Trip Report: Venturing through Brazil & Peru

[Mattg]

Flight: LA2075 Lima - Cuzco
Airbus A319 | CC-CQK
Departure time: 09:40
Arrival time: 11:00

I was hoping to get some breakfast before my flight in the LAN lounge... but then I found out they don't actually have one in Lima's domestic terminal. :-|

We boarded and departed on-time. I was seated in 5A with a free seat next to me. The plane was only half-full and was actually bound for Puerto Maldonado with a stopover in Cuzco.

The flight was actually very good, but the highlight was the scenery, which was nothing short of incredible. I was glued to the window from the moment we lifted off in Lima to the moment I got off the plane in Cuzco. We flew over some very high mountains and it was weird flying at 27,000 feet and seeing the mountains just a few kilometres below.



Lima shortly after takeoff. The view would have been better if not for the clouds.


The mountain peaks rising above the clouds.

A decent morning tea complete with drinks was served, even though the flight time was only an hour. I tried Inca Kola for the drink - this is the most popular soft drink in Peru; it looks like Mountain Dew and tastes like creaming soda.



I was too busy looking out the window to notice what was playing on the overhead screens but I don't think it was anything in particular.

The cabin crew were friendly and professional and made the flight all the more pleasant.

I've attempted the approach into Cuzco airport on flight simulator and it wasn't easy. Cuzco is surrounded by mountains and planes are only allowed to land/takeoff in one direction as a result. For the approach, we overflew the town before starting a steep decent and turn over/around a mountain to line up with the runway. After the turn we levelled out around 20 seconds before touchdown. The views were incredible and the landing was perfect. The pilots who land at this airport must be very skilled.


Overflying Cuzco


Beginning the turn back towards Cuzco

 

[Mattg]

We seemed to land right in the centre of town as the airport was surrounded by buildings in all directions.

As many of the passengers were continuing onto PEM, I was one of only 15 or so passengers who disembarked in Cuzco.



The airport was small but functional and my bag was already on the carousel just a few minutes after I had got off the plane.

Someone was supposed to wait for me with a sign outside the airport for the advertised "free transfer" to my hotel. In this case I had the opposite problem to the one I had in Lima - I found a man waiting for me straight away but there was no vehicle. At the time I didn't have a clue what was going on because the man spoke very little English but I later realised that they were unable to get their vehicle through all the protests in Cuzco. I waited with the man for around 10 minutes, then for some reason we began walking down the street to another point a few blocks away, where we stopped and waited some more. As I said, I had no clue what was going on at the time. A few phone calls were made and after about twenty minutes I was introduced to this guy with a motorbike. I was told quite matter-of-factly "This man will take you to your hotel for 25 soles." (~$10)

I had a look at the motorbike and thought it must have been a joke. "Is there enough room for my suitcase?" I asked. "Yes, sir" was the response. Against all of my instincts, I got on the back of the motorbike without so much as a helmet. We had a lot of trouble getting through town due to all the road blocks. When I say road blocks, mostly I mean small rocks which have been placed in the middle of the road, but they were guarded and to get through the driver had to negotiate at each point. We kept having to turn around and take back streets to avoid the protestors and the trip seemed to take forever. Looking back, it was a fun adventure and I did make it to the hotel safely! As compensation for having to pay for the unusual transfer, the hotel upgraded me to a nicer room, so I don't have any hard feelings in that regard.

Tuesday was the first day of a two day strike in Cuzco and the region. My understanding is that the locals were protesting against the government over gas prices. Although natural gas is locally produced in Peru, the locals have to pay more than people in other countries who import the Peruvian gas, or something like this. They were trying to get through to the president, but the fact is that the president was probably in Lima, totally oblivious to the protestors' cause, and the only thing they would have achieved was to annoy all of the tourists in Cuzco. Surely that would do more harm than good because Cuzco and the region's economy relies heavily on tourism. That's how I see it anyway.

Cuzco itself was a nice place, although very touristy. Pretty much everyone I saw there was either a tourist or was there to sell things to tourists. There were even some locals who would walk around town with their pet llamas/alpacas and charge tourists a small fee to take photos with them. I also saw one lady trying to pass off a sheep as a llama...

I spent Tuesday afternoon in Cuzco getting used to the climate & the high altitude before I started seeing the sights properly on Wednesday. I am happy to say that I did not suffer from altitude sickness. All I did was take reasonable precautions such as drinking plenty of water and coca tea and refraining from strenuous exercise.

That's all for the moment. In the next part I'll tell you about my visits to the Sacred Valley and Machu Picchu.

 

[Cool Cat Phil]

Hmm.... These domestic rip-offs that exist for non-residents on certain routes, appear to occur in a number of countries it appears.

Ryanair have a domestic route in Spain, that is similar to the one you described with LAN, where non locals pay more..... Certainly doesn't 't seem fair to me.

Certainly by the looks of your pictures a window seat is a must when flying within South America the scenery is stunning!

Machu Picchu....uber exciting! I've heard it can be pretty expensive to get there, so will love to hear your story.

 

[Mattg]

Due to the two-day strike in Cuzco, the Sacred Valley tour I had originally booked for Wednesday was cancelled one week out, but I was able to re-book into a similar tour on the same day (which as an added bonus happened to be $20 cheaper too!). All up it cost $30 for the tour, plus $26 for entry to the archaeological sites.

There was an interesting mix of people on the mini-bus and we all got along really well from the get-go. There was a young German guy, a couple of Hungarian girls and a group of six travelling together which consisted of a retired American couple, a Danish man & his Peruvian wife, and the Danish man's American dad and Norwegian mum. One of the American men happened to be Jim Bates, the former coach of the Miami Dolphins NFL team, although I didn't find out about that until afterwards! He was a very polite and humble man and simply introduced himself as Jim.

Our guide Edwin spoke excellent English and was very knowledgable when it came to the Incans and the Sacred Valley - and you would hope so as he has written a book on the subject. But our driver Eddy turned out to be just as much of an asset later on in the tour, as you will find out shortly. The strike in Cuzco (and as it happened, the whole region) was still going on but most of the road blocks were just small rocks placed across the roads. These were generally easily removed or driven around, so although I think we had to take a back road out of Cuzco, we made it out relatively easily.

Straight away we were treated to some of the best views in the world as we winded our way over the mountains towards Pisac. We didn't have too many problems with the roads once we were out of Cusco, but we did have to contend every now and again with rocks... and also animals, children, rubbish, burning tyres and even a toilet... in the middle of the road.

Our first stop was the Pisac ruins where we got our first taste of the incredible Incan construction.


The view from the Incan ruins in Pisac.

From there we were taken to the town of Pisac to visit the markets. I did most of my Peru shopping here. As usual, the guide took us into the most expensive shops and inside the shop staff would spend a little bit of time showing us how their products were made... and a lot of time telling us about their "special offers." I know how this all works, and no doubt the guide would get a commission if we bought something from these places. If we wanted to look at a different shop/stall to the ones he wanted to take us too, the guide would get cranky and tell us to follow him into the more expensive shops he was taking us to. I should point out that our guide was excellent in most respects, so don't take this to mean that I didn't like him; my criticisms are more of the system in general as it is always like this.

After 40 minutes of demonstrations and sales pitches in various shopfronts we had 15 minutes of free time before we had to go back to the bus. I got more shopping done in that 15 minutes than the rest of my time in Peru. I was pretty impressed with my efficiency and decisiveness when it came to shopping.


Pisac markets - one of the best places for shopping in the region.


The problems began when we tried to enter the next town of Urubamba. Protestors were out in force here and were blocking the entrances and exits into the town a lot more effectively than in Cuzco. We were supposed to have lunch in this town but couldn't get through the blockade. We could see protestors and things on fire in the distance. We drove up and down the street several times trying to find a solution but this was not obvious. With the protestors getting closer, the tour guide decided to retreat and wait until they went away to have lunch. He took us to this nice hotel with a restaurant and the company agreed to provide vouchers so that we could eat there at no extra cost.

We had a lovely relaxing lunch in the safety of the hotel. After an hour or so the guide told everyone that he was going out to assess the situation and would be back in ten minutes. He told us in a very indirect way to wait for him and then be ready to go immediately when he came back in ten minutes. I say that he said that indirectly, because what he actually said was something like "This is a really nice place. Have a look around, take some photos, use the bathrooms. Aren't those flowers over there nice? Why don't you have a look at them for a while. And when you're done, meet me in the carpark in ten minutes. And don't be late!"

Sure enough, he came back in ten minutes and ran out of the bus to yell at everyone "Get in, now! Quick, quick!" Sure enough, the protestors were having lunch or something and there was a break in the blockade. We had trouble getting through the town as there were still rocks and other forms of debris all over the road, but whenever it was necessary the driver and guide would both jump out to move them out of the way. We may have been able to get into the town but now we were stuck there as the road out of the other side of town was blocked off even more effectively.

During all of this the mini-bus lot of time reversing. Whenever it reversed it would play the song Lambada (for some reason), which sounds like the music played by ice-cream trucks. I was very, very sick of that song by the end of the day.

When the police riot squad turned up we decided to retreat again. The guide commented that it was the first time he'd actually seen the police working, so something must be up. The group of six were staying at a very nice hotel in Urubamba and elected to be dropped off there, even though it meant they would miss out on visiting Ollyantaytambo. By this point we had visited more hotels than Incan ruins!

While the driver went back out to assess the situation some more, one of the nice American guys shouted everyone a drink at the very nice bar in their hotel, the Tambo del Inka. By the way, if you ever get a chance to stay there, it looks great, although their cheapest room will set you back around $400/night. We'd only just got our drinks when the guide came over with a sense of urgency to tell the four of us left standing that we had to go immediately.

I don't know what they thought would happen but we got stuck at the same place as last time. The police had arrived but there was still no chance of getting past the tree in the middle of the road, dozens of protestors, burning tyres etc. And even if we did make it, there were two more blockades behind this one. Another bus got through with a police escort but we were not so lucky... perhaps we should have offered more money to the police...



We tried going a back way but it was a dead end. In a last ditch attempt, we tried another back route and were finally successful! That road was definitely not designed for anything larger than a motorbike, but it did the trick and we got past the blockades. The driver and guide had tried everything and eventually their persistence paid off. I couldn't fault either of them.


The back road we used to evade the road blocks.


Despite all the drama, we all had a great time and the town of Ollyantaytambo was well worth the effort to get to. We climbed up some more Incan ruins there which were apparently the second-most impressive in Peru (the first being Machu Picchu). It is incredible what the Incans were able to achieve. As I'm not a history writer, I can't really explain the ins-and-outs of the ruins, but they were really cool, and you should see them!


Looking down onto Ollyantaytambo from the Incan archaeological site. (All of my photos of the actual site didn't come out too well due to the glare.)

If I had've thought about it, I could have stayed in Ollyantaytambo, which is halfway between Cuzco and Machu Picchu, and saved myself four hours of travel time. Instead, I took the bus back to Cuzco that evening. I would travel through Ollyantaytambo on the train to Machu Picchu the next morning...

What a day it had been! And I hadn't even got to Machu Picchu yet...

 

[Mattg]

It was Thursday morning on the day I would finally get to see Machu Picchu!

I received an email from Peru Rail several months ago informing me that the train service between Poroy and Aguas Calientes (the small town at the base of Machu Picchu) had been enhanced (my words, not theirs ) to a "bi-modal service" during the rainy season from January to May. This meant that trains were replaced by buses between Cuzco and Pachar, or for around half the trip. Several different marketing fluff terms were used by Peru Rail to describe the changes, such as "for your comfort" and "as part of our security policy." As far as I was concerned, it was a downgrade as half the train was now a bus service and the price remained the same. There was one positive thing to come out of this though - the buses departed from Wanchaq station in Cuzco, which I could walk to from my hotel. I would have had to take a taxi to and from Poroy, which is approximately 10km from Cuzco.

I was booked on Vistadome train 31, the first one for the day. The buses departed at 6am, meaning we were supposed to arrive at the station by 5.30am. The bus was completely full and this annoying tacky Peruvian music was played over the loudspeakers for the entire 2 hour trip, making it very difficult to sleep without headphones. (The same music, which seemed to be just a few songs on a never-ending loop, was also played on the train, but at least I wasn't trying to sleep!) The bus was otherwise comfortable, but not nearly as nice as the train. Then again, I like trains...

We arrived at Pachar station, which is more or less in the middle of nowhere, a little before 8am for the transfer to the train. My theory that in Peru (and most touristy places in the world, for that matter) there are people trying to sell you stuff at every possible opportunity was once again proven when we had to walk past people trying to flog souvenirs and snack food on the short walk from the bus to the train.


People selling things outside Pachar station.


The Vistadome train at Pachar station.

The Vistadome train was quite nice, although once all the passengers had boarded by the time we left Ollyantaytambo station, it was completely full. There were 12 "compartments" of 4 seats - sets of 2 seats facing each other with a table in the middle - in each of the 3 carriages. There were no overhead lockers as this space was kept clear so you could see out of the glass panels in the roof.


Inside the Vistadome train.

I settled into my seat and started talking to the American lady in the seat facing mine. We got on well and talked for most of the trip.

Once we got underway, I don't think the train ever got passed 25km/h, but the scenery was incredible. The views were easily the best thing about the train.



A complimentary snack and drink was served. We were all given three small pancakes and some pieces of fruit. Later a small (and I mean small!) warm pastry resembling a spinach quiche was served.



After the meal service was finished the servers walked down the aisle of the carriage with a trolley full of souvenirs - hats, books etc. We were the last to be offered the merchandise and in the meantime I watched as they sold quite a lot of this stuff to gullible tourists. When they got to our table we all said "no thank you" but the lady was persistent. I felt like we were getting a hard sell as she, despite our objections, laid all sorts of merchandise on the table for us to look at. Most of it was 3 to 4 times the price you would pay at the local markets. The American lady, politely saying that she wasn't going to buy anything, said "maybe I'll get something on the way back." The lady replied "You can't buy any of this on the return trip, now is your last chance". That was a total lie.

We arrived in Aguas Calientes a little before 10am and I met my guide, who was waiting for me outside the station. I had booked a tour of Machu Picchu through a travel agency in Cuzco, but what they failed to tell me was that I also needed to pay for entrance and the bus to Machu Picchu. Somewhat surprised and annoyed that I didn't already have the relevant tickets, he escorted me to the ticket offices. None of them accepted my cards so we had to go to the only working ATM in town for me to withdraw cash before I could buy anything. The entrance tickets for Machu Picchu for two days seemed very expensive - just as well they accepted my student card! On top this the bus to the entrance of Machu Picchu cost $19 return, or $38 for two days.

The bus from Aguas Calientes to Machu Picchu took 25 minutes to zig-zag its way up the side of a steep mountain. The buses generally only leave once each of the 29 seats are filled. As an aside, with an average fare of $9.50 each way, and 29 seats, each bus collects US$275.50 in revenue! Not bad for a 25 minute bus trip... and they run buses every 5 minutes or so from 5.30am to 5.30pm...

To get into Machu Picchu I needed my ticket and passport - I don't know why you need a passport but you do. There is an option to get your passport stamped too with the official Machu Picchu souvenir stamp. I was initially reluctant as I've heard horror stories about peoples' passports becoming invalid as a result of the Checkpoint Charlie souvenir stamps, but the tour guide was adamant that it would be fine and everyone was doing it.

 

[Mattg]

Looking down onto the site entrance from the Machu Picchu side. The buses park on the lower left, beside the (expensive) restaurant. On the right you can see the passport/ticket control.

From there I joined the rest of the group for a two hour guided our of Machu Picchu. What can I say, it was just incredible! It's just amazing that the Incans were able to build a city such as this in the mountains. I'm not a professional on the subject, but I think the tour guide said that parts of the ancient city were designed around the movements of the earth and the sun, and if I recall correctly, light shines through the Temple of the Sun during the Winter solstice. The Incans must have been excellent mathematicians and known a lot about the universe. The way the rocks are cut so precisely is also a marvel. There were no lasers in the 15th century!


Machu Picchu


Here you can see two rock walls of differing quality. Whatever was on the right hand side was probably of much greater importance to the Incans as a lot more effort has been out into the wall's construction.


The very first thing I learnt though was the correct way to pronounce Machu Picchu. Before the tour had even started the guide pointed out when I pronounced it Mar-chew PEE-chew that actually it was pronounced Mar-chew PICK-chew. Apparently the way I said Picchu was the way to say "cough" in the local language.

On the tour was a lady who looked like she was in her late 60s but was coping with all the stairs surprisingly well. She stunned the group though when she told us that she was actually 81! And she was showing a lot of the others in the group up! I hope I'm that fit when I'm 81.

As the tour was coming to a close, a storm was brewing in the distance and it began to rain. I retreated to the café for a while to allow the storm to pass. The sandwich I bought there was both the most expensive and most horrible sandwich I think I've had on this trip!

With the sun back out I left the café and ran into the American lady I'd been speaking to on the train. There are a couple of extended walks you can do from Machu Pacchu without needing a reservation - the Sun Gate and the Inca Bridge. We both wanted to go to the Inca bridge so set out for the 1 hour hike together. She didn't seem to be as lucky as me as she wasn't happy with her guide. When we compared some of the information we'd both been given, there were some significant differences. It just goes to show that although there are a lot of guides in Machu Picchu, they aren't all necessarily good.

The trek to the Inca Bridge was quite fun, but not an easy stroll. When we got there, we found that there weren't any views of Machu Picchu from the bridge, but you could see a narrow walkway running along the side of a cliff. How the Incans managed to build that is completely beyond me. We were allowed as far as the bridge but beyond that was blocked off (and just as well)!


The Inca Bridge on the side of a cliff.

Nearby was a rock which stuck out over the cliff. I was prepared to get onto it to pose for a photo, but I kept my distance from the edges. A German girl who happened to be there at the time decided to sit on the edge of the rock with her legs dangling. We couldn't watch - had she slipped she would have almost certainly fallen to her death! When she got up to have a look at the photo, she was disappointed that it didn't look extreme enough!

On the trip back down we came across some animals roaming around Machu Picchu. We weren't sure whether they were llamas or alpacas. A lot of people were posing for photos with them - some successfully, and some scared them away.

 

[Mattg]

I headed back to Aguas Calientes for the evening and checked into my hotel. I had booked a room in one of the cheaper hotels in town and it was definitely not worth it. The owner tried to overcharge me, the room was dirty, the shower and tap didn't work and the whole place was really noisy. The hotel become just the second place I've ever given a one-star rating to on tripadvisor...

Aguas Calientes itself was a lovely little tourist town. It exists mainly because of the tourists going to Machu Picchu but is also famous for its markets and hot springs. There are lots of shops and restaurants for the tourists.


The town of Aguas Calientes

Desperate to leave that awful hotel, I got up really early the next morning and checked out. The real reason though was that I had reserved a place to climb Waynapicchu mountain (sometimes referred to as Huayna Picchu). This is the mountain you could see in the background in some of the previous photos. You have to reserve a place as only 400 people are allowed to enter each day - 200 between 7/8am and another 200 between 10/11am. If you can get a place on the later climb that is better because firstly, you don't have to get up so early and secondly, there is often low cloud around Machu Picchu early in the morning.

I left it to the day before to book a place so my only option was the 7am climb. I got a bus at around 6.30am but by the time I walked through Machu Picchu to get to the Wayna Picchu control point and queued up, it was already 7.30. When I arrived, the whole valley was covered in cloud/fog and you couldn't even see the top of the mountain.

The climb was not a simple stroll. At times the path was steep and narrow and I found it physically challenging. You also need to remember that this is at a high altitude, meaning the air is thinner. It took me a little over an hour to get to the top, and when I did, there wasn't much to see other than clouds. Occasionally Machu Picchu would make an appearance from behind the clouds, but we didn't get those postcard views unfortunately. On a good day, I can imagine the views would be stunning, but in this case I would just describe them as good. I do still think it was worth the effort, but that was a little disappointing.


Machu Picchu makes an appearance from behind the clouds.

What I did next was quite possibly the stupidest thing I did in Peru. From the summit the path goes two ways. The sign pointing to the left said "Machu Picchu" and to the right "Gran Caverna". For some reason I thought that to the left was views of Machu Picchu and that to the right was the correct way back. What on earth was I thinking? The path going to the right actually was a two hour detour to another Incan ruin site. And that wasn't two hours of easy walking; that was two hours of hell walking up & down the side of the mountain! I should have realised I was going the wrong way when I couldn't see any other people around. Perhaps the lack of oxygen was getting to my brain! By the time I realised my mistake I had already walked half an hour and was close to the point of no return, so I just kept going. The Gran Caverna was interesting, but at the end of the day it was just more ruins and it took a lot of effort to reach them. Since I was there I did have a look around before I had a nap inside the cave to catch my breath before setting out on the return voyage. There were only two other people there, so this was something which most people who visit Machu Picchu will never see!



Gran Caverna, another Incan archaeological site behind Wayna Picchu mountain.


That walk was probably the most physically challenging thing I've done on this trip. I would have to stop to catch my breath after each flight of stairs, and it seemed like they would never end. At a couple of points I had to climb up or down a flimsy wooden ladder.




I made it back to Machu Picchu four hours after I had set out on what was supposed to be a simple hike up the mountain. I was physically exhausted and needed to sit down for ages to catch my breath. As I sat there I watched tour groups going past and found it amusing listening to all the old people complaining about the stairs in Machu Picchu. They were nothing in comparison.

As I made my way back through Machu Picchu to the exit I ran into my guide from the previous day, who was taking another tour group. I told him what I had just done and he looked at me and said "You actually did that?" One of the ladies on his tour asked if I was okay and made a comment that I didn't look too good. She was right, I didn't feel that great. The guide gave me some suggestions to help me feel better, including a place in Aguas Calientes where I could get a hot shower. I went back and found the place and although the shower was most certainly not hot, I felt much better afterwards.

 

[Mattg]

My train back to Cuzco wasn't leaving until 4.43pm so I had a few hours to kill in Aguas Calientes. I passed the time by eating, having a look at the markets, and eating some more. I've been stuck in much worse places!

I took the Expedition train back to Pachar. This was around $10 cheaper than the Vistadome train but there wasn't a lot of difference. Both are operated by Peru Rail. I think there were 4 more seats or something in each carriage and they are all facing forward, but that was just about the only difference.


The inside of the Expedition train


Some more scenery on the return trip

Once again, a snack and drink was served. This time it was just a muffin. And once again, the workers came through the carriage trying to sell overpriced merchandise.

The rest of the trip was uneventful and we arrived on the bus in Cuzco at around 8.30pm.


Machu Picchu itself was amazing and definitely worth visiting, but it's wasn't cheap. Think about it: To start with, you have to get to Cuzco. From Cuzco (or one of the intermediate points such as Ollyantaytambo) the only way to get to Machu Picchu is by train. There is a cheap local train but tourists are not actually allowed to use it. Instead, they are are forced to pay $70 or $80 each way to travel on a Peru Rail service. But this only gets you as far as Aguas Calientes; from there, a return bus ticket to Machu Picchu will set you back $19. All that, and you haven't even paid for entry into Machu Picchu, let alone tours, food, souvenirs, tips or accommodation. I tried to spend as little as possible, but if you don't include flights to/from Cuzco, I still spent more than $350 in two days - and that's just for one person! Had I stayed in a nice hotel, eaten at nice restaurants and so on, that could easily add up to over $500 for one person.

At least all of this money supports the Peruvian economy, right? Well not necessarily... Take Peru Rail for example. They have a virtual monopoly on train services to Machu Picchu. Pretty much every tourist who travels there spends at least $150 with this company, and that's not including all the merchandise they sell. But none of the profits (and I'll bet there's a lot of them!) actually stay in Peru as Peru Rail is owned by a British company. I think that's just wrong.

If you are ever offered shares in a company which makes money from tourists going to Machu Picchu, buy them!

 

[Mattg]

On Saturday I travelled from Cuzco to the city of Puno on Lake Titicaca. There are lots of different ways to do this trip e.g. plane, car, bus or train. I considered taking the train but the Peru Rail operated service costs US$268 per person and without stops takes 10 hours! A direct bus service will take approximately 6 hours. I did a variation of this, taking the Inka Express bus. This was a tour which started in Cuzco and finished in Puno, making five stops along the way. With the stops the trip took 10 hours and cost US$60, including all entrance fees and lunch. I'd say it was a pretty good deal!

I didn't check the booking confirmation properly and when I saw "Wanchaq" I assumed that the bus departed from the same place as the bus to Machu Picchu a few days before. I later realised that Wanchaq is actually a district. On the morning of the bus I walked to Wanchaq station from my hotel and arrived with 15 minutes to spare before the bus departed at 7am. By the time I realised that I was actually in the wrong place, and would have to take a taxi, there was 10 minutes before the bus departed. I ran out of the station and for once wasn't annoyed when a taxi driver approached me straight away trying to solicit my business. I told the driver that I had to be at Avenida 28 de Julio within 10 minutes and he looked at me as if to say "You've got to be kidding me!" and I think he started praying. He did get me there with a few minutes to spare... and I tipped him handsomely. (I later discovered that this wasn't necessary as the price I accepted was 3 times the usual fare...)

On the bus tour we stopped off in Andahuaylillas to see a church, Raqchi to see some more Incan ruins, somewhere for lunch, the border between Cuzco & Puno provinces which was the highest point along the way at 4335m & a small town called Pucara. Of course, people approached us trying to sell things at every stop!


The Inka Express bus


The archaeological site in Raqchi, which was an ancient Incan city surrounded by a 4km wall


The main square in Pucara

We drove alongside the railway tracks for much of the trip and the scenery was amazing! Peru really has proven to be a beautiful country.

As we were taking in the view at the border, the Peru Rail train to Puno chugged past. I got a nice photo of it as headed towards the mountains in the distance.



We passed through the industrial city of Juliaca when we were about an hour out of Puno. We didn't stop there but I would be returning in two days to use the airport there. To be honest, I was surprised how dirty and poorly developed the city was.


A main road in the city of Juliaca

We arrived in Puno at 5pm on the dot and I was met by someone from the hotel for my free transfer, which this time was faultless. I don't mind giving credit where credit is due, and in this case I think it is. I stayed at a hotel called the San Antonio Suites in Puno and it was fantastic. As I said, they offered a free transfer from the bus station but they were also just a few blocks from the main square. The room was large and comfortable and a decent free buffet breakfast was served in the morning. And all for $25/night, the same price as that horrible hotel in Aguas Calientes!

I had a quiet night in Puno to catch up on some sleep before my 2 day tour on Lake Titicaca began the next morning. I think there was some sort of dancing festival going on but I didn't take much notice.

 

[amaroo]

Really enjoying your TR. Great job!

 

[Mattg]

To finish off my time in Peru I spent two days on Lake Titicaca, the world's highest navigable lake at an altitude of 3,811 metres. We visited three islands and stayed overnight with a local family on one of those islands. It was an interesting and worthwhile, although slightly weird experience!

Joining me on this tour was our guide and around 20 other people. Most were from either Peru, Chile or France. We set out on our 25-seater boat at around 8am on Sunday but almost didn't make it to the first island as the engine was showing signs of trouble. After circling in the bay just outside Puno for an hour, the captain gave the all-clear and we were on our way to our first stop, one of the Uros Islands (better known as the floating islands).

The Uros Islands are a community of around 75 islands on Lake Titicaca. They are man-made islands constructed from reed and you could walk from one side of the island to the other in less than a minute. I'd never seen anything like these islands before, nor have I seen people living quite like the people on these islands do. It's an interesting system whereby the islands are anchored to a certain point but they can move if for any reason they don't like their neighbours. And although a small-scale one, it's also an interesting example of a society without money or laws.


The floating island which we visited.

The boat pulled up off one of these floating islands and we were greeted by the leader of the island. Once on the island we were sat down while the leader welcomed us and the guide explained how they lived and showed us a few demonstrations.



After this we were offered a ride in a canoe made of reed for 10 soles, before we were given free time on the island to have a look around and, naturally, buy some souvenirs. I did actually buy a few things from here as the things they were selling were unique, good quality and not too expensive - unlike a lot other souvenirs available in Peru.



I asked one of the local people if I could have a look inside their house and they said yes. The house, which was basically a straw hut the size of a large tent had a single room with a bed, furnished with old blankets. There were lots of mosquitos buzzing around. The house and the possessions inside were fairly basic, but I was surprised to see they also had a TV and play station, powered by a solar panel on the roof!

 

[Mattg]

The next stop was Amantani Island, where we would spend the night. At the wharf we were split into groups and introduced to our local host families. I was paired with an interesting and slightly weird American guy who reminded me almost too much of Chris McCandless from 'Into the Wild'. My host lady didn't seem to speak any English so I relied on my roommate's limited Spanish to converse.

The mud-brick house we stayed in was basic but liveable. We didn't enjoy any of the luxuries such as hot water, flushing toilets or electricity, but for one night it was manageable.


The house from the outside.


My room.

I was hoping for an authentic experience and we got it... well, kind of... We got to see how these people lived but the host family didn't really interact with us other than during meals, and even then it was limited. At meal times my roommate and I were sat at a table while the host family sat on the floor speaking to each other in their local language. The only time the host spoke to us was at lunch on the first day when she showed us some hats she was selling. At times it kind of felt like they didn't really want us there.

The meals were pretty basic and the helpings were small, but it was okay for one day. Everything was cooked on a neat wood-fired stove. Typically we got soup, rice and vegetables with tea. We were given pancakes on the second morning which were made especially for us and host family ate something else.


The wood-fired stove.

During that first afternoon our tour guide took the group up to the highest point on the island where we could see all around Lake Titicaca and watched the sun set. On one side of the lake we could see a dark storm brewing while it was bright and sunny on the other side. In the distance we could see the snow-capped Bolivian mountains.



When we returned to the main community square there was a game of volleyball going on.



After dinner we were all joined by our hosts in the community hall for "fiesta", or an hour of local music and dancing from 8pm - 9pm. For the fiesta everyone was given these ridiculous local costumes to wear. I was given this horrible brown poncho to wear and it looked, well, ridiculous and tacky. I was quite happy sitting around talking and drinking the overpriced beer they were selling but the host ladies did make an effort to get everyone involved and go over to people asking them to dance. At one point everyone was up dancing around in a circle. My roommate asked me "do you think the locals enjoy this?" and I couldn't answer him. But when the musicians packed up and everyone left at 9.01pm, I think the answer to that became clear.

I slept reasonably well, thanks to plenty of blankets and insect repellant.

By 8am the next morning we had said our goodbyes to our host families and were on our way to our final stop on Taquile Island.

 

[Mattg]

Our boat

On Taquile Island we walked around 2km up to a local family house which overlooked the lake. There we were shown demonstrations of the local dress and various clothe-making techniques. The men on this island knit and the women spin & weave. This was followed by a "traditional" lunch of soup, fish, vegetables & french fries. Again, we were given free time afterwards to walk around the rest of the island and buy things. The main square was surrounded by shops clearly targeted at the tourists.


The local family is joined by a few people from our tour group in a dance.


This was on the main square. "Sidney" was just 13,027km away.


A five year-old girl selling souvenirs on the side of a walkway. (I know she was five because our guide asked her.)


We left at around midday for our 3 hour boat ride back to the mainland. The boat seemed to be travelling very slowly and we kept getting overtaken. Perhaps the engine was giving trouble again.

It was certainly an interesting and worthwhile experience but I can't help wondering how much of what we saw was put on for the tourists. For example, our host lady was wearing a lovely "traditional" dress when she met us at the boat, but as soon as we got to her house she changed back into casual clothes. And the house where we had lunch on the second day, although lovely, seemed to be designed specifically for tourists as there were clean bathroom facilities (this was not normal there), with signs in English, and as soon as we left a group of Japanese tourists arrived and sat where we had just been eating lunch.

There are various different types of tours on Lake Titicaca. The tour I did is quite a common 2 day tour but there are also 1 day options which visit one or two of these islands, as well as longer stay options. It was certainly a good experience, but I think it would have been better if the tour group connected better and my host family made a bit more of an effort. It's hard to say whether I just got unlikely or if my experience is the norm. I think I would recommend trying out this tour, but be prepared for it to be a little (or a lot) touristy and keep an open mind. And don't expect to get a hot shower in the morning!


I was met back in Puno by my driver Jesus (pronounced in the Spanish way, i.e. Hey-Zeus) who took me to Juliaca Airport, around an hour away. At $45, the transfer cost almost as much as the 2 day tour! (I wasn't in Machu Picchu any more!)

 

[markis10]

Loving the trip report, it's not hard to see why you have had two trip reports of the week mentions this year!

 

[DaleS]

Great report Matt. Just spent an hour or so on the couch listening to Matthew Sweet and reading from start to now. Looking forward to the final chapters.

 

[Mattg]

My time in South America had almost come to an end. What a great three and a half weeks it had been!

Jesus dropped me off at Juliaca Airport a little after 4.30pm for my flight to Lima at 7.45pm. When I approached the check-in counter I was told that my flight had actually been moved to 8.40pm. I knew there was another flight which left at 5.05pm (via Arequipa) and I knew there were seats available on it, so I asked if there was a chance I could get on the earlier flight. The lady replied "no" without even checking her computer. "Can I at least check in for the later flight then?" I asked. "No, check-in opens 2 hours before departure" was the response. The lady clearly had no interest in helping me.



Juliaca Airport is one of the smallest airports handling commercial flights I have ever seen. There were only 4 check-in counters, 2 for LAN and 2 for Avianca. In the tiny check-in area there were only 8 seats, all of which were already taken. There seemed to be some construction going on. Well, there were areas sealed off resembling a construction site, but I couldn't actually see any work happening. I bought something from the only shop in the terminal and stood around for 2 hours waiting for check-in to open.


The tiny check-in area at JUL airport.

With no sense of urgency whatsoever, the counters were opened at around 6.50pm. Before we could check our bags, we had to open them for (slow) manual inspection by security staff, as the airport did not have the facilities to x-ray the checked luggage.

Post-security was a single shop and some more seats, but this time there were enough for everyone. There was no wi-fi in the airport, let alone a LAN Airlines lounge. The airport seemed to provide the bare minimum facilities for a functioning airport.

Before the inbound aircraft had even arrived an announcement was made to inform passengers of the boarding process. Some people took this to mean that boarding was about to begin and got up. As soon as people started getting up , everyone followed and there was a mad race to get into the line. Boarding didn't begin for another 25 minutes.


Flight: LA2092 Juliaca - Lima
Airbus A319 | CC-BCA
Departure time: 20:40
Arrival time: 22:20



This flight was much like the other domestic flight I'd taken with LAN. I was in 4A and there was originally a woman in 4C but she cheekily (in my opinion) moved to an empty seat in row 1 before take-off. There was a curtain divider between rows 3 and 4 but as far as I could tell, rows 1 to 3 still got economy class service. The flight was more or less on time, the service was good and once again we get a reasonable snack and drinks. I would say that it was comparable to the service you get on a good QantasLink flight. It certainly wasn't the cheapest flight I've taken, but at least it was good.



My return to Lima was quite literally a fleeting visit as I was only staying one night before flying out again the next morning. My friend offered to let me stay at his place for the night. I had booked a pickup from the airport and there should have been someone in the arrivals hall holding a sign with my name, but there was no-one waiting for me. "Not again!" I thought as this brought back memories of last week. I hadn't been able to get internet access for the past two days and didn't have a phone number for the driver, so I didn't really know what to do. After 20 minutes I gave up and took a taxi. The driver said he knew exactly where to go, but the truth was that he had absolutely no idea. Once we got to the right district he got hopelessly lost and kept pulling over to ask random people where to go.

When I got to my friend's place he explained that the taxi driver he originally booked for me last week had since died of a heart attack, and the driver who was supposed to replace him had his car stolen on the evening of my arrival. I think the position was cursed... How unlucky was that, not so much for me but for those taxi drivers...

 

[Mattg]

I got around 5 hours of sleep at my friend's place before it was already time to head back to the airport. I wish I'd stayed another day in Lima; We didn't even get time to have a proper conversation before I had to leave!

The taxi was booked for 6.20am but before 6 o'clock it had already turned up (while I was still in the shower). At 6.20 I went out to find that the driver was fast asleep and it took more than just tapping him on the shoulder or knocking on the window to wake him up!

I would be flying on this day from Lima to Seattle, with a stopover in Miami. The total trip time was something like 15 hours, but thankfully they were both daytime flights.

My new oneworld sapphire status was finally showing and before my flight to Miami I was finally able to try out the LAN lounge in Lima, which was operated by a third party on their behalf. The lounge was quite nice and there was a moderate range of complementary breakfast food (bread, cold meats, cheese, cereal etc.) as well as beverages available. It was not quite as nice as, say, the Qantas Club (with the exception of, say, the lounge in Hobart!) but still pretty good. They didn't seem to have any PA system so someone from the front desk would stand in the middle of the lounge and yell out when a flight was boarding.



The VIP lounge in Lima Int'l Airport


Flight: LA2510 Lima - Miami
Boeing 767-300 | CC-CZT
Departure time: 09:10
Arrival time: 14:55

As we were getting on the plane, security staff were checking everyone's carry-on luggage. I had just picked up a bottle of water in the lounge, which they confiscated. I asked if I could at least have a drink out of it first. When I opened the bottle, which was supposed to just be still water, it exploded everywhere getting water on me, the security staff and all over the table! That was embarrassing...

After 4 flights with LAN, I've found that their offering has been consistently good. This final flight with them was once again pleasant and on-time. The plane was virtually identical to the nice new 767 I had taken from São Paulo to Lima the week before. I just wish the economy seats weren't so firm, but that's a very minor criticism.

The flight path took us along the west coast of South America before we headed north towards Panama and over the Carribean Sea to Miami. There were some pretty good views for a lot of the flight, but unfortunately I didn't get to see the Panama Canal because the entire country was covered in a thick layer of cloud when we overflew it.


Some on the coast in Northern Peru


Islands in the Caribbean somewhere to the south of Miami


A small sandwich and drinks was served early in the flight. I was getting a bit worried that this was the only food we'd be getting on the flight, but around 2 hours before landing a proper lunch was served. We were given a choice of pasta in a tomato sauce or chicken with rice. I chose the chicken. The flight attendant seemed keen to offer me wine but I thought it was a bit too early in the day. In hindsight, maybe I should have got some while I could because I'm not legally allowed to drink alcohol yet in the United States.



We landed on schedule in Miami and before we were even off the runway, people were getting up and taking things from the overhead lockers. One of the flight attendants got up and ran through the cabin yelling at all these people in Spanish. It was an interesting end to an otherwise uneventful flight.

On the US immigration and customs declaration card, you are supposed to list the countries you've already been to on your current trip. I'd been to so many that they didn't all fit in the provided space. At both immigration and customs I was asked "What on earth were you doing in all those countries?" and had a little bit of explaining to do. I couldn't tell if the customs lady was just impressed and wanted to know more to satisfy her own curiosity, or whether she was really suspicious of me. Probably the latter...


This brings an end to my South American adventures, but before I go back to Australia I will spend a week on the US West Coast. I'll be continuing the next part of this trip report on another thread dedicated to my North American adventures. If you would like to, you can continue reading here: http://www.australianfrequentflyer....ip-photos/trip-report-usa-tale-two-57804.html
You'll find that the continuation of this report begins at post #23.

I hope you find this trip report useful, entertaining or both. No doubt some of you will be travelling to Brazil for the World Cup; I'll be interested to here of your experience and I suspect it will be quite different to mine.

Happy and safe travels, wherever you are in the world.

 

[Major]

Great TR...very informative as well as interesting. Thanks for sharing

 

[drron]

Great TR.Very informative.I got more out of your report on Machu Picchu than anything I have read before.
We will be part of the oldies wandering around complaining about all the stairs.no way would either of us get up the mountain.
But with age come a few benefits.If we go we will stay at Palacio Del Inka in Cusco and also at Tambo del Inka.Both of course are SPG properties.

 

[Fifa]

Thank you so much for posting this SA TR. I have thoroughly enjoyed reading it over the last week.
Great pics too!