Happy Belated 4th of July! So what did we do for the 4th? Probably the most American thing you can do in Peru - we hiked to Machu Picchu. Of all the places we have been in Peru we have never seen so many gringos. Unfortunately with the gringo faces comes gringo prices but we´ve still been haggling and getting prices down.
We ended up flying in to Lima and taking an 7 hour bus ride to Nazca. We got to the bus station around 9 but continued to wait in the safety net of the station until the midnight bus so we could get to Nazca in daylight. Lima can be an unfriendly place. To pass the time, we walked one door down to the supermarket and purchased one whole rotisserie chicken accompanied with french fries. To our dismay, we forgot the leftovers on the bus which we presume are still there judging by Peru´s trash clean-up system.
To avoid paying for a hostal, we spent the day in Nazca (went for a run, walked around, played cards) and took another overnight bus to Cusco aka the gringo capital of Peru. With Peruvian bus drivers, it seems like you can´t win - it´s either too fast, too bumpy, or waaaaaaay too slow like our bus driver from Nazca to Cusco which turned our 12 hour bus ride into 16 hours. Luckily (according to Mike) we were able to watch Rambo 5 on the way.
After hours of food, hostal, and machu picchu tour hunting we went to the local market to make our own dinner for the evening. Our hopes were up (aka my hopes) for cooking a nice spaghetti vegetable dinner at the hostal... of course, it didn´t come out quite like home but it did only cost $1.33 total. After that long bus ride, walking around all day and not having a bed for the past two nights nothing would have felt better than being clean. I´ve jumped in the ocean on new year´s day and have not felt water as cold as what came out of our shower. Needless to say, we smelled like our ¨fish market home city¨in Peru for another day.
The next day, we started our 4 day trek to Machu Picchu. After driving 3 hours in a van, we were dropped off a the top of a mountain. The rest of the day was spent biking down the steep yet scenic slopes of the Andes. The road-trail got bumpy at times - my hands are still sore from gripping the handlebars and brakes so hard and trying to keep up with Mike, a Chilean 19 year old guy and our tour guide - a 20 year old Peruvian guy.
The second day was a 7 hour hike complete with moutain climbs, river rapids and trails cutting the side of a cliff. It was definitely the best day of the excursion besides the reward of machu picchu.
The third day was a little less challening - only about 5 hours and mainly flat. We added four more people to our group - two from England and two from France. During our hike upriver we came across the source of 3/4 of the river. It was the most powerful waterfall I have ever seen - more like a jet stream blasting out of the side of the mountain. Of course, Mike and the Chilean guy got as close as humanly possible by scaling down the brush and crossing the slippery rocks. During this day, we had our first glimpse of machu picchu which is what made it a special 4th of July for us!
We awoke at 3:45am on the 4th day in order to get to machu picchu for sunrise - thinking that the tough trekking was behind us. By 4:15am we were powerwalking to the base of the mountain. At 4:30am we started the hour ascent to the top which was equivalent to an hour of the stairmaster at the gym. We were so relieved to arrive at the entrance after the trek but little did we know we would be climbing many many more stairs throughout the day...
As our pictures give a little hint of, machu picchu was extremely impressive and the views surrounding it were amazing. The whole thing was definitely a lot bigger than Mike and I both thought. Also, we were one of the first 400 people there so we were able to hike up wanu picchu which overlooks the entire ancient civilization. It was another tough climb and probably would have had a lot more railings and caution tape in the US, but it was very rewarding.
We could have spent a lot longer there but overall it was a great experience - we would definitely recommend it. We even had a train ride back - which is the way most people get there so it can be easily accessible.
We are now back in Cusco doing laundry for the first time (thank goodness!) and we will be taking another overnight bus ride to our next destination tonight!
We ended up flying in to Lima and taking an 7 hour bus ride to Nazca. We got to the bus station around 9 but continued to wait in the safety net of the station until the midnight bus so we could get to Nazca in daylight. Lima can be an unfriendly place. To pass the time, we walked one door down to the supermarket and purchased one whole rotisserie chicken accompanied with french fries. To our dismay, we forgot the leftovers on the bus which we presume are still there judging by Peru´s trash clean-up system.
To avoid paying for a hostal, we spent the day in Nazca (went for a run, walked around, played cards) and took another overnight bus to Cusco aka the gringo capital of Peru. With Peruvian bus drivers, it seems like you can´t win - it´s either too fast, too bumpy, or waaaaaaay too slow like our bus driver from Nazca to Cusco which turned our 12 hour bus ride into 16 hours. Luckily (according to Mike) we were able to watch Rambo 5 on the way.
After hours of food, hostal, and machu picchu tour hunting we went to the local market to make our own dinner for the evening. Our hopes were up (aka my hopes) for cooking a nice spaghetti vegetable dinner at the hostal... of course, it didn´t come out quite like home but it did only cost $1.33 total. After that long bus ride, walking around all day and not having a bed for the past two nights nothing would have felt better than being clean. I´ve jumped in the ocean on new year´s day and have not felt water as cold as what came out of our shower. Needless to say, we smelled like our ¨fish market home city¨in Peru for another day.
The next day, we started our 4 day trek to Machu Picchu. After driving 3 hours in a van, we were dropped off a the top of a mountain. The rest of the day was spent biking down the steep yet scenic slopes of the Andes. The road-trail got bumpy at times - my hands are still sore from gripping the handlebars and brakes so hard and trying to keep up with Mike, a Chilean 19 year old guy and our tour guide - a 20 year old Peruvian guy.
The second day was a 7 hour hike complete with moutain climbs, river rapids and trails cutting the side of a cliff. It was definitely the best day of the excursion besides the reward of machu picchu.
The third day was a little less challening - only about 5 hours and mainly flat. We added four more people to our group - two from England and two from France. During our hike upriver we came across the source of 3/4 of the river. It was the most powerful waterfall I have ever seen - more like a jet stream blasting out of the side of the mountain. Of course, Mike and the Chilean guy got as close as humanly possible by scaling down the brush and crossing the slippery rocks. During this day, we had our first glimpse of machu picchu which is what made it a special 4th of July for us!
We awoke at 3:45am on the 4th day in order to get to machu picchu for sunrise - thinking that the tough trekking was behind us. By 4:15am we were powerwalking to the base of the mountain. At 4:30am we started the hour ascent to the top which was equivalent to an hour of the stairmaster at the gym. We were so relieved to arrive at the entrance after the trek but little did we know we would be climbing many many more stairs throughout the day...
As our pictures give a little hint of, machu picchu was extremely impressive and the views surrounding it were amazing. The whole thing was definitely a lot bigger than Mike and I both thought. Also, we were one of the first 400 people there so we were able to hike up wanu picchu which overlooks the entire ancient civilization. It was another tough climb and probably would have had a lot more railings and caution tape in the US, but it was very rewarding.
We could have spent a lot longer there but overall it was a great experience - we would definitely recommend it. We even had a train ride back - which is the way most people get there so it can be easily accessible.
We are now back in Cusco doing laundry for the first time (thank goodness!) and we will be taking another overnight bus ride to our next destination tonight!
omg most insane pics ever!! rambo 5 does sound like a good deal. hhaah you guys are doing the siiiickest things!!! happy belated 4th to you both! LUBZ!
ReplyDeleteI am so proud of you. Ruth sent me the blog site. Wow! You will never regret doing this; it's a life changer! Imagine the stories you can tell your grandkids! Life goes quickly; I'm so glad you're grabbing it with both hands!
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