A hike down the Inca trail

To be honest, I didn't really know what to expect coming to Peru, it was a little bit the black hole after Costa Rica : a new continent, a new place to get used to, and most importantly a place without Leen. We both can say that saying goodbye in San Jose was one of the hardest things we ever did. But luckily enough, I didn't have too much time to be melancholic, because after only a day in Lima I met up with my brother Andres and his girlfriend Tina! They are doing a world trip of their own, and Peru was their last stop in their 6 months schedule. Coming from New Zealand, and dealing with a decent jetlag, we took it easy and spent more than a day just catching up on eachothers travel stories. And doing other silly things that brothers do, like exchanging music, talking about 10.000 euro costing hifi systems (well, Andres did) and finishing all the rum that was left from Costa Rica (mostly on my account). Good for us that there was Tina as well, who increased the level of our conversation with wonderful stories on yummie Indian food crisises and incredible Aussie outback bugs. Hehe. No, it certainly was a big mental boost to be the three of us. So, after a good rest and a trip to a Lima mall (what else is there to see in this misty and smoggy megapolis?!!), we got ourselves a seat on an Aerocontinente flight to Cuzco, where we would take on the Inca Trail. Well, that was the plan. We soon enough discovered that things go a bit slower in Peru : after our flight got delayed for 3 hours, it got cancelled, and the day after again delayed for 3 hours. Apparently, this is common business here (especially in the low season), but not for a couple of furious Argentinian girls on our flight, that managed to get us a free night at a 3 star hotel in Lima, free dinner and breakfast and free transportation from and to the airport. And if that weren't enough, after the delay on the second day, they yelled so hard at the flight operator that we all got a voucher for a free two-way flight in Peru with Aerocontinente ! 3 flights for the price of one? I was making money on this one! Well, I was so blown away on my luck that I forgot the voucher on the plane. Yep. No free flight to another place like Arequipa and from there to Lake Titicaca, saving me lots of bus time. We called and tried everything, even getting me a ticket on my brother's voucher, but we dismissed that idea too, knewing that all passports get checked at boarding. A Snoeckx is a Snoeckx, but no way in earth I could sell a José for an Andres, not even here. Oh well, so be it. It would almost make me forget to tell you what a good time we had in and around Cuzco. We had a slow start though, not only because of the flight being cancelled, but also because of the 3326m altitude we had to cope with. Luckily, we had great beds in the lovely Hotel Los Niños (working for Cuzco street kids) and yummie mate de coca, tea of pure coca leafs, that you can buy here in a big bag for only 1 sol (25 eurocent). So after catching our breath, and meeting up with Tina's brother and another friend, we discovered little by little all the wonders that the Cuzco area has to offer. Cuzco has a very rich history, bearing at the same time the legacy of the Incas and the Spanish conquest. The city boasts a curious mix between ancient Inca and colonial architecture : most of the impressive churches are built on Inca city walls or temple ruins, and in and around the city you can still witness what the Spanish left of what was once the capital of the Inca empire. And just outside the Sacred Valley, on the flanks of the Huyana Picchu mountain, you can visit the lost city of Machu Picchu, an Inca citadel that the Spanish never found. It was only (re)discovered in 1911 by American archeologists, with the help of an Quechua farmer boy and his father. Of course, all these marvels attract many tourists, and Cuzco as well as Aguas Calientes (the town below Machu Picchu) are a bit over-commercialized : you can't take a step outside without being harrassed by sketchy 'tour operators', restaurants showing off their menus, postcard vendors and the like. I think the high season from June to September must be crazy here. And the tourist area around the Plaza de Armas is quite a contrast with the poor suburbs up the hills. But still, just looking down on the city from the Sacsayhuaman ruins (say : Sexy Woman), visiting the Pisac Sunday market or doing the Inca Trail makes you realize how rich this area is. You could spend days on end here, discovering another colonial church or cute museum, taking a local bus to wonderful places like Chinchero, or you could hike to Las Salinas, where a mineral hot spring feeds marvelous salt pans, eversince the Inca time. All in all, we got very lucky with the weather too : it did rain quite a lot on the Inca Trail to Machu Picchu (which forced us to do the shorter two day trip), but we got quite some sunshine in Cuzco, which was very enjoyable. Being it the rain season, there also were a lot less tourists around, although we did get our share of US, Japanese and French senior citizens on Machu Picchu. I am glad I wasn't there when the whole band had to be evacuated after a landslide hit the train tracks near Aguas Calientes, just the day after we got back to Cuzco. Maybe all my luck went there?! Well, Tina and Andres are on their way home as I write this, and I am moving on too. Having another 6 weeks left, I am heading quietly to Bolivia, visiting on my way Lake Titicaca. I must thank Andres and Tina for taking home some of the stuff I bought here and leaving me another warm fleece and sunblock. I will need it ! So more PanAm adventures to come from the Altiplano ! And for those who want to take a peek at my brother's and Tina's version of the story, check their website at http://www.tinandres.2ya.com/ And thanks to Andres for sharing some of his pics and leaving me his 512 MB memory card ! Yoehoe. Hasta luego !