after a much needed rest from monitors, I'm beginning to think those prescription glasses I got before I left were a waste of money. Well, much of GU's money anyway. I'm well, how are you all?
To continue where I left the rambling last, this chapter starts with a wonderful train ride directly into the rising sun for 4 hours to Aguas Calientes, a town of no significance other than it's proximity to Machu Picchu. The view into the sun was made much better with the presence of 2 very good looking Canadian girls who Dave started chatting to the moment we sat down. 5 minutes into the conversation, I realised that these 2 were nutters, as their plan was to take a 4 hour train ride to AC, then 45 minutes on the bus to Machu Picchu, which leaves them a good 3 hours to explore the site, then catch the bus back to AC and return to Cusco on the 4pm train, next day sraight to Puno and back. 10 minutes into the conversation, it became quite apparent that the 2 Canadians were a shining example of how beauty really does come with its flaws. The younger of the 2 directly opposite myself had decided it was ok to leave her bag unattended in a cafe in Lima, which meant that she now needed to return to Lima after Puno, to get her replacement Passport, tickets, cards, and just about everything else important to her, including all of her money. Fortunately for her, as she puts it, her Arnette sunglasses were on her head when she visited the bathroom, possibly the most important possesion of them all. To add salt to her wounds, a co-worker of hers from Argentina had warned her days before she left to make sure she carried a hidden wallet, irrespective of which country she was going to in South America, which, because of her travel experiences with Contiki Europe and Australia, she thought was a joke. Judging from her attire, I'm not sure she would have found a good enough place for a hidden wallet, without it protruding heavily. Granted, something like this may happen to me one day, but at least I have the knowledge I tried to prevent it from happening. Anyway, as some of you may have heard from me, Aguas is as boring as watching paint talk about drying, there's not much there apart from a heavily tourist orientated setup and some hot springs, which I didn't even bother with. We arrived, at 11:00am and pretty much waited the day out, so we could get an early start at 6:00am to avoid the hoard of tourists on MP.
Machu Picchu is impressive, much more impressive than the Sacred Valley ruins. We spent a good 7 hours exploring the site, and climbing Huayna Picchu which is a must if you're going to come here (sorry kaps). From Hyuana Picchu you can see MP in it's entirety, as well as the ruins on HP which is 400 meters higher than MP, which in itself is quite impressive. However, parts of me can't help but think, what if the Cambodians were involved in the construction of it, which is due to the fact I've been spoilt by the ruins of Angkor. Sure, the Incans were a bunch of really strong bastards, sure they dragged those rocks up 2400m, but why drag it all the way up there just to stack them. If you go to all that trouble to drag it up there, you may as well do something really cool with it. Anyway, it was worth the effort, and I recommend you all come by sometime and have a look.
Having returned from boring Aguas Calientes, we finally checked out sacsayhuaman 30 minutes out of Cusco. Fortunately, there was the festival of Incans on which involved over 1000 colourful dressed lads, so we spent the day at the festival with many of the locals watching as these teenagers played what appeared to be a sports day to impress the Incan King. Had to be there.
We decided weeks before that we were going to attempt the choquequirao trek, so after a good couple days rest in Cusco, we booked our trek up. The trek is an absolute bitch. It involved a
4 hour bus ride to Cuchora, which is the base of the first mountain. On the first day, you climb mountain number 1 for approx 2800m, then go down to the first camp near the river. Second Day you go down to the river, cross it, then climb choquequirao for 3100m, check out choquequirao which is not as physically impressive as Machu Picchu, but historically impressive, in terms of height and structure. Camp the night just below choquequirao, then next morning, make your way back the same bloody way you started. Having done this trek, ostensibly Sir Mixalot no longer has any use for me. Folks, don't get me wrong, it was definitely worth the effort, the ruins are fantastic, and the view was stunning, but according to many of the guides, it's one of the harder treks to do, so be warned. That, or you can check out my brick house when I get back.
On the trek, I had much time to think, and the reason I was thinking was based on the first day of the trek when we got off the bus in Cuchora to have lunch and then start the trek. The bus driver, being quite curious of my accent, asked where I was from, to which I replied Australia. This illicited a physical response from him which involved the extension of his 2 index fingers, with elegant poise he placed them on the temple side of each eye and proceeded to stretch his eyes into obscurity. I hadn't seen this kind of response since I was in year 6, whereby my aboriginal friend at the time, Greg decided to respond to the gesticulator by physically hurting him. (Greg, I'm still waiting for that 80 cents you owe me, 5 years in the pen is no excuse pal). To add to the gesture, the bus driver muttered, 'Bruce Lee', which suprised me, but was 10 times better than 'konitchiwa'. Anyway, back to the thinking, and it's because it's happened on average, once every 2 days, and that is when everytime David and myself say we're Australian, we get 'Kangaroo', which to me sucks. We need to be recognized for something more significant other than some bouncy, stinky, violent and untasty marsupial. It's not like everytime somebody says, 'I'm from Peru', that we mention, 'ah, rodent eating monkeys'. Once upon a time, the US, was recognised for 'Disneyland' or 'Hollywood', which is why I think somebody crafty, like say my friend Peter Byrne, should start up a 'Flaming Galah' world or something like that. How cool would it be if say you're in remote Tanzania and you tell a local, 'I'm From Australia' and he responds with, 'Ah, Flaming Galah'. Qantas logo would look pretty cool with a flaming Galah on it.
Which almost brings us up to date. We just returned from 3 nights in Puno, where we spent 1 night on Amantani Island with a local family on Lake Titikaka, which was pretty cool. There was a number of times where we were concerned about the food that was being cooked for us, for no other reason than the fact that host/cook, Marcellina, picked up a piece of fried potato from the dirt, brushed and then blew at it, and then put it in her mouth. Marcellina was a graceful host however, and she will be remembered, even though she found it hard to remember my name, which was made much worst by David who decided this woman who has never been off the island (let alone know what a TV is) could remember it much easier if she thought of Bruce Lee.
Will be in the Amazon next coupla days, time for my mosquito friends to feed.
No comments:
Post a Comment