Back from Peru! And it was worth all 173 bug bites on my legs!
Let's start from the beginning.
As I said earlier, this trip was planned to maximize our four days in Peru, so by the end we were exhausted (and itchy).
We left Santiago at 8pm on Thursday night and flew to the Lima airport. All went smoothly. We watched some movies, enjoyed our LAN in-flight snacks (Alfajors! only our favorite Chilean dessert!), and made it through Peruvian customs without a hitch.
Once we got to the Lima airport, we had to exit the international terminal. We couldn't re-enter the domestic terminal until 1:30 am, so we just hung out in the food court and explored. Once we made it inside, we found a great corner at one of the gates and set up camp. Madeline and Abby slept first, so I watched all of the stuff and wrote in my journal from 2-4.
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| Just loving the Lima airport. Nice and bright, and full of loudspeakers! But at least we saved money on a short hostel stay and a cab ride! |
Soon, it was morning and we boarded our 9:10 flight to Cusco - making sure to brush our teeth with bottled water. We were warned not to drink the water in Peru, so we took every precaution.
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| Flying over the Andes on the way to Cusco |
After landing in Cusco, we found the best airport taxi driver. He took us to a travel company and helped us plan out our whole trip - bus tickets, entrance tickets, taxis - you name it, Walter took care of it. Then he dropped us off to explore Cusco for a little while before our taxi took off through Sacred Valley.
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| Cusco and the Andes |
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| We somehow bumped into a parade? Somehow we always end up in cities on the days with parades... |
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| Made sure to drink some tea with mate - coca leaves (COCAINE!) to keep from getting altitude sickness :D |
After we explored and ate lunch (complete with mate), we found Luis - our taxi driver/tour guide - and started our 4-hour journey through Sacred Valley.
First stop - watch a man bungee jump. Instead of jumping off the platform, they lift up the platform and then the jumper is released from the ground and springs up into the air.
Here's the view from the window during our drive through Sacred Valley - absolutely beautiful.
Then, Luis took us to meet some real life Quechua artisan women. They taught us how to remove the wool, clean it, spin it, dye it, and then weave it. We even got to take a stab at spinning the thread. Madeline and Abby we also able to practice their new Quechua skills - they are taking a course in Quechua at the university.
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| Spinning the thread |
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| The yarn dyes can also be used as makeup, so she put some on our faces. |
Our next stop was the salt mine of Maras. Here, the ancient technology that the Inca's used is still in place to produce and collect salt. There is a natural salt water streak that runs from within the mountains and supplies all of these pods with water. Then the water evaporates, leaving the salt, and the men harvest the salt.
Next, we saw the agricultural terraces of Moray. Each level within these concentric circles is a different temperature. They aren't in use now, but they used to be a way to cultivate different plants in the region.
Finally, we made it to the town of Ollantaytambo where we caught our train to Aguas Calientes - the town below Machu Picchu. We had the most culturally enriching train ride. Madeline and I were sitting across from an older couple from France who were traveling with their 9 other family members through Peru. They only spoke French and the husband spoke a little bit of Spanish and English, whereas Madeline and I could speak Spanish and English, and she could speak a tiny bit of French. It was the funnies language barrier.
They asked where we were from and it took about 5 minutes to click.
"Los Estados Unidos"... blank stare..."The United States"... still nothing...."America?"... "Ahh! América" (said with a super heavy French accent)
Abby - on the other hand - was sitting with three girls from Sweden. Luckily, they could speak English. After bumping into them repeatedly throughout the weekend, we learned that one would be studying abroad from med school at Vandy in the fall! How crazy is that?!
We made it to Aguas Calientes by 10:30, grabbed dinner, bought lunch, and hopped in our beds (we were so happy about that one - airport chairs are not super comfortable).
The next morning, we woke up at 6:30 to rain. We had prepared ourselves for the possibility, but had hoped that it wouldn't happen. Alas, it did. So we donned our rain jackets, rearranged our bags, ate breakfast, and hopped on the bus up to Machu Picchu.
Once we got to the top, we met up with our tour - which lasted 2 hours. The first half was full of rain, clouds, and mist. But it made our Machu Picchu experience even more mystical. The ruins would disappear into the clouds and then reappear. It was like magic.
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| Walking in and seeing the first set of ruins. |
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| Machu Picchu in the morning |
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| The guard's house |
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| Ponchos and umbrellas galore |
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| With the ruins |
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| The switchbacks we drove up to get to the top |
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| Eating lunch in the amphitheater |
After lunch, everything cleared up and we walked back up to the top to find magnificent views and some of the native wildlife.
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| Me and the llama in front of a cloudless Machu Picchu |
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| This looks fake, but I swear it's real. |
We left Machu Picchu around 1 pm - with our legs full of bug bites. We hadn't really prepared for that one. The sand flies attacked our legs and left us with spotted, itchy legs.
We hopped on the train back to Ollantaytambo, then took another taxi back to Cusco, ate dinner, and started the next leg of our trip - an overnight bus to Puno. We left Cusco at 10pm and arrived in Puno at 4:45 - just as the sun came up. We decided to seize the day and start touring. We left the bus station at 5:45 and got on a private boat that took us out onto Lake Titicaca to see the floating islands of Uros.
As we traveled to the islands, we found a family was rowing back to their house so we hooked their boat onto the back of ours and continued along. The family we picked up led us to their island so that we could tour around, learn how they built it, and try on their clothes. They also drove us around on their boat and sang to us in Aymara, English, and French.
After riding around, they got us to buy some of their artisan quilts and bracelets and then - with empty wallets - we left the island. They live for tourism and know just how to make you spend money. Tricky tricky.
We then went back to the mainland for our 9am bus to Arequipa - we literally spent less than 5 hours in Puno because it is so far away from everything else.
Driving across the Peruvian desert for 6 hours was quite interesting. We stopped in a couple towns along the way and saw some of the standard transportation - motor taxis and tricycles. These little things we hilarious and they were EVERYWHERE.
We saw some beautiful scenery during our drive - lakes, mountains, and endless desert along with flamingos, alpaca, and classic sheep.
6 long hours later - complete with a medical talk on the bus advising us about the benefits of ginseng and laxatives - we made it to Arequipa. We were so happy to get off that bus, but moved on to our next location - the airport. All in all, we spent about 28 straight hours on some sort of transportation - bus, train, taxi, bus, boat, bus, plane. Pretty crazy.
After getting to Lima that night, we grabbed dinner and crashed in our hostel - but not before taking some hot showers and counting our bug bites. Between the three of us, we came to the grand total of 631. Madeline wins - 310.
The next morning, we woke up early to eat and walk around Miraflores - the nice part of Lima where we were staying. We saw the main church, the city hall, and then we bumped into this sweet tennis complex and landed in "Love Park" which overlooked the Pacific Ocean.
Soon, our time was up and we went to the airport for our 12 pm flight back home to Santiago. Quite the whirlwind.
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| The front of my legs - the back is a lot worse, but I'll spare you. |
When I got home, I checked my emails and had received this gem from my host dad:
"Estimada Allison
Puno está a mucha altura, camina tranquila y no bailes mucho.. Cuídate y mándale saludos a tus amigos.
Para que nos recuerdes... fuimos de Cleopatra y Marco Antonio a una fiesta.
Saludos y cuídate
Your step father"
Translation:
Dear Allison,
Puno is at a high altitude, walk slowly and don't dance a lot... Take care of yourself and say hi to your friends. So that you remember us (We were Cleopatra and Marco Antonio at a party).
Take care,
Your stepfather
Accompanied with this photo:
Gotta love them :D
Last, but most definitely not least, I have spent the last 28 hours glued to the tv in my room - I had never turned it on before. The rescue of the 33 miners in Copiapó has captured Chilean hearts and minds for the last two months. I'm sure you all know this, or you must be living under a rock - they were all safely rescued tonight and the news has been going crazy. I have been watching the Chilean news since last night and it makes me realize how much I've learned in my 3 months down here.
Also - random fact - today in my history class I learned that more people watched the miners' rescue than the world cup final! How crazy is that?
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| The 33 are home |
"¡C-H-I - CHI! ¡L-E - LE! ¡CHI-CHI-CHI, LE-LE-LE! ¡Los mineros de Chile!"
¡Viva Chile, mierda!
