Bussing it with the locals - Sacred Valley & Machu Picchu

Rather than book a tour to the Sacred Valley or Machu Picchu, we decided to travel there independently; save some dollars, avoid some of the tourist hordes and have a bit more of a 'local' experience! We took the bouncy and rather stinky local buses, (complete with suspicious wet patches on the seats!) to the Sacred Valley as part of the 'Tom and Claire Macchu Pichu pilgrimage'. The S-V is as important, if not more important than M-P as it is considered the heartland of the Inca Empire due to its rich resources.




Pisac was our first stop where we visited the market and grabbed some food before jumping back on the bus and headed to Ollantaytumbo - known by many as 'Ollanta' due to its tongue twister name.... we still can't pronounce it!




We set up camp in Ollanta, (in the grounds of a youth hostel) and caused a bit of a stir with a Peruvian school group as they could not comprehend why we would be camping. They then proceeded to keep us up most of the night with their teenage screaming, oh the joys!



Ollanta is a stunning town, situated in a valley surrounded by mountains, with Inca ruins clinging to the cliff-sides. Completely under-rated in our opinion. Due to funds, unfortunately we had to skip the visit to the main ruins in this town (everything in the surrounds of Cusco costs a fortune, well particularly for backpackers!) However we did venture up the free ruins in town, totally void of tourists and stunning in their own right. What we found interesting here, is that upon searching for information about the 'why's' and 'how's' of the ruins, you rarely come across much. After the Spanish invasion in the 1500's, many of the artifacts were destroyed and details of the history are short and non-descript. However, what we do know about this area is that Ollanta was one of the only places in Peru where the Incas beat the Spaniards and the ruins remain relatively in-tact.






From Ollanta, we caught the train to Aguas Caliente (the town at the foot of the mountain where Machu Picchu resides). It was the poshest train that I have ever been on - complete with food service, fancy windows in the roof and non-stop service from the staff aboard - we even got treated to a 'performance' and Inca fashion show!! Not quite how we imagined the journey to Machu Picchu, we felt more like senior citzens than backpackers, however as we had a lack of options it was nice to have a little luxury for 2 hours!



Aguas Caliente is a bizarre place - it's only 2000m above sea level so has a jungle/tropical feel and is quite ridiculously touristy and expensive. We spent one night here before waking at 4am the next day for the bus to Machu Picchu in the hope of avoiding as many crowds as possible. Upon awakening we were welcomed by a humongous storm - the rain was pelting down. However, due to time restrictions, we could not wait another day so had to head out in the pouring rain and pitch black in the hope that the clouds lifted by sunrise. We picked up ponchos from an enterprising local and hit the mountain. Despite the early hour and terrible weather, there were still plenty of people scattered across the ruins in a sea of multi-coloured ponchos.






We managed to get on the list to climb Huayna Picchu (the big mountain behind the Machu Picchu ruins) a pleasant if not knee jerking 400m walk up steps from Machu Picchu. Totally recommended.



A combination of altitude and copious amounts of rain, had the effect of making us go a little loopy - Tom doing his blue steel impression decked out in a poncho. Styling!

Tourist mecca - Cuzco

Cuzco is a stunning city and it is no wonder that 100's of thousands of tourists flock here every year, not only because it is the gateway to Machu Picchu but also because it is steeped in history and is picture perfect from every angle.





We stayed in the San Blas area which is up the hill from the main plaza and has great views of the city below, this meant that it was a bit of a trek at the end of the night, but hey we needed the exercise! We spent 5 days in total in Cuzco, as we had 2 days in the Sacred Valley/Aguas Caliente on the 'Tom & Claire trek' to Machu Piccu - unbelievably you now have to book 6 months in advance if you want to go on the Inca Trail - absolute madness!





Cusco is undeniably a tourist mecca, if you shut your eyes you could think that you were in Thailand with the number of people trying to sell you a massage! And unfortunately, with stacks of tourists descending on this city to get their flicks of the 'famous ruins', comes inflation.

This city is not cheap, well not to us on our backpacking budget! With this realisation in mind, we needed to get in and out asap in order to stay in budget. Unfortunately, this was not an easy feat as the Ministerio de Cultura recently reduced the number of tickets to Machu Picchu. These ruins are literally starting to crumble and there is a concern that in years to come with the hordes of tourists trampling in the area, they could disappear. We therefore had 4 days in Cusco until we could head off, so we checked out the city and became quite addicted to an Australian run cafe for awesome avocado sarnies and the best coffee we've had over the past 6 months!

Huffin & Puffin in the Sun Island

En route to Cusco, Peru, we had a stop in Lake Titicaca - a massive high altitude lake that sits between Peru and Bolivia. We weren't especially excited about heading to the lake, as we'd heard that the Peruvian side was a bit of a tourist trap, so decided to check out Isla Del Sol on the Bolivian side instead. Well, we were in for an absolute treat as it was totally stunning.



First stop was Copacabana, a small town situated on the lake from where you catch a boat for a few hours to Isla Del Sol. Copacabana is another tourist hub, my cousin Jonny described it as having a similar vibe to Khao San Rd in Bangkok and that description could not have been closer - lots of tacky souvenir shops, gringo food and try hard hippies. However we found an awesome hostal perched on the top of a hill overlooking the lake and the town, with manicured gardens, hammocks and top food. So we pampered ourselves for the night.









The next day we caught a rather rickety looking boat to the island. Half way through the journey, it lived up to its shoddy appearance, and a window fell out (no surprises though as it was held on with sticky tape!!) Luckily the woman in front of us caught the window pane before it smashed onto her head. Hmmm health and safety standards hardly exist in this part of the world.



Upon reaching the island we soon realised what we were in for - lots and lots of uphill walking! In order to get to our accommodation for the night we had to walk up a very steep hill for 300m with our ridiculously heavy backpacks. At 3800m above sea level, only a few steps and you're wheeezing like a 90 yr old. Luckily for me a lovely local guy offered to carry my backpack for a small fee, an offer which I of course jumped at. Poor Tom didn't have any help though, however he's pretty tough so could handle it!



The view from the top of the island was absolutely beautiful, with snowcapped peaks of the Andes in the distance. Fortunately for us, we had a room with this view to wake up to. It was freezing at night though, close to -7 degrees, with no heating and the usual Bolivian cold cold showers.




Tom speaking llama!

The next day we trekked around the island and caught a glimpse of local life, there's no roads and no transport, so the only way that the locals ferry their goods is via donkey or llama. From what we could see, the women appear to do everything - they look after the animals, the children, the home, while the men...I don't really know what they do. They hardly seemed to make an appearance. The Bolivian women are tough and all credit to them, the colourful bags that they carry on their bags all day everyday were much heavier than our backpacks and they usually pop a kid in there too! Respect.










Having a chat with a local kid

High times in La Paz

Our time in La Paz was....interesting. We spent 2 days in the city before heading to the Amazon and then spent another 3 days afterwards. In fact, I didn't see a great deal of the city as I felt pretty sick and out of breath most of the time. The altitude really got me in this city and to make matters worse, this city is sooo hilly so you're constantly huffing and puffing to the point of being close to passing out. However, Tom on the other hand was ok so he did the sightseeing for the 2 of us!





The city of La Paz is really stunning, it sits in a big 'bowl' and is surrounded by the Andes mountains and the altiplano. It is the country's 'administrative' capital and sits at 3650m above sea level. Towering above the city is the snow-capped Illimani mountain which is over 6000m. We met a number of people on our travels planning to climb it, all I can say is 'crazy', I would rather give my left arm than do that!


Not the greatest shot, taken from the micro plane through the misty window, but gives a birds eye view of the city




Getting the trainers cleaned after Amazon jungle trekking






Truly amazing Illimani at sunset



If you've read 'Marching Powder' then you'll be familiar with San Pedro prison which is located slap bang in the centre of La Paz. We took a 'little' walk to the prison (which was about as much as I could cope with on day 2!)and straight away we were cornered by an American prisoner on day release?!? umm yes this prison is slightly bizarre in the fact that you have to buy your own cell, they manufacture cocaine inside the prison and many of the prisoners are wandering outside the jail trying to recruit backpackers for a prison tour 'at a price'. Unfortunately, we were engaged in conversation for a few mins too long as we were guilt-tripped into buying the most expensive soup in the whole of La Paz for this guy. Needless to say we did not take him up on his offer to give us a tour of the prison!


San Pedro prison

And if you have had enough of the sightseeing and trekking up the city's many hills, then there's always tonnes of alpaca paraphernalia and the weirdly bizarre witches market where you can buy various lotions and potions including llama foetus' for good luck. Tempted?

The Amazon Jungle - Bolivian style

We arrived in La Paz after a 13 hour overnight bus ride from Sucre which took us through the mountains and the altiplano. It was seriously cold overnight - there was thick ice built up on the windows. Our blankets that we've been lugging around for the past 5 months were an absolute godsend (thanks Mishy!).

We'd been talking about a trip to the Amazon jungle for a while - however it took some time to work out which country to enter from given that the jungle is absolutely huuuge and covers eight countries in South America! So we decided to head in from Bolivia, the main reason being that it was the cheapest and well, funds are starting to run low after much of the past 5 months spent in crazily expensive Brazil and Argentina. As flashpackers though, we opted for a nicer and much quicker route to get down to the jungle from La Paz, on a tiny plane seating only 15 people, taking a speedy 35 mins. The alternative was a 1950's bus, winding and bumping along unsealed roads for 20 hours, the jungle is only 200kms from La Paz, so it puts into perspective just how excruciating this trip would have been.




Scared!!

The flight from La Paz to Rurrenabaque was so bizarre - we took off and within a few minutes we were flying through snow capped mountains, in fact the mountains were higher than the plane! It was like a scene from James Bond. Ten minutes later we commenced our descent into the tropical jungle. To go from an altitude of almost 4000m and cold dry weather to a humid jungle at sea level all within half an hour was quite crazy.







We booked onto a 3 day/2 night trip to the Madidi jungle in the Amazon, renowned for more species of birds than any other park in the world. We went deep into the jungle and took a 6 hour boat ride up the murky piranha infested waters to our jungle camp. There were only 4 of us on the trip and we were lucky to join up with 2 lovely kiwis.



We spent the days trekking in the jungle where we came across many different species of monkeys flying through the trees, wild pigs in big groups storming through the undergrowth - these animals are quite frightening and the stench they emit is indescribable. We also spotted many birds flying above, though unfortunately we didn't manage to spot a toucan.



The insects were incredible - we spotted a tarantula and in the evening thousands of flying insects came out in full force to join us for a game of cards. The game was over almost before it started as we all rushed off to out tents before a full invasion!






Elevated camping accommodation in the middle of the jungle - surprisingly comfortable!






With our Kiwi pals - attempting to catch Piranhas for dinner but with little success!





Tom joined in with the locals and braved the taste of a giant queen working ant - bit its bum off and chomped away. Apparently it had a milky cinnamon taste. The Amazon got its own back though and upon arriving back in La Paz a few days later, Tom was covered in sand fly bites around his ankles and found a little 4 legged friend half buried in his belly...nice!!


Just in case you're wondering, Tom hasn't put on masses amount of weight - this chunky hand belongs to our Bolivian guide!