Cuzco, The Sacred Valley and Machu Picchu

  Cuzco, Peru
Friday, March 14, 2008

Two girls in dresses

Cuzco City       &am p;am p;nb sp;      Elevation 3400 meters
Mad, bustling, busy Cuzco. The center of activities like rafting, trekking, mountain climbing, and expeditions to the many stone temples in the surrounding area. I arrived by plane and had my second encounter with a travel agent (the first was the Galapagos). I asked a lady at the airport about Machu Picchu, and before I knew what happened she trapped me in a van with some other tourists, and talked me into staying at a different hotel than I had planned on. Do not worry, she kept saying, everything is taken care of. She quickly signed me up for several tours including The Sacred Valley, Machu Picchu, rafting, and even the trip to Lake Titicaca.

Yes it was convenient to be picked up at the hotel, but at what extra price? I did not like the location of the hotel and would have chosen another, but I did like the friendly hotel proprietor. I suspect the actual room rates were considerably below the $15 per night I was paying. 

Dyeing llama wool

The Sacred Valley tour was neat. I saw two major temple sites. One in Pisac. It is just as magnificent as Machu Picchu, but does not seem as impressive because it starts on the valley bottom so the distances seem closer. It really is a nice site to visit and it is accessible by car.

The second site was in Ollantaytambo, the Temple of the Sun. I mounted an impressive set of stone stairs to reach the top of the temple. Unfortunately the Spanish destroyed the main alters, but the other stone works are intact. I thought that the temples were built with stones on-site. But the guide said that the stones used to build the temple came from a mountain top on the other side of the valley. Also of interest, the stones were sedimentary, at some time in history the 4000 meter high mountains were laying underwater. After courting a heart attack mounting the steps, I was happy to walk along the path that skirted the mountainside, then walk down more steep stone stairs. I love the Peruvian disregard for railings or any other protection from falling great distances!

We also stopped at a local shop where they showed us how llama wool was cleaned, dyed and woven into clothing.

Me at Machu Picchu

Machu Picchu          Elevation 2400 meters

Machu Picchu 3

I am standing in the pouring rain in Machu Picchu. My clothes are soaked under my once waterproof jacket. The water runs down the stone stairways, soaking my tennis shoes. I am cold, wet, and cannot even take pictures for fear of damaging my camera - and yet I am grinning from ear to ear. I have dreamed of seeing this ancient site, and now I am here. The magnificent stone temples, steep terraced lands, bright green grass, long stone stairways, mountains jutting into the sky, it is all as I have imagined.

Machu Picchu 2

Climbing up WaynaPicchu

The morning started well. After a sound nights sleep in the little village next to Machu Picchu, I caught a bus up the mountain and hiked though the site. It was warm and partially cloudy. I hiked to the other end and checked in with the gatekeeper for the steep climb up WaynaPicchu. Only 400 people are allowed to hike it each day, and I was number 79. The trail is made of ancient Inca stone steps. The steeper areas have been retrofitted with wire cables to hold onto. It was a long one hour hike up those steps.


I had to stop

Machu Picchu from WaynaPicchu

frequently as I panted and coughed in the thin air.The last bit was straight up the stairs of an ancient watch tower, and there was no cable to hang onto. The view down was dizzying as I contemplated that one slip would send me tumbling hundreds of feet. My legs felt like jelly and my lungs were burning when I finally reached the top, but the view made it all worthwhile. It is a panoramic view of the steep mountains and deep valleys that protected Machu Picchu from the Spaniards.

I got to climb down that?

I accidently took the long way back down. After a 45 minute scramble downhill, including having to climb down two 30 foot high wood ladders, I reached the Temple of the Moon. It is a small temple and hardly worth looking at. Now I thought that it would be sidehill from there back to the main trail. But the trail turned into another long set of stone stairs going up. My legs felt like jelly as I climbed up them. I soon met two ladies who had turned back, thinking they were on the wrong trail because they had walked for 25 minutes uphill, and never reached anything. I was sure this was the only way out, so I kept slogging for what turned out to be another hour and a half.

The stone stairs went up for about a half hour, then the path skirted

And then the rain poured down on the sun dial

midway along a cliff, with stairs going back down for awhile, then back up again. It turned out to be sheer torture,  the kind that we put ourselves through whenever we volunteer to climb a mountain. 

For those people taking the Inca trail, the first day is the worst. It requires hiking from 2840 to 4200 meters, I never would have made it with my coughing condition. 

Village floating on reeds in Puno Lake

Lago Titicaca      Elevation 3800 meters After a day long bus ride I arrived at Puno City. My hotel, booked through a travel agent, appears to be deserted. It is another cold night at this altitude and of course my room is unheated. All part of the hazards of the $15 room. At least the shower is hot.

Note solar panel on left

Lake Titicaca is advertised as the worlds highest navigable lake, it is 284 meters deep and fifteen times the size of Lake Geneva in Switzerland. I took a boat tour of the Uros floating islands. These islands are made of cut reeds that are bundled together. The Uros Indians live on these floating islands in huts made of more reeds. Amazingly they do not use vizqueen in the roof. I was invited into one of the small huts where I sat on a mattress with some other members of the tribe and talked about fishing in Alaska. The lake has five different types of fish, but none grow to the size of a salmon.

Large blanket for sale

I found it really interesting the way they would pick technology. They did not have TVs, but they did have solar panels. Perhaps for a few modern conveniences like a laptop computer. They had wood skiffs with outboards for going to town. 

Me and a Condor

I was outside buying a few handmade crafts when I turned around and was surprised to see a condor. Someone keeps it there as a pet. It was the last thing I ever expected to see. Of course everyone wanted their picture taken with the Condor. I was told it eats 3 kilos of meat each day.