The Lesser Known Option at Machu Picchu

I was lucky enough to have my mom come and visit me for 6 days. I was excited that she was going to come to a country that is pretty out of her element and for her to visit and see firsthand the spanish I have been working on. Obviously, the top thing on the list was to go to Machu Picchu. I scheduled earlier in the week so that if there were problems with transportation (considering this is Peru) then we would have time to figure out options. Luckily, everything went as planned, the only unfortunate thing is that we saw the best ruins first so the rest of the surrounding ruins looked less impressive the rest of the week!

First look- Mom and I

We arrived in Aguas Calientes and spoke with our guide for the following day to make plans of where to meet and to make sure everyone was on the same page. I was really curious to find out more about climbing Wayna Picchu which is the mountain in the background of everyone's pictures in photos. In order to climb this mountain, you have to be one of the first 400 people at the entrance of Machu Picchu everyday. People wake up at 3 am to either be first in line for the bus or trek up the side of the mountain (which is far and steep) in order to get these tickets. In the end, I decided to not wake-up before the crack of dawn in order to ascend this famous mountain. 

Instead, the next day I decided to climb all the way to the summit of the actual Machu Picchu mountain which is actually a higher peak and a less known hike. I am so glad that I decided to forgo the ridiculous wake up time. Instead of racing to the mountain between prescribed times and hiking with 200 people with the same ticket, I leisurely made my way to the mountain after our tour ended. 

I was told that the trek would be about 3 hours- one and a half up and one and a half down, but I assumed that was Peruvian walking speed (read: slow) and it was in fact only 50 minutes up and then back down. I hiked up the mountain, which was by no means easy pretty quickly. I only passed a few tourists coming down and maybe four going up. This hike was definitely tough though- most of it was incredibly steep stairs all the way up- some very steep and with straight down drops. 

Facing the stairs on the climb up, not fun going down either acutally

When I got to the top the hard walk was worth every minute of labored breathing. I arrived to the partially cloud covered summit and enjoyed nearly 20 minutes of alone time with just myself, the clouds and the view! Luckily two dutch tourists came and I was able to take some photos of them and they were able to take some of me before I made my way back down to meet with my mom. 

Since I didn't hike Wayna Picchu, I can't say that Machu Picchu is a better hike (though I have heard that it is), but I can say that if you are too lazy to wake-up early that you will not be disappointed at the top and I didn't feel like I missed anything not making it to Wayna Picchu. Plus, how many times are you on the summit of a mountain looking down at a world wonder alone? Priceless.

Me at the top with the view (Wayna Picchu is directly to my right)

Vale la Pena: two days in Chile

When my friends first raised the idea of going to Chile, I thought they were kind of crazy since it was really far by bus and we all have volunteer work we would not have that much time. Despite this, I really wanted to go and decided it was worth the crazy amount of bus time. Plus, I decided that since it was my birthday weekend and I deserved a trip. If you read my last blog, you know that the journey on the bus actually turned out to be its own adventure!

Sunset over the desert the first night

As soon as we arrived across the border into Arica, I knew that Chile was going to be a lot different than Peru. As we exited the cab we didn't hear horns honking, could breath cleaner air and were not hounded by people yelling "taxi" or city names. It was a very welcome change to 6 weeks of being hassled and vigilantly watching over every pocket and belonging. 

The first thing we did was pull out Chilean money or pesos. It was the first and probably the last time that I could look at an ATM and pull out $50,000 at one time! It was also probably the only time that I will think that a bill of $20,000 for dinner sounds like an ok price for 3 people!

We arrived in San Pedro de Atacama around 10am the next morning. We were faced with the challenge of trying to figure out what to see in such a short amount of time. Being such a small town and in the middle of the desert, there were a lot of things to see! Finding out that we are all kind of indecisive people, we finally decided to go to the Valle de la Luna, salt flats and lakes. None of us really knew what to expect, so without expectations we set out on our adventures. 

The Valle de la Luna was a trip filled with very strong winds and sand everywhere, but ended with a nice sunset. The second day (also my birthday!) was really what blew me away. We saw wild flamingos at sunrise and beautiful high altitude lakes where we were lucky enough to see wild vicuñas. On top of all of this we also had time to visit the natural hot springs. They were amazing! 30 km out into the desert and there was a strip of green at the bottom of a canyon, water that was crystal clear and warm. We were three of very few tourists there. We had our own lagoon to swim around in! It was the most relaxing day that I have had in I don't know how long! Perfect kind of day for a birthday. 

Wild vicuña and alpine lake

The other thing that made the trip was the wine bar that we discovered in the city. I, having lived in Spain, and one of my friends, having lived in France, are both big fans of red wine (vino tinto), so we knew that we wanted to try Chilean wine. My other friend was skeptical about drinking red wine, but decided to give it a try anyway. We all ended up loving the bottle so much we drank two and came back the next evening for a third one before the night bus! We all agreed that it was good we were not staying in Chile longer or we would have spent a lot more money (Chile is more expensive than Peru), especially on wine! 

The two days in Chile flew by and I was really sad to leave. It was a very full trip, but instead of feeling rushed, I felt relaxed and happy to have made the effort. Not once did I wish that I hadn't traveled so far or that it wasn't worth it. I wish I had more time to explore. I guess I will just have to go back! 

Most relaxing thing ever! 

Please DO NOT Add These Hours Up! Buses, buses, buses

The past few days I have spent more time on Peruvian buses than I like to think about, in fact as I write this I am sitting in the Terminal Terrestre in Arequipa (Note to self be REALLY sure next time that buses leave all day and avoid waiting 5 hours in a bus station for a 10 hour night bus to Cusco). This weekend, two German guy friends from Spanish school and I decided to go to San Pedro de Atacama in the northern desert region of Chile (more on that later when I have photos!) and in order to get there I had to first meet the boys in Arequipa (10 hour night bus), go to Tacna- the border town in Peru (6 hours), cross the border via collectivo to Arica, Chile (2 hours), and then finally a bus to San Pedro to Atacama via Calama in Chile (12 hour night bus) and make the journey back. I don´t really like to add that up and then think about it before taking the last night bus tonight to Cusco! But to give you an image, since Friday night (it´s now wednesday) to tomorrow I will have spent only 2 nights and no more than 13 hours in an actual bed. I´m thankful I had such good company for most of the journey, now I just have to get through this last leg!

It´s pretty safe to say that the guys and I know a thing or two about buses now. The buses that we took ranged from the very nice, though pricey Cruz del Sur to the economico Flores bus from Arequipa to Tacna, Peru. Generally the buses were nicer in Chile on the way to and from San Pedro.

Here are a few of the funnier moments of the trip:

On timing:  The cliche "you get what you pay for" could not be more true for this. The more expensive the ticket price the more likely the bus is to leave on time (exceedingly rare in Peru) and do be direct. The economico buses always had stops, left late and took generally longer with less comfort. On the way back to Arica our nicer bus took shockingly 2 hours less than we thought it would, we still have no idea how they made up the time. If you ever take a bus, also remember that "directo" doesn´t necessarily mean 100% free of stops as we ended up waiting an hour and a half in the bus at a closed bus station Calama for the next leg.

On breaking down: About 10 minutes after being on an economic bus to Tacna it broke down without ever leaving Arequipa. Luckily it was only 30 minutes to get a new bus, but it could have been bad in the middle of nowhere in the desert! 

On bathrooms: Less expensive buses also mean no bathrooms which is definitely something to take into account while traveling in the desert (drier=more thirsty= going to want to pee) for 6 to 12 hours.

On entertainment: You can rest assured that there will be bootlegged copies of a movie to watch. My personal favorite: American movies dubbed into Spanish then subtitled in English. Best movie: Sister Act. Worst Movie: Chinese fighting movie with Spanish subtitles yelling in the background the first 2 hours on the way to San  Pedro.

Stops: Probably the oddest thing is the stops that buses are forced to take on these journeys. There was one on the way to Tacna where we had to throw out all of our fruits to ensure that fruit flies didn´t pass one imaginary border to the next- I can´t really believe there is an area free of them, but I guess it exists.

The next stop down was a passport and ID control. They took all the Peruvian IDs and then came back, looked at the gringos and told us to come with them. Then we had to walk across the highway, show our passport, visa and chat with the man in charge. On the way back from Chile at this check point the man only asked the Peruvian and foreign men for their documents and no one had to leave- we figured that it was because it was the lunch hour and he wanted to get back to eating.

The most annoying stop came in Chile at 3am in the middle of the night bus to San Pedro. We were woken up abruptly and told we all had to exit with our bags. Then we all lined up and stood there for a while in the cold with our bags on a table. 20 minutes later a woman looked in my bag for 3 seconds and never looked in the bag of one of my friends. We still are not sure what they were searching for, but I can assure you it was not a pleasant way to spend time at that hour!

You and your passport: When on our way to and from Chile we had to actually hand our passports over to collectivo (shared taxis) drivers and not have possession of or know where they were taking our passports. Really uncomfortable to not know where such an important document is for an uncomfortably long amount of time.

On vendadores: On the economic buses in southern Peru with more stops, we also had the pleasure of a truly uniquely Peruvian (or perhaps South American) experience. It started with a man selling a special "mate" or herbal tea blend, with the selling point of being able to solve everything from hangovers to sexual problems. The man went on about this for about 30 min pointing people out to sell directly and relate more to them. It was particularly awkward when he pointed to men during the sexual dysfunction bit and said "caballito, tu sabes" (you sir, know [what I am talking about]). Just when we thought it was done he pulled out a second product! The more surprising thing was although the people rolled their eyes during the chat, the man ended up making a lot of sales! I guess they did "sabe".

The more typical sellers we encountered were the food vendors that run to the bus at stops to sell hot food (freshly made that day on the side of the road under a garbage bag tarp) and drinks. I don´t think any of us will ever think of "choclo con queso, chicharrones, tortilla de camarones or gaseosa" the same ever again. There were a lot of unpleasant smells on some of the curvier moments on bumpy roads that I could have done without! Thankfully as well, we were not personally spilled on, but we saw several people get "choclo" water on their shoulders as these large woman sloshed buckets of food in the crowded aisle ways of a full bus!

The buses have obviously been an interesting addition to this trip. Right now I can`t imagine having to spend another night in one in a couple hours or think about taking one again anytime soon. They have made however for some funny inside jokes and definitely a lot of lasting memories!

Rest assured that the trip was well worth the effort and we had an amazing time in Chile! The next post will be about how on earth all this bus time was worth 2 days in San Pedro de Atacama.