Cusco & Machu Pichu

So I arrived in Cusco the 20th. Got to the hotel and walked around town. We took some kind of scenic/ tourist bus that stopped on the way to at the main touristic sites. And Peru has many sights worth seeing outside the main tourist areas. So the ruins we saw on the way were quite impressive.

The next day we had an easy day as well. We walked around town and visited the main cathedral. By now I have seen so many Churches, Convents and sights in general that I am both not easily impressed anymore and they do not interrest me so much anymore. One of the things I learned from this journey is that a love to meet interresting people and to see grear nature. Also I love to be alone and do my own thing.

Day three in Cusco we took a tour to the Sacret Valley. It was a nice tour and I saw some pretty interresting Inca remains. By now however I have had it with a tour guide shouting through the microphone explaining both in Spanish and very bad English wat we are passing and what we are going to see. However it is often the easiest and cheapest way to see things. It think this was the last time. We went to Pisac, Urumbamba and Ollantaytambo. The bus itself got back to Cusco and we took the train in Ollantaytambo to Aguas Callientes. Ollantaytambo is a dreamy small town with a huge Inca fort. The town itself is really sweet and the people as well. When we arrived in Aguas Callientes we walked to our hostel and crashed in our beds since we had a long day and we neededto get up the next day at four thirty. The hostal was included in the tour and was really crappy. The people however whoworked there were really friendly and we couldn´t be mad at them. However we felt like weshould have gotten a better hotel. So it is true. They warned us but we didn´t listen. They tell you to put down everything that you arrange and agree upon is on your contract. We didn´t discuss the hotel, so we got a crappy one. Till now we had a good experience booking tours through hotels and hostels. Now not anymore. It would have been better in this case to organise it ourselves. The footprint give a accurate decription of how to get to Machu Pichu and how much it will cost. We thought a tour would be easier. But the only thing they organised for us were a hotel, traintickets, entrance tickets for Machu Pichu and a guide. Which all are not very hard to come by. So one piece of advice. When you go to Machu Pichu. Just do it yourself. And walking the Inca trail is probably even a better way to go and see it.

Despite the disappointment about the lack of organisation and quality Machu Pichu impressed me deeply. We got there a about six and we stayed all day. I walked up a very steep mountain to get a good view of the sight. There are more old sities that are found intact all over the world. But its place among the mountains. Unreachable for everyone. In the green mountain jungle. I must say there is something special, something extra about the place. It is so quiet there. And one other piece of advice. When you go at the end of the rain season you are bound to get a lot of sun and averything is so green. For me it was a really good time to be there. Further the sporadic showers wash out the tourist quite necely so it is nice and quiet We only had two small showers of rain and it was really quiet. Not a lot of people around. Quite nice.

The next morning we had to get the train at 5.45 in the morning. So another early rise. So we got in Cusco at about 10.30 and had all day to enjoy Cusco. So far it my favorite city in Peru. Although Ollantaytambu felt pretty good as well. Cusco has a really nice and old feel to it. And because of tourism people are not as poor as in other parts of Peru. And you actually feel as if you are in a different wold in Cusco and the sacret valley. Because of the high mountains surrounding it, protecting it from the rest of the world. That all for now folks. May be my last post from this continent.

Hasta la pasta.