Cusco Hotels
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Cusco
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Cusco,
Cusco, Peru
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Sunday, Apr 27, 2008 11:38
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Entry 26 of 36 | show all | print this entry |
As soon as we set foot on the platform at Cusco bus station were mobbed by taxi drivers and hoteliers vying for our business - this was a sign of things to come! We´d booked our first night at Loki hostel so we left our Aussie travelling buddies and arranged to meet them later for dinner. So we rocked up to Loki and checked into our 8 bunk dorm room. After the luxury of staying in private rooms and hotels being in a dorm again was a shock to the system, particularly as it turned out the private bathroom, was actually the shared bathroom but with a door that opened straight into it - Katie was not happy! We swiftly decided to check out asap the next day and join the others in Samanapata hotel where there was cable tv, proper beds, private bathrooms. It was also one block from the plaza and seven whole soles less - bargain! We did have a quick beer in the bar at Loki and bumped into half a million other people we´d met at one point another along the way so made plans to meet them the next night and then headed to the main square where we were ambused by seven different restaurantiers the minute we stepped out of the cab. We retreated up a cobbled street and found a Aussie/Bolivian owned restaurant which did amazing burgers and pretty much ate out of there for the rest of our stay in Cusco!
As a warm up for the Inca Trail we booked a tour of the sacred valley, after our Uros islands experience we promised ourselves never again to have a big night the night before we had a tour booked. Predictably that night a few quiet drinks in the Irish bar turned into full on danceathon in Mama Africas until the early hours of the morning. We even bumped into Carlos, the Peruvian guy who we´d met in Puno! Somehow though we all managed to drag ourselves out of bed the next morning and got ourselves down to the office more or less on time only to be ferried round the city in a taxi looking for a tour bus with space to take us.
Firt up was Pisac, the scenery was stunning and the ruin was nice enough but we all feared we may get a little ´ruined out´ by the end of the day and were glad to hear that lunch was the next agenda item. It was an all you could eat bufffet with traditiontal Peruvian dishes including some sort of llama stew, choclo (big white peruvian corn), yukka fritters and other such delights. We hadn´t quite finished eating all we could when we were called back to the bus to get on our way to Ollyantambo. I don´t know if it was the injection of calaries but this ruin seemed much more impressive and a particularly interesting tour given by our guide wet our appettites for the forthcoming trip to Machu Picchu. We then continued on to another village where we were given a demonstration of how they treat the llamas wool while we drank a hot cup of coca tea. This was followed by a visit to an exquisitely decorated church that had been painted by the indigenoius people to include hidden Inka idols when the Spanish colonised the area. Then it was back to Cusco where we met up with Carlos for dinner in the San Blas and then to bed in preparation for our 5.30am pick up for the Inca Trail the next morning.
We had breakfast in Ollyantamba with our group before the walking began. The first day was relatively easy with only one big hill to climb and we all felt slightly embarrassed when our porters clapped us arriving into camp since they had set off after us, arrived before us and carried about 20 kilos more including one guy with a metal gas canister on his back! We had three courses for breakfast, lunch and dinner including pancakes, stews, grilled fish, mulled wine, popcorn and on the last night they even baked an enourmous cake with iceing, that was still warm in the middle when it was served! Each morning we were woken in our tents with a fresh cup of coca tea and set off walking early to reach the next campsite early in the afternoon when we had free time. The walking wasnt as hard as we´d expected although the second days trek up to dead womans pass was a bit of a killer, the views were worth all the effort. The campsites were in beautiful settings so this would have been great had it not proceeded to start peeing down the moment the tents were up! Luckily on the last night it stayed clear for us as this campsite was a top of the mountain and had breathtaking views of the valley and the back of the Machu Pichu mountain.
Although we couldn´t fault the service of Peru Treks, Katie was bouncing when we were told that our group would not be allowed to camp at the campsite closest to Machu Picchu like the other companies because they didnt have the permits to camp there. Our intial intinery had stated that we would get to the sungate for sunrise and be at Machu Picchu soon after, camping at other campsite meant we were three and a half hours from Machu Picchu. Some other members of the group were also a little miffed so our guide agreed we could get up an hour earlier and leave at 3.30am to try and make the sunrise.
The next morning we all got ourselves ready in the dead of night and the rest of the group donned their wisely purchased head torches while we pumped up the wind'up hand help torch we had between us. We began our descent down the Inka staircase slowly as it had been raining and the stairs were wet and there was a vertical drop down one side. Half an hour in, Katie stood on a wet stone and slipped, put her other foot down to steady herself but slipped again and spun round, falling down onto the trail and then rolling off the side and down the bank to the sound of Neil shouting ¨woah, woah, woah¨. One of the other girls grabbed her foot and she crashed into a tree which luckily stopped her rolling and she clambered back onto the trail bruised but ok and thankful that it hadn´t happened anywhere else on the trail where there would have been a vertical drop and broken limbs or worse!
As we continued on our way it became apparent that there wouldn´t be a sunrise anyway because of all the mist and Katie was quite happy to take things slowly after her near miss! We had breakfast at the final campsite then made our way to the sungate where we were met with yet more mist and couldnt see anything. The guides told us to be patient though and slowly but surely the mist began to reveal parts of the inka city watching the ruins appear, disappear and reappear made it all seem quite mystical and magical. As we started the descent, the mist began to clear properly to reveal the entire city which was stunning. It was amazing to be there after having seen all the pictures, none of which do it justice. Its hard to describe with words just how beautiful it is.
We could have spent all day there but after our two hour tour we only had an hour of free time before we had to get the bus down to Aguas Calientes to collect our belongings from our personal porter. We both want to go back in the future. We had lunch with our group and after hearing rumours that the thermal pools in Aguas Calientes were slightly less than hygenic (makes sense since there full of sweaty people who havent showered for the best part of four days) we opted to have a well deserved cerveza or two before getting the train back to Cusco! Weak bladdered Katie inquired on the train "Donde esta bano?" and was pointed down the carriage, assuming it was in the next carriage like on British trains she opened the door at the end of the carriage and was slightly perturbed to see the tracks below, however she reached across opened the door to the other carriage and made the jump across, only to be greeted by a horrified conducter whereby it dawned on her that the bathroom had in fact been at the end of the carriage she had just jumped from!!
The next night we celebrated completing the inka trail (in one piece) and went for a few beers with Nick and Jess who we bumped into in Cusco that day. Just as we were about to leave, Mel and Kieran from our salt flats tour walked into the bar and persuaded us to stay for a few more and then to a club and then back to their hotel for more drinks - the next day we had a city tour booked! We struggled through it with the help of a few bottles of Inka cola and cheesy Doritos but Katie felt too ill to walk around the "sexy-woman" ruin so just sat against the side to take in the view when a local came to chat to her and gave her an explanation anyway! As it was our last night in Cusco, later that night we went to an expensive "Argentinian" steak house - we were expecting big things as it was a beautiful restaurant, the waiters were attentive and the menu was pricey....it was awful. When the food finally came, the mash was cold, the meat was chewy and Katies pepper sauce tasted like apple! It was so bad we complained and got a few bottles of expensive Chilean wine for free, it was too much for Katies hangover though so she threw in the towel and went to bed!
Where I stayed:
Samanapata
Latest Comments (1)
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Nice! (reply)
May 16, 2008 11:41 EST by starlagurl
Lots of hiking, lots of ruins and lots of eating! The quintessential Peruvian holiday. Nice job with the detailed blog too. I wish there were more photos though!
Louise Brown
TravelPod Community Manager
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