Peru
Blijf op de hoogte en volg Jesper
18 Mei 2016 | Peru, Máncora
Peru English Correct
From the poorest country in South America I traveled to Peru, which has as most well-known attraction Machu Picchu. In the race to see all the 7 new wonders of the world as the first of the family, I was already planning to come to Peru years ago. Three years ago when we went on BuZa (Foreign Affairs) of Nyenrode to Brazil, Back thenI was seriously considering to add a week here, to check off Machu Picchu. Unfortunately a very tight schedule and a depressing financial situation didn't allow me to do so.
Since I'm still somewhat tied to time and budget, so I took a cheapass night bus to Cuzco to find a good deal to visit the "forgotten" Inca city.
At the time I first had WiFi connection on Peruvian soil, I already got messages from my Antarctica buddies, that it was about time for a meet-up.
I already accidentally ran into the Canadian Rydn and Kellie on the streets of La Paz, when they had to run to catch their bus to Cuzco. The British Clare would perform some volunteering work in Cuzco for the coming month, so could serve as my personal guide. Unfortunately, I just missed the Australian Nathan and Alex who were doing a multi-day jungle trek.
We retrieved some great memories from two surreal weeks of our lives, for which it is still difficult to find the right words for this unique experience.
Besides the -most often already half a year in advance booked-out- Inca Trail, there are several alternatives to do a multi-day visit to Machu Picchu. The 4-day jungle trek or Salcantay route are some popular versions. Because these also include ziplining and mountain biking (I already experienced the most ultimate experiences in Laos and Bolivia with regard to these activities), and because I had to save time wherever possible, I took the easiest option. The tour I booked 5 minutes after the office closed did not go all by itself. The bus that would take me from Cuzco to Hidroeléctrica already appeared fifteen minutes early in the square where I would be picked up. Because they are never early in South-America I already found this kinda strange. After I had handed-over my ticket, and they had written my name on the list, they called out my name, and I had to let you know that I was seated, little redundant.
When we arrived at Hidroelectrica, and still no one had any clue what group I was in, which hotel was booked for me, and who had my entrance ticket to the national park, I was already getting pretty annoyed.
The guides who were around were not able to speak a single word of English and couldn't help me any further, luckily a Venezuelan brother and sister had the same problem and they could tell me that we had to start tracking to Aguas Calientes, where we would get additional information on the main square 3 hours later.
Having arrived here, and waiting on the guides, my name was still nowhere to be found and I was taken from guide to guide to arrange a hotel for me. Finally they found me a place where I could dump my backpack and take part in the organized dinner. After being seated, the guide who took me under his wing came running into the restaurant that I had to sprint after him to arrange my entrance ticket for the next morning. 2 minutes after the office closed, I had all the tickets and I could set my alarm at an early time for the next morning.
A favorite activity for many sportive visitors is to climb the mountain that leads to the entrance of Machu Picchu early in the morning. To do so, you have to wait for the first gate that opens at 5 am, show your ticket, after which you can start following the continuously climbing narrow paths to the top. While arriving at the first gate, I immediately had a déjà vu of the running competition I did together with my uncle until years ago in Switzerland. If you arrive too late you have to trudge the whole trail behind people who apparently quite overrated themselves. Big advantage/ disadvantage (depends on your ability for positive thinking) is that an hour after the "start", you still have to wait for a second entrance where hordes of not sweaty and not-exhausted looking people mix themselves due to regular shuttle buses between the cheap-asses.
One of the people who found it apparently not worth it to go for an early morning stroll was the Spanish Farners, who also was at dinner the previous evening. During dinner we were clearly instructed by the Spanish-speaking guide that we had to wait in front of the second control post until the group was complete. This group I had left behind at the beginning of the steps, so that could take a while, and I was not willing to give up our good spot in the queue. After waiting a few minutes and walking slowly to see the people before us entering, we could finally pass through the gates to slip past the slow people, run two flights upwards and finally see the number 6 of my 7 wonders of the world.
The breathtaking view is pretty hard to describe in words, not only the greatness of the city, but also the period in which it is built, the precision and symbolism that it represents and the beautiful surroundings make sure that these ruins definitely got a place in my top 3 of most impressive sites I have ever seen.
The beautiful blue sky with only a few clouds seems to be pretty special as well. From hearsay it is often very cloudy and rainy, and if I can believe the stories other people told me, it was also like that the days before and after my visit.
Machu Picchu is created around 1450 between the peaks of Machu Picchu and Huayana Pichhu and has fallen somewhat into oblivion after the Spanish colonization, until the wonder gained international attention in the early 20th century. The Incas (which officially is an incorrect name, only the head of the population is officially called Inca) only inhabited the amazing place for around 100 years, after which a large part of the population is likely to be wiped out by the smallpox introduced by the Spaniards.
Surrounding attractions include the -unfortunately temporarily closed- Huayna Picchu and the -again- calf-killing Machu Picchu Mountain, which offers a great view point over the valley. After several hours walking in and around the tourist infiltrated city, it was time to return to Cuzco. The Death Road 2.0 that leads back to the former Inca capital had more terrifying moments than the official Bolivian name carrier, this combined with a broken bus and a bus accident with a death-toll of more than 35 Peruvians which pretty much happened around the same time, made this ride not very pleasant. The latter accident was blamed by critics on the obligation for the local population to vote. It seems like that the political feeling is very alive among the people. Where in the Netherlands preference for a particular party becomes clear by a piece of paper behind the windows, the Peruvians in even the most remote places paint their complete homes with the party-number or the name of their favorite.
In Cusco Clare and I quickly visited the less impressive Inca sites Saqsayhuaman, Q'enqo, Tabomachay and Pukapukara. In the latter temple I ran into the South Korean Oek (with whom I did the wine tour in Mendoza more than a month ago) and the Spanish Farners from Machu Picchu.
Rumor has it that the water that flows from the ruins of Pukapukara is the source of eternal youth, this is mostly due to the mystical evenly flow of water throughout the year. The water is used to brew the country's most famous beer Cusqueña, yet another good excuse to drink some beers.
The last landmark around the city that i wanted to see was Moray. This site is an hour drive from Cuzco, and in the time frame I had could only be combined with Maras. Maras is a salt mining village which has a salt water stream. The water is collected in one of the many basins, and in order to be able to harvest the salt it's been left there for several days until all the water is evaporated. Nice views, but I had seen enough salt at the salt flats in Uyuni, so I wasn't that impressed.
The entrance fee for the Inca ruins of Moray would normally be around 21 euros and I found this somewhat too ridiculously high. Someone already told me that if you take a different path than the one that leads to the entrance gates, you get free and better views of the terraces. The aimed idea of the terrace system is not entirely clear, it is thought that through these different layers, different weather conditions and temperature, the Incas did research on what the best conditions were for their farming activities .
From the ancient Inca city I traveled to Arequipa. Because the distances in Peru are awfully big I decided to split the trip to Lima -the capital of the huge land- to explore the second-largest city of Peru for a day. The local people describe this city as; "When the moon separated from the Earth, it forgot to take Arequipa," most likely referring to the rugged landscapes that surround the city. To best experience the views of these surroundings, is from my point of view from a rooftop bar located on top of the Palacio Municipal de Arequipa, which gives brilliant views of the Unesco World Heritage city, including the magnificent cathedral built with the light stone of the city's surrounding volcanoes, an umpteenth Plaza de Armas (square of the arms) and the great Misty and Chachani mountains.
The most popular destination of the city is the Santa Catalina Monastery, a monastery built in 1579 that covers an entire block in the city center. The entire religious building is surrounded by high walls and made this enclave totally isolated from the outside world, until it was forced in 1970 to open to the public.
The second consecutive night bus was mainly characterized by an irritating guy who continuously was poking me in the back with his knees. After I asked him several times in English to stop this, the language barrier for the umpteenth time made me not able to communicate with the locals. After which I put my chair so far to the back that he could hardly move his legs anymore and I could finally get my well-deserved sleep to get somewhat rested out of the 17 hour bus ride at the central bus station in Lima. The most Western and safest neighborhood with the most European-like population composition, is 10 kilometers south-east of the old town and is the only place in town where you can walk around in the evenings without any problems.
The next day I explored the old city center together with the Israeli Julius. A lot of local people here obviously associate blond and white people to rich people and often came walking up to me to sell their junk or with their open hands so I could push something in them.
In addition to yet another Plaza de Armas with all associated buildings and a lot of churches, this part of town is not very exciting. The following day I met up with the Brazilian Kêmela, Lilly and Susanne that I met earlier in Uyuni. As I already saw most highlights of the city, and they also felt like chilling, we just decided to buy a case of beer and go to one of the parks. Here we quickly learned that according to the local law it is strictly prohibited to consume alcohol in public. One of the many advantages of not being able to speak Spanish and to look like a Gringo, is that the police allows a lot. After violating the rules in 4 different parks and beaches, being photographed by various law enforcers, and being explained the rules many times by friendly Peruvian police officers (one made us bottom-up our open beers in front of him), we ended up at a restaurant. After a Ceviche -a local bite (which I am not a big fan of)- with fish and containing lots of lemon it was already time to say goodbye. My next night bus was already planned, Trujillo this time.
Trujillo is time wisely a perfect stopover between the capital and the Mallorca of Peru. Highlights that are close to this relatively boring city are the ancient Chimor city of Chan Chan and the Temple of the Moon, which from outside looks like a big pile of dirt. Nothing could have been less true, this 7-story building was the religious center of the centuries-old city and contains many beautiful ancient frescoes and impressive sculptures. The Chan Chan city is a Unesco registered landmark and one of the largest mud-built cities in the world. In the heydays of the city that covers more than 20 square kilometers there were living up to 60,000 people. The Chimor's ruled the area before they were defeated by the Incas.
The last and most peaceful stop in Peru was the close to Ecuador situated Mancora. In this party paradise I barely left the hostel, chilled out a lot at the pool and re-practiced my beer pong skills.
From here on, I again caught a night bus to the just before earthquake struck Ecuador, but more about this soon!
Cheers!
Jesper
From the poorest country in South America I traveled to Peru, which has as most well-known attraction Machu Picchu. In the race to see all the 7 new wonders of the world as the first of the family, I was already planning to come to Peru years ago. Three years ago when we went on BuZa (Foreign Affairs) of Nyenrode to Brazil, Back thenI was seriously considering to add a week here, to check off Machu Picchu. Unfortunately a very tight schedule and a depressing financial situation didn't allow me to do so.
Since I'm still somewhat tied to time and budget, so I took a cheapass night bus to Cuzco to find a good deal to visit the "forgotten" Inca city.
At the time I first had WiFi connection on Peruvian soil, I already got messages from my Antarctica buddies, that it was about time for a meet-up.
I already accidentally ran into the Canadian Rydn and Kellie on the streets of La Paz, when they had to run to catch their bus to Cuzco. The British Clare would perform some volunteering work in Cuzco for the coming month, so could serve as my personal guide. Unfortunately, I just missed the Australian Nathan and Alex who were doing a multi-day jungle trek.
We retrieved some great memories from two surreal weeks of our lives, for which it is still difficult to find the right words for this unique experience.
Besides the -most often already half a year in advance booked-out- Inca Trail, there are several alternatives to do a multi-day visit to Machu Picchu. The 4-day jungle trek or Salcantay route are some popular versions. Because these also include ziplining and mountain biking (I already experienced the most ultimate experiences in Laos and Bolivia with regard to these activities), and because I had to save time wherever possible, I took the easiest option. The tour I booked 5 minutes after the office closed did not go all by itself. The bus that would take me from Cuzco to Hidroeléctrica already appeared fifteen minutes early in the square where I would be picked up. Because they are never early in South-America I already found this kinda strange. After I had handed-over my ticket, and they had written my name on the list, they called out my name, and I had to let you know that I was seated, little redundant.
When we arrived at Hidroelectrica, and still no one had any clue what group I was in, which hotel was booked for me, and who had my entrance ticket to the national park, I was already getting pretty annoyed.
The guides who were around were not able to speak a single word of English and couldn't help me any further, luckily a Venezuelan brother and sister had the same problem and they could tell me that we had to start tracking to Aguas Calientes, where we would get additional information on the main square 3 hours later.
Having arrived here, and waiting on the guides, my name was still nowhere to be found and I was taken from guide to guide to arrange a hotel for me. Finally they found me a place where I could dump my backpack and take part in the organized dinner. After being seated, the guide who took me under his wing came running into the restaurant that I had to sprint after him to arrange my entrance ticket for the next morning. 2 minutes after the office closed, I had all the tickets and I could set my alarm at an early time for the next morning.
A favorite activity for many sportive visitors is to climb the mountain that leads to the entrance of Machu Picchu early in the morning. To do so, you have to wait for the first gate that opens at 5 am, show your ticket, after which you can start following the continuously climbing narrow paths to the top. While arriving at the first gate, I immediately had a déjà vu of the running competition I did together with my uncle until years ago in Switzerland. If you arrive too late you have to trudge the whole trail behind people who apparently quite overrated themselves. Big advantage/ disadvantage (depends on your ability for positive thinking) is that an hour after the "start", you still have to wait for a second entrance where hordes of not sweaty and not-exhausted looking people mix themselves due to regular shuttle buses between the cheap-asses.
One of the people who found it apparently not worth it to go for an early morning stroll was the Spanish Farners, who also was at dinner the previous evening. During dinner we were clearly instructed by the Spanish-speaking guide that we had to wait in front of the second control post until the group was complete. This group I had left behind at the beginning of the steps, so that could take a while, and I was not willing to give up our good spot in the queue. After waiting a few minutes and walking slowly to see the people before us entering, we could finally pass through the gates to slip past the slow people, run two flights upwards and finally see the number 6 of my 7 wonders of the world.
The breathtaking view is pretty hard to describe in words, not only the greatness of the city, but also the period in which it is built, the precision and symbolism that it represents and the beautiful surroundings make sure that these ruins definitely got a place in my top 3 of most impressive sites I have ever seen.
The beautiful blue sky with only a few clouds seems to be pretty special as well. From hearsay it is often very cloudy and rainy, and if I can believe the stories other people told me, it was also like that the days before and after my visit.
Machu Picchu is created around 1450 between the peaks of Machu Picchu and Huayana Pichhu and has fallen somewhat into oblivion after the Spanish colonization, until the wonder gained international attention in the early 20th century. The Incas (which officially is an incorrect name, only the head of the population is officially called Inca) only inhabited the amazing place for around 100 years, after which a large part of the population is likely to be wiped out by the smallpox introduced by the Spaniards.
Surrounding attractions include the -unfortunately temporarily closed- Huayna Picchu and the -again- calf-killing Machu Picchu Mountain, which offers a great view point over the valley. After several hours walking in and around the tourist infiltrated city, it was time to return to Cuzco. The Death Road 2.0 that leads back to the former Inca capital had more terrifying moments than the official Bolivian name carrier, this combined with a broken bus and a bus accident with a death-toll of more than 35 Peruvians which pretty much happened around the same time, made this ride not very pleasant. The latter accident was blamed by critics on the obligation for the local population to vote. It seems like that the political feeling is very alive among the people. Where in the Netherlands preference for a particular party becomes clear by a piece of paper behind the windows, the Peruvians in even the most remote places paint their complete homes with the party-number or the name of their favorite.
In Cusco Clare and I quickly visited the less impressive Inca sites Saqsayhuaman, Q'enqo, Tabomachay and Pukapukara. In the latter temple I ran into the South Korean Oek (with whom I did the wine tour in Mendoza more than a month ago) and the Spanish Farners from Machu Picchu.
Rumor has it that the water that flows from the ruins of Pukapukara is the source of eternal youth, this is mostly due to the mystical evenly flow of water throughout the year. The water is used to brew the country's most famous beer Cusqueña, yet another good excuse to drink some beers.
The last landmark around the city that i wanted to see was Moray. This site is an hour drive from Cuzco, and in the time frame I had could only be combined with Maras. Maras is a salt mining village which has a salt water stream. The water is collected in one of the many basins, and in order to be able to harvest the salt it's been left there for several days until all the water is evaporated. Nice views, but I had seen enough salt at the salt flats in Uyuni, so I wasn't that impressed.
The entrance fee for the Inca ruins of Moray would normally be around 21 euros and I found this somewhat too ridiculously high. Someone already told me that if you take a different path than the one that leads to the entrance gates, you get free and better views of the terraces. The aimed idea of the terrace system is not entirely clear, it is thought that through these different layers, different weather conditions and temperature, the Incas did research on what the best conditions were for their farming activities .
From the ancient Inca city I traveled to Arequipa. Because the distances in Peru are awfully big I decided to split the trip to Lima -the capital of the huge land- to explore the second-largest city of Peru for a day. The local people describe this city as; "When the moon separated from the Earth, it forgot to take Arequipa," most likely referring to the rugged landscapes that surround the city. To best experience the views of these surroundings, is from my point of view from a rooftop bar located on top of the Palacio Municipal de Arequipa, which gives brilliant views of the Unesco World Heritage city, including the magnificent cathedral built with the light stone of the city's surrounding volcanoes, an umpteenth Plaza de Armas (square of the arms) and the great Misty and Chachani mountains.
The most popular destination of the city is the Santa Catalina Monastery, a monastery built in 1579 that covers an entire block in the city center. The entire religious building is surrounded by high walls and made this enclave totally isolated from the outside world, until it was forced in 1970 to open to the public.
The second consecutive night bus was mainly characterized by an irritating guy who continuously was poking me in the back with his knees. After I asked him several times in English to stop this, the language barrier for the umpteenth time made me not able to communicate with the locals. After which I put my chair so far to the back that he could hardly move his legs anymore and I could finally get my well-deserved sleep to get somewhat rested out of the 17 hour bus ride at the central bus station in Lima. The most Western and safest neighborhood with the most European-like population composition, is 10 kilometers south-east of the old town and is the only place in town where you can walk around in the evenings without any problems.
The next day I explored the old city center together with the Israeli Julius. A lot of local people here obviously associate blond and white people to rich people and often came walking up to me to sell their junk or with their open hands so I could push something in them.
In addition to yet another Plaza de Armas with all associated buildings and a lot of churches, this part of town is not very exciting. The following day I met up with the Brazilian Kêmela, Lilly and Susanne that I met earlier in Uyuni. As I already saw most highlights of the city, and they also felt like chilling, we just decided to buy a case of beer and go to one of the parks. Here we quickly learned that according to the local law it is strictly prohibited to consume alcohol in public. One of the many advantages of not being able to speak Spanish and to look like a Gringo, is that the police allows a lot. After violating the rules in 4 different parks and beaches, being photographed by various law enforcers, and being explained the rules many times by friendly Peruvian police officers (one made us bottom-up our open beers in front of him), we ended up at a restaurant. After a Ceviche -a local bite (which I am not a big fan of)- with fish and containing lots of lemon it was already time to say goodbye. My next night bus was already planned, Trujillo this time.
Trujillo is time wisely a perfect stopover between the capital and the Mallorca of Peru. Highlights that are close to this relatively boring city are the ancient Chimor city of Chan Chan and the Temple of the Moon, which from outside looks like a big pile of dirt. Nothing could have been less true, this 7-story building was the religious center of the centuries-old city and contains many beautiful ancient frescoes and impressive sculptures. The Chan Chan city is a Unesco registered landmark and one of the largest mud-built cities in the world. In the heydays of the city that covers more than 20 square kilometers there were living up to 60,000 people. The Chimor's ruled the area before they were defeated by the Incas.
The last and most peaceful stop in Peru was the close to Ecuador situated Mancora. In this party paradise I barely left the hostel, chilled out a lot at the pool and re-practiced my beer pong skills.
From here on, I again caught a night bus to the just before earthquake struck Ecuador, but more about this soon!
Cheers!
Jesper
Reageer op dit reisverslag
Je kunt nu ook Smileys gebruiken. Via de toolbar, toetsenbord of door eerst : te typen en dan een woord bijvoorbeeld :smiley
