Mike spent our extra days in Cuzco sorting out our insurance claim as we couldn't get any money back from cancelling our Inka trek, and I spent them in bed trying to recover from my parasite. We awoke early on Thursday monring to begin our trip to Aguas Calientes, the small town situated in the valley below Machu Picchu. By 7am we were on a minibus winding through the Scared Valley for an hour and forty minutes, unfortunately I was still not feeling the best so slept for a bit, missing some amazing scenery. The minibus stopped in Ollantaytambo where we transferred on to a train for the remainder of the journey. The train continued through the valley and some amazing mountains, which slowly transformed into the jungle. By midday we had arrived in Aguas Calientes where we were supposed to be met by someone from our hostel. However with no one waiting for us, we, along with a Norweigan couple, made our way to our hostel, asking directions along the way. The hostel was run by the tour company with whom we had originally meant to do the trek with and they provided us with lunch, dinner, and breakfast – all which were very tasty. We explored the small town in the afternoon, which purely consitists of hostels, restaurants and tourist shops, stopping at a bar so Mike could get his football fix, watching FC Barcelona play Arsenal in the champions league. One wonders if the town would exist if it wasn't situated so close to Machu Picchu.
That evening we met the group who we would have done the Inka trail with. We were meant to meet them the next morning as they would walk into Machu Picchu then, but one member wasn't well so they had decided to make their way to Aguas Calientes and spend the night there instead. The group consisted of an Australian couple and two Norweigan guys – all seemed really nice and it was a shame that we didn't get to know them better.
The next morning was another early start in order to get up the mountain to Machu Picchu before thousands of others. I was holding on to my stomach as we winded up the mountain but although not feeling too hot my excitement was rising and I felt like a little child on Christmas Eve. We caught our first glimpse of the amazing lost city through thick cloud and rain at 6.30am. Until 10am we had a tour, with which our guide offered so many little details, like when a beer company was filming a commercial and some of their equicpment fell, breaking part of the sundial rock, or when the president of Spain was flown in by helicopter and in order for him to be able to land the Peruvian government ordered for a large statue to be moved, which in the process got broken, therefore part of Machupiccu has forever been lost. These additional details to the history make for an unforgetable experience. For some reason I had always imagined that when Machu Picchu was “discovered” in July of 1911, it was as we see it today and not covered in jungle, and I had just pictured someone stumbling upon it, how wrong I was.
As the morning progressed the rain stopped and the cloud constaintly moved. Being so high up in the mountains and in the jungle the cloud cover was low, making for very dramatic and changing views. Another thing that I didn't realise was quite the position of the city. It is on somewhat of a peninsula of steep cliffs falling away to a fast moving river that snakes around it, making the environment so much more dramatic. I think we would both agree that one of the best parts of our visit was when we got to one of the many plazas just as the cloud was lifting and before us was a huge drop to a valley like no other, it was impossible to capture on film but it is an image that I will never forget.
When our tour ended at 10am we opted to stay up the mountain, take in the view and do a few walks. Firstly we headed to the Inka bridge along a part that confirmed my fear of heights. As I hugged the cliff face Mike pranced along trying to get me to stand on the side of the path next to the huge drop so he could take photos! So supportive! The Inka bridge wasn't what I had been expecting but instead using rocks a path had been built alongside a huge cliff face and where a gap had been left, wooden planks made up the bridge. Thankfully you couldn't walk over it – I think I would have had a heart attack as I know Mike would have wanted to cross it if he could. He still managed to scare me by holding onto a rope and leaning over the edge of the path.
After this we climbed up the hill to the sungate, which is from where one first sees Machu Picchu when doing the Inka trail. I was still low on energy and not feeling the best from my parasite so it was a slow climb up but I am very glad that I persisted as from the top one gains a view of Machu Picchu which encompasses the whole valley and lost city.
We headed back down round 1.30pm to be back at the hostel by 2pm for lunch and a train and minibus back to Cuzco. We weren't back in Cuzco until 9pm, so grabed a quick dinner of falafels before hititng the sacks, completley exausted.
The next morning, our last in Cuzco after three weeks, we headed to a cafe for some breakfast. As soon as we walked in the door it smelt like a New Zealand cafe and we enjoyed a lovely breakfast and come good coffee. We headed back to the hostel to farewell the friends we had made, promising to meet up again when we're in the UK and got on a bus heading to Puno.
Another early morning was in store for us in Puno as we had orgainsed a tour to see the floating Islands. By 7.30am we were on a boat which chugged across Lake Titicaca, it was literally the slowest boat ever! Our first stop was the floating islands which are made entirely of reeds, including the houses and beds! They do however have a few solar pannels in order to have TV! Here we meet the inhabitats and had an explanation on how the Islands are made – every two weeks they have to add more reeds to the top of the islands as the lower levels start to disintergrate, each island however lasts around 40 years and they are around 2m thick.
After a ride on one of their boats, also made of reeds, our trip contined to the island of Taquila, which is an actual physical island. After two and a half hours on the boat we arrived at an island that could have easily been in Tuscany. We headed up the hill to a locals house where we were treated to some locals dancing, to which Mike got dragged in and a talk about the weaving and knitting that the inhabitants do. It is a result of this that La Isla Taquila had been declaired a world heritage site. We were also served a tasty lunch of quinoa soup and fresh trout. After walking around the island for another hour or so we headed back to our boat for a painfully slow 3 hour trip back to the mainland. Myself an Mike filled the time playing countless games of 20 questions – which also became rather tedious.
That evening we surprised Jess with a phone call to wish her a Happy 21st and started to sort through the hundreds of photos we had taken of Machupiccu and the Lake. We have only just finished sorting them now and promise to get them on facebook soon as there are some pretty amazing ones!
The next day was our two year anniversary which unfortunatley didn't get off to the best start. Again we had to be up at first thing to catch a bus to Bolivia so awoke feeling as though many more hours of sleep were needed, I also awoke feeling like my tonsils were on fire – I really haven't had the best run of things recently. As we boarded our bus at 7.30am the thought of having a nice day together seemed far from reality. The bus trip however went through some amazing scenery and our spirits rose as we arrived in Copacabana, a small lake side town, sooner than we had originally anticipated. We had booked into an ecolodge on the lake front just outside of town and stayed in a lovely building made of mud bricks amongst flowers and corn.
We wandered along the lake front into town, with the aim of finding some lunch. We settled on a lake front restaurant, where we consumed more fresh trout and some amazing mango and yoghurt drinks. From here on the day took a turn for the better, and although I was still not feeling the best and the day was not as we had imagined it was still nice. We spent the afternoon wandering through the town, visiting the impressive morish styled catherdral and looking in many of the craft shops. Wandering back along the lake Mike picked me flowers from the bean plans growing by the side of the road and I found him a heart shaped rock – a little bit of romance!
We watched the sunset over the lake and chilled out before heading back into town and finding a candle lit restaurant for dinner. It wasn't quite the nice resterant we had imagined but the food was good – even if we did have to wait ages for it, and it was a nice end to what had started off as a not so joyful day.
Our original plan had been to visit the Isla de Sol today, which is where by Inka legend, the sun first rose. However with the thought of another 5hrs on a very slow boat and as I wasn't feeling the best we decided that as we'd already had a great time visiting some of the other islands on Lake Titicaca, we'd give it a miss. This also means that we have an additional day – something that we really are in need of as the 24th is getting closer and closer and we still have a lot that we are wanting to see.
Instead we spent the morning sleeping in, writing part of this blog and doing some shopping - as we have sent a big box of things to the UK so now have a bit more room. We boarded a bus at 1.30pm and had an amzaing trip; travelling alongside the lake, past snow capped mountains until we desended into La Paz. Although we haven't yet been here an hour I have a feeling this is going to be a big city we will enjoy.
Ilona
Nice one Ilona!! Every blog wets my appetite more and more...
ReplyDelete