Cusco the capital of the Inca empire is a very interesting city. In the 3 countries I have visited the main square is the place to go and has a similar layout, on one side is the cathedral on another is the local and or regional government and in Santiago the national museum is also in the square.
In Cusco however the cathedral takes up one entire side of the square. it is a truly massive complex with many individual chapels to various saints including one saint for women to pray to for help getting a good husband and another for the men to pray to for help avoiding marriage .. Some opportunity for conflict amongst the saints here but I expèct they are very saintly about it .... ;)
The art work and the woodwork is really something else, the amount of gold and silver work is really stunning. It takes about an hour to see the whole cathedral and they have an audio tour in English and several other languages which helps.
To catch the train to Macchu Picchu, you have to go to Poroy station about 30mins out of Cusco. Peru rail is very organised and punctual! they close the access doors to the platform a couple of minutes before departure. Saw 2 girls who were too late with tears streaming down their faces unable to get on to the platform to catch the train which hadn´t yet left.
All the seats are assigned on the way there sat with 3 French girls who were not at all communicative. Train takes 4 hours and arrives in Aguas Calientes (Macchu Picchu town) around 11am some very pretty mountain scenery and then some tropical scenery later as you approach A C.
There isn´t much in Aguas Calientes except multitudes of restaurants next to each other all touting for your business .. saw a potential customer in a duelling restaurants..
Stayed in the Las Bromelias Hostal just off the main square .. wonderful bed and staff were helpful caught the 6:20am bus up to Macchu Picchu .. buses start at 5:30 !
Met the guide and he led us up a path that criss crossed the hill up steps a stiff 10-15mins walk and clearly acclimatisation works as I was able to do the hill climb with out stopping once :)
We arrived at the top of a little hill overlooking Macchu Picchu, and then the clouds went away stunning view simply amazing well worth the trip
Friday, September 30, 2011
Wednesday, September 7, 2011
Back to La Paz and beyond off to Peru
So this time around the arrival in La Paz caused no problems having now acclimatised sufficiently to cope with the 3,800m altitude did some shopping. I was looking for some small noise cancelling earphones to replace the ones i bought in Cambodia in 2008 as one side had suddenly stopped working.
I was directed to the electronics area a long street near to the hostal which was full of Audio visual / white goods shops, Samsung and LG had spent a lot of money here, sthere was a lot of very large signage hear. Large shops selling TV /video & Audio. but sadly for me none to be found.
I walked in to one smaller shop selling upmarket sunglasses and they were also selling Garmin GPS units, relatively late models at what appeared to bbe extraordinarly cheap prices (6 bolivianos = $1 ) until I was told the prices were in $US ! not B's.
On returning to the hostal I decided to try the local fish surabi which is a relative of the catfish. I was told to go to El Presidente the 5 star hotel near by. I've never eaten in a 5 star hotel. the restaurant was the 16th floor with panoramic windows. They certainly charged 5 star prices very expensive by Bolivian standards but still not that expensive after currency conversion.. The fish was quite nice, the desert selection was miserable. Ordered peaches . Peaches - durazno are very popular in 3 countries I have been to and peach juice is very popular here and widely available .
I was surprised to get only 3 little peaches and still with the seeds in! not much desert in that :(
Next day went to Tiwanaku
These are ancient pre inca ruins very interesting they many of the stones aren´t in the original places because the spanish took alot of the stone to use in building their churches.
but some of stone structures that remain are there because they were to large to knock down. They used the southern cross in their astronomical calendar. The cross was very important to them. I was to meet a couple from this tour a couple of days later in Cusco in a restaurant.
The next day I was picked up early for the trip to Copacabana for lunch and thence to the isla del sol the "birthplace" of the 1st 2 Incas - 1.5 hrs on a slow boat. very pretty island but the path to the top is very steep and winding - only made it half way. met the French girls again there. My guide was a syncretistic Catholic celebrating and giving offerings to Panchemama the ancient earth spirit and going to church and praying for her desires and needs.
This is seen as acceptable by the local priests. We almost missed the bus to Puno because she wanted me to keep taking photos and it was here that I lost my Tilley hat which has been all over the world with me,- a very sad occasion, I didn´t realise I had lost it till the next morning.
On the bus I was sitting next to Sofia an Equadorian uni student who was studying Psychology and played the violin -she wanted to integrate the two and practice music therapy. She said she believed in Jesus but not in God.. challenged her gently about that inconsistancy and suggested she try and find an NIV and read that .
As we we approacing Puno there was a huge traffic jam because of some parade.. then there was a commotion outside the bus on the side of the road as the bus edged slowly along we could see that it was some altercation between a car and a truck and the people from the car had started throwing rocks .. police seemed to be there but were doing nothing, the truck driver lost... shattered windscreen.
I was directed to the electronics area a long street near to the hostal which was full of Audio visual / white goods shops, Samsung and LG had spent a lot of money here, sthere was a lot of very large signage hear. Large shops selling TV /video & Audio. but sadly for me none to be found.
I walked in to one smaller shop selling upmarket sunglasses and they were also selling Garmin GPS units, relatively late models at what appeared to bbe extraordinarly cheap prices (6 bolivianos = $1 ) until I was told the prices were in $US ! not B's.
On returning to the hostal I decided to try the local fish surabi which is a relative of the catfish. I was told to go to El Presidente the 5 star hotel near by. I've never eaten in a 5 star hotel. the restaurant was the 16th floor with panoramic windows. They certainly charged 5 star prices very expensive by Bolivian standards but still not that expensive after currency conversion.. The fish was quite nice, the desert selection was miserable. Ordered peaches . Peaches - durazno are very popular in 3 countries I have been to and peach juice is very popular here and widely available .
I was surprised to get only 3 little peaches and still with the seeds in! not much desert in that :(
Next day went to Tiwanaku
These are ancient pre inca ruins very interesting they many of the stones aren´t in the original places because the spanish took alot of the stone to use in building their churches.
but some of stone structures that remain are there because they were to large to knock down. They used the southern cross in their astronomical calendar. The cross was very important to them. I was to meet a couple from this tour a couple of days later in Cusco in a restaurant.
The next day I was picked up early for the trip to Copacabana for lunch and thence to the isla del sol the "birthplace" of the 1st 2 Incas - 1.5 hrs on a slow boat. very pretty island but the path to the top is very steep and winding - only made it half way. met the French girls again there. My guide was a syncretistic Catholic celebrating and giving offerings to Panchemama the ancient earth spirit and going to church and praying for her desires and needs.
This is seen as acceptable by the local priests. We almost missed the bus to Puno because she wanted me to keep taking photos and it was here that I lost my Tilley hat which has been all over the world with me,- a very sad occasion, I didn´t realise I had lost it till the next morning.
On the bus I was sitting next to Sofia an Equadorian uni student who was studying Psychology and played the violin -she wanted to integrate the two and practice music therapy. She said she believed in Jesus but not in God.. challenged her gently about that inconsistancy and suggested she try and find an NIV and read that .
As we we approacing Puno there was a huge traffic jam because of some parade.. then there was a commotion outside the bus on the side of the road as the bus edged slowly along we could see that it was some altercation between a car and a truck and the people from the car had started throwing rocks .. police seemed to be there but were doing nothing, the truck driver lost... shattered windscreen.
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