Our travel log

After getting a taxi to the bus at 6.30am, we made our way out of Cusco. The bus took the back roads through the city and we were sadly reminded about the double standard of living here, with old men and dogs savaging through the nightly garbage for food. Once out of the city, the standard rural way of life took over, the Peru that we have fallen in love with.

We caught the 8.45am train and had an enjoyable ride down the valley. We were reminded that we were still in the middle of the rainy season, as the river was very high and muddy. It was an awesome site to see the power of the current washing things clean. We sat beside a Peruvian and Japanese couple and had interesting discussions about the way of life here. It was a bit of an inside look at life. Apparently, all of the gum trees were introduced, and due to the standard fire construction in the mud brick houses (open stoves and no chimneys), they are one of the worst woods to burn in regards to the locals health. The Peruvian guy was a doctor that was involved in studying the fire stoves, and has helped push through a small modification that drastically reduces the effects of the smoke on the locals health. This has now been installed in half a million homes.

We caught the train that runs down the valley and then the bus to Machu Picchu. This is definitely one of the most impressive Mayan / Inca site in terms of the aesthetic appeal, on par with Tikal. We somehow managed to get a free tour and spent a few hours walking around the site. While there would have been a thousand of tourists visiting the site that day, it was not overrun with people and it was easy to find great photos and peaceful spots to chill out. After the tour, we walked up the hill and chilled for a couple of hours with the llamas absorbing the site from above.

We had an hour to kill after setting off by bus to the train, so we managed to find some cheap food places just off the main tourist drag. Chicharron, not pork skin as in Mexico, and not pork fat as in Ecuador, but pork chops. Yummy. Only 10 soles for a plate of food. Chris then had a bit of fun bartering for a couple of bags, down from 30 soles to 16 soles each, or about $5.50 per bag. The husband of the vendor, wouldn't barter, but happily ran 1 km to find his wife and it was her and Chris that played out the game.

Tips:

1. Take food and water to the top. The prices are absolutely hideous! We payed 20 soles for a litre of coke, which is about $7 USD. The normal price is around $1 USD.
2. Take sun screen and insect repellant. There are small sandflies and the sun at altitude is strong.
3. Make sure you have enough batteries and space in the cameras. The place is soooo photogenic!
4. The llamas are domesticated, so do not be afraid of patting them if you so desire. While Machu Picchu may be the worlds most expensive patting zoo, be wary of doing this to any old llama you pass by; they split and their split is full of bile, that stains your clothes.
   

Sadly the trip home was not as smooth. The train broke down right at the start, so another one had to be called from the next station. The 3 hour ride became a 6 hour ride. And the rain started, and it rained hard. With no one to meet us at the station, we walked for a km in the rain to the plaza and managed to track it down. Then the bus back had to wait for a number of tourists, another hour delay. We guess that they hadn't figured out that they had to walk in the rain.... The trip back was smooth, but the dangers of riding in the dark was apparent, with the heavy afternoon / night rain washing tons of rubbish onto the road. This included one tree and a hundred meter section of road that was littered with rocks up to the size of soccer balls. We finally made it back to the hotel at 2.30am, a 20 hour day all up.