Coming Down in Cusco (Molly)

I'm going to make a very bold statement - if you're travelling to Peru with limited time, skip Cusco. Before leaving, we read in one travel guide that Cusco was 'nearly at saturation point' from tourism, and I think by the time we arrived, it had tipped.

In its favour: Cusco is beautiful. It was the hub of resistance to Spanish rule by the Incas. The streets are lined with half falling-down, half resurrected colonial buildings, with wildly ornate street signs and traffic lights. The mirrored church is lovely, and unlike any of the others we had seen. 

We stayed only one night, just outside of the city centre, in a very friendly, locally run hostel in the gateway between safe and slightly dodgy neighbourhoods. We had breakfast with a couple from the UK, he produced documentaries and she analysed ecological footprints. Not easy in a city where rubbish and plastic water bottles are piled high. No doubt Peruanos generate less waste per person, but it is kept more out of sight in our highly cleansed life in NZ.

Highlights:

The local market, always worth the trip. Also a good source of jugo de fresa (strawberry juice), cheeses marked by region, and enormous bread wheels.

I indulged in my love of taking photos of doorways and windows. A small selection here, most of the ground floor and stone doorways are original Incan, while the second stories and grillwork are Spanish.

Morena restaurant. Another Peruvian fusion meal (yes, with quinoa) and a pisco sour. For the uninitiated, the pisco sour is Peru's national drink. A bit of pisco alcohol, made from pisco, as the base lime juice, syrup, ice, Angostura bitters, plus some frothed egg whites - heavenly. Mine came gilded with a flower.

On the last afternoon, we found San Blas, a lovely artists' district just up the hill from the main square, and a bit quieter than town. We sat all afternoon at Siete & Siete (located between the streets Siete Angelitos and Siete Diablitos, Seven Angels and Seven Devils), sipping Cusqueno beer shandies and admiring the view. I guess Cusco wasn't so bad.

Traveller tips:

We managed to avoid almost all signs of altitude sickness through a) taking pills, and b) working our way up slowly from Machu Picchu Pueblo to Ollantaytambo to Cusco, at 3,400 metres (11,200 feet). This plan was based on other blog posts and worked a treat. The most we got was tingly fingertips, which was a funny sensation, and the normal breathlessness when climbing stairs.

Spend more time in San Blas and less in the city centre. Or skip Cusco, as the combination of Lima, Ollantaytambo and Arequipa will give you the same colonial and Incan heritage without the crowds. 

Ollantaytambo (Molly)

Many tourists make the trip to Machu Picchu in one long day directly from Cusco, or even from Lima, which seems like more of a test of endurance than a holiday. In doing so, they not only exhaust themselves, but also miss one of the great pueblos of Peru: Ollantaytambo.

The government of Peru seems to have made some very progressive laws in its time, one being that in the town of Ollantaytambo, which has been continuously inhabited since the 13th century, the residents must preserve the beautiful Incan buildings and only use the same style in any new residences. This means that the town maintains a wonderful authenticity of Incan (and pre-Incan) stone doorways, cobbled streets, water channels and bridges. Ruins and high mountains tower over the town, glittering in the sun. While there is some tourism, most of the residents are just living their normal lives, often wearing traditional hats and skirts or carrying babies in brightly coloured woven cloth.

Nick and I spent two nights at Ollantaytampu Hostel, which was off a little side street from the main square, in a family's home that they have turned into a B&B. While it is sometimes awkward feeling like you're in someone's living room (the teenage boys were fond of playing lots of YouTube music videos, but at least they had good taste), the views and the breakfasts were fantastic. Here is what we saw from our breakfast table:

Most of our time was spent either on this patio or wandering the winding side streets.

In doing so, we had one of the best meals so far in Peru. A little place, Restaurant Pizzeria Mijunapaq, which is on Chaupi Calle just off the main square, served up 'lomo alpaca', or 'alpaca tenderloin' in what we think was black currant sauce. Succulent and tender, similar to a good veal. Delicioso.

To save money we bought quinoa and vegetables at the local market (carefully avoiding the dried llama foetuses - apparently you can buy them as an offering to Pachamama, the goddess Mother Earth), and cooked over gas late in the evening. 

We couldn't leave without seeing the amazing ruins, just a 5 minute stroll down the hill. If I hadn't just seen Machu Picchu, I'd say they were some of the best I'd ever seen. Ollantaytambans must feel that they are a little short changed - if their town were anywhere else in the world, people would be coming thousands of miles to see it. Just as well that it isn't.

Machu Picchu (Nick)

Machu Picchu is one of the new wonders of the world. Abandoned by the Incas and "discovered" by Europeans in the late 1800s (accounts vary), it is now the biggest tourist attraction in the whole of South America. The iconic picture of the site, looking across the ruins to the peak of Huayna Picchu on the far side, is instantly recognisable. It therefore has a lot of hype to live up to, and it was while trying to ignore that hype that we woke early and joined the long line of tourists in Aguas Calientes, waiting for the buses which trundle up and down the steep windy road between the town and the ruins.

We were suprised at the hundreds of people already lined up at 7:30 in the morning, but we gradually awoke to the fact that quite a lot of people were, like us, interested in seeing Machu Picchu. The line moved fast and before long we were crammed in a bus and on our way up. Another chaotic line at the top, and we were in- and instantly the experience lived up to everything we had heard and imagined. The view is better than in the pictures, because in the pictures you can't get an idea of the scale of the ruins, and perhaps more importantly the setting. The site is on a saddle between two higher mountains, and on both sides the drop is around 400m (1300ft) down to the Ollantaytambo river in the canyon below. The whole thing is situated in a bend in the river, so that there is a drop off on both sides. On the far sides of the river, jungle-covered mountains rise up far higher, creating a breathtaking panorama- the end result being that it's hard to know where to look.

We spent an hour or so wandering around the near side of the ruins, taking photo after photo as the views changed subtly. The throngs of tourists had spread out a bit so we were able to feel at times as though we had the place largely to ourselves. Walking through terraces, houses and temples, we began to get an idea of the place. It has been considerably reconstructed in recent times, although it retains its atmospheric "ruined" feel. It's a pretty extensive site, and must have taken a huge amount of energy and dedication to construct, although having said that it's not unusual among Inca sites in that regard.

At 10:30 we headed over to the far side of the ruins, to where the peak of Huayna Picchu rises another 300m above Machu Picchu. In the glory days of the town, the Inca priest lived in a temple at the top and climbed down every morning to signal the start of the new day. We had booked ahead, as climbing Huayna Picchu is restricted to 400 people per day, at specific times. The climb up was one of the toughest I have ever done, both in terms of the steepness (it's nearly vertical in places, and we were still getting used to the altitude and the heat) and the precipitous drop- I'm not good with heights, and knowing that at all times we were climbing alongside an almost sheer drop of hundreds of metres, with no railing or other protection, I found it pretty tough to get up there. However we made it, in the process passing an inspiring group of 60+ year-olds!

The views from the top were stupendous, and made the climb well worth it. 360 degrees of mountains, canyons, and Incan ruins, which would have taken our breath away if we had had any left. We spent half an hour or so walking around the temple at the top, wondering how on earth it was constructed, before the local guide stationed at the top warned us it was time to start heading back down.

Note the sheer 700m drop behind the arrow sign.

Back at Machu Picchu, we spent another good hour or so exploring temples and other buildings, including mystical sites like the temples of the sun and the condor (complete with sacrificial rock!). The crowds had really increased by now and we occasionally found ourselves squeezing through crowds of other tourists, both Peruan and international, but it was still possible to find nooks and crannies where we could enjoy the silence, and the history we were walking through.

Eventually, though, we felt that we had done enough, and headed back to the bus station outside the entrance. One of the biggest queues I've ever seen greeted us, winding back down the road for a couple of hundred metres, and consisting of tourists in various stages of exhaustion waiting to catch the bus. After some debate over whether to wait in line or walk back down to Aguas Calientes, we decided to wait- a good decision as our legs had done quite enough climbing and descending for one day.

Luckily, as in the morning, the line moved relatively smoothly, and we found ourselves back in town with time for a cerveza before the train ride back to Ollantaytambo, where we checked in and fell into bed exhausted.

El Vallejo Sagrado (Nick)

After an early morning flight from Lima we found ourselves in Cusco, 3300m above sea level. The altitude can do strange things to you - both of us felt a little woozy on arrival, and the air in my packet of chips expanded so much that it eventually burst in my bag.

We caught a cab in to the Plaza de Armas, where we eventually secured the services of Juan, who agreed to drive us along part of the Sacred Valley to Ollantaytambo, where we were due to catch the train later that evening.

The Sacred Valley of the Incas follows the course of the Urubamba River for 150km, and is the site of some amazing Inca ruins. After a winding journey down the side of the valley we arrived at Pisac, where we grabbed lunch and wandered around the market for a while, and then Juan drove us up to the ruins themselves (see top photo). They're even higher than Cusco, and the going was pretty strenuous any time we had to climb stairs. The Incas, in building their towns and temples on the steep valleys of the Andes, incorporated a lot of stairs.

The ruins themselves are spectacular, and include terraces, fortifications, and temples. We scrambled around them, and admired the views of the valley and the town of Pisac for a couple of hours while Juan waited patiently in the car. When we eventually got back he drove us on through the valley, passing towns like Calca, Yucay, and Urubamba, all of which started out as Inca settlements. At Molly's request he turned off the main road a couple of times and drove us through the ancient village streets, while we asked him in pidgin Spanish about what we were seeing.

Eventually we arrived in the beautiful town of Ollantaytambo. We were due to stay there a day later after visiting Machu Picchu, and the train between Ollantaytambo and the staging post for Machu Picchu only allowed hand luggage, so with Juan's help we located the hostel we would be staying at and dropped off most of our stuff. The train left an hour or so later, so we grabbed a drink at the tavern next to the station before lining up to get on the train. While we were standing there I noticed a woman standing very closely behind Molly, whose fingers were moving very rapidly around the zip pocket on the outside of Molly's bag. A loud "Hey!" from me and a quick pirouette from Molly followed, whereupon the woman managed to both slink off and look innocent- skillfully done.

After a couple of hours on the train we arrived at Aguas Calientes (now renamed Machu Picchu Pueblo), still in the Sacred Valley and at the foot of the hill climb to Machu Picchu. By then it was about 8pm, and dark, so we followed the crowd up the hill from the station to the town. We had been warned that it wasn't a very nice place, and it certainly wasn't pretty, but it was fine for what it was- a town providing services to tourists visiting the ruins. We checked into our hostel, called Supertramp,  grabbed a quick meal and fell into bed.

I could live in Lima (Molly)

San Cristobal, Lima

We arrived in Lima just as dawn was breaking. Oscar, the driver from our hotel, weaved us through the morning traffic and around the beachfront, lined with dusty promenades, shipping equipment and colonial and modern cafes jutting out on piers. Through our broken Spanish, we learned that he was originally from Chiclayo and that the light drizzle falling was almost unheard of in Lima this time of year.

I think travel always shows you something new about the person you're travelling with, and despite knowing Nick for more than 12 years, I've only just realised what a knack he has for languages. He took one semester of university Spanish 20 years ago and has managed to guide us around a country where English is often not spoken even in tourist areas (a refreshing change). I learned Spanish about 10 years ago with a lovely tutor (and now dear friend), Carol, who persisted in our class of 4 friends who were generally more interested in drinking Spanish wine than learning verb conjugations.

However, I try. And in trying, I have managed to say, "Soy avocado" (I am an avocado, or a lawyer", and  "Estoy delicioso" (I am delicious). I think it is to the Peruvian people's great credit that they don't crack up every time I open my mouth.

Here is our amazing hotel (Casa Nuestra) in Barranco, Lima:

We chose to stay out of central Lima, in the hip artists' district, which was an excellent choice. Barranco is filled with little cafes, shops and bars, all tucked away down streets with murals painted on walls and locals just going about their lives. We started out with an early breakfast at the excellent La Bodega Verde with freshly squeezed orange juice, freshly baked breads, freshly made jam, etc. Fuelled up, we went on a random wander of the area. We saw old churches, falling down colonial facades, and ultramodern restaurants. Apparently Peruvian cuisine is the 'newest thing' in places like New York and London, in case you didn't know.

Street art in Barranco, Lima

We ended up at that evening at Fiesta (the restaurant, not the casino) in Miraflores, which features cuisine from the coast of northern Peru. From various reviews we read, we decided try the Arroz con Pato a la Chiclayana (rice with duck, Chiclayana style)the Cebiche Caliente (spicy ceviche). The duck was very nice. The ceviche was stupefying. I believe you only have a handful of times in your life where you taste food this good. The bistecca fiorentina we had in a hole-in-the-wall restaurant in Florence was one, another was the chipati passed through a chain link fence in Nairobi. Thanks for the birthday present, Caitlin and Larry, and Kelika for the brilliant recommendation!

Ceviche of the Gods

The next day we went to Miraflores, which was clean and safe and pretty, but somehow lacking the soul of Barranco. We made our way on the Metropolitano train to the centre city, which was still dressed up for Independence Day celebrations from the past week. We took part in our favourite pastime, people watching, on the cathedral steps in the main square, and I thought I could happily live in Lima.

Plaza de Armas

Maine to Peru (Molly)

Nick and I are sitting on the veranda of Ollantaytampu Hostel, which looks out onto Incan ruins from around the 15th century. Admittedly the veranda is a bit rickety and looks like a strong shake might cause us to fall through, but this is more than made up for by the lovely breakfast of fresh bread with butter and jam, scrambled eggs, juice, and (most importantly) coffee, made by a Quechua woman carrying her child on her back in a multicoloured blanket.

View from our breakfast table in Ollantaytambo

Yes, our trip is in full swing! But let me go back a moment...

Nick and I left an overcast Wellington and a rainy Auckland but went in different directions - Nick to pick up Grace and I to San Francisco to meet up with one of my closest friends in the world, Patricia.

Patricia and Molly - 13 (!) years on

San Francisco was lovely, and every time I go I think I would be very happy living there. We stayed with a friend of a friend in Haight Ashbury, in a lovely old villa near the park and an excellent coffee roastery (do you see a pattern here?) We spent a lot of time walking and biking, to tire out her active two year old, which was an excellent way to see the sights and chatter away. Patricia and I tend to pick up wherever we left our last conversation, which I think is the mark of a lasting friendship. I also met up with a high school teacher who was an old mentor of mine, who happened to be in the area at the time with his family (discovered very belatedly through the magic of Facebook).

After a few short days I met up with Grace and Nick in Maine. It was late, so we all fell into our beds and straight asleep in the cool dark. We woke up to this:



The next 10 days were a lovely blend of family and activities that have taken place at our family's cabin for over 100 years. Here a guest quote from Nick:

Once again, a fantastic holiday in Maine. Yesterday alone we saw two bald eagles, a beaver, a hummingbird, a painted turtle hanging out on a lily pad, a bullfrog, dragonflies, some Canada geese, and a chipmunk. Pine and oak forests, kayaking among the lily pads and rushes, blueberries, lobster...I feel like I'm in a classic American movie.

The 100+ year old family cabin in Maine

The trip was made all the more special by the wonderful family who came from all over the East Coast to see us. Grace was running wild around the property, making fairy castles with her second cousin and the girl on the island just across from us, which is exactly what we hoped for.

After all too short a time, we were off to Lima...

37 Billion Acres

37 Billion Acres: the amount of land in the world a traveller could possibly cover.

We have purchased two round the world tickets and two sturdy backpacks (with wheels - we are in our 30s after all). Nick has handed in his PhD and I have handed in my work laptop and security card. Neither of us know what the future holds, which is both unsettling and exhilarating.

Here is the trip, leaving from our little house in Hataitai, Wellington, New Zealand:

USA
San Francisco
Las Vegas
Lake Alamoosook, Maine

Peru
Lima
Ollantaytambo
Machu Picchu
Cusco
Arequipa

Bolivia
Lake Titicaca
Salar de Uyuni
La Paz

Slovenia
Ljubljana
Lake Bled

Croatia
Momjan
Rovinj (and surrounds)
Plitvice
Split (and surrounds)
Dubrovnik

Turkey
Istanbul
Cappadochia
Izmir
Ephesus
Pamukkale
Fethiye (and surrounds)
Istanbul

...and back home, all in two months! They're calling my flight to San Francisco now, see you soon...