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Inca heartland
Entry 4 of 37 | show all | print this entry |
I´ve spent the last 3 1/2 days in Cusco, the old Inca capitol high in the Andes. The first third of the bus ride here was down the foggy, hilly sandscape of the southern part of the Peruvian coast. After turning inland and into the mountains, much of the journey consisted of endless 180 degree turns up switchback roads. I felt slightly ill at one point from that, but the altitude never gave me a problem -- maybe due to a combination of coming from Bogota, taking the acetazolamide tablets, and luck. An English guy who's been in South America for 6 months now was sitting next to me, and we've hung out in Cusco since then.
Cusco is a lovely small city, quite clean and bustling from all the tourism to Machu Picchu and the surrounding sites. It's the first place I've been on my trip where there have been lots of tourists around. That means more hassle from many people trying to sell things, but it also makes it seem safer. Besides the difference of tourist numbers, the immediate noticable differences between Colombia and Peru are that there seem to be far more people of indigenous descent in Peru, and also less wealth. However, having only seen limited places, my impression may be skewed.
My hostel is a wonderfully eccentric place called Royal Frankenstein, run by a German guy and sporting a loose iguana, a big lazy dog, and all sorts of the most bizarre decorations you can imagine, mostly around the Frankenstein theme.
Yesterday we got up at 5:00 to catch the train to Machu Picchu. Of course it doesn't disappoint, and is far larger and more spectacular than I imagined ... the Great Pyramid might have trouble beating it. Probably my favorite feature of the ruins are the uniformly-carved water channels that wind about the site, sometimes disappearing into the rock for awhile. At the far end of the ruins lies Huayna Picchu, the towering steep mountain you see in the background of every picture of M.P. We went up it, but the climb was incredibly difficult, with steep stone steps the whole way up for one hour. Atop it are ruins of a temple and more Inca terracing.
I decided to make the rest of my schedule in South America less rushed, and cancelled my train ticket to Puno, Peru (on Lake Titicaca) on Saturday, which is the next day it runs. Instead I'm taking an overnight bus tonight to Copacabana, Bolivia, which is also on the lake and is just across the border. I'll probably spend two days there, exploring the town and taking a trip on the lake to see Isla del Sol and Isla de la Luna, which are both supposed to have impressive Inca ruins. From there I'll head to Uyuni, Bolivia (possibly stopping one night in La Paz) for a 3- or 4-day tour of the Salar de Uyuni and the Lagunas Colorada and Verde.
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