We woke up to the alarm on Monday morning after a particularly poor night's sleep and had breakfast at the hotel. After a quick breakfast of fruit and quinoa muesli, Catalina shouldered our backpack and we walked down towards the port at Yumani. We walked down the hill on the stone Inca staircase (Escalera del Inca) past a natural spring (Fuente del Inca) from which fresh water was gushing down some stone channels beside the staircase. It was the greenest spot on the island with beautifully terraced flower gardens and lush green trees. There were lots of birds attracted by the flower gardens.
We had to wait for half an hour for our boat to arrive and the boat trip back to Copacabana was about an hour. We checked in, said our goodbyes to Mauricio and then walked to the market for lunch. We went to a stall that Mauricio had recommended where we each got a whole trout plus rice and salad for 20 Bolivianos or AUD $3.00! It was one of the best lunches that we had ever had.
After lunch, we went back to the Basilica de Copacabana. As it was during the week, the figure of the Virgen de Candelaria was no longer visible in the Baroque altar in the main cathedral. Her figure had been turned around so that she was visible in the small chapel upstairs behind the altar.
On Tuesday we slept in and then had a leisurely breakfast before returning to our room to pack up. After we checked out, we sat in the guest lounge overlooking the terrace using the internet and drinking tea until it was time for us to take the bus to Puno. It was only a short drive to the border and the border formalities were completed very quickly and efficiently.
Once we were through Peruvian immigration, we got back on the bus for the two hour drive to Puno. Peru looked just as poverty stricken as Bolivia – dirty and polluted. The roads were in poor condition and we drove past a lot of partially completed mud brick and concrete dwellings with steel reinforcing sticking out. We seemed to skirt the edge of Lake Titicaca where we saw fields of rushes on the banks of the lake and lots of fish rings. The landscape was pretty dry and barren and looked overgrazed. We saw lots of sheep, cows, donkeys, pigs and llamas. As we got closer to Puno we saw some surreal rock formations. We arrived at Puno and we were immediately picked up by a tout who got in our taxi with us to our hotel. She wanted us to book a tour with her immediately but we managed to put her off. We checked into our hotel and went for a walk around town. Our first stop was the Tourist Information Office where we found out that the tout's prices were inflated! We organised our trips ourselves.
On Wednesday morning we had breakfast on the 6th floor overlooking Lake Titicaca. Then we met our taxi driver Luis in the lobby at 9.30am and drove to Cutimbo, a funerary tower site 20kms outside Puno. We wound through yellow grass clad hills with poor farmers eking out a living from animals and crops. The site was on top of a rocky mesa but luckily a road went most of the way up. We climbed up a track the rest of the way with Luis who had only been to the site once before. Just before the top was a separate track leading around the rock with a sign reading "Pinturas Rupestres". Unfortunately the paintings on rock were faint but there were a couple of human skeletons scattered inside a small rock overhang. We also saw a beautiful orange flowering plant with a nettle like sting we later found out was used by the ancients for arthritis. Once we reached the flat top we followed a track to a group of very well preserved towers, both circular and square. The square tower was by far the largest with large cut stones fitted together perfectly. All the towers had a small door facing east and we crawled inside the square tower. Inside three small niches were visible on the wall facing the door while the adjoining walls each had a large niche and a couple of large projecting stones at a higher level which created a ledge. The ledges were too high to see if anything rested on them. Outside on a round tower we found carvings of a rabbit, a puma and a monkey. The purpose of the funerary towers was to provide a vehicle for the dead to travel into the next life. To this end they were mummified in the foetal position for rebirth and family members, food etc were arranged inside with them to accompany the important leader on the trip. We were the only people at the site which made it a different experience. It was so peaceful, and we enjoyed the scent of the small bushes, the views off the top of the mesa over the surrounding plains, an eagle sailing past, the various towers in differing states of preservation, the flowering cactus, and the different coloured rocks with and without lichens. Apparently the pre-Inca Cholla people built the original small towers, often not much more than a dome. Many of these had collapsed but the later Inca constructions were far more sophisticated with large stones cut into specific shapes which locked together. We took photos and walked back down to the car and drove back to the hotel.
We went for a walk around town and had a good look at the impressive cathedral from the outside as it was closed. We tried a prickly pear fruit for the first time from a street vendor and it was quite good but lots of seeds. After lunch at the Rico Pan bakery, we went back to the hotel to meet our tour to Sillustani. This time we were on a tour bus with about 16 people. The bus drove us to the Lake Umayo with more funerary towers on a hill above. The site had more towers than Cutimbo but they were in poorer condition. It also had a couple of sacred stone circles to represent the sun and moon. As the towers had been partially destroyed by lightning, earthquakes and Spaniards we could see that they were constructed with an inner or female stone lining and the outer cut rock male layer. Also visible on some of the large outer rocks were projecting stumps used by the Incas for transporting the rocks with ropes on rollers. The projections could then be carved off once the rock was in position. They used ramps for raising the huge stone pieces into place. The Umayo Lake with its large mesa island was beautiful, especially with the storm clouds, sun and rain in the background. There were some irrigated fields on the edge of the lake and some flamingos. We got past the desperate locals selling poor quality tourist artefacts and onto the bus. We got back to town and were delayed by a street procession complete with army band to celebrate a local kindergarten's birthday.
We set the alarm for 6.00 am on Thursday, showered and had breakfast early. After we checked out of the hotel, we caught a taxi to the bus station where we boarded the Inka Express for Cusco with our bilingual guide, Juan.
Our first stop was Pukara, an archaeological complex belonging to the Pucará culture. Juan guided us through the small museum where we saw stone and pottery sculptures of human and animal figures. The most significant sculpture was a stone figure of a priest with puma headdress facing the heavens holding a human head in his hand – a clear reference to human sacrifice. Outside the museum were the usual artisan stalls selling alpaca and textiles as well as terracotta Pucará bulls. We had some time to spare before we got on the bus so we visited the small church next door to the museum. It was very plain in comparison to other baroque churches that we had visited. The main altar and chapels had only a small amount of gold leaf decoration and were painted with whitewash. Many of the floor pavers were broken and crumbling and there was a dank smell about it.
The highest point of our journey was La Raya at 4,313 metres above sea level, the border between the departments of Puno and Cusco. We had a short scenic stop here for some photos before continuing on our journey. From this point we saw the scenery change from dry yellow overgrazed plains and hills to lush green fields and hills with trees. As we drove down into the valley, we saw the Vilancota River, known as the sacred river of the Incas. We were now travelling down the Sacred Valley of the Incas. The mountains on either side of the valley had horizontal terracing even on very steep slopes and to great height. This showed that these valleys must have been inhabited for thousands of years and an unbelievable amount of work in building and maintaining the terraces had been achieved. Today though only the most fertile and flat fields around the valley floor are being utilised for growing potato, corn, wheat etc.
We stopped at the small town of Sicuani for a delicious buffet lunch. While we were eating we were entertained by some colourfully dressed Andean musicians playing guitars, pan pipes and a drum.
Our next stop was Raqchi, an Inca archaeological site. The complex was dominated by the remains of the Temple of Wiracocha. All that remained of the temple was an enormous central wall constructed from adobe with a volcanic rock base. On each side of the wall was a row of columns. Adjoining the temple was a series of square dwellings which were the living quarters of the priests and administrators. The Spaniards noted that these nobles exhibited cranial deformation which was produced by binding a baby's soft head with tight bandages. Unfortunately this proved not such a good idea as the Spaniards knew who to kill! All of the dwellings had niches and trapezoid windows and doors. Apparently the trapezoid shape is resistant to earthquakes which are common in the area. The foundations were found to contain many round boulders which also helps to absorb vibration from earthquakes. To one side of the temple was a group of round storehouses laid out in parallel lines – these were used to store corn and quinoa and originally there were 156 storehouses. The complex was surrounded by a 3 metre high stone wall 5 kms long to provide protection.
Our final stop was the small village of Andahuaylillas, home to the Templo de San Pedro de Andahuaylillas. From the outside the church looked very modest with its thick adobe mud-brick walls, bell tower and facade with two plain stone columns at the main entrance. The interior of the church was covered with Baroque art and many decorations. The main Baroque altar was decorated in 24 carat gold leaf and above it the walls and ceilings were decorated with murals of geometric designs and golden decorations. There was also a mural representing the path to heaven (thorny) and the path to hell (strewn with flowers). The church also contains two pipe organs and on the side walls there were other altars and chapels and oil paintings. It was called the "Capilla Sixtina" or "Sistine Chapel" of America. Shortly after this we drove past an impressive stone wall structure built across a narrow point of the valley as the southern gate to Cusco.
We arrived at Cusco almost an hour late and to our relief, the driver organised by our hotel was still waiting for us. We checked in to our lovely room and walked to the main plaza. We had dinner at Jack's Cafe, a block away from our hotel.
On Friday morning we had to rush to have breakfast before it finished at 9.00 am. After breakfast we walked up to the roof top terrace to admire the view over Peru's 4th biggest city. Cusco sat in a bowl amongst the mountains and we looked over a sea of red roofing tiles, chimneys at awry angles and an occasional church rearing above the house level. Then we had a walk around town which exceeded all expectations. Most of the narrow cobbled alleys had a large drain running down the centre of the road. Our route to the main plaza, Plaza de Armas, was along the narrow Hatun Rumiyoc Street which was lined with Inca walls of large stones fitted together with a newer construction built on top. This was where the Spaniards had destroyed Incan temples and palaces but retained the base to build upon. This street contained the famous 12-sided stone.
We bought a religious site ticket from a beautifully restored museum building and walked down to Plaza de Armas. Stone cathedrals and churches bounded a couple of sides of the large square with colonnades of arches along the other sides enclosing tourist shops. A large fountain played with water in the centre and the square was filled with trees and flowers. In fact as we wandered around Cusco there were many green flower-filled plazas and plazalettas to enjoy. We bought a ten day tourist entry to some of the surrounding Inca sites and organised a tour of the Sacred Valley for tomorrow. We sat in a small plaza and weighed up our options to get to Machu Picchu, 112 kms away. Our main worry was the weather, although it turned out a beautiful day today, the forecast was for overcast and rainy days for the next week.
We walked to an Australian-owned restaurant recommended in the Lonely Planet, Los Perros, then got lost trying to find San Pedro station. We checked out the large covered market opposite the station which was divided into sections – fruit, vegetables, desserts, juices, meals, beef, lamb and pork. We had a fresh orange and passionfruit juice and admired the full pig carcasses. It was here that we saw a man playing a pipe and two dogs stopped and began howling in unison, forcing him to move away, much to everyone's amusement. Then we walked back to Plaza de Armas to talk to Peru Rail and on to Plaza San Blas with its unnatural wide waterfall. We made a final decision and returned to Peru Rail to book our tickets to Aguas Caliente, where we would have to stay overnight before catching a bus at 5.30 am to Machu Picchu.
After an early breakfast on Saturday, we walked up to the Plaza San Blas where we were picked up for our Sacred Valley Tour. The mini bus picked up six more people before we drove out of Cusco over the mountains and then down to the valley floor. The scenery was spectacular. Every inch of the hillsides was scarred with Inca rock terraces overlooking a patchwork of fields. As we drove along the valley floor next to the sacred Inca river, Rio Urubamba we passed little villages, markets and farming communities. We stopped briefly at a small handicrafts market and then drove to the picturesque village of Pisac with a huge, spreading tree dominating its central square. We visited the markets at Pisac and then drove up to the Inca ruins which were set high up above the town. The stonework at Pisac was amazing. Terraces, water channels and steps were made from enormous smooth blocks cut out of solid granite. In the upper sector of the ruins there were the remains of the Sun Temple. Around the temple were more ruins, and in the higher crevices and rocky overhangs we could see ancient burial sites, now a honeycomb of holes in the rock face as they had been opened up. There were heavier defensive walls of interlocking stone with gates allowing major paths through. There was a water fountain complex far below and separate ruins for the agricultural workers operating the complex of stone terraces, the urban sector and the priests and nobility. The vast majority of the population however didn't live in the centre but would have lived throughout the valleys working the land close by.
We continued on to Urubamba where we had a buffet lunch. From Urubamba it was a half an hour drive to Ollantaytambo, an attractive little town built on top of some Inca ruins. We climbed up the steep stone steps to the temple complex where there was a wall built out of a series of large and small fitted stone blocks. Some of the stones were enormous weighing several tons. From the temple complex we could see the storehouses on the hills surrounding Ollantaytambo. Their location at high altitudes, where there is more wind and lower temperatures, helped to preserve the dried food. On the opposite mountain down the valley we could see quarries. The Incas brought stone from these quarries to Ollantaytambo using stone rollers and a series of ramps.
After our visit to the ruins, the rest of the group left to catch the train to Aguas Calientes, and we continued on to the tiny little weaving town of Chincheros on top of the mountains. We left the valley floor and wound up until we reached a plateau on the mountain tops at approximately 4000 metres. It was much colder and peaks all around us were covered in snow. Amazingly the soil on the plateau appeared very fertile with lots of fields full of corn. The town had a colonial church built in 1597 on top of Inca temple foundations and all around were excavated Inca walls and terraces. Inside the church the paintings, murals and decoration including gold leaf were well preserved. We were taken to an artisan workshop where traditionally dressed Peruvian women showed us how they produced the beautiful textiles they were wearing. They showed us how they cleaned the alpaca or sheep's wool with plant product and water and then spun it before colouring it with natural dyes including the dramatically purple cochineal harvested from the prickly pear. Then we headed back to Cusco. We packed up for the next morning's early start to Aguas Caliente for our visit to Machu Picchu.
On Sunday, we got up early, had a rushed breakfast and checked out of the hotel putting our back packs into their luggage room. Feeling strangely bereft because we were carrying only our small day packs, we got in a taxi which took us to Poroy station, 20 kilometres outside Cusco. At Poroy station, we boarded our train which had large windows on both the sides and the roof of the train giving us panoramic views of our surroundings. We started our journey by descending into the Sacred Valley onto the Anta plateau. We passed fields of corn, quinoa and potatoes, and pigs, cows, horses and donkeys grazing. The train passed through extensive areas of agricultural terracing and we saw the remains of Inca fortresses dotted on the hillside. Then the train went through some narrow gorges with the small river rushing beside us and mountains rising up next to us. Luckily it was a sunny day and we got great views from the train. The train stopped at Ollantaytambo to collect more passengers and some desperate women ran along the train with tourist wares. Some of the ancient Inca terraces were still in use with green corn visible and every now and then you would take a corner and see walls, terraces or stone lookouts on the slopes above the train. Soon after we left, the landscape became lush and rainforest-like. We saw orchids and bromeliads hanging from trees and rocky outcrops, waterfalls and hummingbirds. We wound through the jungle with peaks rising on all sides and some cloud appearing and disappearing around the peaks. The river was larger now and the enormous boulders and occasional landslide were reminders that flooding can be powerful in these steep gorges.
We arrived at Aguas Calientes at 11.30 am and immediately we were surrounded by touts. We bought entrance tickets and bus tickets for Machu Picchu and then walked up the hill looking for Pirwa Hostel. We checked into the hostel, dropped off our bags and went off to find somewhere to eat. We settled on Chez Maggy where we had a delicious lunch of avocado salad, fresh passionfruit juice and nachos.
We went back to Chez Maggy for dinner. Then we went back to the hotel and set the alarm for 4.30 am so that we could catch the first bus to Machu Picchu. We had a shower and then turned in for an early night.
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