a week in peru=priceless
1 jar of peanut butter eaten with bread, oreos, and occasionally a spoon
2 times we were yelled at by a guard for sitting on the grass at machu picchu
4 am wake up call for mp, complete with pancakes fresh off the skillet
7 peruvian soles spent on a two course meal (2.53 american dollars) in aguas calientes
12 cups of coca tea to ward off altitude sickness
37 degrees fahrenheit in the santiago airport at three in the morning
56 hours in planes, taxis, buses, and trains
342 pictures taken
snuggled under my covers, my dirty clothes already washed and hung out to dry, and yet another stack of homework piled up on my desk, it’s hard to believe i just spent a week in peru. heck, it was hard to believe even while i was living it. trust me, i’m fully aware of the fact that cusco and machu picchu are not average spring break destinations. i feel so very blessed to seen and experienced all i was able to. the entirety of the week i drove my friends crazy saying over and over again, this is amazing! this is incredible! can you believe this? i love this country!
now for some deets…
being poor college students attempting to budget five months worth of living and traveling in a foreign country, we decided to travel to machu picchu in a rather unconventional, but comparatively inexpensive fashion. we left at ten on monday night, and after a silly number of hours and a wide array of vehicles, we arrived in cusco at seven in the morning on wednesday. after much needed showers and a delicious lunch, we set off to explore the city.
cusco has devised a ruthless tourist trap in the form of the boleto turistico. this overpriced ticket gains you access to eighteen different museums and ruins in the cusco area, but is only worth the price if you actually visit every one. i have the attention span of a fourth grader, so museums were off our list. unfortunately, without the ticket, you can’t gain access to any of the ruins. in hopes of beating the system, we hopped on a bus headed to the furthest ruins with hope of finagling our way into the student discount ticket without the proper international student id. we then planned to walk back to cusco and visit the other two ruins along the way. unfortunately our blonde hair and english accented spanish had no effect on the stone faced guards of tambomachay. so we decided to hike back anyways, checking out the ruins from afar, and sneaking in if possible. we were in for a treat. the weather turned stormy, resulting in dramatic views of the valleys surrounding the ruins and cusco itself. we finished off our five mile trek with a visit to the statue overlooking the city. as if there was ever any doubt, jesus is indeed watching over peru.
the next morning we got up bright and early for our train ride to aguas calientes. we spent the day eating delicious and unbelievably inexpensive food, walking along the rail road tracks in search of elusive waterfalls, and submerging ourselves in the worrisomely brown and foul smelling hot spring pools from which the town gets its name. friday we awoke before the sun to get the first buses up to machu picchu. i can’t even begin to explain the beauty of this place. there are no words. and pictures come far from doing it justice. when we arrived the ruins were virtually empty. first thing we set off to climb huayna picchu, the mountain overlooking the ruins. breathtaking. and not just from the hour of climbing stairs required to reach the top. i felt as if i was on top of the world. (looking down on creation, and the only explanation i can find…) the clouds and fog swirled around the ancient city below, and huge dramatic peaks covered in thick green jungle surrounded us on all sides. incredible.
after exploring the ruins on top of huayna picchu, taking a granola bar break, and making an argentine friend, we headed back down the mountain. we then went on a guided tour of the ruins. i’m the biggest nerd in the world, so i was thrilled to learn all about the history of the city. we spent several more hours walking around and also just sitting and absorbing and then trekked back down to aguas calientes. that night we took a train to ollyantatambo, home to another inca city. though after the majesty of machu picchu we were pretty ruined for any more. ba-dum-ch! saturday we headed back to cusco, which was one of the most amazing drives i’ve ever taken. the views of the mountains and valley were jaw dropping.
sunday we spent another day in cusco, visiting some churches and enjoying the city. that night we embarked on another marathon of buses and taxis, landing ourselves in arica, chile early yesterday evening. a flight to santiago this morning and a bus to viña and home sweet home this afternoon. just in time for spanish class.
peru consistently took my breath away. dramatic mountains, gorgeous churches, lush jungles, incredible ruins, amazing food, caring people, and clear, slow spanish. doesn’t get much better than that. pictures to come!
