In the land of the Inkas

After a lovely yet short reunion with Julie and Thibault in Puno, I took an 8 hour bus ride to Cusco and so far, it was the nicest trip I had. There were plenty of space and the scenery was incredible – it beat the scenery going from Santiago to Buenos Aires.
At the central square, Plaza de Armas, I met up with Catherine who had just arrived from a beautiful and hard 5 day trek in the south of Chile, Patagonia. It had been so hard on her knee that she almost couldn’t walk down stairs. When we planned the trip in October/November we both wanted to do the 4 day trek on the Inka trail to Machu Picchu (which you have to buy months in advance), but when we saw the prices (300 dollars was the cheapest) we agreed not to do it. And how lucky were we considering the state of Catherine’s knee. 

We had a whole week to explore Cusco, visit Machu Picchu, the Sacred Valley and the nearby ruins of Sacsayhuaman, so we decided to start off light with exploring the city. Cusco center is very lovely with a mixture of Inka and colonial architecture.

Narrow street in Cusco

The light breaking through the raincloud on Plaza de Armas

Despite it being very touristic I absolutely loved it. We were there just before Christmas (from the 16^th to the 23^rd of December) and decorations started coming up. The weather was a mixture of sun and rain – when it rained  it got rather cold, so I slowly started getting in the Christmas mood. That peaked on a rainy day when we stopped at a café for shelter and I ordered what mistakenly tasted like gløgg, which is hot red wine with spices and orange that you drink for Christmas in Denmark. At that particular moment I missed Denmark and Christmas, but the rest of the time I didn’t miss the fuss Christmas always is back-home.

View from the Puca Pucara ruins

One day we talked up to the Sacayhuman ruins. Walking around there we bumped into a tourist group only consisting of two Peruvian guys and their very enthusiastic guide. The guide started asked us if we would mind being in a photo with the two Peruvians. The two guys didn’t say anything – I wondered if they ever actually wanted a photo with us hahaha. Kind of the same thing happened to Tom and I in Copacabana. We were sitting at the dock when a group of about 10 Bolivians asked if they could take a photo with us. I think we ended up being in a photo with every single one of them. That has happened before in Egypt and China, but I never expected it to happen here since they seem more used to “blondes”/foreigners. When we continued to the Quenqo ruins, the two Peruvians had “escaped” their guide and asked if we should go together. We went to Puca Pucara and Tambomachay as well. Afterwards we walked down which took about 2 hours – one of the guys told us about the “interesting” food you can get in Peru. Not only do they serve guinea pig, but he had also tried getting cat served! 

Then finally the big day came: the 20^th of December, where we were going to Machu Picchu. You have to buy the entrance tickets days in advance according to what you want to see. We had considered buying not only for the ruins but as well to climbing Huayna Picchu (the mountain that you see in every picture of Machu Picchu). But Catherine’s knee was still bad so we just bought for the ruins. We had bought an early train that took 3 hours making its way through a beautiful mountain pass. We finally arrived at Machu Picchu at around 11 AM and we had the return ticket at 4 PM. To climb Huayna Picchu you need at least 2 hours and to see the ruins you need another 2 hours, including transport down to the train station, so we realized how lucky we had been not buying the entrance ticket for Huayna Picchu as well – we would never had made it all.

Well, the Machu Picchu ruins are difficult to describe. I can for sure say that it is the most breathtaking and unbelievable thing I have ever seen in my life (note: I have been to the Great Wall in China and the Pyramids in Egypt). It is so awe-inspiring that humans have built a city in between mountains. My eyes couldn't fixate on one thing and they were almost “spinning around” to take it all in. A Dutch girl in Isla del Sol had told me that you don’t need to go to Machu Picchu, you can just see it on picture. That is so not true!! (but here is one

Machu Picchu ruins with Huayna Picchu mountain

We didn’t have perfect weather, it shifted from raining to cloudy, but either way it was spectacular and more than worth the while and money. And then when you learn more about the place and the Inkas in general it becomes even more impressive. An example is their astrology knowledge and how they used it when constructing buildings. In Machu Picchu there is a “P” temple where the sun light enters a window and lights up a stone only on the 21^st of June and December – the shift from rainy season to dry season and vice-versa. In Quenqo they have cut a stone that only on the 21^st of June gives the shape of a condor on a wall. Another thing that impressed me is the fact that the Inka buildings are earthquake proof. Machu Picchu still stands and during the devastating 1650 earthquake in Cusco many “modern” colonial building while the Inka buildings still stand. 

Just before getting "attacked"

After two and half hour tour around the ruins, two kind of odd things happened. First, a woman  asked me if I was “that girl from Australia’s Next Top Model”. “No, I am from Denmark and NOT a model” hahaha. Next, I wanted a picture with a lama so I decided to feed one with an apple. I kept a good distance since I am scared of lamas and such. Catherine succeeded getting one shot of me before the apple fell out of my hand and rolled down the hill. Me thinking “that was that” I didn’t pay attention to the lama before suddenly seeing its head right next to mine. Everything from that point on happened in slow motion but according to Catherine in reality quite fast and in a highly entertaining way. As said I just saw a lama coming towards me so my “survival” instinct took over and I started running down the small stone steps screaming “FUCK, fuck, Fuck, FUUUCK” in front of a crowd of people that originally had gather to see the feeding of the lama. They were now in for some heavy swearing on my side – UPS! Both Catherine and I wished that she had gotten a video of the episode.

The last two days we spend seeing the city – we went to the exciting market in San Pedro market where you could get anything from vegetables, meat and cheese to chocolate, flowers, clothes. 

Flowers at the San Pedro market

We just settled for a fresh and delicious juice. The last day we saw Sacred Valley with an organized tour group. Once again the Inka constructions impressed us, but the favorite part (just like at Tiahuanaco) was the scenery. People had warned us about going in December because it is the rainy season, but this meant that the landscape was  brilliantly green (as you can see in the photo from Puca Pucara. We saw about five rainbows when returning from the Valley to Cusco. I tried getting it on camera. Another advantage about going in the rainy season is that it is the low season which means fewer tourists and thereby lower prices. So I wouldn’t warn people about going at that time of year – I would actually recommend it.

Rainbow :)

I left Cusco the 23^rd of December for Santiago to celebrate Christmas and say my final goodbye to Chile….

Bolivia: La Paz, Copacabana and Isla del Sol

Then I was off to Bolivia!
I arrived at El Alto airport; the highest located airport in the world at 4000 meters, so concerned about getting acute altitude sickness I frantically ate ALL my coca caramels - all 20 pieces in 10 minutes. 

View of mountains from El Alto airport

But besides feeling short of breath when going uphill, I luckily didn’t get altitude sickness  despite staying at 3000 meters on average. I hadn’t reserved a hostel in La Paz, but chose to check-in at the Loki Hostel. I had some doubts about choosing this one (due to the self-proclaimed name “Loki: the Party Hostel in La Paz”), but I was persuaded by a “get one free night” offer. On the day I arrived, the hostel was celebrating their “One million nights” so party was in order. In my dorm there were four other girls and we really hit it off from the start and ended up playing a game of pool – which we surprisingly won, despite the fact that we'd had a couple of drinks already, that I suck at pool and that the girls on the other team were cheating big time! That night I got a taste of what my time will be like until I return to Denmark on the 27^th of January: every conversation with someone new start the same way with exactly the same three questions: 
- "Where are you from?" 
- "Where have you been before you came here?"
- "Where are you going next?" 
The typical backpacker/hostel conversation starter, a bit tiring, but inevitable.

Colonial street in La Paz

 The next day I met up with Tom who had arrived with bus from Toro Toro National Park. We spent that day walking around La Paz and catching up. Many say La Paz is dirty and ugly, but I like it. Yes, it is dirtier than other cities, but at least it is not contaminated like Santiago – in La Paz you can see the stunning snow-capped mountain range. It is hectic and interesting and the old colonial streets are nice. 

We went to the Witches’ Market where you can get all sorts of weird stuff - mostly for offerings and/or medical purposes. I bought a penis candle to give later to Nick. 
- "It is used to attract the man you desire", the women in the shop told me; winking and grinning at me. 
- "No, it’s not for me; it’s for my friend."
- "Right…" 
Of course she didn’t believe me. When later returning to Santiago, that candle became a funny center of attention. When entering Chile you have to declare everything that is animal and plant. I declared my candle (since it might had been considered plant); better to do it than receiving a massive fine (the Chilean customs are very strict!). So when my backpack was scanned, huge grins came on the faces of the three male officers. I can just imagine them seeing a penis-shaped thing showing up on the monitor. 
- "What are you declaring?" they asked me. 
- "A candle." 
- "Right…." 

The next day we went to see the Inka ruins at Tiahuanaco, where the most impressive thing was actually the landscape. We were at about 3500 meters, but in plain land so you could see very far – on the right hand side it was raining and on the left hand side the sun was shining. 

Rainy on the right hand side

Sunny on the left hand side

What we came to see as well in Copacabana and Isla del Sol, was that the clouds lay low and the sky is incredibly blue. I have never seen so blue sky before in my life. 
Returning from Tiahuanaco we drove through the neighborhood El Alto where the poorer people from La Paz live. 

You would see a lot of women in the traditional outfit with the bowler hat. The guide told us that the dress and its colors are an indigenous tradition while they started using the bowler hat after the Europeans came – there it is a fashion for men, but here only the women use it. Around El Alto you would see a dummy hanging from light posts. They use it as a scarecrow to warn potential burglars that they won’t hesitate from taking the law (and the gun) into their own hands. A sad and true side to life in La Paz.



After a couple of days in La Paz we took a bus to Copacabana, a town on the shores of Lake Titicaca. It is a very touristic place with bad food and lousy service, except from one good pizza place and one excellent breakfast café (where I got havregrød!!!! The Danes will understand). I have never experienced worse service than the one we got in Copacabana; in one place in particular that became the crown jewel example. After waiting for 40 minutes for the food at an almost empty restaurant, the waiter brought Tom the correct thing, but me the wrong one. Despite us telling him this, he didn’t say anything. We had to tell him to take it back and bring me the right one. After 40 minutes more and two beers, Tom's patience was gone and he asked about my food. The waiter, without even looking at Tom, told him that the kitchen was closed. Tom yelled at him, but without reaction or result, and we left the place only paying for the two beers. 
But the soundings of Copacabana are beautiful. 

View of Copacabana town

At the hilltop - on top of the world

We walked up a hill by the town that had a wonderful view of Titicaca. Every Sunday there’s a Catholic/Inka ceremony on the top of the hill to get good luck, so you could buy fake money, miniature cars and babies to get luck in whatever you wanted. 




























The next day we took a boat to Isla del Sol, an island in Lake Titicaca. We got off at the south tip of the island and did a 4 hour trek to the north tip. On the way we saw some amazing landscape.  

Isla del Sol

Isla del Sol

I had my (almost full) backpack with me and we were at about 3500 meter’s altitude so I struggled to keep up with the experienced trekker Tom. Tom, being a guy, of course did not understand my packing. Yes, I DO need a hairdryer and not one, but TWO scarves and no, I canNOT survive without them hahaha. At Isla del Sol we checked in at a hostel on the shore. They don’t have running water so my only “shower” in two days was a swim in Lake Titicaca. We soon realized that the kids were in charge of the tourism on the island. They acted as shop managers, cooks, waiters and guards at public toilets. In the evening the adults came back from working in the fields. The restaurants had some kind of weird agreement so only one place was open at night which resulted in rather overcrowded restaurants and lack of dishes on the menu card – all I ate for two days was different versions of egg, tomato and bread. One night we shared a table with an Argentine couple. They had come, because the date was the 12/12/12 and has special meaning in Inka religion, in which they believed. Tom and I had noticed an Inka religious dancing circle ceremony earlier that day when we visited Inka ruins. We saw more white Western people than local ones so we just disregarded it as being a stupid touristic thing to make them feel “indigenous” and “spiritual”, but apparently it was something real. We hadn’t even notice that it was the memorable date; all we noticed was this pretty double rainbow. 

Double rainbow on the 12/12/12

While having dinner with the Argentine couple, a old woman (at least 75) came up to our table and started talking about “the end of world” (the 21^st of December) and how tired she was of all these fake, young, Western hippies who came to the island to party and pretend to care. Tom and I (despite us not falling into this category) just shrank 30 cm in the chairs fearing that she might start yelling at us. Fortunately she didn’t. She just started drinking our beers haha. She was actually a rather entertaining cool hippie grandma – I might end up like her when I’m 70 haha. 
After two nights, we took the boat back to Copacabana where we just chilled at the shore with a cold beer and went for walks around the hills. After two relaxing days Tom and I said goodbye; I left for Puno in Peru and Tom had to get back to Santiago to take his final exam. After a short, but lovely meet-up with Julie, Thibault and Natascha in Puno, I took a 8 hour bus to Cusco where I met up with Catherine where the world ended (NOT) and a dream came true: Machu Picchu!
Until the next one and HAPPY NEW YEAR! :)
xoxo
Mette