Cusco

The Road to Puno

by Ekua on October 4, 2009 · 2 comments in Peru

July 29, 2009

It was time to move on from Cusco. Once again, I was up and running while my hostel remained silent. A lot of collective rest was needed after the wild and crazy Independence Day celebrations the night before. As I was heading out of Loki for the last time, I bumped into O.G. as he was exiting the bathroom. He was still wearing the same shirt he had on the night before, and on his bottom half was nothing but red briefs. The look on his face showed me that it was going to take awhile for him to recover from the previous night.

I caught a cab to bus terminal and found the company I’d purchased my ticket from a few days before. There was a problem. The date was July 29th and my ticket was for the 27th. I felt like such an idiot for not looking my ticket over after I bought it. I panicked. The people working at the counter brushed it off and said I’d be fine but did not explain how I could get a seat. They were too caught up with re-ticketing and refunding the entire bus.

They said the bus we were supposed to take had something wrong with it so they had to switch everyone from the nice tourist bus they’d paid for to a cheaper but junky one. One Canadian guy tried to insist on the nice bus, saying that it was what he paid for and what he wanted. But the only option was to take that bus or stay behind in Cusco. I nervously paced around until they finished the re-ticketing process. At the end, there was one seat available for me. Hallelujah!

Scenery along the road to PunoAlong the road to Puno

I was excited for my first real bus ride. Even though they can be long and uncomfortable, they are often a great way to see a country. I often find the space between major destinations more fascinating than the destinations themselves. Popular tourist cities tend to seem familiar because you’ve seen them on TV and in movies and pictures. They are also usually greatly influenced by the foreigners who frequent them. I love the rawness and realness of the simple everyday towns you pass through on the countryside.

We arrived in Puno in the late evening as the sun was about to set. Puno is the main jumping off point for exploring the Peruvian side of Lake Titicaca. When I was planning my trip before I left, I tried to figure out whether I’d explore the Peruvian side, the Bolivian side or both. I opted for the Bolivian side. On the Peruvian side, most people go to Floating Islands and do homestays where they dress up in local clothing. Most people I’d come across either loved it because it was silly fun or hated it because it was too touristy. In the end, the determining factor was that I was itching to get to Bolivia. For me, this trip was more about Bolivia than Peru. You always have to pick and choose in travel and hope that you’re making the right decisions. And if you don’t, it’s not the end of the world– there will always be amazing things to see further down the line.

Welcome to PunoWelcome to Puno

Since I was already at the bus terminal, I decided to booked a ticket to Copacabana, Bolivia for the following day. There were two main Lake Titicaca border crossings mentioned in my guidebook. The Desaguadero crossing was more direct but known for being shady. The Yunguyo crossing was less direct, but more scenic and not shady. It was an easy choice. I booked a ticket with the bus company recommended in my guidebook for Yunguyo crossing. Since I was by myself, I wasn’t interesting in taking a risk when it came to crossing borders.

When that I was all settled, I caught a bus to a hotel. The general consensus I’d gotten from travelers who had already been to Puno was that it was really cold at night and worth splurging for hotel. I forked over $20 which is still cheaper than most budget hostels in North America or Europe. When I was using the hotel’s free computer in the lobby, I struck up a conversation with a girl who had been hanging out there and reading a book.

We made plans to meet up later to go dinner at a pizza place across the street. It had a wood burning stove, a nice bonus that provided extra warmth in the heater-deprived Andes. The girl was a science teacher from England and turned out to be very interesting. She was traveling with a guy friend, but he had gotten really sick and was bed-ridden for days. She told me she usually traveled by herself on a bicycle! She had done this in Cuba and India among other places. When she finished university, she was looking for a research job but went into teaching because that’s what was available at the time. But then she fell in love with the teacher’s lifestyle (breaks and summers off to allow her to travel the world) and never looked back!

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Viva el Peru

by Ekua on September 30, 2009 · 1 comment in Peru

July 28, 2009

On the morning of Peruvian Independence Day, I woke up to a few surprises. The previous night I’d gone to bed early by Loki Hostel standards and found that my ten bed dorm room was full of people who were already sleeping. I thought it was strange, but awesome that I wouldn’t be woken up in the middle of the night by people stumbling in. When I got out of bed, I saw that the bulk of my dorm mates were a group of senior citizens. They weren’t aware of Loki’s reputation until they arrived. I heartily believe that getting older doesn’t mean you should stop having fun or stop hostelling, but it was very clear that Loki wasn’t the right match for them. They were already packing and looking for a new place to stay. One of them grumpily and groggily asked, “What is this place where people go to bed so late and wake up early?”

DSCN0283

The other surprise slowly emerged from the bed below me. First, a familiar mess of blonde hair, and then a face that I couldn’t place but I was sure I’d seen before. We struck up a conversation and he began to talk about a guy from his Machu Picchu trek group who talked loudly and incessantly. O.G.! (See the Machu Picchu entry if you don’t know who I’m talking about.) I asked him if he was in my tour group and he confirmed that he was. His two friends and O.G. were also staying at the Loki in another room. He told me O.G. was from Israel and promised that despite his shortcomings, he had a really good heart.

During the day I wandered around Cusco, trying to find something interesting going on for Peruvian Independence Day besides super loud and excessive gunfire. The children’s parades were canceled because of swine flu so there weren’t as many festivities that day. The first thing I came across was a protests of sorts. A guy was putting up a big banner that read, “¿Somos Libres?” which can be translated as,  “Are we free?” Artwork and articles were posted along the wall and many people went up to take a closer look.

Plaza de Armas

In Plaza de Armas, many people were gathered for a military band performance. I took a seat under a fountain to people watch and listen to the music. Little kids were splashing about in the fountain and people were filling up their water bottles with fountain water. I wondered about the purpose and usefulness of canceling the children’s parades because of swine flu if the public wasn’t educated on basic sanitation.

When the Andean sun became a little too bright, I headed back to the Loki where I found the three American guys and their Israeli friend. O.G. also promised that he was a good guy even if he was a bit obnoxious. I appreciated his self-awareness and audacity to be himself. I felt bad for automatically writing off both the American guys and O.G. at the beginning of the Machu Picchu tour when I first encountered them. They turned out to be nice people and a lot of fun.

I’d signed up for the hostel dinner and the American guys had as well. When the time rolled around, we got our plates of traditional Peruvian food, a special dinner for Independence Day. I didn’t finish my food and one of the guys took my plate and happily ate the rest. Funny how quickly normal boundaries get torn down when you’re on the road. Of course, the hostel was having an Independence Day party in addition to the dinner. Many people were already dressed in red and white, the colors of the Peruvian flag.

O.G. getting the Peru Indepence Day party started

After dinner, I changed into Peruvian colors as well and joined the festivities. It was by far the most fun night at the Loki and everyone was really pumped to celebrate Peruvian Independence. After awhile I took off to a club with the American guys and Brit we picked up along the way. They’d met a woman who was the lead singer of a reggae band that had a show in Cusco that night. Being a huge fan of reggae music, I was happy to go along.

When we got there, the band was just setting up and the show was no where near starting. But it was okay because there was a DJ spinning Top 40 hits so we hit the dance floor and worked it. We all had a blast, except for the British guy. He had a hipster indie thing going on and wasn’t into it at all. When it became clear that the band wasn’t going to perform until the wee hours of the morning, I decided to head back to the Loki. I had a bus to catch early the next morning. I can’t say much for Independence Day, but Independence Night was a raging good time.

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The Machu Picchu Express

by Ekua on September 17, 2009 · 0 comments in Peru

July 26, 2009

In the wee hours of the morning, when many Loki Hostelers were just returning from a night out, I was getting ready to leave for my two day, one night Machu Picchu tour. After putting Bessie into the hostel’s storage room, I grabbed my small backpack and got into a van from SAS Travel to head off to the train station. I was the last to be picked up; there were five other people already in the van– a couple from San Francisco, two women from Washington D.C. and, and a woman from England who was currently living in Dubai. Everyone seemed calm and composed which would be a nice change from the Loki for a couple days.

A rainbow we saw from the train

At the train station I headed straight for a little food stand to get some coffee. I learned that Claire (the woman from England) and I were the only ones taking the train straight to Aguas Calientes, which is the gateway to Machu Picchu. The other four were doing a short  Inka Trail tour and would be getting off the train early to hike the rest of the way to Aguas Calientes. Their seats were in a different cabin and the guide stuck with them so the two of us were left on our own.

A fancy train came and went and then it was our turn to board the Backpacker Train. The seats across from Claire and I were empty as time to leave approached. But just as the train was about to go, two girls hopped on to claim those seats. I gathered from the hoarseness of their voices and the conversation they were having that they had gotten a little too caught up in Cusco’s party scene and that’s why they almost missed the train. They slept almost the entire way to Aguas Calientes.

DSCN0125Claire turned out to be a great travel buddy. I thought I might sleep on the train, but we ended up talking about anything and everything, but mostly about travel. We had obviously both been bitten by the bug. She told me about the different places she had lived and what it was like to be a resident of Dubai. We exchange travel stories and talked about the interesting people  we’d met while traveling. Our conversation, combined with the wonderful views made for a fantastic train ride.

A waterfall and ruins we saw as we approached Aguas Calientes

Getting into Hot Water

When we got off the train, there was someone from SAS Travel waiting to meet us to take us to our hostel. It was a short walk through the market and across a bridge or two to get to the hostel. Aguas Calientes is an interesting town. By interesting, I mean awful. The natural scenery around it is stunning, but it’s obvious that the town sprung up like it did solely because of its proximity to Machu Picchu. The buildings are unattractive and some appear to have been hastily built with fake stone facades that attempt to look like the stones of the ruins at Machu Picchu. There is a limited selection of places to eat and things to do and everything is overpriced.

I was happy to have most of my arrangements taken care of through my tour. SAS Travel owns and operates a hostel in Aguas Calientes called the Viajeros Hostel and that’s where we stayed. They were flexible about letting us choose when we wanted to have lunch so we decided to get settled in first. I was given a triple room with three beds. On my trip I quickly learned to value being alone in a room with extra beds. Extra beds means extra blankets for those extra cold Andean nights.

A guy who gave us an orientation of sorts when we arrived didn’t seem too enthusiastic about the activities Aguas Calientes had to offer. He told us there was a waterfall and orchid farm to hike to, but it wasn’t that great and the orchid farm had no orchids. He talked about the hot springs (after which Aguas Calientes is named) but said they were dirty and not recommended. Way to sell the town. We decided to take a stroll to the main plaza to find an internet cafe.

A Foray into the Delights of Aguas Calientes

After a sufficient amount of net time, we went to a cafe next door for some hot beverages to warm us up. It looked cute from the outside, but it was completely disorganized inside. They were playing a delightfully horrible CD of popular movie music played on pan pipes. Imagine “My Heart Will Go On” and other such tunes played over and over again on a wooden flute. Good times. It wasn’t clear if we were supposed to order at the counter or sit at the table. We decided to go to counter. I asked for a hot chocolate and the girl I ordered from promptly disappeared without a word. When we eventually got everything sorted out, we saw drinks that we suspected were ours sitting on the counter behind the girl who was taking orders. We attempted to ask and get her attention, but she made no effort to give them to us. When we finally got our drinks, they were lukewarm and my earlier suspicion that they were making my hot chocolate with Hershey’s chocolate syrup was confirmed.

That afternoon, it was pouring and chillier than I expected it to be. The weather reports I checked in Cusco made it seem like it would be hot in Aguas Calientes. I wasn’t prepared for rain or cold and was worried that I would be freezing at night and soaking wet the next day if the rain continued. So Claire accompanied me to the town market. We both wanted socks for bed, so we visited several stalls until we found a pleasant vendor who gave us a deal on two pairs of knee high wool llama socks. Score! Next, I found a pan pipe stand and bought the pan pipe movie CD we heard earlier in the cafe. Score! The guy tried to sell me actual pan pipes so I could play along with the CD, but I declined. You have to draw the line somewhere. Then came the most complicated purchase, a pink poncho. I’d seen several tourists in bright colored rain ponchos they’d bought at the market and really wanted one in pink. We searched high and low for a pink poncho and couldn’t find one. Finally we came across a stand that had a purple poncho available. Score!

A Table for Two

Back at the hostel, they were setting up three long tables for dinner. One was for a large group that had just finished a trek. Another was for the four half day trekkers we met in Cusco and their guide. And the table in the middle was just for Claire and I. I thought it was silly that they set such a large table just for the two of us when there was space at other tables. I asked if we could join the group of five. The hostel staff refused to let us do that. I noticed in both Peru and Bolivia that they have a funny way of rejecting requests that may seem perfectly reasonable to you. It’s a shaking of the head with a drawn out and slightly whiny, “nooo.” And an exasperated smile that lets you know they think your request is absurd.

So during dinner at our extra large table for two, our guide for Machu Picchu came to tell us about the details for the next day. We would be waking up very early so we could get in line to catch the first buses going up the hill to Machu Picchu.  We returned to our rooms early that night get ready for the next day and get some rest. I hoped that the rain would wear itself out and that Inti would make an appearance the next day.

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