambo the scenery becomes truly breathtaking. I get pulled into a card game with a Brazilian family, so I don't take many pictures. Just as well, otherwise I would kill the camera's battery before we even get to Machu Picchu.
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| View from the Vistadome train between Ollantaytambo and Aguas Calientes, Peru |
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| View from the Vistadome train between Ollantaytambo and Aguas Calientes, Peru |
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| View from the Vistadome train between Ollantaytambo and Aguas Calientes, Peru |
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| View from the Vistadome train between Ollantaytambo and Aguas Calientes, Peru |
After about 1.5 hours we arrive to
Aguas Calientes' small but modern train station (with very clean toilets!). Lonely Planet calls Aguas Calientes "the ugliest...small town in Peru", but I don't find it ugly, probably because the natural surroundings are so stunning.
We have no reason to linger here though. We have arranged all tickets, a guide and even our lunch more than a month in advance, via the hotel's tour desk. So, after meeting our guide in front of the station, we walk straight to the bus which will take us up to Machu Picchu.
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| Aguas Calientes train station, Peru |
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| Bridge by the Aguas Calientes train station, Peru |
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| Aguas Calientes, Peru |
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| Aguas Calientes, Peru |
The bus ride up is on a curvy, dusty road. It gets a bit hair-raising at times, when we pass the many buses coming in the opposite direction in the narrow curves. But the view of the mountains is beautiful, and we even get our first glimpse of Machu Picchu.
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| Bus to Machu Picchu, Aguas Calientes, Peru |
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| Road leading up to Machu Picchu, Peru |
We get off the bus in front of the
Sanctuary Lodge, a luxury hotel literally steps away from Machu Picchu. It's very hot and sunny here. After the rainy weather in the valley I can't believe how incredibly strong the sun is here.This morning it seemed completely ridiculous that we packed hats, sunglasses and sunscreen, but now we need them all.
Around 10 am we finally enter the archaeological sight of
Machu Picchu. At the entrance we need to show not only our tickets but also our passports. These get carefully checked against the computer database. Our guide says that only 2,500 people are allowed in per day, and these strict checks are in place to prevent fraud. Of course we are here during Machu Picchu peak-hours, so it seems that all 2,500 people descended on the site at once.
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| Machu Picchu entrance, Peru |
When we are finally inside, our guide immediately takes us to a set of stairs. They lead, past the
Hut of the Caretaker of the Funerary Rock, to a terrace with an amazing view. Up to now we have forgotten completely about the high elevation. As counter-intuitive as it sounds, Machu Picchu, which is on top of a mountain, is only some 2,400 meters (7,800 feet) above sea level, about 400 meters (1,300 feet)
lower than our Urubamba hotel at the bottom of a valley. What is up and what is down is not always clear in the highlands.
Of course as soon as we take the stairs we are reminded that we are still quite high. After about 5 steps we are all breathing like we just ran the marathon. It's a real struggle to get to the top. We walk slowly and pause frequently, and I would feel completely ridiculous were we not surrounded by other tourists, who seem to be suffering the same.
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| Hut of the Caretaker of the Funerary Rock, Machu Picchu, Peru |
As soon as we reach the terrace we know it was worth it. The view is amazing! From here we can see the entire Inca city. Like it is so often the case with world-famous sights, it looks smaller than I expected. But perhaps it is just dwarfed by the surrounding mountains. Ahead of us is the impressive
Wayna Picchu ("young peak"), which from our vantage point provides a stunning backdrop for the city. And behind us the peak of
Machu Picchu ("old peak"), for which the archaeological sight was named (our guide explains that we don't know the actual Inca name of the city, so we simply use the name of the mountain).
From up here the guide points out the different parts of the city. On the left the royal and temple district, on the right the residential sector.
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| Machu Picchu, Peru |
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| Machu Picchu, Peru |
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| Temple of the Sun, Machu Picchu, Peru |
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| Wayna Picchu, Machu Picchu, Peru |
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| Machu Picchu, Peru |
We walk down toward the ruins, passing the end of the ancient
Inca Trail. Thousands of tourists do this trek every year, including some of our friends, and at 33 km (20 miles) it doesn't seem unreasonably long. But it's a multi-day hike, and it passes through some pretty high elevations, so we decided that it's not for us.
(If you would like to read more about the Inca Trail then check out Shelby's blog at: http://shelbycomingroundthemountain.com/introduction-to-the-land-of-the-incas/)
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| End of the Inca Trail, Machu Picchu, Peru |
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| View of Machu Picchu from the end of the Inca Trail, Peru |
At every step down the view is so amazing that we pause constantly to admire it. We also get a good view of the hillside
agricultural terraces. But not all terraces here are for agriculture. Many of them seem to be actually holding up the city, which was the Inca way of preventing land slides.
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| Agricultural terraces, Machu Picchu, Peru |
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| Machu Picchu, Peru |
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| Machu Picchu, Peru |
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| Machu Picchu, Peru |
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| Hut of the Caretaker of the Funerary Rock, Machu Picchu, Peru |
Finally we walk through the main city gates .... we are inside the Inca city!
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| Main city gate, Machu Picchu, Peru |
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| View from the main city gate, Machu Picchu, Peru |
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| Main city gate, Machu Picchu, Peru |
According to our guide the small structures close to the gate were used for storage and as guest houses. From here we also get a good view of the P-shaped
Temple of the Sun.
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| Machu Picchu, Peru |
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| Hut of the Caretaker of the Funerary Rock on the terraced hillside, Machu Picchu, Peru |
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| Machu Picchu, Peru |
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| Machu Picchu, Peru |
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| Machu Picchu, Peru |
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| Temple of the Sun, Machu Picchu, Peru |
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| Temple of the Sun, Machu Picchu, Peru |
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| Terraces of Machu Picchu, Peru |
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| Machu Picchu, Peru |
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| Machu Picchu, Peru |
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| Machu Picchu, Peru |
At the quarry our guide explains how the Incas broke the large pieces of granite they used for the buildings. They basically found a natural crack in the stone, placed wooden wedges into it, then simply waited for these to expand during the rainy season.
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| Quarry, Machu Picchu, Peru |
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| Machu Picchu, Peru |
We pass by a little garden, where the guide points out a
coca plant. Like many Peruvians we talked to, he also emphasizes the many (many!) medicinal uses this plant has.
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| Coca plant, Machu Picchu, Peru |
We arrive to the city's "temple district". Apparently most of these temples were never finished. In fact there is still a large stone laying on the
Sacred Plaza, ready to be transported to one of the buildings.
It is among these temples that the guide points out something peculiar about Inca architecture. The number 3 was sacred to them, so it keeps repeating throughout the city. Many rocks are cut so that their edges would create 3 steps.
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| Sacred Plaza, Machu Picchu, Peru |
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| Temple of the Three Windows, Machu Picchu, Peru |
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| Rock with 3 steps, Machu Picchu, Peru |
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| Stone on the Sacred Plaza, probably was going to be used in one of the temples, Machu Picchu, Peru |
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| Machu Picchu, Peru |
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| Machu Picchu, Peru |
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| Temple of the Three Windows, Machu Picchu, Peru |
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| Principal Temple, Machu Picchu, Peru |
We pause for a minute in the
Sacristy, which has the fun property of carrying sound incredibly well. I stick my head into one of the sealed windows, my husband sticks his head into another on the farthest side of the building. Then we talk. It's incredible! We can hear each other as if through a loud-speaker.
After this fun little experiment we walk up (not up again!) to the
Intihuatana ("hitching post of the sun"), the Inca version of a sundial. It had huge significance in its time, as it was used to determine both the best time to plant and the best time to harvest.
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| Intihuatana, Machu Picchu, Peru |
Finally we take a little rest on a shady bench by the
Sacred Rock, then pass the entrance to
Wayna Picchu on our way to the
Residential Sector.
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| Tourists resting on a bench by the Sacred Rock, Machu Picchu, Peru |
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| Sacred Rock, Machu Picchu, Peru |
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| Entrance to Wayna Picchu, Machu Picchu, Peru |
The
Residential Sector is where most of the city's 700 inhabitants lived. Just like the rest of the city, I find it quite densely built, with very little space inside and in-between the buildings. Really the only open spaces are the public plazas, the biggest one being the grassy expanse separating the temple and royal area from this urban area. Otherwise the place must have been quite stifling, made perhaps more pleasant by the incredibly beautiful view of the valley below.
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| Plaza in the Residential Sector, Machu Picchu, Peru |
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| Residential Sector, Machu Picchu, Peru |
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| Residential Sector, Machu Picchu, Peru |
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| Residential Sector, Machu Picchu, Peru |
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| View from the Residential Sector, Machu Picchu, Peru |
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| Residential Sector, Machu Picchu, Peru |
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| Residential Sector, Machu Picchu, Peru |
Our guide points out a little room, apparently the only one with it's original roof. The reason for this is simple of course: it has a stone roof. It's tiny and pitch dark, so we only get to see the interior from pictures we take with a flash (no, we did not think about bringing a flashlight).
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| Stone roof room, Machu Picchu, Peru |
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| Machu Picchu, Peru |
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| Machu Picchu, Peru |
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| Machu Picchu, Peru |
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| Machu Picchu, Peru |
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| Machu Picchu, Peru |
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| Machu Picchu, Peru |
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| Machu Picchu, Peru |
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| Machu Picchu, Peru |
We stop in one of the buildings (at this point I am too tired to care in which sector we are in), and we stand over two stone circles, while the guide explains their significance. Apparently duality was extremely important for the Incas. So much so, he says, that if a word does not have an opposite in the
Quechua language (the language of the Incas), then it is not originally an Inca word. Examples of this duality are the "old" and "young" peaks on the opposite sides of the city, but also these two circles, placed in such a way that when the sun sits directly on one of them, the other one is always in the shade.
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| Stone circles (duality), Machu Picchu, Peru |
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| Machu Picchu, Peru |
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| Machu Picchu, Peru |
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| Machu Picchu, Peru |
I am quite disappointed that we haven't seen any llamas yet, but at least there are some
chinchillas hiding among the rocks. They are the only wildlife we see, if I don't count the bug which somehow manages to bite my daughter on her tummy under her t-shirt (we applied generous amounts of bug spray, but didn't think about putting any under our clothes).
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| Chinchilla, Machu Picchu, Peru |
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| Machu Picchu, Peru |
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| Machu Picchu, Peru |
We are heading up some stairs again, to view Machu Picchu's system of
water fountains, which supplied the town with clean water. Water is still flowing from these, though slower, as some of it now gets diverted to the Sanctuary Lodge.
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| Water fountain, Machu Picchu, Peru |
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| Water fountain, Machu Picchu, Peru |
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| Water fountain, Machu Picchu, Peru |
Next stop is the
Temple of the Sun, perhaps the best preserved structure in Machu Picchu. The guide tells us that it has not been restored, it is still in the original condition in which it was found. It is hard to believe, as it seems to be in an incredibly good shape, almost modern-looking. We have already noticed how much better the quality of the stone work is in the temples than in other buildings. But the Temple of the Sun seems to be in a league of it's own, perhaps because it houses a royal tomb.
It is not possible to visit the interior anymore, because the tourists' hiking boots were damaging it, but we already glanced inside from above. Now we are circling the walls, peeking in through a dark opening. I am shocked to see what looks like graffiti carved into one of the stones. It is in fact an "I have been here", but not by modern day tourists, but rather by two farmers who lived nearby in the early 20th century. According to our guide they were the ones who brought the lost city of the Incas to the attention of American historian
Hiram Bingham, who is credited with discovering the place in 1911.
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| Temple of the Sun, Machu Picchu, Peru |
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| Temple of the Sun, Machu Picchu, Peru |
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| Graffiti at the Temple of the Sun, Machu Picchu, Peru |
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| Temple of the Sun, Machu Picchu, Peru |
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| Machu Picchu, Peru |
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| Flower growing from the wall of the Temple of the Sun, Machu Picchu, Peru |
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| Machu Picchu, Peru |
I am getting quite tired by now, the city definitely doesn't seem small anymore. But there is one more must-see sight to visit, the
Royal Palace. By palace standards it is tiny, though it does seem to be the only building in the city with a room for a toilet! What I find really sad about the palace though is that all its windows are sealed. Apparently the emperor valued his privacy more than the magnificent view. What a shame!
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| Inside the Royal Palace, Machu Picchu, Peru |
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| The windows of the Royal Palace, Machu Picchu, Peru |
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| Toilet of the Royal Palace, Machu Picchu, Peru |
After the 3-hour visit we head back to the exit, where we get our passports stamped with a Machu Picchu stamp.
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| Machu Picchu, Peru |
Finally in the shade! We have buffet lunch in the
Sanctuary Lodge's restaurant. The place has zero charm. It's a large-scale operation, but the food is actually quite good, and there is a band playing local folk music. The only issue with the restaurant is that it only has two toilets in the ladies room. That's ridiculous for a place this size, especially considering that there are no toilets at all withing the Machu Picchu complex itself.
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| Sanctuary Lodge restaurant, Machu Picchu, Peru |
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| Live music at the Sanctuary Lodge restaurant, Machu Picchu, Peru |
After lunch we head back to Aguas Calientes. The operation of boarding the buses is extremely well organized, and soon we are heading down on the windy, dusty road. We have a couple of very (very!) close encounters with buses traveling in the opposite direction, but we get to the town OK.
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| Buses waiting to take tourists down from Machu Picchu, Peru |
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| View from the bus, Machu Picchu, Peru |
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| This is how close we came to another bus in a sharp turn, Machu Picchu, Peru |
Back in
Aguas Calientes, we get dropped off on the banks of the
Urubamba River. The water is brown and very rough here, it looks like chocolate milkshake spinning in a blender. We walk to the town's
Main Square, where stands the statue of
Pachacutec, the Inca ruler believed to have built Machu Picchu. We spend the rest of the time browsing the
Handicrafts Market close to the train station.
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| Urubamba River, Aguas Calientes, Peru |
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| Main Square, Aguas Calientes, Peru |
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| Main Square, Aguas Calientes, Peru |
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| Statue of Pachacutec, Main Square, Aguas Calientes, Peru |
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| Urubamba River, Aguas Calientes, Peru |
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| Handicrafts Market, Aguas Calientes, Peru |
The train station is very crowded, most tourists seem to be heading out around this time. Our train is full as well, and we depart at 3:48 pm. Same small Vistadome train, but we have slightly better seats.
We get a snack, but it is not as good as on the way here. Then one of the staff members changes into a costume and a creepy animal mask. Our daughter is pleasantly scared, she shrieks and then laughs every time he leans toward her (which he does often). He asks me for a dance, but with the high altitude and heavy hiking shoes I find it a bit difficult to hop around.
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| Staff member wearing scary mask on the Vistadome train from Machu Picchu, Peru |
A fashion show of local clothes follows, performed by two staff members. The purpose of it is of course to convince us to buy the clothes. Just like with the souvenirs on the morning ride, they are a bit pushy with the selling.
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| Fashion show on the Vistadome train from Machu Picchu, Peru |
When this program is finished I can again focus on the beautiful scenery, including the
Inca Trail starting point (or at least one of the starting points).
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| View from the Vistadome train between Aguas Calientes and Ollantaytambo, Peru |
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| View from the Vistadome train between Aguas Calientes and Ollantaytambo, Peru |
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| Inca Trail starting point, from the Vistadome train between Aguas Calientes and Ollantaytambo, Peru |
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| View from the Vistadome train between Aguas Calientes and Ollantaytambo, Peru |
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| View from the Vistadome train between Aguas Calientes and Ollantaytambo, Peru |
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| View from the Vistadome train between Aguas Calientes and Ollantaytambo, Peru |
At Ollantaytambo the train basically empties out. We are the only ones left in the first wagon, so we quickly switch to seats 1 and 2, next to the driver's cabin. The view from here is amazing, the large front window right in front of us. If I ever travel on this train again I will make sure to reserve these two seats.
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| View from the Vistadome train between Ollantaytambo and Urubamba, Peru |
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| View from the Vistadome train between Ollantaytambo and Urubamba, Peru |
Suddenly we notice something strange, as if cocoons hanging from one of the cliffs. The train driver, seeing our curiosity, exclaims: "hotel". Now I am even more curious, so of course once back home I Google it, and sure enough, it is a hotel! It is called
Natura Vive Skylodge, and according to it's website it consists of 3 units "made of aerospatial aluminium and high resistance polycarbonate". The website goes into great lengths explaining how very comfortable these see-through cocoons are (they even have toilets!). But I will be frank, with my fear of heights there is no way that I would enjoy this experience at all. For people who are comfortable with heights it's must be a fantastic experience though.
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| Natura Vive Skylodge, Sacred Valley, Peru |
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| Natura Vive Skylodge, Sacred Valley, Peru |
The sun is setting now, which gives the surrounding mountains a beautiful reddish glow. We reach the more densely populated areas, and the train has to slow down many times for dogs, and even cows on the tracks. We stop at a small station to let off a couple of people, and I wonder if we are the only passengers left on the entire train.
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| View from the Vistadome train between Ollantaytambo and Urubamba, Peru |
By the time we reach Urubamba around 6:45 pm it's completely dark. I suspect that they don't have many trains passing through here, because the driver's assistant has to get off and unlock a padlocked gate so that we can continue. Then cars have to be moved away ahead of us, because they parked too close to the tracks. It's funny, living in Paris, with it's narrow streets, I am used to cars passing parked vehicles slowly, making sure their mirrors don't touch, but this is the first time I see it done by a train.
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| Unlocking a gate in front of the Vistadome from Machu Picchu, Urubamba, Sacred Valley, Peru |
A hotel employee is waiting for us at the train station, and it turns out that we were not completely alone on the train. There were two more passengers.
We head straight for dinner. Even though we are still completely symptom-free, we play it safe and eat a very light meal and drink no alcohol.
Day 3:
We have decided to take a rest day today, and it turns out to be a good decision. Resting is one of the remedies against altitude sickness, and both my husband and I are feeling slightly worse than yesterday. Nothing terrible, just a bit out of breath from the smallest effort. With the passing of time we should be getting better, not worse, but we spent yesterday about 400 meters (1,300 feet) lower than today, and I guess our bodies feel this difference. The only one who is symptom-free is our 10 year old.
We continue taking Diamox, even though my toes and my husband's fingers still tingle time to time. And all three of us are drinking coca tea from the self-service station in the hotel lobby.
Later my husband and daughter head to the swimming pool, but I am not feeling up to it. It's not that I am feeling sick, rather just icky. I would compare it to mild food poisoning. So we have a very light lunch, and we skip dinner completely. This might be the first trip ever where I don't gain but loose weight.
Day 4:
It's Halloween today and the hotel's pastry chef has made a real effort. To the delight of the children, the breakfast buffet is packed with all sorts of scary (but tasty!) stuff.
The only thing I am scared of is the altitude, so we all have coca tea of course. My husband and I are quite out of breath today, and our daughter has a nosebleed, but otherwise we are OK. Much better anyway than some members of the Australian group which arrived yesterday. A doctor had to be called and an ambulance is parked in front of the hotel all morning.
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| Halloween pastries, Tambo del Inka hotel, Urubamba, Sacred Valley, Peru |
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| Halloween pastries, Tambo del Inka hotel, Urubamba, Sacred Valley, Peru |
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| Halloween pastries, Tambo del Inka hotel, Urubamba, Sacred Valley, Peru |
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| Halloween pastries, Tambo del Inka hotel, Urubamba, Sacred Valley, Peru |
We hire a car with a driver, and at 9 am set out to Ollantaytambo, which by road is only half an hour away.
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| Urubamba street in front of Tambo del Inka hotel, Sacred Valley, Peru |
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| Woman walking in Urubamba, Sacred Valley, Peru |
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| On the road between Urubamba and Ollantaytambo, Sacred Valley, Peru |
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| On the road between Urubamba and Ollantaytambo, Sacred Valley, Peru |
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| Woman by the road between Urubamba and Ollantaytambo, Sacred Valley, Peru |
In the distance we can see the famous
Salinas de Maras salt-pools. We will be taking a closer look at these in the afternoon.
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| Salinas de Maras, from the road between Urubamba and Ollantaytambo, Sacred Valley, Peru |
We see plenty of pretty cacti by the roadside. The driver stops and brings into the car a handful of little white fluffy things, which when squashed produce a bright red blood-like liquid. He says it is used locally to color textiles. At first we assume that these are the seeds or flowers of the cactus itself, but he just shakes his head and exclaims: "insect". Unfortunately neither his English nor our Spanish is good enough to have a longer conversation on the topic, so again I turn to the internet to find out more.
These insects are called
Cochineal, and are basically cactus parasites. They are the source of the crimson-colored
carmine dye, which is used not only to color textiles, but apparently also lipstick (yuck!) and even food coloring (double yuck!). Sometimes it's really better not to know where things come from.
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| Cactus by road between Urubamba and Ollantaytambo, Sacred Valley, Peru |
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| Cactus by road between Urubamba and Ollantaytambo, Sacred Valley, Peru |
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| Cochineal and the red liquid they produce, Sacred Valley, Peru |
As we approach
Ollantaytambo it's apparent that this city, like so many Inca structures, has been built on terraces. A windy and quite bumpy cobble-stoned road leads up into the town, the former royal estate of Inca Emperor
Pachacuti. Unlike Machu Picchu, this is still a real city, according to Lonely Planet "continuously inhabited for over 700 years".
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| Terraces of Ollantaytambo, Sacred Valley, Peru |
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| Entering Ollantaytambo, Sacred Valley, Peru |
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| Ollantaytambo street, Sacred Valley, Peru |
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| Mototaxi on an Ollantaytambo street, Sacred Valley, Peru |
The main sight of Ollantaytambo is the hilltop
Inca Complex, one of the oldest and most significant ruins of the Inca Empire. We catch our first glimpse of it while driving through the town, and immediately two things come to mind: 1. amazing, 2. do we need to climb all the way up there? The complex sits on top of a beautifully terraced hill (
Terraces of Pumatallis), and the only way up is via the stone steps built into these. Tourists tend to pause at the bottom of the stairs, gaze up and sigh. A popular joke seems to be: So, where is the escalator?
In reality the hill is not unreasonably high, but at this altitude the effort seems multiplied by 10. So, even though at 2,800 meters (9,180 feet) we are slightly lower than at our hotel, we take a lot of breaks and are terribly out of breath anyway.
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| Terraces of Pumatallis, Ollantaytambo Inca Complex, Sacred Valley, Peru |
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| Stairs leading up the Terraces of Pumatallis, Ollantaytambo Inca Complex, Sacred Valley, Peru |
We explore the ruins for a while. We decided not to hire a guide, so we are not always sure what we are looking at, but we are thoroughly enjoying it anyway. The cold wind is a bit unpleasant, but at least it's not raining.
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| View of Ollantaytambo from stairs leading up the Terraces of Pumatallis, Inca Complex, Sacred Valley, Peru |
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| Pre-Inca sector, Ollantaytambo Inca Complex, Sacred Valley, Peru |
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| The number 3 repeating again, Ollantaytambo Inca Complex, Sacred Valley, Peru |
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| Water channel, Ollantaytambo Inca Complex, Sacred Valley, Peru |
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| Ollantaytambo Inca Complex, Sacred Valley, Peru |
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| Diez Hornacinas, Ollantaytambo Inca Complex, Sacred Valley, Peru |
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| Ollantaytambo Inca Complex, Sacred Valley, Peru |
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| Sun Temple, Ollantaytambo Inca Complex, Sacred Valley, Peru |
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| Ollantaytambo Inca Complex, Sacred Valley, Peru |
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| Ollantaytambo Inca Complex, Sacred Valley, Peru |
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| Main Wall, Ollantaytambo Inca Complex, Sacred Valley, Peru |
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| Ollantaytambo Inca Complex, Sacred Valley, Peru |
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| View of the town from the Ollantaytambo Inca Complex, Sacred Valley, Peru |
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| Ollantaytambo Inca Complex, Sacred Valley, Peru |
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| Ollantaytambo Inca Complex, Sacred Valley, Peru |
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| Water Temple, Ollantaytambo Inca Complex, Sacred Valley, Peru |
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| Qolqas (grain storage), Ollantaytambo Inca Complex, Sacred Valley, Peru |
There is a handcraft market at the entrance to the ruins, but the driver warns us against buying anything there. He claims that they only sell the fake stuff, synthetics instead of the traditional fabrics.
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| Handcraft Market, Ollantaytambo, Sacred Valley, Peru |
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| Handcraft Market, Ollantaytambo, Sacred Valley, Peru |
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| Handcraft Market, Ollantaytambo, Sacred Valley, Peru |
While walking to Ollantaytambo's main square, I finally manage to take a good picture of a peculiar decoration, which has been intriguing us ever since we arrived to the Sacred Valley. Most houses in the area have on their rooftops a
cross flanked by two ceramic bulls (in some cases other animals, but the bulls are by far the most common). They are placed there for protection and good luck, and I think their facial expressions are absolutely adorable.
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| Ceramic bulls on a rooftop, Ollantaytambo, Sacred Valley, Peru |
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| Church, Ollantaytambo, Sacred Valley, Peru |
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| Mototaxis, Ollantaytambo, Sacred Valley, Peru |
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| Woman walking on the street, Ollantaytambo, Sacred Valley, Peru |
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| Main Square, Ollantaytambo, Sacred Valley, Peru |
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| Women sitting on the Main Square, Ollantaytambo, Sacred Valley, Peru |
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| Woman walking on the street, Ollantaytambo, Sacred Valley, Peru |
On the Main Square we get into the car and drive back to the hotel.
At this point in the post I should probably point out that if it seems that I am obsessively photographing only old ladies, that is because they have by far the most photogenic outfits.
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| Women at the produce market, Ollantaytambo, Sacred Valley, Peru |
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| Ollantaytambo street, Sacred Valley, Peru |
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| Woman walking by the road between Ollantaytambo and Urubamba, Sacred Valley, Peru |
We are not done with sightseeing yet, but the other places we want to visit are in the opposite direction from the hotel, and we would not get any discount if we would do them within the same tour as Ollantaytambo. So we decide to take a lunch (and coca tea) break in the hotel. My daughter gets a nosebleed again, otherwise we are all feeling fine.
At 2:30 pm we set out with another driver in the direction of Maras, and we see some amazing scenery on the way.
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| View from the road between Urubamba and Maras, Sacred Valley, Peru |
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| View from the road between Urubamba and Maras, Sacred Valley, Peru |
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| View from the road between Urubamba and Maras, Sacred Valley, Peru |
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| View from the road between Urubamba and Maras, Sacred Valley, Peru |
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| View from the road between Urubamba and Maras, Sacred Valley, Peru |
We pass through the village of
Maras. With it's mud-brick buildings and muddy roads, the entire village seems to have a reddish brown coloring.
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| Maras street, Sacred Valley, Peru |
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| Woman walking in Maras, Sacred Valley, Peru |
We are heading toward Moray now, and the countryside here is extremely picturesque. It's not untouched nature, as it's mostly agricultural land. But the tall mountains provide an absolutely gorgeous backdrop to the already photogenic rural landscape.
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| View from the road between Maras and Moray, Sacred Valley, Peru |
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| Girl on a donkey, on the road between Maras and Moray, Sacred Valley, Peru |
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| People working on the fields, by the road between Maras and Moray, Sacred Valley, Peru |
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| People working on the fields, by the road between Maras and Moray, Sacred Valley, Peru |
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| View from the road between Maras and Moray, Sacred Valley, Peru |
Moray, with its "Roman amphitheater"-like layout is an awesome sight. Its circular terraces were used by the Inca as agricultural laboratories, with a sophisticated irrigation system and various micro-climates.
At the entrance there is a sign which proclaims that we are now at 3,550 meters (about 11,600 feet), the highest place we have visited so far. I am not sure if I really wanted to know that. It does explain however why my daughter is feeling sick. We don't want to worry her, so we downplay it as simple car-sickness, but we are pretty sure that it's from the high altitude. We don't want to torture her too much, so we don't explore the bottom of the terraced circles (if we go down we would have to come back up), we simply admire their beauty from the top.
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| Inca agricultural terraces, Moray, Sacred Valley, Peru |
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| Inca agricultural terraces, Moray, Sacred Valley, Peru |
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| Inca agricultural terraces, Moray, Sacred Valley, Peru |
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| Souvenir vendors, Moray, Sacred Valley, Peru |
We drive back through the village of Maras, then turn off toward the Salinas (salt-ponds). Here we are completely surrounded by a breathtaking rural landscape. Sometimes we are also completely surrounded (literally) by farm animals. This is the sort of lovely journey when I don't feel that I need a famous sight at the destination, the drive itself was worth coming for.
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| View from the road between Maras and the Salinas, Sacred Valley, Peru |
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| View from the road between Maras and the Salinas, Sacred Valley, Peru |
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| On the road between Maras and the Salinas, Sacred Valley, Peru |
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| View from the road between Maras and the Salinas, Sacred Valley, Peru |
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| On the road between Maras and the Salinas, Sacred Valley, Peru |
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| View from the road between Maras and the Salinas, Sacred Valley, Peru |
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| A tour bus stuck behind a herd of farm animals, on the road between Maras and the Salinas, Sacred Valley, Peru |
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| We are surrounded by a herd of farm animals, on the road between Maras and the Salinas, Sacred Valley, Peru |
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| Baby donkey on the road between Maras and the Salinas, Sacred Valley, Peru |
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| Cow and donkeys on the road between Maras and the Salinas, Sacred Valley, Peru |
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| Inca Kola delivery truck on the road between Maras and the Salinas, Sacred Valley, Peru |
After paying the entrance fee, we stop to take an aerial look at
Salinas de Maras, the Inca salt evaporation ponds. Then we drive down a winding road, for a closer look.
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| Salinas de Maras (salt evaporation ponds), Sacred Valley, Peru |
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| Salinas de Maras (salt evaporation ponds), Sacred Valley, Peru |
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| Salinas de Maras (salt evaporation ponds), Sacred Valley, Peru |
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| Road leading down to Salinas de Maras (salt evaporation ponds), Sacred Valley, Peru |
This intricate system of ponds and water channels was created by the Inca to harvest salt from the highly salty stream of water which runs here. By carefully adjusting water levels and flow, the water in the ponds is evaporated, and the dry salt scraped off. Apparently these ponds have been used in a cooperative system by the community since the Inca times. While we don't see anyone harvesting the salt during our visit, we do see a family carrying it away.
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| Salinas de Maras (salt evaporation ponds), Sacred Valley, Peru |
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| A family carrying their salt, Salinas de Maras (salt evaporation ponds), Sacred Valley, Peru |
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| Harvested salt in bags, Salinas de Maras (salt evaporation ponds), Sacred Valley, Peru |
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| Woman walking at Salinas de Maras (salt evaporation ponds), Sacred Valley, Peru |
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| Salinas de Maras (salt evaporation ponds), Sacred Valley, Peru |
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| Salinas de Maras (salt evaporation ponds), Sacred Valley, Peru |
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| Salinas de Maras (salt evaporation ponds), Sacred Valley, Peru |
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| Piles of harvested salt, Salinas de Maras (salt evaporation ponds), Sacred Valley, Peru |
There seems to be quite a thriving souvenir industry by the salt ponds. And there is of course all kinds of different salt for sale.
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| Souvenir vendor, Salinas de Maras (salt evaporation ponds), Sacred Valley, Peru |
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| Salt for sale, Salinas de Maras (salt evaporation ponds), Sacred Valley, Peru |
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| Corn on display, Salinas de Maras (salt evaporation ponds), Sacred Valley, Peru |
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| Plants, Salinas de Maras (salt evaporation ponds), Sacred Valley, Peru |
It's back to our Urubamba hotel, with more lovely scenery along the way.
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| On the road from Salinas de Maras to Urubamba, Sacred Valley, Peru |
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| On the road from Salinas de Maras to Urubamba, Sacred Valley, Peru |
Day 5:
It's All-Saints Day, so again there are special goodies at the breakfast buffet today.
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| All-Saints Day pastries, Tambo del Inka hotel, Urubamba, Sacred Valley, Peru |
I have a bad headache since yesterday evening, but to be fair, I don't think it has anything to do with the altitude. I think it's just my usual migraines. Some Tylenol helps, but I let my husband do most of the packing.
At 9 am we set out for the drive to Cusco. The trip is uneventful, if we don't count the donkey which darts out in front of us on the road. We stop at a lookout for a last glimpse of the Sacred Valley of the Incas.
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| View from the road between Urubamba and Cusco, Sacred Valley, Peru |
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| On the road between Urubamba and Cusco, Sacred Valley, Peru |
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| View of the Sacred Valley from a lookout between Urubamba and Cusco, Peru |
We drive through
Chinchero, a typical Andean village, with Inca ruins clearly visible from the road. The village is at 3,780 meters (12,400 feet), which is probably the highest elevation we visited on this trip.
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| Inca ruins of Chinchero, Sacred Valley, Peru |
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| A woman walking in Chinchero, Sacred Valley, Peru |
We arrive to
Cusco, once capital of the Inca Empire, now undisputed capital of tourism in this area. We drive down some pretty steep roads toward
Plaza de Armas, the city's main square.
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| Arriving to Cusco, Peru |
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| Arriving to Cusco, Peru |
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| Plaza de Armas and the Cathedral, Cusco, Peru |
Our hotel, the
JW Marriott is only a couple of blocks away from the square. It's a lovely building, with a colonnaded facade, and an especially picturesque courtyard. Not that I can appreciate any of this. By now my head is hurting so much that I can barely hold back my tears.
There is an old lady with a beautiful snow-white llama, posing for tourists outside the hotel. I have already given up on seeing a llama on this trip, and would normally jump on the opportunity to touch it and snap some pictures, but I simply can't. I really have to get to bed as soon as possible.
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| JW Marriott Hotel Cusco, Peru |
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| JW Marriott Hotel interior, Cusco, Peru |
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| JW Marriott Hotel courtyard, Cusco, Peru |
I spend the rest of the day in bed, while my husband and daughter explore the city. They stroll around
Plaza de Armas, and visit the impressive
Cathedral, which is flanked by two other churches, the
Iglesia de El Triunfo and
Iglesia de Jesus Maria. They also visit
Templo de la Compania de Jesus, though the only reason for this is that they mistook it for the Cathedral (that's what happens when the designated tour guide - me - is taken ill). Unfortunately no photography is allowed inside the churches, so I can't tell you anything about their interior.
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| Cusco street with Monasterio de Santa Catalina de Sena, Cusco, Peru |
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| Balcony, Cusco, Peru |
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| Monasterio de Santa Catalina de Sena, Cusco, Peru |
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| Templo de la Compania de Jesus, Plaza de Armas, Cusco, Peru |
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| Plaza de Armas, Cusco, Peru |
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| Statue of Pachacutec, Plaza de Armas, Cusco, Peru |
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| Plaza de Armas, Cusco, Peru |
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| Cathedral, Plaza de Armas, Cusco, Peru |
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| Cafes, Plaza de Armas, Cusco, Peru |
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| Cathedral, Plaza de Armas, Cusco, Peru |
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| Iglesia de Jesus Maria, Plaza de Armas, Cusco, Peru |
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| Iglesia de El Triunfo, Plaza de Armas, Cusco, Peru |
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| Plaza de Armas with Templo de la Compania de Jesus, Cusco, Peru |
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| Arcades of Plaza de Armas, Cusco, Peru |
They also wander around the charming small streets, souvenir shopping and trying to locate the llama-lady. She seems to have disappeared, which greatly disappoints my daughter. They do find someone with a little lamb, but that's only a consolation prize.
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| Cusco street, Peru |
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| Cusco street, Peru |
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| Cusco street, Peru |
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| Cusco street, Peru |
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| Large Jesus statue on the hill above Cusco , Peru |
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| Cusco street, Peru |
Day 6:
My migraine is over, but for the first time on this trip I am really affected by the altitude. Cusco is at 3,400 meters (11,200 feet), and those extra 500 meters (1,600 feet) from our previous hotel seem to make a difference. What is most likely causing this change in my well-being is that we are now staying (even sleeping) above the magical 3,000 meter (10,000 feet) limit, over which complications from altitude sickness can become serious, even life-threatening.
I am not doing
that badly, though I am terribly out of breath, even when sitting still. I am also a bit nauseous, and I still have a slight headache. Because we are leaving for Lima mid-day today, I was not planning to take Diamox anymore. But now I decide it's better if I continue with it, and my breathing does get better, though my headache only gets worse. My husband, who is symptom-free, does not take the medication anymore, because he can't wait to taste his precious Diet Coke again. And our 10 year old daughter seems perfectly fine.
Headache or not, we set out for a little walk to Plaza de Armas, so that I could see the lovely historic center of Cusco for myself. There is still no sign of the llama-lady, so that's a disappointment.
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| Cathedral, Plaza de Armas, Cusco, Peru |
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| Statue of Pachacutec, Plaza de Armas, Cusco, Peru |
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| Cafes, Plaza de Armas, Cusco, Peru |
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| Woman sitting at Plaza de Armas, Cusco, Peru |
Then it's time to check out from the hotel, and while we wait for the car to take us to the airport she finally appears...the
llama-lady. It's a different llama this time, not the sparkly clean snow-white one, but a slightly dirty white-brown one, called Pablo. Finally! We don't have to leave Peru without touching a llama after all (for a small fee of course).
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| Pablo the llama with his owner, Cusco, Peru |
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| Pablo the llama with his owner, Cusco, Peru |
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| Pablo the llama and a local girl holding a lamb, Cusco, Peru |
By the time we get to the airport my head is really bothering me. As much as I enjoyed this trip, part of me just can't wait to get out of here. I am hoping that once the plane takes off and the cabin is pressurized my headache will disappear. Turns out that I don't even have to wait that long. As we sit in the plane, still at the gate, my headache suddenly stops. At first I am surprised, then I realize that the captain has turned on the air, and it is blowing from the vents straight into my face. The door of the plane is not even closed yet, and this little bit of extra oxygen is already making all the difference. How wonderful!
We take off on time, back to Lima - back to sea-level.
PS: Time to time we will feel slightly out of breath for a day or two more, but that might just be the withdrawal from the medication. It will take us 24 hours more until we can taste soda again (and no, I still don't really like Inca Kola).
