Where's Andrew

CUZCO & THE SACRED VALLEY, PERU - OCT 31 TO NOV 3

Shane, Seleka, John, Rachel, Itamar and I arrived back into Cuzco around 7:00PM. The van was supposed to drop us off near our hotel but we finally get the driver to drop us off near the Plaza de Regocijo because the traffic is so crazy. There are hundreds of kids all dressed up but they seem to be Trick-Or-Treating in the centre of the city. They even ask us as we walk back to the hostel for candy. The whole Plaza Aramis is just packed with people. The day in Machu Picchu was awesome but the early mornings and all the hiking and steps have really tired me out and I'm not sure if I'm up for partying tonight or not and I think everyone else feels the same way.

After a shower and a change into clean clothes, we have decided to spoil ourselves and go to a really nice Indian Restaurant near the hostel. It's a bit expensive but after the trek, we feel we deserve it. We all opt for some curry and Nam bread. I order the Lamb Vindiloo which is hot but awesome. In other restaurants throughout SA I have found that what the locals call hot I would barely call medium. With that in mind, Shane, Itamar and Rachel order extra hot curry. The chef in this restaurant is from England and when he says it's extra hot, it's extra hot and we are all quite amused watching them eat the extra hot curry. They all say they like it but it takes a side order of yogurt for them to finish their dinner.

It's almost 10:00PM by the time we leave the restaurant and we decide to head down to an English pub in the main Plaza Armis. Brad and Liz are there with some people that they did the Inca Trail with. We stay for a couple of drinks but by 11:00PM we all head back to the hostel to crash. It's too bad as many people on the streets and in the pub are in costume and it looks like it will be a big night in all the local bars.

Hills Above Cuzco

The next morning, I'm sitting in the main common area on my computer when a doctor enters the hostel and heads up to Shane and Seleka's room. Shane's cold has not gone away and although he feels pretty good he's had a real bad, dry chest cough that is worse at night. Apparently he coughed a lot last night and then started coughing up quite a bit of blood. Next thing I know, an ambulance arrives. Shane walks out of the hostels on his own with Seleka and the doctor and heads to a nearby hospital for some tests. I'm hoping that his dry cough just irritated his throat to the point where a blood vessel broke. This happened to me once years ago, it freaked me out but was not serious at all.

Sacsayhuaman

My first priority today is to get some laundry done and my excitement for the day is to meet Rachel and Itamar at the food market where we all have a nice 2 course lunch for a little over $2US. Today a local celebration referred to as "The Day of the Dead" is happening. This is a day for the locals to remember loved ones recently departed. They go to the cemetery with food and drink that the departed liked and have a party at their loved one's grave. It is supposed to be quite festive because it is a celebration of life not death. Rachel and I go looking for a cemetery while Itamar heads back to the hostel for a nap. We thought we had some rough directions but after about 45 minutes of walking, we give up and go sit in the Plaza de Armis for a while before heading back to the hostel.



Inca Wall at Sacsayhuaman

 We've all been thinking about Shane all day and I'm very pleased to find him in his room when I get back and we have a little chat. They took x-rays of his chest when he went to the hospital but nothing conclusive showed. They wanted to admit him for a few days but he feels fine other than the cough and he did not want to get stuck with some unnecessary hospital bills. He has travel medical insurance but he's been getting the run around when he was trying to find out exactly what the insurance would and would not cover. He's about to head back to the hospital to get a camera scope put down his throat because they suspect a blood vessel in his throat may have burst too. I wish him my best and let him rest.

I also spend some time posting pictures on Facebook of my treks in Huaraz, uploading photos to Picasa, downloading the most recent episodes of The Big Bang Theory and The Walking Dead and writing my blog. It's a fairl quiet day what is just what I need as my cold is still hanging around.

Terraces at Sacsayhuaman

That evening I meet Rachel and Itamar and another Israeli couple that we trekked with in Huaraz named Sagi and Bar for dinner at the Blue Impaca restaurant where we have some delicious Impaca Burgers. When I get back from dinner, Shane and Seleka are back so I decide to go check on them. The news is good and the blood was coming from his throat. He has a chest infection but it is not serious, he just needs to take some antibiotics and rest. Somehow I don't think Shane is going to be a good patient as he is a high energy guy and other than the cough, he feels fine but hopefully he is gets some rest so he can shake his cough.

The next morning, Itamar, Rachel and I hike up into the hills behind San Blas. There is a viewpoint above the city that is supposed to be great and where a huge white statue of Jesus stands overlooking the city. There are also several Inca ruins here including a religious temple called Sacsayhuaman and a small temple to the moon. Sacsayhuaman is supposed to cost $28US but as we approach it, there does not seem to be anyone collecting tickets so we decide to try and just walk in because we don't want to pay this much. Of course we get all of about 5m past the entry point before we are stopped but we just play the dumb tourist card and leave.

The viewpoint is just next to these ruins so we head there for some photos and then decide to try and find the Temple of the Moon. We keep asking directions and get different directions each time. In truns out, we were with a couple hundred meters of it but end up walking several kilometers in a big loop before we find it. Other than the foundation walls, the temple is pretty much destroyed which is probably why it was free. When we get back, we run into John and the 4 of us go to a local pizza joint and it was the best pizza I've had on this trip.

John is heading to catching a plane tomorrow to Colombia to do some kite surfing, Rachel and

Inca Terraces at Pisac

Itamar are going to Puno on Lake Titicaca later in the week before crossing into Bolivia at Copacabana and Shane & Seleka are not quite sure what to do based on Shane's cold. For me, it is time to get moving and I figure Shane and Seleka need some private time after the stress of he last couple of days so, I decide to go to Arequipa in southern Peru. Everyone except John figures they will be in La Paz within a week or so, hopefully we will meet again there. I decide to book a night bus for tomorrow to Arequipa and book a day tour to the Sacred Valley through German at Puma Peru Tours who we booked the Salkantay Trek with.


When I get back to the hostel, I run into Shane and Seleka. Shane's cough is not as bad and they have been running errands today. He mentions that the Indian Restaurant is having a 2 for 1 entree sale because it is their 1 year anniversary tonight and asks if I want to go again. I say hell yeah and so does John, Rachel and Itamar. We all order different curries this time and no one has the extra hot. The meals awesome again.

The next day, I check out of the hostel and walk down to Puma Tours at the Plaza Armis where I leave my bags for the day. I am catching an 8:30PM bus to Arequipa but first I'm going on a tour of the Sacred Valley. I meet the tour bus in

the Plaza de Regocijo at 9:00AM but we are about 40 minutes late in leaving. We drive to a market at Huaullarcocha. I was expecting it to be a local market in the centre of town but instead it is just a tourist market that has been built specifically for the tour buses.

We're there for about 40 minutes before we drive another hour to Pisac where there are some Inca ruins of the same name. The ruins are some massive terraces that go up the mountains overlooking the town several hundred meters. The Incas that farmed these terraces lived in a fortress above the terraces that included religious temples and homes.

I can see another small cluster of building a couple kilometers away above some more terraces but we don't have time to hike to this part of the ruins. There are also many caves dug into the hills above where thousands of mummies were found. All the tombs have been looted since many of the mommies were buried with gold and other valuables. The size of the terraces themselves is very impressive. The only negative thing was that there were dozens of tour buses and the ruins were just swarming with tourists. I think I have been spoiled because I have not seen a site of ruins this crowded since I was in Tikal.

Inca Terraces at Ollantaytambo

We then drive to Ollantaytambo where the train dropped us off a few days ago. There is another massive set of Inca terraces with a few stone buildings. It similar to the other but just different enough to make it very interesting. Unlike at Pisac, the main town was located in the valley below the terraces at Ollantaytambo. There are some crop storage building carved into the cliffs on the other side of the valley. They are up high so they could not burn if the town below had a massive fire which was known to happen because all Inca buildings had thatch roofs. It also protected their food supply from major floods that would occasionally happen during rainy season and made it easy to defend their food from any possible invader. Again the ruins were very crowded with tourists.

We then drive over an hour to the town of Chinchero where a Catholic Church was built over top of a massive Inca temple. This is one of the oldest standing churches still in use in all of Peru. Construction was started around 1570 and completed just after 1600. The Inca stone foundations are evident around the church and the stone plaza that it is built on. The interior of the church has been restored and there are some fantastic frescoes on every wall and the ceiling. Unfortunately, we are not allowed to take any pictures in the church. We arrived just as the sun was setting which worries me because my bus to Arequipa leaves in about 2 hours and we are about 45 minutes away from Cuzco.

Chinchero is known for the quality of the textiles they produce and after seeing the church, we go to a collective where women make cloth using traditional techniques. One of the women gives us a 20 minute presentation on how they take raw sheep or impaca wool and turn it into a finished product including how they dye it. After the presentation, I mention to the guide that we were scheduled to be in Cuzco now and I have a night bus to catch to Arequipa at 8:30PM which is 90 minutes from now. He quickly gets everyone on the bus and we leave for Cuzco.

Churchb at Chinchero

Traffic is terrible getting into Cuzco. I finally ask the bus to drop me of a block from the Plaza de San Francisco because we are stuck in gridlock and it is now 7:55PM. I run the 3 blocks to Puma Tours and grab by baggage and then flag down a cab. It's now just past 8:00PM and I'm supposed to be at the Terminal Terreste (bus station) 30 minutes before my bus leaves but the buses are normally never on time and the terminal is only about 15 minutes away so I think I should be fine. Right after I get in the cab, it starts pouring rain.

As we drive, it seems every car is heading to the terminal as well and we crawl along. It's Friday and the start of a long weekend here and the cab driver says that the terminal will be very busy. It's just past 8:20PM and the taxi is stuck in traffic a few blocks from the terminal. So, I decide to jump out and make a dash for it. It is still pouring rain and the road is more like a small river and I run for the terminal but I'm soaked when I get there. I've never seen a bus terminal so busy in my entire 8 months of travel. It is hard just to move through the crowds in the terminal while I try to find out what gate my bus is leaving from. It's 8:30PM by the time I find out which gate and I quickly head there.



Textile Demo at Chinchero

 The bus is not under cover and there is a huge line-up of passengers getting on the bus and they are all screaming at the staff because they are getting soaked. I throw my bags into the lower storage space and head back into the terminal. I'm starving as I have not eaten since lunch at about 12:30PM and this bus ride is over 9 hours. I find a little store in the terminal and by some snacks and drinks. When I get back to the bus people are stilled lined up screaming. I just wait under cover until everyone gets on since seats are pre-assigned and I'm wet enough already.

By the time I get on it is almost 9:00PM and the bus is completely full. This is one of the nice double decker bus with a stewardess and she was the target of all the shouting and she is really pissed off at everyone. It is quite amusing as she walks down the aisle and has heated conversations with many of the passengers. I can't believe what a zoo the terminal was and how crazy everyone was when they were trying to get on the bus but I'm just glad I made it.



Inca Food Storage Site at Ollantaytambo

 I'm looking forward to getting to Arequipa which is located in the southern desert of Peru and it should be warm, sunny and dry. The main reason I'm going to Arequipa is to visist the Colca Canyon which is a deeper canyon than the Grand Canyon and is an excellent place to see the Andes Condor. I then plan to stop at Puno on Lake Titicaca before crossing into Bolivia. I want to spend a month or so in Bolivia before heading south to Chile where I will work my way as far south as the roads will take me over a 4 week period before crossing into Argentina on my way to the southern tip of the continent in Patagonia sometime in January. I will then work my way up the east coast of Argentina and then Uruguay on my way to Rio de Janeiro where I want to spend Carnival in February. I'm worried I will be a bit rushed so I may skip some places and then double back after Carnival. I'm planning on using most of the 90 days that I'm allowed in Brazil (once I actually get my visa) before heading north to Venezuela. I may slip Guyana in there along the way and will likely fly home from one of the Caribbean Islands just off the coast of Venezuela in April or May. The cost of flying from Port of Spain in Trinidad or Oranjestad in Aruba is about half of the price from Caracas in Venezuela.

This is the plan for now but I'm sure something will change it along the way. Hasta luego amigos.