Righhhhhhhhtttttttt.........
Ummmm been a bit slack here I see, with well over two months since the last entry it's more than a bit slack I think!
The here and now is Cusco. I am thinking about heading off via a less trodden no rip off back road to Machu Picchu tomorrow. (Bus to Santa Maria- Collectivo to Santa Teresa- 5 hour walk to Aguas Calientes, 1 hour walk to Machu Picchu, and aparrently if you get there before 5am ish there is no-one to buy a shamefully overpriced ticket from...) I am thinking to take three of four days over the whole thing then off to La Paz in Bolivia via Copacabana on the Bolivian side of lake Titicaca.
Here Cusco itself is indeed a beautiful tourist trap. It hasn't lost it's charm for being so either, and there is still a real Peruvian feel to it. You can even find tucked away if you have a sharp eye, cheap almuerzos (Lunch of Soup followed by rice with a salad, some beany lentily goodness and some meat) at a dollar as opposed to the gringo caffs with prices six or seven times that.
Yesterday I walked up to Sachsayhuaman (Pronouncad "sexy woman") where the "Throne of the Inca" is. The site itself is impressive indeed with the massive stone walls and impressive masonary work one expects from a good ruin. I timed it perfectly to go up there too, as Sunday was a celebration of a local saint. All the Cusqueños were up around the giant statue of Jesus that looks over the city flying their kites. Hundreds of kites, some wonderful home made creations of tissue paper and bamboo, in all shapes and sizes fluttering in the high altitude sunshine. I was shambeling along with my old camera (The digital one was pinched by a bunch of roving six year olds one far off Sunday in Quito hence the lack of photos here now.) So, roaming with my old Praktica snapping away looking for the temple of the moon- free entry- I found myself in the Sachsayhuaman site.... "hmmm" quoth I (been reading the crow by Poe) "I'm sure theres a charge of about 15 dollars to be here... oops." So after I'd chatted to a few people, orientated myself via the giant magic magnetic circle, and been "lost" long enough to see the whole site, I set off for the temples of the Sun and Moon. A lady along the way said I should go by horse, and I told her I couldn't afford it. She asked how much I had and I told her... "sure that's fine" quoth she "Come on!" She introduced me to people and I was soon perched upon a bust above the doo.... no perched upon a shaggy haired well fed stallion called Agustin, picking my way through the eucalyptus forests and the fields of kite fliers towards the old temples. Soon enough Augustin, Paulo and I parted ways and I wondered over to the first set of cracks hewn into the rocky outcrop perched like a fantasy above the city. The temple of the Sun. There were strange things about it, not least of all how an enormous wedge of rock above the entrance stayed put. Out in the sunlight again I chatted a bit to the poeple selling statuary, stones and jewellry on the grass in the afternoon sun with their dogs and 2 week old puppies. Tiny bronze effigies of Pachamama and Pachatato (Mother nature and her Yan) in my pocket I headed round the rock to the Templo de la Luna. Wondering at the enormous stone steps leading towards the entrance I was waylaid by a local family. They shared their Coca Cola with me and told me about the area from their point of view. They invited me to stay with them if I should return to Cusco in the future too. So after an hour with my new friends nattering away, I took my leave to go and peek into the old stone cave shaped in honour of our dear Lady Moon. The sunlight filtering through an unseen nook in the ceiling onto an altarlike peice of the mountain polished by time clicked a little bit of heart treasure into place for me as such things sometime do, and I smiled to myself in the half light of the mystery. Before long I was on my way down the mountain to the city again. From what I can remember I slept well last night!
Before here I was in the truly surreal oasis of Huacachina. It's teeming with youg gringo trail types, twice a day there is an enormous din as the flocks of dune buggies loaded with sand boards and camera wielding troops head out into the unbelievable landscape for a rollercoaster ride mixed in with countless photo opps and sand boarding that though fun will never compete with it's cold weather counterpart. There are roads in the town that literaly disapper into the sides of improbable mounds of yellow sand. The town is generally hedonistic, full of pretty young things in their best beach wear, doing plenty of lounging by the pool. There was also a restaurant notable for their ingenious method of promoting their unfeasably tasty chocolate cake: Guests arrive in the eastern feeling lounge with imps and faries painted hazily on the walls, order drinks, and miraculously with the drinks and free of charge some marijuana turns up... it can't be free. Then under it's mystical crystal dome the gigantic glistening chocolate temptation appears on the bar. Three slices later you realise that the marijuana has been more than paid for! Huacachina. I left feeling a little like Alice, except that I think Alice's purse didn't suffer quite as mine did... Take that as a caveat.
Arriving in Wonderland I was only about a week out of Never Never Land, but I'll save tales of that place for another day. The journey between the two was comparatively normal... ruins and jungle river confluence towns and a tranquil little border crossing in the middle of nowhere. The worlds third highest waterfall at an alleged 771 meters -where a blonde siren of legends lures amorous lads closer closer untill they loose their footing- was a highlight; in itself and in the company I had on the beautiful walk there through semi humid forest, among a million orchids. I went with a Peruvian lady, her 4 year old son Juan and a Scotish lassie called Katerina who works as a Doctor at a clinic with Juan's mum in the wilds of the Andes. We hired a horse so we didn't have to dawdle for Juan's little legs the whole way. In the end the ladies deferred horse and Juan handling to me, so the two of us like Gandalf and a little hobbit on a quest picked our way along the rough recently cleared trail in a spirit of true adventure as I made up stories of how we'd send the pumas back to their mummies if they tried to eat us. We had all met the previous day on a tour to a site called Kuelap.
Kuelap is a fortified city from pre-Incan times perched imposingly on a mountain top. It was built by a group of local farmers sick of raids by more aggressive neighbours, and so is very defensive. The entrances of which there are three narrow right down so that attackers would onlt have been able to enter one by one. The high walls gave startling views over the heart haltingly hallucinatory panorama presented by the Andes at our feet.
At this point I am going to leave you all, and find out what all the music coming from the street is about....
The here and now is Cusco. I am thinking about heading off via a less trodden no rip off back road to Machu Picchu tomorrow. (Bus to Santa Maria- Collectivo to Santa Teresa- 5 hour walk to Aguas Calientes, 1 hour walk to Machu Picchu, and aparrently if you get there before 5am ish there is no-one to buy a shamefully overpriced ticket from...) I am thinking to take three of four days over the whole thing then off to La Paz in Bolivia via Copacabana on the Bolivian side of lake Titicaca.
Here Cusco itself is indeed a beautiful tourist trap. It hasn't lost it's charm for being so either, and there is still a real Peruvian feel to it. You can even find tucked away if you have a sharp eye, cheap almuerzos (Lunch of Soup followed by rice with a salad, some beany lentily goodness and some meat) at a dollar as opposed to the gringo caffs with prices six or seven times that.
Yesterday I walked up to Sachsayhuaman (Pronouncad "sexy woman") where the "Throne of the Inca" is. The site itself is impressive indeed with the massive stone walls and impressive masonary work one expects from a good ruin. I timed it perfectly to go up there too, as Sunday was a celebration of a local saint. All the Cusqueños were up around the giant statue of Jesus that looks over the city flying their kites. Hundreds of kites, some wonderful home made creations of tissue paper and bamboo, in all shapes and sizes fluttering in the high altitude sunshine. I was shambeling along with my old camera (The digital one was pinched by a bunch of roving six year olds one far off Sunday in Quito hence the lack of photos here now.) So, roaming with my old Praktica snapping away looking for the temple of the moon- free entry- I found myself in the Sachsayhuaman site.... "hmmm" quoth I (been reading the crow by Poe) "I'm sure theres a charge of about 15 dollars to be here... oops." So after I'd chatted to a few people, orientated myself via the giant magic magnetic circle, and been "lost" long enough to see the whole site, I set off for the temples of the Sun and Moon. A lady along the way said I should go by horse, and I told her I couldn't afford it. She asked how much I had and I told her... "sure that's fine" quoth she "Come on!" She introduced me to people and I was soon perched upon a bust above the doo.... no perched upon a shaggy haired well fed stallion called Agustin, picking my way through the eucalyptus forests and the fields of kite fliers towards the old temples. Soon enough Augustin, Paulo and I parted ways and I wondered over to the first set of cracks hewn into the rocky outcrop perched like a fantasy above the city. The temple of the Sun. There were strange things about it, not least of all how an enormous wedge of rock above the entrance stayed put. Out in the sunlight again I chatted a bit to the poeple selling statuary, stones and jewellry on the grass in the afternoon sun with their dogs and 2 week old puppies. Tiny bronze effigies of Pachamama and Pachatato (Mother nature and her Yan) in my pocket I headed round the rock to the Templo de la Luna. Wondering at the enormous stone steps leading towards the entrance I was waylaid by a local family. They shared their Coca Cola with me and told me about the area from their point of view. They invited me to stay with them if I should return to Cusco in the future too. So after an hour with my new friends nattering away, I took my leave to go and peek into the old stone cave shaped in honour of our dear Lady Moon. The sunlight filtering through an unseen nook in the ceiling onto an altarlike peice of the mountain polished by time clicked a little bit of heart treasure into place for me as such things sometime do, and I smiled to myself in the half light of the mystery. Before long I was on my way down the mountain to the city again. From what I can remember I slept well last night!
Before here I was in the truly surreal oasis of Huacachina. It's teeming with youg gringo trail types, twice a day there is an enormous din as the flocks of dune buggies loaded with sand boards and camera wielding troops head out into the unbelievable landscape for a rollercoaster ride mixed in with countless photo opps and sand boarding that though fun will never compete with it's cold weather counterpart. There are roads in the town that literaly disapper into the sides of improbable mounds of yellow sand. The town is generally hedonistic, full of pretty young things in their best beach wear, doing plenty of lounging by the pool. There was also a restaurant notable for their ingenious method of promoting their unfeasably tasty chocolate cake: Guests arrive in the eastern feeling lounge with imps and faries painted hazily on the walls, order drinks, and miraculously with the drinks and free of charge some marijuana turns up... it can't be free. Then under it's mystical crystal dome the gigantic glistening chocolate temptation appears on the bar. Three slices later you realise that the marijuana has been more than paid for! Huacachina. I left feeling a little like Alice, except that I think Alice's purse didn't suffer quite as mine did... Take that as a caveat.
Arriving in Wonderland I was only about a week out of Never Never Land, but I'll save tales of that place for another day. The journey between the two was comparatively normal... ruins and jungle river confluence towns and a tranquil little border crossing in the middle of nowhere. The worlds third highest waterfall at an alleged 771 meters -where a blonde siren of legends lures amorous lads closer closer untill they loose their footing- was a highlight; in itself and in the company I had on the beautiful walk there through semi humid forest, among a million orchids. I went with a Peruvian lady, her 4 year old son Juan and a Scotish lassie called Katerina who works as a Doctor at a clinic with Juan's mum in the wilds of the Andes. We hired a horse so we didn't have to dawdle for Juan's little legs the whole way. In the end the ladies deferred horse and Juan handling to me, so the two of us like Gandalf and a little hobbit on a quest picked our way along the rough recently cleared trail in a spirit of true adventure as I made up stories of how we'd send the pumas back to their mummies if they tried to eat us. We had all met the previous day on a tour to a site called Kuelap.
Kuelap is a fortified city from pre-Incan times perched imposingly on a mountain top. It was built by a group of local farmers sick of raids by more aggressive neighbours, and so is very defensive. The entrances of which there are three narrow right down so that attackers would onlt have been able to enter one by one. The high walls gave startling views over the heart haltingly hallucinatory panorama presented by the Andes at our feet.
At this point I am going to leave you all, and find out what all the music coming from the street is about....
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