We are currently waiting at the airport in San Francisco for a flight back to Portland.
8/3/11
Catching up & Machu Picchu
I apologize for the lack in posts. The first night I missed posting I had gotten a bad case of altitude sickness. Here's what we did that day:
We got up and waited for our tour guide we had hired the day before. She came and we went from there in a taxi to the outskirts of Cusco. We stopped at quite a few different archeological sites and ruins such as Tambomachay, Sacsayhuaman, etc (we probably stopped at about 5 or 6 sites). We then toured the biggest cathedral in Cusco (right in the main Cusco square). The Spanish Conquistadors had taken stones and offerings of gold from all the sites they came across and had used them to build this cathedral. And as even more of an insult to the Incas, they demolished the Incan fortress/mansion/capital and put their cathedral in the same spot. This cathedral is like three cathedrals next to each other because it has three main sanctuaries or halls. We had lunch next and the tour guide decided to take her daughter to a KFC right off of the main square (we went somewhere else). After that we saw two more cathedrals and went back got the hotel because the altitude sickness was getting to me. I then slept for 15 hours (until the next morning).
The next day we took a cab from the hostal (Hostal Pension Aleman) to the city of Ollantaytambo. We met a family of 4 from New York and a couple from Scotland that were going to be going on the biking/camping/hiking trip with us. From there we loaded up in a van and went to a pass in the Andes mountains called Abra Malagros. It was quite cold (there was even snow) but we started our bike trip from there (below is a picture of me at Abra Malagros). Biking was great! I flew over the front of my bike once and Dad did the same (but rolled a couple times at once into an irrigation ditch) but neither of us got hurt. We stopped for lunch at some ruins and loaded up the bikes. From there we traveled along a cliff-hugging road to the campsite (which actually turned out to be a couple tents by a medium-sized outdoor kitchen and eating area. Not real camping). I slept in the hammock that night.
The next day I got to hike up (with nearly everyone else in our group) and do the Cola de Mono (monkey tail) zipline. It's the second highest zipline in the world and consists of 6 different stretches of cable across a canyon! Dad stayed on the ground. After that we had lunch and took a van (back along the "safest road in the world") to the gate at which we would disembark and hike 10 km to Aguas Calientes. During the hike we got to a bridge for trains that had a "sidewalk" on the right (the sidewalk pretty much looked like spare pieces of sheet metal that were welded along the side of the bridge). Dad walked about 10 feet, then backed up (saying things like "that's not happening" and other things that shouldn't be repeated). The guides came back across the bridge and led him across while he closed his eyes. The rest of the hike was great and we got into Aguas Calientes fairly quickly. That night we all had pizza at a place called Pueblo Viejo (they had the best limeade ever!).
The next day we went up to Machu Picchu. The bus ride up was another cliff-hugging, hairpin-turning road with buses passing each other all the way up. When we got up there, dad made it through the gate and to Machu Picchu, but not into the actual archeological site itself. I have a picture of me in it, though and I'll post a link later with all my Peru pictures (with about 600 from Machu Picchu alone). We then went back to the hotel and watched tv until about 5 pm (when we thought was a reasonable time to eat dinner). For dinner we were back at Pueblo Viejo (and for dessert we got the Pueblo Viejo Pancake which was similar to a crepe filled with chocolate and fruit with chocolate drizzled on top). Then we took a train back to Ollantaytambo and spent the night at a Hostal called KBTambo.
In the morning we got a van "Collectivo" (which means pretty much anyone who wants a ride only has to pay a few soles and packs into a 15 passenger van. I think there were 23 people including the driver and 3 kids in the van) to Urubamba. From Urubamba we got a cab "Collectivo" (same thing, but it was us and two other people in a cab) for the long ride to Cusco. The ride to Cusco was probably an hour or two and only cost us about $5. In Cusco we did some more souvineer shopping, had lunch (dad had alpaca loin and I had cheese pizza), and took a cab to the airport. Currently, I am on the flight to Lima, but by the time I post this, I will have landed.
We got up and waited for our tour guide we had hired the day before. She came and we went from there in a taxi to the outskirts of Cusco. We stopped at quite a few different archeological sites and ruins such as Tambomachay, Sacsayhuaman, etc (we probably stopped at about 5 or 6 sites). We then toured the biggest cathedral in Cusco (right in the main Cusco square). The Spanish Conquistadors had taken stones and offerings of gold from all the sites they came across and had used them to build this cathedral. And as even more of an insult to the Incas, they demolished the Incan fortress/mansion/capital and put their cathedral in the same spot. This cathedral is like three cathedrals next to each other because it has three main sanctuaries or halls. We had lunch next and the tour guide decided to take her daughter to a KFC right off of the main square (we went somewhere else). After that we saw two more cathedrals and went back got the hotel because the altitude sickness was getting to me. I then slept for 15 hours (until the next morning).
The next day we took a cab from the hostal (Hostal Pension Aleman) to the city of Ollantaytambo. We met a family of 4 from New York and a couple from Scotland that were going to be going on the biking/camping/hiking trip with us. From there we loaded up in a van and went to a pass in the Andes mountains called Abra Malagros. It was quite cold (there was even snow) but we started our bike trip from there (below is a picture of me at Abra Malagros). Biking was great! I flew over the front of my bike once and Dad did the same (but rolled a couple times at once into an irrigation ditch) but neither of us got hurt. We stopped for lunch at some ruins and loaded up the bikes. From there we traveled along a cliff-hugging road to the campsite (which actually turned out to be a couple tents by a medium-sized outdoor kitchen and eating area. Not real camping). I slept in the hammock that night.
The next day I got to hike up (with nearly everyone else in our group) and do the Cola de Mono (monkey tail) zipline. It's the second highest zipline in the world and consists of 6 different stretches of cable across a canyon! Dad stayed on the ground. After that we had lunch and took a van (back along the "safest road in the world") to the gate at which we would disembark and hike 10 km to Aguas Calientes. During the hike we got to a bridge for trains that had a "sidewalk" on the right (the sidewalk pretty much looked like spare pieces of sheet metal that were welded along the side of the bridge). Dad walked about 10 feet, then backed up (saying things like "that's not happening" and other things that shouldn't be repeated). The guides came back across the bridge and led him across while he closed his eyes. The rest of the hike was great and we got into Aguas Calientes fairly quickly. That night we all had pizza at a place called Pueblo Viejo (they had the best limeade ever!).
The next day we went up to Machu Picchu. The bus ride up was another cliff-hugging, hairpin-turning road with buses passing each other all the way up. When we got up there, dad made it through the gate and to Machu Picchu, but not into the actual archeological site itself. I have a picture of me in it, though and I'll post a link later with all my Peru pictures (with about 600 from Machu Picchu alone). We then went back to the hotel and watched tv until about 5 pm (when we thought was a reasonable time to eat dinner). For dinner we were back at Pueblo Viejo (and for dessert we got the Pueblo Viejo Pancake which was similar to a crepe filled with chocolate and fruit with chocolate drizzled on top). Then we took a train back to Ollantaytambo and spent the night at a Hostal called KBTambo.
In the morning we got a van "Collectivo" (which means pretty much anyone who wants a ride only has to pay a few soles and packs into a 15 passenger van. I think there were 23 people including the driver and 3 kids in the van) to Urubamba. From Urubamba we got a cab "Collectivo" (same thing, but it was us and two other people in a cab) for the long ride to Cusco. The ride to Cusco was probably an hour or two and only cost us about $5. In Cusco we did some more souvineer shopping, had lunch (dad had alpaca loin and I had cheese pizza), and took a cab to the airport. Currently, I am on the flight to Lima, but by the time I post this, I will have landed.
Below are pictures from Sacsayhuaman, the bike ride, and Machu Picchu (in that order).
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