Pisac, Ollantaytambo, Moray, Maras, MachuPicchu
Cusco definitely grew on me as the days went by, as it was cheap, convenient and full of things to do and see, albeit full of tourists! On my second day I headed to the market for a super cheap, and super filling, lunch, followed by 4 glasses of "lucuma" juice: a great deal! On my way out of the market I noticed a lady selling strange fried balls with peppers or tomatoes inside...I was stuffed, but my curiosity got the best of me and I couldn't resist buying some and storing them in my bag for a snack later on...I went on a guided city tour in the afternoon, which definitely wasn't my thing, but it covered several ruins within and around Cusco: Saqsaywaman, Q'enqo, PukaPukara, and another one...too many tourists and too lkttle to see, if you ask me!
The next day my stomach woke me up before my alarm did, and it was not pleasant! I was bloated, with stomach cramps and shivers, and I had to visit the bathroom a few times...I knew by then that those fried "balls" had not settled well in my stomach! Just thinking about them gave me gag reflexes by then! I definitely knew right away who the culprit was...but as they say, curiosity killed the cat I guess! I tried to get my day started, since I had many plans, but everything got delayed a little bit! I eventually reached Pisac, a nice little town that's part of the Valle Sagrado, the valley surrounding Cusco...I was in pain, but I was trying my best to forget about it and make the best of my day! While in town I got to eat some "pizza flavored" empanadas cooked in their typical ovens, next to which they had Guinea pig temples, that is little catles made of mud and clay where a bunch of Guinea pigs ("cuy" is a national "delicacy" here!) were running around! I took a taxi up to the Inca ruins, which were amazing and surrounded by beautiful terraces! The whole thing was quite a hike and the altitude was kicking in, in addition to my stomach being upset, but it was worth it!
I then caught a local bus to the next ruins at Ollantaytambo, which featured the same terraces and were in a similar setting as Pisac. After a few more crowded-to-the-max local buses I got off and took an expemsive taxi to Maras and up and down a winding road amidst beautiful mountains to reach Moray, a huge "hole" made of terraced land where every "floor" has a completely distinct eco-system and different crops are grown; how all of this happens and works has been a mystery since the Incas, but it's quite an amazing sight that was used by the Incas for agricultural "experiments"...you can walk all the way down to the bottom of it, from where your voices echoes resoundingly, and I was told that the place never gets flooded even during rain season...quite amazing!
My next place was even better: the salt pools by Maras! It's another breath-taking setting for an incredible number (around 300 I think) of little pools where salty water from the mountain flows through and eventually evaporates leaving behind salt that has been used since Inca times. The most fascinating thing was seeing how the water had found ways to feed all of the different, numerous pools through little canals!
After another super crowded, standing room only, local bus I made it back to Cusco skipping Chinchero, because it was getting dark and my stomach was telling me to get to a bathroom as soon as humanly possible! By this time, my whole body was shaking and aching, I had shivers and my head was hurting...it seemed to me like a mild case of altitude sickness on top of my stomch problems! I made it back to Cusco and by then every step seemed like a daunting task, my head was spinning and I had trouble putting up with the noise, the traffic and the crowds!
The next day was Christmas Eve and I woke up the same way as the day before...judging by my immediate trip to the bathroom, whatever had been causing this pain had not yet made it through my body, but I told myself it would be a matter of hours (boy, was I wrong?!) and boarded my minibus for MachuPicchu! The route was once again spectacular and we reached over 4500m before descending along a winding road under heavy rains...this 6-hour trip proved to be anything but boring, as we had a flat on the way up, avoided a minivan that was upside down in the middle of the road, as well as several rocks along the way! Once we descended into jungle-like territory, a local "tire shop" gave us a new one in exchange for the one that was flat (all of this was done in a primitive way, which needed 2 people and involved hammering away at the poor tires!).
We eventually reached a place from where we could walk to Aguas Calientes, but the rain was intense and I decided to pay for the extremely overpriced train thst took almost an hour to cover 9 km!!! Once into town, K, K, M and I found a cheap hostel for the night and proceeded to check out the local hot springs, a series of 6-7 natural pools filled with hot, murky water...it was pretty relaxing!!!
We went to dinner for Christmas Eve and spent the rest of the evening till midnight walking around the little touristy town, then exploded some fircrackers and went to bed!
The next day, Christmas Day as well, started at 4.30 when we woke up and wouldn't end till very late at night...it was still dark when the 3 Japanese and I headed out of town towards MachuPicchu on foot to avoid the super expensive "shuttle bus" after we had paid over 40$ just for the entrance to the MP ruins! The steep 3.5km hike took us over an hour through the deep forest under the rain, and gave us a better idea of how remote this Inca city must have been in the past! The location was definitely exceptional, high up over a rough river and amidst tall, lush mountains...so lush that when we first got to the ruins we could not see anything!!! Thick, white clouds were covering the whole place like a blanket, and the tropical rain was not helping of course!!! The disappointment was evident among us, especially after having had to pay so much money and wait so long to get there...it almost seemed like a legalized scam to me, and that's one of the things that upsets me the most when I travel! Of course it was nobody's fault, but the Christmas Day I had pictured in my mind couldn't be further away from reality! We walked around the ruins tryin to make sense of it all, and seemed quite content with taking pictures of llamas for a bit, since they were the only visible thing then! Walking for a few hours in the cold and thick rain was definitely unpleasant, but it was made even worse by the clouds and fog that prevented anyone from getting an idea of the size and majesty of the whole place, and after we had made it all the way around the whole Inca city we paused at the panoramic spot a little bit longer till it was time to trek back to Aguas Calientes...we were there waiting with other people when all of a sudden came the winds to swipe away the clouds, and little by little, within a minute or so and for no longer than a few minutes...wow, that is what MachuPicchu usually looks like from up here! It was short but amazing, and excitement was in the air as people were trying to take as many pictures as possible in such a short time! The very same way as one that is hungry becomes satisfied once he/she gets a full belly, all of us who had been longing for a decent view of MP felt so much better after just a couple of minutes of semi-clear skies!
It was finally time to hike back down to town and hop on the train that took us back to our minibuses, all the while dreaming of a warm shower and dry clothes! The whole trip back had seemed like a minor detail when explained to me back in Cusco, as all I was focused on was getting to MP in the cheapest possible way without wasting too many days! After a quick stop in Santa Teresa for some bananas, bread and water (my staple considering my enduring stomach issues!) we were warned of a landslide further ahead in the road, which gave us just a glimpse of the long adventure that would ensue...we eventually drove to the point where the road was literally almost cut in half and we could barely walk across...by then, our "guides" had abandoned us in Santa Teresa and our driver was waiting on the other side of the hole waiting for more tourists to come his way...if there's anything worse than paying a lot of money, it is paying a lot of money and getting nothing in return...like our little "9km in 50 minutes" train, like our "tour guides" that along the 6 hour trip there didn't say a word to any of us and were so quick to disappear when a problem arose...there were many times along my journey to MP when I felt like people were ripping us off and enjoying it...and more then once I had the feeling that MP itself was not worth all the money and effort to get there...but of course I had to suck it up and just see it as a once in a lifetime thing!
Anyway, back to the 12 abandoned tourists on the other side of the landslide...somehow all the people coming the other way had been left off by their vehicles further down the road, so that they were able to jump on our original bus, but we had no one coming to our help...till we found a minivan loaded with locals, and we bargained our way on till the next little town, Santa Maria. Once there, we found some more people stranded because of the landslide, and not many vehicles coming through to take them anywhere, also because it was the day after Christmas Eve, when people celebrate, stay up late and often drink way too much...most locals celebrate this way, including the ones who are in the tourist industry and get paid good money to drive tourists around...which would eventually impact our day and could have impacted our lives in a dramatic way...back to the 12 of us in little, sleepy Santa Maria, waiting for a miracle to happen, a minibus to appear and take us back to Cusco by nightfall...F and I started walking around and eventually ran into the offices of our little "agency" with a nice minibus with a big sticker bearing the same name...we approached them right away, td them what had happened to us, when one of them recognized F and admitted that they had heard of our little landslide problem!!!! haha They had heard of it, but they made sure to mind their own business and do anything but provide us with a solution! We pointed to the bus next to us asking them that they take all 12 of us back to Cusco...they incredibly agreed after saying that the 3 of us who had "contracted" their "agency" would ride for free, but the other ones would have to pay their way back...we agreed and ask to leave immediately...immediately is interpreted in a variety of ways here, so I jumped on the bus while F went to get everyone else ready to go...after a few calls, chats with various friends and strangers along the way we were eventually on our way...it was almost too good to be true!!!
That's right, because after a few hours we noticed that the "driver's assistant" was doing anything he could to keep the driver awake...at the top of the mountain pass he stopped to smoke a cigarette, and once we got back on the road I soon noticed that he was descending too too slowly and erraticly even considering the fog and rain...so I started paying attention and caught him swerving pretty badly a few times, after which I told him he could stop for a power nap if he wanted to...of course he denied everything, till he stopped by a house to drink some water and quickly took back to the wheel...by then, his little assistant had given up and moved to a seat where he was peacefully sleeping, while the driver's eyes and use of the brakes were anyrhing but reassuring! Some of us, the Italians, decided to take matters into our own hand as I moved upfront to be the next driver's assistant, since I was the one who spoke the most Spanish...I did my best to keep him awake, change songs, open some windows and switch to cold air...all of this would only last 20 or so minutes till the driver would inevitably get more and more sleepy...so then I would beg him to stop, take a walk with him in the freezing, dark night and make sure he was more alert before getting behind the wheel again...here I was in a dark, cold night on the Andes, trying to keep the driver from killing me and 11 other tourists, some of which, lucky them, were too asleep to even notice anything!!! What an end to our Christmas Day!
As were getting closer and closer to town, his comatose state at the wheel would get worse and worse...I tried to ask him as many questions as possible, ones that required him to think of the answer, and the more questions I asked, the scarier I became because of his non-sense replies...ones I remember were: "how many people live in Cusco?" "7...no, 5!", or "where is everyone?" "Santana" (the name of the part of town we were driving through!). We finally, eventually made it back at a quarter to 1, for a 6 hour trip had started at 15.30! Most of us were in shock, sleepy but extremely relieved to have made it back in one piece, after such a nightmarish experience on Christmas Day!
Monday, December 28, 2009
Tuesday, December 22, 2009
Ayacucho, Cusco (Peru)
Ayacucho, Cusco (Peru)
The bus ride to Ayacucho was definitely frightening at times...it started out like many others, then when I woke up I was on the edge of a huge precipice, on the other side of it was a mountain ten times taller than us, and in the middle was a fast-moving, rough river...of course the road was unpaved pretty much the whole time! And it was extremely curvy, so at least twice a minute I felt like I was over the edge, since I couldn't see the bus wheel I was sitting on, and I couldn't even see the road below me! It's a scary feeling...and it wouldn't go away, as that was how most of the ride would be...I started thinking about how my guidebook mentioned that there are a lot of fatal accidents on the roads every year, about how on the next day's paper it would say that a bus full of locals, plus an Italian and three Colombian brave tourists had fallen off the cliff and there were no remains of anything or anyone! The road was definitely that high up: had we fallen off the cliff, that would have been it for us, no second chances...I kept thinking of that the whole time I was away...no second chances in life! I was just hoping the bus driver knew that too, and I was confident that he knew what he was doing, since he must be doing it almost every single night! He was very capable, it just didn't feel like it! I felt like he was accellerating at every turn...it got worse when the river became bigger and bigger and we passed by a huge dam...right after it came the lower side of the river...much scarier!!! Then we stopped in the middle of nowhere, darkness all around...I was fearing mechanical problems, but soon found out it was so that people could go outside and pee...oh yeah, no bathroom in the bus for 10 hours!!! So I did step out to try and pee, but also to check out the night scenery...well, I couldn't do the former because I was too scared by the latter! The river was super loud, the wind was adding to the noise and the road didn't see all that dry after all...I was just trying to fall asleep and wake up in Ayacucho, rather than waking up in Heaven! When we finally reached our destination it all went away as a huge sense of relief took over, and as I was stepping off the bus I wanted to hug the driver and thank him for making it! Amidst allof this, I seemed to have forgotten how tired I was, how it was 5.30 and how I would spend the following night on yet another bus as part of a 20 hour ride to Cusco!
I befriended the only other tourists on that bus, three Colombian guys that turned out to have been as scared as me, and we proceeded to get a ticket for our next bus at 19, that same day...in the meantime we explored deserted Ayacucho at 6 on a Sunday! Nothing open, just a few people walking to church...the center was a very nice example of a colonial town, second only to Cusco...but Ayacucho seemed to be interesting if only for the fact that it's where the last battle in South America took place...as well as where the first traces of human presence were found...definitely a place whose people seemed to be vital and alive, almost rebellious...well, this is also where the Maoist movement Sendero Luminoso started in the late 70's before it tried to take over the whole country in the 80's!
We ate at the market where, just like in most places here, you could pick what part of a chicken you wanted, and yes, that included head and other delicacies, and one of the most common plates was the famous "cuy", a Guinea pig that can be prepared in a variety of ways, but that is usually seen split open on a plate with its face looking at you...I opted for a sandwich with olives, of course!
After walking all over town we decided to take a daytrip to some nearby towns that the market lady had recommended. We went to Wari, where we visited the ruins of the Wari Empire, and the Quinua, where there is a huge obelisk remembering the last battle of South America, and then we went horseback riding from that to the nearby waterfalls. The most interesting part of the day was when our minivan stopped to pick up some local woman...I was cramped next to the window (everythings seems to be made for people who are 1.60-1.65cm tall at the most here!!!), but the lady wanted to get her friends on the bus first...which consisted of a sheep and two black pigs...so her and a bystander proceeded to throw these animals that were in a net against the window, hoping it was high enough so that the driver on top of the bus could pick them up and secure them!
We eventually made it back to town and by then it was all much more lively...we got on the bus, tired and dirty, almost not thinking about what was ahead of us...soon enough we found ourselves in the same situation as the night before, except that the bus seats were much more comfy, so we were all able to sleep through most of it...what I did see was not so reassuring though...the driver seemed to be going even faster, as if trying to escape the vehicle that was following us...but then I felt like he knew what he was doing when he would stop in the middle of nowhere for no apparent reason, and wait for a minute or two till a truck would show up in the opposite direction and would go through...the driver knew exactly where it was too narrow for both of us and when someone else was coming! It got a little worse when we had to get off the bus, take our bags and wait inside a bus terminal for an hour at 4!!! At least it was part of the plan, right?! Our next bus eventually showed up, we loaded up and took off...the scenery was once again super curvy and bumpy, with the only exception that since it was daylight the driver couldn't tell if and when someone was coming in the opposite direction...instead of slowing down, which is what most of us would do when the road only fits one vehicle at a time, he would just speed up and go the entire way with the horn on! haha Luckily I had earplugs, so I slept through it all like a baby!
We eventually made it to Cusco, although it felt like forever...but now, after having showered, changed and seen the. Ity center, I can say it was all worth it! The road I took was not very touristy for a reason though! And on my way back up to Lima I don't have to go through it again! haha
Now it's time to explore Cusco and its churches and markets...last night I only managed to get some night shots and of course I ended up buying those typical Peruvian beanies ...for less than 2$. The hostel is just over 3$, and my veggie dinner at veggie El Encuentro was just over 1.25$!
I'm also going to plan the next couple of days, with visits to the Valle Sacrado and of course mighty Machu Picchu on the 24th, to be back here on Xmas Eve and leave on the 25th for Puno, on Lago Titicaca!
The bus ride to Ayacucho was definitely frightening at times...it started out like many others, then when I woke up I was on the edge of a huge precipice, on the other side of it was a mountain ten times taller than us, and in the middle was a fast-moving, rough river...of course the road was unpaved pretty much the whole time! And it was extremely curvy, so at least twice a minute I felt like I was over the edge, since I couldn't see the bus wheel I was sitting on, and I couldn't even see the road below me! It's a scary feeling...and it wouldn't go away, as that was how most of the ride would be...I started thinking about how my guidebook mentioned that there are a lot of fatal accidents on the roads every year, about how on the next day's paper it would say that a bus full of locals, plus an Italian and three Colombian brave tourists had fallen off the cliff and there were no remains of anything or anyone! The road was definitely that high up: had we fallen off the cliff, that would have been it for us, no second chances...I kept thinking of that the whole time I was away...no second chances in life! I was just hoping the bus driver knew that too, and I was confident that he knew what he was doing, since he must be doing it almost every single night! He was very capable, it just didn't feel like it! I felt like he was accellerating at every turn...it got worse when the river became bigger and bigger and we passed by a huge dam...right after it came the lower side of the river...much scarier!!! Then we stopped in the middle of nowhere, darkness all around...I was fearing mechanical problems, but soon found out it was so that people could go outside and pee...oh yeah, no bathroom in the bus for 10 hours!!! So I did step out to try and pee, but also to check out the night scenery...well, I couldn't do the former because I was too scared by the latter! The river was super loud, the wind was adding to the noise and the road didn't see all that dry after all...I was just trying to fall asleep and wake up in Ayacucho, rather than waking up in Heaven! When we finally reached our destination it all went away as a huge sense of relief took over, and as I was stepping off the bus I wanted to hug the driver and thank him for making it! Amidst allof this, I seemed to have forgotten how tired I was, how it was 5.30 and how I would spend the following night on yet another bus as part of a 20 hour ride to Cusco!
I befriended the only other tourists on that bus, three Colombian guys that turned out to have been as scared as me, and we proceeded to get a ticket for our next bus at 19, that same day...in the meantime we explored deserted Ayacucho at 6 on a Sunday! Nothing open, just a few people walking to church...the center was a very nice example of a colonial town, second only to Cusco...but Ayacucho seemed to be interesting if only for the fact that it's where the last battle in South America took place...as well as where the first traces of human presence were found...definitely a place whose people seemed to be vital and alive, almost rebellious...well, this is also where the Maoist movement Sendero Luminoso started in the late 70's before it tried to take over the whole country in the 80's!
We ate at the market where, just like in most places here, you could pick what part of a chicken you wanted, and yes, that included head and other delicacies, and one of the most common plates was the famous "cuy", a Guinea pig that can be prepared in a variety of ways, but that is usually seen split open on a plate with its face looking at you...I opted for a sandwich with olives, of course!
After walking all over town we decided to take a daytrip to some nearby towns that the market lady had recommended. We went to Wari, where we visited the ruins of the Wari Empire, and the Quinua, where there is a huge obelisk remembering the last battle of South America, and then we went horseback riding from that to the nearby waterfalls. The most interesting part of the day was when our minivan stopped to pick up some local woman...I was cramped next to the window (everythings seems to be made for people who are 1.60-1.65cm tall at the most here!!!), but the lady wanted to get her friends on the bus first...which consisted of a sheep and two black pigs...so her and a bystander proceeded to throw these animals that were in a net against the window, hoping it was high enough so that the driver on top of the bus could pick them up and secure them!
We eventually made it back to town and by then it was all much more lively...we got on the bus, tired and dirty, almost not thinking about what was ahead of us...soon enough we found ourselves in the same situation as the night before, except that the bus seats were much more comfy, so we were all able to sleep through most of it...what I did see was not so reassuring though...the driver seemed to be going even faster, as if trying to escape the vehicle that was following us...but then I felt like he knew what he was doing when he would stop in the middle of nowhere for no apparent reason, and wait for a minute or two till a truck would show up in the opposite direction and would go through...the driver knew exactly where it was too narrow for both of us and when someone else was coming! It got a little worse when we had to get off the bus, take our bags and wait inside a bus terminal for an hour at 4!!! At least it was part of the plan, right?! Our next bus eventually showed up, we loaded up and took off...the scenery was once again super curvy and bumpy, with the only exception that since it was daylight the driver couldn't tell if and when someone was coming in the opposite direction...instead of slowing down, which is what most of us would do when the road only fits one vehicle at a time, he would just speed up and go the entire way with the horn on! haha Luckily I had earplugs, so I slept through it all like a baby!
We eventually made it to Cusco, although it felt like forever...but now, after having showered, changed and seen the. Ity center, I can say it was all worth it! The road I took was not very touristy for a reason though! And on my way back up to Lima I don't have to go through it again! haha
Now it's time to explore Cusco and its churches and markets...last night I only managed to get some night shots and of course I ended up buying those typical Peruvian beanies ...for less than 2$. The hostel is just over 3$, and my veggie dinner at veggie El Encuentro was just over 1.25$!
I'm also going to plan the next couple of days, with visits to the Valle Sacrado and of course mighty Machu Picchu on the 24th, to be back here on Xmas Eve and leave on the 25th for Puno, on Lago Titicaca!
Saturday, December 19, 2009
Lima, Huancayo (Peru)
My arrival at the airport in Lima was marked by a common scene especially at South American airports: huge crowds waiting for their loved ones coming back for the holidays, armed with signs, bells, and a lot of determination! All usually goes well as long as the people stay behind the "barriers" and patiently wait for their passenger to make it through the "funnel"...well, Lima takes the cake for the biggest airport crowd in my limited experience...all I could see was people! I almost felt like a rockstar or something, if it wasn't for the fact that nobody was there for me at all! It was even more impressive than others because I could see through the endless lines of people, since most of them were quite shorter than me...and the balcony above us was also filled with people...they all seemed to behave, till one of them crossed the fence to hug their wife only 5 meters in front if him, and of course many more followed his example! This forced all of us trying to get out to stop, because, well, nothing and no one seems to be organized and efficient here! :)
After enjoying Christmas carols in English all night long at the coffee chain inside the airport (all because of their free wi-fi!), I decided to get to the city first thing in the morning...much better than trying to wing it at midnight, in a dark, new city with a lot of cash in your pockets and millions of piranhas (taxi drivers) waiting to get a bite out of you! So the next morning I walked out of the airport on my own, instead of paying too much for a taxi, and asked some locals, and then got on a local bus for next to nothing...it was a good introduction to traffic in Lima, a South American metropolis of 8.7 million people! I was in the passenger's seat of a 12-15 seat minibus...needless to say the driver was all over the place, we saw two wrecks right before our eyes, and the "bus guy" was continuously screaming and banging on the bus for all sorts of communication with the driver! How fun!
Luckily the hostel was in a very relaxing area of Lima, between Miraflores and San Isidro...my bus left me off after over an hour at the beginning of my street, some 15blocks before my hostel...right in front of, guess what, the Doubletree Hotel! My hostel, HQ Villa, was one of the most beautiful places I have ever stayed at, and that includes my house as well!
A combination of stress, lack of sleep, relaxation after a tense bus ride, and other things made me collapse on their amazing couch for a good 2-3 hours! When I woke up I was ready to hit the center of town! A couple of beautiful colonial squares, some governmental buildings and I was also able to find a vegetarian restaurant right in the middle of all that! After having checked out Miraflores and the center, I went on a ride through the coast through the beautiful Parque del Amor, onto Barranco, another area of town famous for its bars, clubs, restaurants and so on...if the city center could be compared to any colonial city in Latin America, and Miraflores could be compared to a South American version of Europe, the coastal area of Miraflores and Barranco could definitely be compared to...coastal California! Yes! You would have never guessed it!
The next day it was time for me to part ways with Lima and my amazing hostel...after taking several pictures of it, and facing the much-hated but inevitable taxi ride to the bus terminal of choice, I ended up at what I believe is the fanciest bus in all of Peru...so nice that my seat was twice as big and twice as comfy as any airplane seat, we had lunch on our 7 hour bus ride, and I slept the entire way! haha
I guess the fact that it was "so safe" implied that we each get a screenshot of our faces by a security guard who came onboard right before we left...that was a first for me too!
I got to Huancayo last night, and I could tell that our whole bus ride here was very rainy...I would wake up every now and then, and I couldn't see much outside our window...what I was able to see before it got dark though, was beautiful scenery!!!
I went from 200m a.s.l. to over 3400m in a few hours...so, as everyone repeatedly says, one should take some time off to adjust to the altitude and help the process either with pills (who likes pills anyway?!) or with mate de coca, which is pretty much hot tea made with coca leaves...after leaving my stuff at "La casa de la abuela" which was pretty much deserted, I was lucky enough to find another very vegetarian-friendly restaurant, El Pueblo, where I was able to get asparragus soup, an entree of rice, potatoes and soy meat, plus a cup of mate de coca and a dessert (mousse of maracuja...I don't know if this fruit has an English counterpart...sorry! It's a yellow tropical fruit! haha), all for an unattainable 3.5 soles, just a bit over a dollar! Guess where I am going for dinner as soon as I am done with typing this?! I already told him I would be back today!
Today I walked around a lot, visited a Salesian school and museum, checked out a local market, and hiked a good 3-4km to some reserve whose main attraction is these magnific geological formations called "Torre torre", because some of them look like towers...it was amazing, and totally unexpected considering the surrounding lush vegetation and poor neighborhoods...it was well worth the hike, and putting up with the rain and endless amount of stray dogs along the way...kinda stressful at times, since the ones who looked menacing actually proved to be harmless, and the ones who seemed friendly ended up sending their loudest barks my way. I survived though, made it back to town, chilled in the main square with all the locals, walked around a bit more to get my bus ticket for tonight...I am going to Ayacucho, hometown of the infamous Sendero Luminoso movement of the 70s...also famous for being one of the most authentic "Inca places" in the Andes together with Cusco, which is next...the book says both tonight's and the next trip, respectively 12 and 23 hour long, are not for the faint of heart!
After enjoying Christmas carols in English all night long at the coffee chain inside the airport (all because of their free wi-fi!), I decided to get to the city first thing in the morning...much better than trying to wing it at midnight, in a dark, new city with a lot of cash in your pockets and millions of piranhas (taxi drivers) waiting to get a bite out of you! So the next morning I walked out of the airport on my own, instead of paying too much for a taxi, and asked some locals, and then got on a local bus for next to nothing...it was a good introduction to traffic in Lima, a South American metropolis of 8.7 million people! I was in the passenger's seat of a 12-15 seat minibus...needless to say the driver was all over the place, we saw two wrecks right before our eyes, and the "bus guy" was continuously screaming and banging on the bus for all sorts of communication with the driver! How fun!
Luckily the hostel was in a very relaxing area of Lima, between Miraflores and San Isidro...my bus left me off after over an hour at the beginning of my street, some 15blocks before my hostel...right in front of, guess what, the Doubletree Hotel! My hostel, HQ Villa, was one of the most beautiful places I have ever stayed at, and that includes my house as well!
A combination of stress, lack of sleep, relaxation after a tense bus ride, and other things made me collapse on their amazing couch for a good 2-3 hours! When I woke up I was ready to hit the center of town! A couple of beautiful colonial squares, some governmental buildings and I was also able to find a vegetarian restaurant right in the middle of all that! After having checked out Miraflores and the center, I went on a ride through the coast through the beautiful Parque del Amor, onto Barranco, another area of town famous for its bars, clubs, restaurants and so on...if the city center could be compared to any colonial city in Latin America, and Miraflores could be compared to a South American version of Europe, the coastal area of Miraflores and Barranco could definitely be compared to...coastal California! Yes! You would have never guessed it!
The next day it was time for me to part ways with Lima and my amazing hostel...after taking several pictures of it, and facing the much-hated but inevitable taxi ride to the bus terminal of choice, I ended up at what I believe is the fanciest bus in all of Peru...so nice that my seat was twice as big and twice as comfy as any airplane seat, we had lunch on our 7 hour bus ride, and I slept the entire way! haha
I guess the fact that it was "so safe" implied that we each get a screenshot of our faces by a security guard who came onboard right before we left...that was a first for me too!
I got to Huancayo last night, and I could tell that our whole bus ride here was very rainy...I would wake up every now and then, and I couldn't see much outside our window...what I was able to see before it got dark though, was beautiful scenery!!!
I went from 200m a.s.l. to over 3400m in a few hours...so, as everyone repeatedly says, one should take some time off to adjust to the altitude and help the process either with pills (who likes pills anyway?!) or with mate de coca, which is pretty much hot tea made with coca leaves...after leaving my stuff at "La casa de la abuela" which was pretty much deserted, I was lucky enough to find another very vegetarian-friendly restaurant, El Pueblo, where I was able to get asparragus soup, an entree of rice, potatoes and soy meat, plus a cup of mate de coca and a dessert (mousse of maracuja...I don't know if this fruit has an English counterpart...sorry! It's a yellow tropical fruit! haha), all for an unattainable 3.5 soles, just a bit over a dollar! Guess where I am going for dinner as soon as I am done with typing this?! I already told him I would be back today!
Today I walked around a lot, visited a Salesian school and museum, checked out a local market, and hiked a good 3-4km to some reserve whose main attraction is these magnific geological formations called "Torre torre", because some of them look like towers...it was amazing, and totally unexpected considering the surrounding lush vegetation and poor neighborhoods...it was well worth the hike, and putting up with the rain and endless amount of stray dogs along the way...kinda stressful at times, since the ones who looked menacing actually proved to be harmless, and the ones who seemed friendly ended up sending their loudest barks my way. I survived though, made it back to town, chilled in the main square with all the locals, walked around a bit more to get my bus ticket for tonight...I am going to Ayacucho, hometown of the infamous Sendero Luminoso movement of the 70s...also famous for being one of the most authentic "Inca places" in the Andes together with Cusco, which is next...the book says both tonight's and the next trip, respectively 12 and 23 hour long, are not for the faint of heart!
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