Cusco - Nasca - Pisco - Cusco
Trip Start
Jul 20, 2004
1
20
156
Trip End
Jul 20, 2012
Cusco,
Peru
Thursday, November 4, 2004
Last year, 130.000 tourists and porters hiked the Inca trail. Though the government restricts porters to carry no more than 25kg, many agencies do not comply with that requirements nor do they provide adequate food, shelter or payment to the porters. The Inca project is working on educating tourists to look into an agencies practice of porter treatment before booking a trip
Cusco - Burros in the street
.As for our group, we had 11 porters carrying all supplies and food. They porters worked long hours, usually from 5am until 9PM. They did not have their individual tents and had to sleep in the same tent we used for taking our food (the so called restaurant tent). It was amazing to see the little men running up and down the trail in their little sandals (made out of tires)carrying a 25kg load. It was a jolly group, most of them lacking self-confidence, but always ready for a big smile. At the end, we collected $10 from each of us to give as a tip to the porters. So, for those of you who are planning a trek to Machu Picchu, make sure you check out the travel agency first. Any agency that charges less than $240 for a 4 day trek will most likely underpay their porters and not provide enough food for them.
So, after Machu Picchu, Eva and I stayed two more days in Cusco where I met up with my Californian running buddy Carol and her friend Steve. We had a great time exploring the place and getting spoiled in fancy restaurants and hotels. After that, Eva and I left for Nascato explore the Nasca Lines (thanks Carole for your generous contribution). Nasca is pretty much a moon landscape, a dusty desert area dotted with occasional green fields. Both Nasca and Pisco are such a stark contract to the beautiful mountain area around Cusco, but people are so lovely and easy to talk to that it doesn't matter where you are
Cusco - Cathedral
. Flying over the nasca lines takes about 30 minutes and since there was nothing else to do there, we headed straight for Pisco where we found ourselves a cute little hostel and booked the next days tours to the Paracas Islands. The Paracas peninsula located 235 kilometers south of the City of Lima, is the most important coastal formation in Peru. An unspoiled natural paradise where the desert sands reveal treasures of ancient civilizations. The Paracas National Reserve is the first marine conservation center of the country and one of the most important in the world. Established in 1975, it covers a total area of 335,00 ha. from which 117,406 are on land and 217,594 are in the ocean. Once Eva has uploaded her photos, i will post some of the wonderful marine photos on the web site. Pisco was the place to say good bye to Eva as she returned to Lima and from there to go back to the US. And I went back to Cusco on a loooong bus journey. Talking about bus journey, Peru has many different bus companies from crappy to luxury. I have traveled many times with Cruz del Sur, one of the better companies. They have a very sophisticated reservation system; you travel with them once and you are saved in their computer and upon entering the passport number, your account comes up. Before departure, all passengers are filmed via video camera (for security reasons I guess).I feel very comfortable in Peru and especially like the food. There is everything from pollo asado (roasted chicken), to beef hearts, to roasted Guinea pig (a highland specialty), filled potatoes, avocado filled with chicken salad, great pastries that remind me of Europe (yes, they have apple strudel here), many different kinds of bread and of course Pisco Sour (3 parts Pisco, 1 1/2 part Lemon juice, 1-2 tblsp Sugar, Ice).
