The Trip Home

My trip has come and gone in a blink of an eye and in a couple of days I will be facing the day to day challenges of life back in Huntsville Alabama! This does not mean that this trip is all for none, to the contrary, this trip has helped me put one more piece in the big jigsaw puzzle that represents our world! The more pieces I put together the closer I will be to understanding the world around us and answering some pertinent questions as to the role of each piece in this world. That is the quest I have decided to pursue for as long as my physical and financial health permit me to. There is so much to see and learn that one's lifetime may not be enough to complete the puzzle, but we have to try, because not trying is synonymous to failure and failure is not an option! So let's build this puzzle and understand how we all fit in it!!!

Here are some final pictures from the trip....

Cusco's night life; plaza de Armes buzzing with people late into the night even on Sunday!!!

Stores, restaurants and coffee shops are open late into the night in Cusco

Taking a picture with a traditionally dressed girl in front of a restaurant

A young girl works in her parents' shop in a Cusco market. Our tourist money helps the future of these kids!

For someone who studies jets, what an ideal noisy seat to have in the plane!!!

The end of this trip brings this blog to a temporary holt until my next trip. I hope the friends and family members who followed this blog for the last two weeks enjoyed the pictures and were not annoyed by my comments! Hopefully you traveled virtually with me while at home or at work. On a personal level, this was not a big chore at all as I had plenty of time once in my hotel room. The blog also gave me something to do other than turning the TV on, which I avoided completely, or reading some depressing news on the internet so all in all it was a win-win idea for this trip!!

Thanks for all your personal comments! They helped fix my mistakes or typos... Until next time don't forget that there is a whole world out there waiting for you to explore, a fascinating and exciting one too and if this not enough to motivate you, think of all the poor people in this world that depend on your tourist money!!

Cusco Day Four: Sacred Valley

The last full day in Cusco was indeed filled with new places to visit and new things to learn. The day started early with breakfast at 6:30 am and the tour company picking me up at 7:45 am. After stopping at two more hotels to pick up four other tourists, we were on our way to the sacred valley. Today's tourist group was all Americans, a honneymoon couple from Arkansas and a mother and daughter from Colorado. From Cusco we ascended to a high altitude of 13,000 ft before we started our descent to the valley. There were so many little towns on our way with mixed construction style, old using just clay and new using brick and mortar! We also passed several archeological sites on our way, and the guide each time told us what they were. Off course we couldn't stop and see all of them, we would need a lot more than one day for that!! The scenery was just breath taking all along the way, so it was not a boring drive at all. Our first stop was an artisanal place where women from different areas in the valley were weaving stuff, but before arriving at the weaving point, we went through a petting zoo  where we saw vicunas, alpacas and llamas. Vicunas live in the wild and their numbers are dwindling, whereas llamas and alpacas are farm animals. We were told that the best wool comes from baby alpacas. We fed the animals and also took pictures while doing so. The weaving station was last and very interesting! Women were dressed up differently to represent their local community and also their marital status. The skin color was also different based on where they came from. Lastly, there was a shop where one can buy stuff and we were told that the proceeds go directly to helping the communities where the women came from so be generous and buy something!!! Next stop after this was the market place of Pisac, here Inca Indians from around the valley come to sell their goods and buy what they need. Some transactions do not involve money, as they just exchange goods!! The old fashion way!! We were given one hour to visit the whole place and buy what we wanted. After this stop, we were off to our main destination which was the Ollantaytambo archeological site. That was impressive!! The stone work just amazed me once more! There was the sun temple at the top of the site, we needed to climb 250 steep steps to get there, again I said!! But it was worth it as the view was great. You could see Inca storage houses on an opposite hill, where goods were stored for times of need. There were two sun gates at the top, the sun will enter from each gate at a different solar solstice!!

Riding in the sacred valley surrounded with the touring Andes mountains

Pisac Indian market

Pisac Indian market

Above a small town in the sacred valley of the Incas

A small Indian boy helping his mother weave

An Indian lady showing us how they get the different colors of the wool

Feeding an Alpaca

Feeding a llama

Feeding a hybrid Alpaca-llama

A landscape where the Incas used to farm and some still do

Some unique trees of the Andes

The archeological site of Ollantaytambo

Stone work of the Inca: no mortar no clay and cannot even slide a credit card between stones that is how well they carved and fit the stones!!!! This fit is believed to have saved Machu Picchu and other sites from being destroyed by he many earthquakes that hit Peru in the past. The stones just vibrate then fall back into place during an earthquake, thus the name "dancing stone"!!

One of the sun gates at the temple of the sun

Looking down from the temple of the sun on the archeological site. In the distance, once can see storage houses on the side of the mountain.

Looking up at the temple of the sun and the 250 steps leading up to it!!!

small canals were used to take fresh water from the top of the mountains to the valley

Urubamba river cutting through the sacred valley

No doubt that the sacred valley will remain vividly in my memory for years to come, not only got the beauty of nature but for all the amazing Inca work present everywhere. Ollantaytambo is the epicenter of it all with its temple of the sun, storage houses, and two sun gates that show the mastery of the sun cycle by the Inca; the sun enters from one window during the summer solstice and from the other during the winter solstice. While driving through small villages in the sacred valley, our guide pointed out the lack on any written signs on store fronts, instead what you have is a long stick at the end of which you have a plastic bag! The color of the plastic bag tells people what is being sold in the store, for example red bags mean Chicha (beer) is sold there (a modern day bar of sorts). These signs are still used today. In any case, the Incas came up with ingenious ways to solve problems in their society that shows the level of sophistication of the Incas! 

Cusco Day Three: Exploring

After a rainy and raw day yesterday, the sun came out today and it was nice and warm by noon time. I took my time to leave the hotel because my leg muscles were still sour from the Wayna Picchu and sun gate hikes! I did not train for steps but rather for endurance on flat to moderately hilly terrains. Next time I will know better!! I decided against the city tour because I have visited most of the tourist sites already so no need to redo that so I decided to fill the gaps on the map where I have not been yet. This idea took me through some very narrow streets of Cusco where you have to negotiate with car drivers  who goes first!!! At times I had to stop and stand side ways to let the car pass !! The Casbah of Algiers came to my mind while on those streets today, however Cusco streets  are much safer!!! 

I visited the Machu Picchu museum today and learned a lot about the history and various artifacts found at the site. Machu Picchu was discovered by a Yale University professor, Hiram Bingham, on July 24th 1911. Professor Bingham focused mostly on finding Inca burial sites as they revealed a lot about their life style and stature in the Incan society. The Incas buried their dead with all their possessions. In Quito, I learned that when a high ranking Inca man died they buried his wife with him even if she were still alive. Apparently they drugged her then buried her with her husband!!!! I could not take pictures in this museum so nothing to show here... I also wandered into some market, which are everywhere in this place, this one was called the San Pedro market. It was huge and they sold everything, I have pictures of that one...

I spent a long time sitting in a plaza just watching all the crowds of tourists speaking a multitude of languages. At times I felt like tourists outnumbered the locals, I am sure in that plaza it was the case.

Fruits anyone?? All kinds of fruits some I don't even know!!!

Chicken anyone?? Just in the open, no refrigeration !!!

Bread anyone?

Narrow street where I ventured! Empty and hardly any side walk

The plaza where I sat on a balcony of a cafe and was looking at the crowds below

Peruvian women weaving in an artisanal store

As my trip draws to a close, I often reflect back on what I learned in the last two weeks and I have to say I learned a lot!! South America is an amazing place, full of history and natural wonders. It is a rich continent in every aspect of the word rich; culturally, economically and with natural wonders. Yes the politics of the countries and the rampant corruption are hampering their forward progress, but once they find the magic formula they will be a force to recon with!! If the Incas built a sophisticated empire in the 15th century, their descendent will someday reclaim that glory once more and rise to the top!

Another thing I learned in the last two weeks is that as much as the internet has made the world a small place with all the information at our finger tips, there is no substitute to first hand experience and face to face encounters with different people from around the world to learn about their cultures,  their traditions, their history! We will achieve a much better understanding of each other and how to deal with each other with respect. It is this that the modern electronic age cannot replace! Reading things on the web prepared me somewhat for the trip but the human side I learned it during the trip. I am fearful for our internet age kids that are unable to interact with each other even when in the same room, they prefer to text each other!!!! I hope that this will come to pass and that the all important human interaction will find its central position again, if not ?????

Tomorrow I will tour the sacred valley of the Incas from Chinchero to Urubamba to Pisac where I will visit some more amazing sites and will finish at an Indian market!! Some more excitement for my final full day in Cusco.

Cusco Day Two: Recovering

Today is a slow day!! All my leg muscles are hurting especially when I go up or down steps, so steps are not welcome today!!! My new hotel is not as good as the previous one in Cusco, I blame Expedia rating for this!! The one good thing is that I complained about some stuff and threatened to leave and they have responded! They even gave me an emergency phone to call them from anywhere in Cusco if I needed help like send a taxi or whatever so given that I decided to stay there for now!! I am exploring a different part of town today so I am learning new stuff! Tonight a tourist company will take me to dinner followed by a folkloric evening, something new! I am curious how that goes?? The independence of Peru is July 28th as I already mentioned before so there are parades everywhere by school kids and I ran into one today so...

Peruvian kids marching band in Cusco

More kids dressed up differently and just having a very synchronized march in Cusco ( they were right behind the band )

Temple of the sun in Cusco (Coricancha)

View of part of Cusco from temple of the sun

The stone construction of the Incas is unparalleled in history and will put to shame modern civil engineers!! Their construction is said to be earthquake resistant that is why Machu Picchu is still there and did not crumble over the centuries!!

A dance with Indian costumes at dinner

More dances

Different costumes

More costumes and dances

Machu Picchu - Wayna Picchu

It is 11:00 pm and I just settled in my room in Cusco! It has been a very long day to say the least, but a very exciting one too... The day started much earlier than I thought, 4:00 am!!! There was so much noise in the hotel that it was impossible to sleep!! Nearly everyone in the hotel was getting ready to get out, so I decided to do the same. I packed my backpacks and by 5:00 am I was out of my room. At the front desk, I returned the key of my room and left my big backpack in the hotel, so did everyone else. I had a quick coffee and bread and was rushing to the bus stop. As I came close to the bus stop, I was shocked to see a huge line of people waiting for the bus, I thought I would be there at sun rise, forget that thought, I will be lucky to make it by 7 or 8:00 am! The good news is there were lots of buses and so as soon one is full, the next bus is ready. By the time I boarded my bus, 15 bus-loads of people have already departed and it was only 6:00 am!!!! The dirt road and the famous  switchbacks made it a very bumpy ride up. On the way I saw many hikers doing it the right way; hiking all the way up! Once off the bus, we have another line to go through at the gate, checking passports an tickets! It was moving fast and by 7:00 am I was already wowed by what I was seeing! Just incredible views! Many tourists had guides, but I opted not to have one as I wanted to go through the site at my own pace; fast and furious!! I had only one day there so I needed to see as much as possible! After roaming around and taking pictures in all directions and of everything that attracted my eye, I headed to the gate for Wayna Picchu also spelled as Huayna Picchu (which in Quechua means "young peak" while Machu Picchu means "old peak"). My group hike was starting at 10:00 am and I was there early not to be stuck in another long line of 200 people long! Wayna Picchu is a UNESCO site so there is strict control of the number of people who can get in, in this case 400 per day in two groups of 200! I bought my ticket early, in March, that is why I was one of the 400. The Machu Picchu site had a 2500 visitors limit per day, which after visiting, I think it is too high of a number!! But then again who am I to say, the Peruvian government decides that!! 

To hike Wayna Picchu one has to be FIT and this is really a must!! Some sections of the hike were nearly vertical climbs with very narrow steps and steep drops! I was very nervous at times, especially coming back down!!! Very tough on the knees, I was very worried so I used the three point technique most of my way down! One hand was always either on the higher step or on a side rock or tree or whatever is nearby. There was even two small narrow tunnels that we had to go through before getting to the top, one of them I had to remove my backpack and push it ahead of me while I was crawling like a snake through the tunnel!!! But in the end it was all worth it, the views were worth all the trouble and every drop of sweat!!! Just incredible views of the Machu Picchu site and surrounding mountains!

Once off Wayna Picchu, I was headed to the sun gate which is another location from which one can take breath taking pictures of the entire Machu Picchu site! However the hike is long and steady up slope with lots of steps, terrible for the knees!! But I decided this is my only chance in this place and I had to do it now!!! Off I went and on my way I was asking people about how long it takes to get there and it is interesting that the estimates were all over from 2 hours one said to 1/2 hour another said so, I just had to ignore all that and keep going!!! It turned out 30 to 45 minutes is all takes to get there so... Not bad at all. Once there, the views were just spectacular again but from a different angle.

Enough said here is a sampling of the pictures....

Looking down from Wayna Picchu high above Machu Picchu! Just breath taking views!!

Victory sign for reaching the summit of Wayna Picchu in a record time

Flying high above Machu Picchu from the top of Wayna Picchu ( you can see how wet my shirt is in the back, it was a tough steep hike to 8,880 ft)

Machu Picchu seen from Wayna Picchu

Machu Picchu & Wayna Picchu seen from the sun gate

A tourist emerging from the very narrow tunnel with his backpack in front (not for the claustrophobic people)

Llamas roaming between tourists 

The Machu Picchu site

Valley views from Wayna Picchu 

Another dizzying view from Wayna Picchu, the shear vertical rise from the valley gave me chills when looking down!!! I had to step back from the edge to regain my composure and cool!

The steep descent from Wayna Picchu tested my knees 

Dwellings on the Machu Picchu site, some one story and some two story houses!

Above Machu Picchu at 7:00 am pointing to the high peak of Wayna Picchu where I was heading next!!

By 2:00 pm I was ready to take the bus back to Aguas Calientes! I was tired and felt like my mission was accomplished so no need to just go from room to room on the Machu Picchu site, unless you are a civil engineer admiring the construction of the dwellings!! To take the bus back, there was a line again and a long one too, I guess we were all exhausted at the same time!!! I have to say the bus drivers were so good, they just zip back and forth on those switchbacks and sometimes had to drive in reverse to allow other buses in the opposite direction to pass! Once back down in Aguas Calientes, I looked for a place to rest, like a side street cafe with Wi-Fi so I can check my email and browse a bit!! By 4:00 pm I headed to my hotel to get my big backpack and go to to the train station. My train ride to Ollantaytambo was at 6:35 pm and I was hoping my taxi would be waiting for me there! Riding a train at night isn't as fun as during the day, can't see anything so I tried to talk to my neighbor who was from Quito Ecuador. She was happy to learn that I visited her home town! Her English was rather weak so I understood very little of what she said!! We did have a snack and drink service again and I had coca tea and a cookie! At 8:15 pm we were at the Ollanta station and I was relieved to see a guy, not the same one who dropped me off at Poroy station, with a sign having my name on it!! I pointed straight at him and we shook hands and we were off. The driver did not speak much English so the ride was very quiet! The roads were all two-way traffic and some drivers were really dangerous! However, my driver was very safe thank god! We crossed so many towns on our way; Urubamba, Chinchiro, Poroy to name few before arriving in Cusco at around 10:15 pm!! I checked into my hotel, got my room and immediately jumped into the shower!! I went to sleep soon after that!!!! Tomorrow is an easy day and I needed that to recoup...