Welcome to Peru Part 2!
DAY 27 CUSCO
Yep, up early again today. 2.30am to be exact. I got ready then went down to reception. I was surprised to hear music still blaring through the streets. I received a Whatsapp call from my guide asking me to meet her in the Plaza, so off I went. She turned up just 2mins later and I boarded a minivan. Turns out I was second last to be picked up. It was a little chilly but not too bad.
We then began the 1.5hr drive to the breakfast restaurant. The guide Jackie gave us all blankets and most people slept. I think I may have nodded off briefly, but the roads are in terrible condition, windy & bumpy so it wasn't easy.
We arrived at breakfast before they were even ready for us. We sat down, made ourselves cups of coca tea, then were allowed to go to the buffet. We had pancakes with fresh fruit. It was really nice, although I would have preferred something less sugary & more starchy/protein based given the hike we were about to do. It was also absolutely freezing here, and I was regretting not bringing a coat (a girl in my dorm told me not to bring it as I don't need it once I start hiking).
Then we continued driving for another 1hr to the start of the hike. We had our entry fees included in the tour price so that was good. We went to the toilet, got instructions from Jackie, and then set off. It was 6.30am now, and we were one of the first groups to arrive. This was the selling point of the 3am tour, very few people at the top so you get better photos. The standard time is 1.5hrs, with 1hr on the flats and 30mins on the steep uphill final section.
We didn't have to stay as a group, everyone could walk at their own pace. I ended up walking on my own for most of the way. The start is mostly flat with small ups and downs. Jackie called it ‘Inca flat’. It was cold but I instantly warmed up when I started walking. Don't get me wrong, it might have been relatively flat, but I was still struggling to breathe on the flats, and significantly more so on the ups.
I stopped several times, with my stops getting more frequent the further I walked. At one point, a couple from my bus caught up to me and we walked together for a bit. Then I had to stop a few times on a steeper section and they kept going. Every step was torture on the lungs. I am at the end of a respiratory infection, and I'm not acclimated to the high altitude & low oxygen levels yet. Nevertheless, I kept going. It was too late to rent a horse, and I wanted to prove I could do it. Oh, and there were security guards on the way keeping an eye on people’s health and all guides & guards had radios in case of medical emergencies.
Then I get to the steep section. This was even worse, because you could see the top, but you could not breathe enough to get there quickly. Another girl from the bus caught up to me here and we went to the top together. We set a goal: let’s get to the corner & stop. Let’s get to the dog & stop. This worked well. I made it to the semi-top in about 1hr 25mins. The 4th kilometre took me 32mins! For 1 kilometre! That's how tough it was!
Here, the views were amazing! You could see all the way back to the carpark, Rainbow Mountain, the whole valley on either side, and the tip of Red Valley. I took lots of photos and had some water & chocolate to help me recover. There were lots of locals with stalls selling food, drinks & souvenirs. By now I was roasting & I had already removed my jumper & ear warmer band. I was just wearing my hiking pants, long sleeve thermal top and a tshirt.
Then I decided to tackle the very steep steps
to the very top lookout. I had to stop several times of course. I was breathing
very hard when I got to the top & my chest was hurting. I'm surprised my
lungs didn't explode! Along the way up were several llamas & alpacas that
you could pay to have a photo with. I'm not sure on the ethics of this so I
declined. I did manage to capture this shot of 2 sexy alpacas! I think it is my favourite photo!
The view from up here was even better! It was completely worth the pain. As we were over 5000m, we were told to only stay 15mins max then go back to the lower viewpoint. I took a ton of photos then headed back down.
On the way, I met Jackie, who offered to take a photo for me. She told me to do a jumping one. Here is the result:
You
can see how the colours of the mountain appear different in each of the
photos. I find it interesting how they have come out on my different
devices & formats. The above photos are a mixture between Samsung
S20 regular JPEG, Samsung RAW pro and my Sony camera RAW converted to
JPEG. In reality, the colours were more pronounced than the jumping
photo, and slightly enhanced by the RAW versions.
Then we all sat on some benches and Jackie gave us some information and history about Rainbow Mountain. The entry fee to Rainbow Mountain goes directly to the local communities, and due to the huge number of tourists (second most popular attraction in Peru after Machu Picchu), they are now building 2 schools in nearby villages. In one village, the children had to walk 3-4hrs each way to get to school so it will significantly benefit the kids! Also, this place was only opened to tourists 13 years ago and the route was a long 16km 6-7hr round trip slog from the other side. The route everyone takes these days is 8km 2-3hr round trip and only opened 6 years ago.
Then she told us about Red Valley. 7 out of 13 of us decided to do it. It was an extra 20 soles, and she showed us the route. It was fairly flat mostly, with a steep incline at the end. She said the incline was 7mins long. Doable I thought, so I decided to go.
Off we set, sticking together this time and talking along the way. We got to the first checkpoint and each paid 10 soles, then continued on the way. At the top of the steep incline (which I struggled again), we got to the entry gate & another checkpoint. We paid another 10 soles and he pointed out the pathways we could. We immediately declined the long, steep, challenging one, and instead, went to the flat lookout point where there was a sign and a group of 3 people.
This place was spectacular. Red everywhere. And when you see the photos, it really was that red! It was like someone poured red paint all over the mountains. We stayed here for quite a while, taking lots of photos of each other.
Then another group came, so we decided to leave. We had been given a return hike start time of 10am, but we ended up leaving at 9.35am. There is a slightly different trail to go down so you don't have to go all the way back to the first gate. This cut down the side of the mountain and made it slightly quicker. On the first section of the return path (which backtracks for a short distance) there were heaps of people going to Red Valley. Good timing for us to leave!
As
we were heading down the mountain, we
saw just how many people were on the trail heading to Rainbow Mountain,
or at
the top. Hundreds! We were so lucky to have done the early tour! If you
come here, do yourself a favour and book the 3am tour with Rainbow
Mountain Travels. It is completely worth the very early start!
We continued heading back to the carpark, which took about 40mins. After a toilet stop, we found our van and sat inside to wait.
Once everyone arrived, we began the journey back to the restaurant. One girl was very sick, and another guy wasn’t feeling too crash hot. Altitude really does wreak havoc on the body! During the drive, another guy (who was very speedy going up the mountain) became very sick. He was almost vomiting, but then Jackie put him on the oxygen bottle and he started to feel a bit better.
At the lunch stop, we had a buffet again. It was delicious. The guacamole was my favourite, and I had homemade sweet potato chips with it. I also had a ton of vegies & chicken.
The 2 guys were feeling better now, but not the girl. She ended up having the oxygen too, then she slept most of the way back to Cusco.
We were dropped off near the centre and I walked straight back to my hostel. I was exhausted. I stripped off my hiking clothes and curled up in my bed. One of the girls in my dorm came back after a while and we talked about my trip. It was snowing when she did Rainbow Mountain, which automatically closes Red Valley, so she wanted to see my pictures.
After an hour, I decided I needed to get laundry done. I took some clothes up to a little place near the hostel and paid 10 soles for 1.1kg laundry. Normally they do a 2hr service, but she had a lot to do and it was 4pm so she asked me to come back tomorrow. No worries.
Then I walked around the square for a bit & took some pictures. It is a very pretty place. A lot of people that I have talked to recently have all loved Cusco.
I headed back to my hostel, got a cup of coca tea and sat down to check my photos. Man, the new Samsung Raw photo app takes great pictures! The colour is so much more lifelike!
At 5.30pm I was getting hungry so I decided to get changed and go for dinner. I had chosen a place at the end of my laneway, which was a bit fancier, but served guinea pig and had nice sounding cocktails.
I got a table straight away, which was lucky as they were quite full and had plenty of reservations. I ordered the crispy guinea pig and a chicha punch. Chicha morada is purple corn and they extract the juice to drink. This cocktail had pisco, chicha morada, pineapple juice & lime. It was very nice.
I was given a complimentary serve of bread with flavoured butter. This was very good!
Then my guinea pig came. My waiter told me that it’s recommended to eat with your fingers, and that the skin is edible. It came with native potatoes, choclo corn, corn tamale and criolla salad. I really struggled to find meat on this animal. It was also full of bones & I hate bones in my meat. The meat was alright, a bit like chicken, but the skin was greasy and not to my liking.
I decided to order dessert as I wasn't full. I chose one called cacao. It was a cacao pod filled with the bottom layer being chocolate ice cream, which was then covered in crumbled chocolate brownie & crumbled peanuts. It was so good!
Then I headed back to my hostel to chill, wash my hair & go to bed. I actually get a sleep in tomorrow and am very much looking forward to waking up to my alarm at 9am! This little adventurer is absolutely shattered!
DAY 28 CUSCO
I had a wonderful sleep! My watch gave me a score of 95 out of 100! All that hiking & the altitude really took it out of me.
I had a slow morning, just hanging out in bed talking to the other girl who was packing to check out. I also had breakfast, which was free & not my style, so I bought scrambled eggs for 5 soles ($2 AUD).
I packed for my adventure as I was going ziplining and then spending the night in the Star Lodge. More about that later.
Then I decided to find a good coffee. I went to a place called Three Monkeys, where they have their own coffee beans, got a latte which the barista made a llama in the foam, and a lemon cruffin. I took them to the main square to sit, people watch & eat. The coffee was alright, not very hot, and the cruffin was nice.
Then I went back to my hostel, changed my accommodation for after my Inca Trail trek, and my pickup arrived.
There were 3 other guys in the van when it arrived, speaking French. I'm getting good at recognising some languages! The drive to the Urubamba took about 1hr 45mins. The scenery was very spectacular as it is in the mountains.
We got kitted out in harnesses, helmets & gloves. Then I was taken to hike up the mountain while the boys did the via ferrata (metal ladder). Part of my hike required clipping to safety lines & having to clip & unclip as we went, and we did a small section of via ferrata climbing. Finally we made it to the top where the Sky Lodge was. The Sky Lodge is a hotel consisting of 3 glass pods stuck on the side of the cliff that you sleep in. The only way to get there is to climb or hike. The views are amazing.
Here we had to wait for the boys and then we zipped our way back to the ground over 7 ziplines. Turns out the boys are French Canadian from Quebec, and speak English well so we had a conversation on the way down. It was a lot of fun. In case you forgot, I love ziplines!
Here, we were given some snacks, then we drove to the Star Lodge, where I was to stay the night, and the boys were taken back to Cusco. The Star Lodge has the same glass pods on the side of the cliff, but you can drive to the base & then you climb the metal stairs to get to the pods. You also have hot tubs on the cliff, hot showers, flushing toilets etc. I was the only guest at the lodge for the night! Wow!
I met my overnight guide & host, Daniel, who kitted me out in another harness, helmet & gloves, then took me to the hot tub deck. This required a walk & a small section clipped to a safety line.
The hot tub area has 3 hot tubs & bathrooms, for the 6 pods. The hot tub was 44°C, and the bathroom has a hot shower, toiletries, flushing toilet, sink, towels, bathrobe, hair-dryer & powerpoint! Talk about luxury!
I changed into my bathers and then went out to the hot tub. Daniel made sure the water was the right temp for me, took some pictures, got my water bottle & then let me be for an hour and a half.
It was lovely! The view was wonderful & I could see people on the road below pulling over to take pictures of the lodge. It did get a bit hot though, so I kept getting in & out, and drinking my water. After a while, it also got a bit boring but I tried to relax and enjoy the solitude & nature.
I had a nice hot shower & was just putting my harness back on when Daniel came to collect me. You cannot go anywhere without the guide for safety reasons.
He took me back down to the base camp area, where I was seated in the dining tent. This was really lovely! He then served me a 4 course meal that he had cooked. First was pumpkin soup, then salad, then spinach stuffed chicken with veg, and finally a honey nut nougat with cashew cream & mango. I also had passionfruit juice & a Peruvian white wine. It was all very good!
I was really quite full now, and it was extremely windy, so we began the journey to my pod. It took maybe 15-20mins to get there. It was pitch black and you are walking on metal steps attached to the cliff, there a suspension bridge (terrifying in the dark!) and some narrow corners & steps. It was thrilling and scary at the same time!
The pods have a platform to stand & sit on and a big dome hatch for entry. I had to be clipped to my safety line until I was halfway down the ladder into the pod. Inside the pod I could remove all safety gear, and if I wanted to go sit on the platform to stargaze, I had to radio Daniel to let him know I was going outside & again when I was back inside. I also had to wear all safety gear & be clipped to the safety lines at all times.
The pods have 3 beds for 4 people. 1 queen & 2 singles, as well as a tea station with hot water & cold water, and a flushing toilet with sink & running water. They also have an incredible view!
I hung out in my pod for a bit, then went to the platform to do some astrophotography. I was racing against the full moon, but managed to get some decent photos. In going to stack them into a star trail photo & also try and combine them into a time lapse video when I get home & have my laptop. I stayed outside for about 1.5hrs, then after my camera program finished, I went back inside.
I was very cold by now, and even with my thermals on, I was cold in bed. I fell asleep quickly which was good.
DAY 29 CUSCO
I woke up several times during the night. I'm not sure why, maybe I was worried I would wake up too late to try and fly my drone. The calmest times are before 9am apparently. Too much wind is not good for baby drones like mine.
Eventually, I got up, rugged up & went outside. I was really nervous as I hadn’t really had the opportunity to fly my done before (outside of my bedroom), and if I lost it, it would be very hard, if not impossible, to retrieve from the cliff face. I did one flight, which was rather terrible but for some reason (probably user error), the video didn't work. So of course, I did a second video. This one, I was slightly more confident, but you can see the anxiety in my face!
After this, I took some photos with my phone & went back inside. I was really cold so I made a cup of tea, snuggled under the doona with a blanket wrapped around my shoulders and did some sudoku while I watched the world go by.
Daniel came to get me at 9.10am and we descended to the base camp for breakfast. I took a video of the daylight descent, which is possibly more terrifying than the nutting ascent, because you can see the drop!
I was served coffee & fresh orange juice, fruit salad (grapes, banana, apple & kiwi fruit), granola, yoghurt, bread, ham, cheese & 2 jams. Plus, I was also offered eggs, which I had scrambled. I ate everything except the bread & jams. I added some yoghurt & granola to my fruit which was very nice. I was very full!
Then I hung around in the country, taking some more pictures & waiting for the drive to pick up the people at the Sky Lodge. We had to wait for them to zipline down. At this base camp, I bought a tshirt, then we boarded the van & drove back to Cusco on a different route. This route was really nice, through lots of towns & farmland.
Back at the hostel, I chilled for a bit, tried to sort out the pictures and then went to the supermarket to buy chocolate & lollies for the Inca Trail.
I headed to the G Adventures office just before 4pm for the briefing, and met a guy who was also doing the trek. Turns out there were 2 different groups in the briefing. The 2 of us, plus 9 people who were doing a day touring the Sacred Valley tomorrow & starting the Inca,Trail the next day. This was not explained and I was very confused why he kept singling me out with comments like ‘my colleague will talk to you about your accommodation’ etc.
He went through a thorough breakdown of the trek, and to be completely honest, I'm worried that I'm going to struggle big time. Especially day 2 when you have to hike uphill for 6hrs straight to Dead Woman’s Pass, which is over 4200m high. We were given the duffel bags that the porters will carry, which must be 6kg max, including the sleeping bag & mat. They total 3.5kg so we can only have 2.5kg for clothes, toiletries etc.
I had to rent a sleeping bag because they are not included & the air mattress, because the included mat is very thin. I also rented walking poles. We were told we had to be at the office by 5.15am tomorrow morning. Yikes, another early start! We were also told that every morning we will be up about 5-5.30am and going to bed at 6.30-7pm each night!
I headed back to my hostel, after inviting the guy on my trek to join my dorm mate & I for dinner at a local steakhouse.
My dorm mate & I had a chat, then went to the restaurant. I had the alpaca hot stone grill, which comes with salad and a potato dish, which I chose crispy native potatoes. Both my dorm mate & hiking buddy are from the US, but opposite side of the country. It was a lovely meal, and the company was good.
Then we parted ways, with my dorm mate & I heading back to our hostel. She has a day trip tomorrow & has to be up about 4.15am, so we are getting up together.
I had to sort & pack. I had 2.5kg limit in the duffel bag & a recommended 5kg limit in the day pack. My duffel was 4.5kg without the 3.5kg of kit! I had to shuffle & reassess. I really did have the very minimum packed: 1 tshirt, 1 winter coat, 1 rain coat, thermal top & bottoms, beanie, toothbrush & toothpaste, contact lens stuff, comb, water, snacks, medicine & power bank. Then I had a big debate over whether to take my camera. It weighs just over 1kg, which is quite a lot. In the end, I decided to take it, and now my day pack is about 6.5kg with water. Oh well.
Then it was shower time & bedtime. We have to be up so early & I’m getting nervous that I won't make it, but the altitudes are lower than Rainbow Mountain, so hopefully I’ll be ok.
DAY 30-33 INCA TRAIL
I have decided to post these few days as a separate blog. Head here to read about my Inca Trail trek to Machu Picchu.
DAY 34 CUSCO
I woke up ridiculously early for a sleep-in day: 6am. I slept ok but it would have been nice to sleep until 8am at least.
I didn't get up for a while, but eventually dragged my butt out of bed and started the big task of sorting & packing.
At 8.30am I went for breakfast at the hostel restaurant and had an omelet. It was pretty good.
Then I went to get some cash and take my disgusting clothes to the laundry. She normally does them quickly, but asked me to come back at 5pm. No worries, better in fact as I wouldn't have to carry them all day!
I checked out at 9.30am, stored my luggage again and went to the big San Pedro market. This is apparently a good place for souvenirs. It was a 10min walk from my hostel so not too far, and there were some nice buildings along the way.
The market is a typical South American market: it has tourist souvenirs, fresh fruit & veg, fresh meat, fresh juice stalls and hot food stalls. I wanted to buy a bag for school in the bright Peruvian pattern and a jumper with alpacas on it. Oh, and my shot glass.
I walked around for ages. I saw lots of things but nothing jumped out at me and said ‘buy me’.
I went back towards the main square to look in the shops around there. I literally spent 4hrs just walking around looking at souvenirs. Eventually I got what I wanted.
I had a booking for the cat café for 2.30pm so went there and found the place padlocked shut! Google says they are closed today (Tuesday) but you can make bookings on their website. I obviously wasn't very impressed.
I went back to my hostel to chill for a bit, then went and got a massage for my sore body. It was 50 soles for an hour, which is roughly $20 AUD. It was pretty good too.
Then I collected my laundry and headed to a local American restaurant for a burger. I had seen that they serve alpaca burgers before the Inca Trail and wanted to try one. I ordered a burger with alpaca patty, pulled pork, cheese, lettuce, BBQ sauce and mint mayo. It was very good! It came with chips and coleslaw. The coleslaw taste exactly like I remember Aussie KFC coleslaw to taste like. I also had strawberry sparkling soda, which was delicious. If you ever come to Peru, you must try alpaca. You won't regret it.
Then I went back to the hostel to hang out for a few hours until it was time to go to the bus depot. I have 25hrs of travel coming up leaving at 9.30pm tonight and arriving 10.30pm tomorrow night: Cusco – Puno – Copacabana – La Paz. By tomorrow afternoon, I’ll be in Bolivia!
The bus was a big double decker, specially fitted out for overnight journeys. The bottom level was half the bus length due to the luggage compartment being the other half. It also had toilet (pee pee only) and big cama (bed) seats. The arrangement was 1 seat on one side of the aisle and 2 seats on the other side, totalling 12 seats. They were wide and lay about 160° flat. I took the front single seat. As I was sorting myself out, the Irish couple that I travelled from Huacachina to Nazca to Arequipa boarded. It was great to see some familiar faces! They sat in the row behind me, and there were 2 American ladies next to me. On the top level of the bus is normal bus seats that recline, and they cover the length of the bus. The bottom was much better!
I chatted with the Irish couple about our time in Cusco & Arequipa. The bus left early as we were all on board. The guide gave us information and came around to collect our travel details and give us another wristband. We had a roughly 8hr overnight trip to Puno. Several of us changed into other clothes, I took my contacts out and once the lights went out, we curled up and tried to sleep. The seats are wide enough that I could curl up in the fetal position and I actually got some sleep.
DAY 35 PUNO
We were due to arrive in Puno as 6am we thought, but the guide said 5am and we could purchase breakfast. We actually ended up arriving at 4.15am so the driver parked the bus for 45mins.
The people who were staying in Puno for the night had to collect their belongings and board a minivan to go to their accommodation. This included the Irish couple, so we became Instagram friends and went our separate ways. We will be in La Paz at the same time so will hopefully see them there.
The rest of us went to a little restaurant that provides a simple breakfast for Peru Hop. It cost 15 soles, and we got scrambled eggs, bread, pineapple juice and coffee/tea.
Then we all chose the 2hr Lake Titicaca floating islands tour. We went to the marina and boarded a little boat. The sunrise on the way was stunning.
We travelled across the lake to the communities that live on floating islands made from totora reeds. The island group we visited was Uros islands, which consists of 120 islands. Each island has 4-7 families living on it.
We stopped at an island and the locals welcomed us. They speak a local language as well as Spanish, but no English. They explained (through the translator) how the islands were constructed entirely from reeds and how use nylon rope to help hold them together. They also anchor the islands to the lake floor so they don't float into Bolivia. Then we got split up into 2 or 3 and taken to see their homes. The lady who I went with lives in a house with 1 room for her bed. She has lots of blankets on her bed as it gets very cold. They have some solar power now, but no heating.
They also handmake souvenirs for the tourists that visit. They knit clothes, blankets & cushion covers, and make traditional boats from reeds in bright colours. I really liked the boats but didn't have enough money (50 soles, very expensive), and they clearly wanted the sale so they accepted everything I had (25 soles). It’s so pretty!
Then we boarded the boat and went to another island. This one is for the mayor and it has a shop & restaurant on it.
Then we headed back to Puno. It was definitely very interesting!
Back on board, we had some new people join us on the bus and we began the 2hr drive to the Bolivian border. We passed through farmlands and saw all the typical farm animals, but also saw llamas and alpacas, and hundreds of fish pens in the lake.
As far as I'm aware, there are no special entry requirements for either Australia or England to gain entry to Bolivia, so it should be a fairly easy crossing. Unfortunately for the Americans, Bolivia & the USA aren't friends, and they have a long border crossing process. They have had to apply for the visa online, bring the printed visa application form, 2 signed passport photos, bank statements, covid vaccination certificate, itinerary, proof of leaving Bolivia and $160USD. Yikes!
The Peruvian border crossing was very easy. We got stamped out of Peru, walked to Bolivia and then most of us very quickly got stamped into Bolivia. All except the 2 American ladies. We left them at the border with one of the guides, and the rest of us got on the new bus with the Bolivian guide.
And now that I'm in Bolivia, that is the end
of my time in Peru! I think this is my favourite country so far in South
America. The colours, the food, the sights, the alpacas & llamas. I love
it! I definitely recommend visiting Peru at least once in your life.
I hope you've enjoyed reading about my time
in Peru!
Next stop: Bolivia!