Peru - Machu Picchu, Floating Islands & Ancient Aliens?!

Pisac

Cusco

          A little over a week in Peru seems like a long time, but as with all vacations time always seems to slip away an accelerated pace.  Days one and two began in Cusco.  Cusco is a beautiful city full of rich history, many great locations to eat, sight seeing and finding an authentic keepsake to bring home with you.  It is a good first stop in Peru because it is a nice home base to get to places like Machu Picchu.  That being said if you have real issues with elevation they do have medicine they sell at all the shops in Cusco.  There is also a local tea called "coca" which is "green tea" like that helps with elevation sickness.  Most people experience head pressure and shortness of breath.  Sarah and I didn't actually take the medication and just drank the tea from time to time (the tea really does help, I drank a lot of it).  There are a couple of squares in the heart of Cusco where all of the dining and hotel accommodations can be found.  Its a great place to hang out and the night life is bright and vibrant with clubs and performances in the street.  I had a lot of fun walking around from shop to shop and just general people watching as well.

Machu Picchu

           Day Two began the explorations outside of Cusco.  One short bus trip nearby to Cusco is the ruins of Pisac.  The bus drops you off in the town below and then you must hail a taxi to the ruins above.  Some of the taxis look like bicycles with a box over top, it is probably best if you do not take one of those to the top of the mountain ruins.  The ruins begin at the entrance of a village, which then opens up to layers of farming cliffs.  As you pass the farming shelves you ascend further up the mountain on a trail that goes through a cave up and around to the main spectacle of the site.  Well preserved stone remains of a village in the Andes mountains.  This is quite a hike and also in rather high elevation so if you are not in great shape you may want to reconsider this hike.

          Day Three is of course everyone's favorite: Machu Picchu.  This trip is best planned from Cusco, you can arrange for a train ticket from the Cusco train station just down the road from the main square.  This ticket will take you on a bus to the train station which is about forty five minutes from Cusco.  The train arrives in Machu Picchu about three hours later in the tourist market area.  If you have arranged for a hotel they will most likely pick you up just outside the station.  Most places are quite a hike up the main road in the town so getting a ride is a good idea, we stayed at the La Cabana Hotel which was very nice (the entire town is on this huge steep slant).  Tickets to Machu Picchu can be purchased at the tourist center near the back of the city.  There is one bus that leaves fairly regularly just across the river from the tourist market.  The bus ride is interesting to say the least, the road wraps around the mountain up to Machu Picchu and if you are afraid of heights you might not want take a window seat by the edge.  When the bus arrives its clear to everyone after climbing a few steps that it is worth it.  The view is just like in every picture you have seen of Machu Picchu and it is absolutely breath taking.  As a side note you can buy an extra ticket to climb up the slope directly above us known as Wayna Picchu, it is limited to 400 people a day at two morning intervals so book early.  The view is amazing but the trail is slightly scary from what I have heard and it is not very safety regulated so tread lightly.

Local Peruvian Clothing Style

Moray

          We spent day four hiring a taxi to take us around the other areas near Machu Picchu and Cusco.  We visited an additional site with the farming layers as well as some natural salt flats (picture below) where we bought some local salt.  The currency is Soles which is about 3 to 1 to the dollar.  Everything is very cheap including the taxi ride tour around the areas before we arrived back to Cusco.  We stayed in a few different hotels in Cusco one was called the Royal Inka hotel (they have a one and two phases right next to each other and we stayed in both), it was nice and affordable.  Following a night in Cusco we made our way via a nine hour bus ride to the city of Puno.

Lake Titicaca

          Puno is the city that holds the port to Lake Titicaca which is divided down the middle between Peru and Bolivia.  One major attraction to visiting the lake is the floating islands that are just a cheap ferry ride away and also typically include a tour as well.  These islands consist of straw and a peat like material that has to be constantly woven together to hold the bond.  That is the cool part; all the islands were hand made by a group whose ancestors sought to flee from the more aggressive war prone Inka.  It is a fun side trip, the city of Puno has some nice colonial style hotels along with some good restaurants.  That being said, I would recommend arranging a trip to Bolivia if you go because otherwise personally its not worth the long journey to Puno.  We did not go to Bolivia because it costs $150 per person to enter the country if you are American (not sure why, its pretty lame if you ask me).  Our trip back to Cusco (if you haven't noticed Cusco is a great base of

Salt Flats in Cuzco Region

One of the Nazca Lines

operations) was our first lesson that if you are in a third world country and there are levels of luxury you can pay for, do not go for the cheapest.  We rode in the VIP section of a tourist bus to Puno, but I saw a cheaper local bus on the way back and the conditions were horrible.  There was no ventilation and a half hour later the windows were dripping wet.  It was pretty gross and sad because unlike our option to ride the VIP bus, this was what the locals have to do to get around  So nine hours later we arrived in Cusco to prepare for our flight to Lima.
          Day six in Lima was a lot of fun, Lima is a bright vibrant city with a lot to do.  Hotel quality is based on the area you are staying in of course.  The area we stayed in was near the golf resort area and is very
pleasant.  There is a golf resort hotel called the Country Club Lima Hotel and it is a great place to get a bite to eat.  Dress is business casual at the very least, the ambiance is very warm and inviting.  We created a

Nazca Lines (Viewing tower
below)

Peru's Diverse Climate

home base in Lima to set our plans to head to the Nazca desert to view the Nazca lines.
          If you are unfamiliar the Nazca Lines are ancient drawings in the desert that can only be seen from the sky.   Which of course gives credence to some theories that these people mistook aliens for gods.  They have survived the times because of the relatively unchanging climate of the Nazca desert (this is interesting to note because Peru has one of the most diverse climates in the world, where the weather in some regions can change drastically on an hourly basis).  The Nazca airport is mostly built to serve tourists to view the lines and prices for plane tickets are around $70-90 dollars (the video below shows the same tower as the aerial view of the tower above).  During our flight I started to feel a little queasy due to the small plane and the sudden turns.  It is almost like a rollercoaster ride that lasts an hour.  There is a great hotel called the Nazca Line Hotel which is a nice little oasis in the desert with a good restaurant/bar and pool area.  Cruz Del Sur is the bus line we chose which books VIP sections for about $40 a person, the VIP section is like the first class section of an airplane with food service and movies in the chairs.  This bus trip was about the same travel time as it was to Puno/Lake Titicaca so riding with some luxury/nap time is not a bad way to go.  Following our bus trip back to Lima to make our evening flight, we had a nice bite to eat at the Country Club Lima Hotel and then walked over to a local Peruvian Casino to play some blackjack

Our pilot who safely
returned us to the ground after
the flying over the Nazca Lines

Nazca Lines

          Our trip to Peru was 100% worth it.  If you like different cultures and enjoy deep and rich history you will have a wonderful time in Peru.  As long as you stick to the main areas, Peru is very safe for being a third world country.  The local people are very welcoming and will usually help you in any way that they can.  A week to two weeks is probably enough time to hit all of the hot points and "must see's"of the country.  Add two weeks and you could casually go through all of the major sites while leaving more time to adjust to the elevation.