Travel Journal: Peru.
Cusco & Machu Picchu, Peru
TBH I was really sad to leave Uyuni but we were very excited for Machu Picchu and curious about what Peruvians had to offer. A short morning flight took us to Cusco and the view transformed drastically. It was actual civilization - you could see the Spanish influence in the architecture of this vibrant city that was once colonized. Alas, such “vibrance” often included pickpockets and scam artists. I also realized Cusco was kinda commercialized, they have fast food chains and Starbucks... what more could a tourist want? :p
Our stay in Cusco was shortened (we only had two nights?!) as we booked a night's accommodation at Machu Picchu town which was major regret, we should have done a full day in MP and still returned to Cusco because the nightlife there was way better. If memory serves me right, we stayed at Hostal Inta Wasi while we were in Cusco. Our room was very spacious and came with four single beds and an ensuite bathroom, the only con that I could think of is the street noise - our room's windows opened up to the alley leading to Plaza de Armas.
1. Plaza de Armas
Almost every city has some sort of square where it has either a commercial, social or political importance and Cusco was no exception. Surrounding the square were rows of shops, restaurants and bars that attracted a ton of tourists. There was also a large cathedral that was hard to miss. Here I saw many Quechua girls/women holding baby llamas, asking people if they wanted a photo - at a fee of course, it was quite an interesting sight.
2. Mercado Central de San Pedro
A short walk away from the Plaza was a San Pedro Market which attracts both tourists and locals. I remember seeing an entire row of fruit juice stalls that sold the exact items, the shopkeepers (mostly ladies) would shout to get our attention, but everyone there was friendly. Just be sure to check if the juices are made with bottled water! We didn't explore much as most of the stalls were closed by the time we visited but nonetheless good place to see the locals.
3. Machu Picchu (and the journey there)
Machu Picchu was perhaps what we had been looking forward to the entire time, at least in Peru. Our journey started early in the morning at 4am, when we took a taxi from our hostel in Cusco to Wanchaq bus station which was only about a 7 minutes drive. Due to the rainy season from January to April, PeruRail Vistadome trains did not run directly from Cusco to Aguas Calientes (Machu Picchu town) so we did a bi-modal service from Wanchaq.
Our bumpy bus ride took us to Ollantaytambo where we waited for our Vistadome train which would bring us to our next stop, MP town. The train's exterior paintwork was bright blue with yellow fonts and it made us feel like we're heading to some magical school?! Our one-way fare from Ollantaytambo to MP town was about S$60+ but I thought it was worth the money. The train staff were friendly, we got a nice refreshment set and most importantly we sat in a cabin with rooftop windows to enjoy the view of the mountains!
We didn't really care much for MP town, it felt extremely touristy (more so than Cusco if you can believe it!) There was an unsettling abundance of restaurants and hotels in such a tiny little town. We dropped our bags at the hotel, grabbed the essentials and headed for the bus that would take us up to the Inca ruins.
Quick tip! For those who suffer from motion sickness easily, prepare a couple of sickness bags (grab'em from the seat onboard) for this uphill bus ride, those will save your life.
The first thing we saw when we arrived at the entrance was a long queue at the ticket counter - turned out, the crowd was queueing for the Machu Picchu stamp (see the one I got for my passport!) Get that out of the way and start the “hike”. Machu Picchu is not that huge but all the climbing involved would easily take you around 3 hours to complete the trail, that and your breath. It must have been the clouds and the light showers, everything atop felt unreal and somewhat poetic.
When we returned to MP town, all we could think of was sleep and I believe the altitude sickness had blame to share. The next morning, after doing some last minute souvenir shopping, we got on the train back to Ollantaytambo, this time we bought tickets in “llama class” which was not all that bad! Oh and by the time we hopped on the bus, it was evening and the sky was filled with stars, loads of it. I'm sure Aisyah, Ping and Von will remember those we saw during the bus ride from Ollantaytambo to Wanchaq.
After repaying part of our sleep debt in Cusco, we set off to the airport and was bound for Iguaçu Falls and Rio de Janeiro. More to be told in the final part of our South American travel journal so stay tuned!
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