Thin Air & Inca Stairs

Thin Air & Inca Stairs
Cusco, Peru

Cusco, Peru

Arriving into Cusco was pretty special and whilst the 24 hour bus may have left us a little more acclimatised to the altitude the view from the plane over the Andes and the view over Cusco which was basically a small town built into a valley in the mountains was astounding.

As we got off the plane and in true South American fashion just walked randomly across the tarmac to the arrivals hall we very quickly became accustomed to what altitude feels like. It feels like you have a llama sitting on your chest and only letting you get about half as much oxygen as you think you are going to get with each breath. We had received some advice from the owner of our hostel in Lima, to take it really easy when we arrived at altitude, to lay down for a good 3 hours and just read a book or watch a movie, drink lots of water and coca tea and eat really light and healthy meals. We took heed of this advice and went straight to our hostel, had a good few cups of coca tea and settled into our bunk beds to adjust our bodies.

It seems that not everyone had been given the good advice that we had and on our arrival into reception there was a backpacker spark out on the sofa on an oxygen tank with a doctor taking her blood pressure. We eventually braved the outside world and Cusco was just so lovely and quaint. The city was made up of small cobbled streets lined with little 2 storey buildings which all led to the Plaza de Aramis, the centre point in every South American town that found itself invaded by Spain.

We had a nice light dinner of fresh soup, found a shop to stock up on water supplies and began the 10 minute walk back to our hostel. About 30 minutes and 5 breaks (where we were leaning up against the quaint little buildings lining the cobbled roads gasping for air) later we finally made it back to the hostel. We quickly discovered that with altitude came severe cold and despite our efforts to avoid having to pay for a heater we were at reception ordering a heater for our room before we knew it. Oh how we were wishing that we were back in the oxygen filled, warm and cosy Lima right now.

After a broken nights sleep where we both woke up several times gasping for air we began our arduous routine of getting showered and dressed before venturing out to explore. Seriously I am not even kidding at altitude even the most simple tasks like getting dressed leave you on the verge of collapse. One morning I came out of the shower to find Tim head first in his rucksack trying to seek out a pair of socks and I literally had to pull him out to get some blood to his head and ensure he didn’t pass out, oh the fun we have at altitude. Our first mission in Cusco was to get tickets for Macchu Pichu as we had our train tickets booked and just needed the entry ticket to go with them. After a few small detours we finally secured our tickets.

There is a view point that you can visit over-looking Cusco that is the home to their very own Christo Blanco, a smaller version of Rio’s Christ the Redeemer, we could theoretically have walked to this viewpoint but climbing the ladder to my bunkbed left me gasping for air so any real climb was likely to require bottled oxygen and so we opted to take the open top bus to the view point which was pretty spectacular and having seen the bus struggling up the hill reassured us that walking was definitely never an option!

The following day it was an early start as we were off to the main highlight of Peru, Macchu Pichu! The usual thing for tourists and backpackers is to spend at least 4 days looking at their feet following the Inca trail to Macchu Pichu whilst a bunch of tiny Peruvians lead the way carrying their worldly belongings, tents and food. No offence to any of our friends who have done this and thought that this was a lot of fun, but we can’t imagine anything worse, and opted to take the tourist train direct to Aqua Caliente the main town servicing Macchu Pichu. As it was technically still rainy season the train from Cusco was replaced with a bus which then linked to the train. The train was awesome, it was bright and airy and had glass panels in the roof so that you could look up at the amazing valley walls we were driving through. Before we knew it we were in Aqua Caliente and there was just one more over priced bus ticket to buy to get us to the entrance. One thing is for sure there is absolutely no cheap way to see Macchu Pichu. As the mini bus crawled up the steep and winding roads to the entrance we were climbing higher and higher into the clouds which did not bode well for us having amazing views from the top. The tour guides lurking at the entrance were trying to charge us a small fortune to have a guided tour so we opted to just follow the crowds and listen to other people’s guides when they were stood nearby. We just had to mix up which group we followed to avoid being caught.

Sadly our day at Macchu Pichu was very nearly over before it had even began as after about 5 minutes of walking around getting our bearings, my foot slid on one of the uneven Inca stairs and my ankle made the most terrifying cracking noise. I tried to remain calm but was pretty sure I had done something awful so stopped and had a look at the damage. Aside from some fairly major swelling and pain if I twisted my foot it seemed to be ok. So I pulled up my sock and carried on, all be it a bit more slowly and carefully.

So then it is only right that I share a bit of info about Macchu Pichu, not that there is a whole lot really known for sure! It is thought that it was built by the Inca’s between 1438 and 1472 as an estate for the emperor Pachacuti. It is not known why the site was abandoned but one theory is that small pox wiped out the population and another is that it was just abandoned when the Spanish Conquistadors arrived, despite them never actually finding the site.

The construction is just astounding, some of the rocks were the size of buses and perfectly carved and fitted into one another like they were made by machines. There are many features which showed the Incas were using the sun, stars and the sky within the architecture such as the water mirrors and astronomical clock.

Macchu Pichu was first discovered in 1911 by Hiram Bingham an American explorer employed by Yale University. He had been exploring nearby ruins and asked locals if there were any other sites in the area. He was led to the now infamous Macchu Pichu. During his studies of the area, excavations took place, artifacts were uncovered and sent to the US to be examined. This caused many issues with the Peruvians and to this day there are still disputes over the ownership of certain artefacts uncovered at this time. In 1981 it was declared a historical sancturary and in 1983 it was declared a UNESCO world heritage site.

The site now attracts overt 2 million visitors a year and it is pretty sad to see that there are few marked paths and just a few rangers with whistles to get the tourists back in line if they do step on protected areas. I have no doubt that in years to come the site will be facing some major reconstruction due to the lack of control over visitors.

Whilst the weather for us was pretty dire, we didn’t mind as it also meant that there were not as many tourists as if it was a stunning bright day. The low clouds and the anticipation of waiting for the clouds to clear to get a glimpse of Huayan Pichu, the huge mountain that stands in the background of the epic view of the site. One interesting fact that I never realised about Macchu Pichu was that the mountains that surround the site look exactly like a condor with its wings partially open embracing the whole area.

After hours of climbing, up and down and over and waiting for what few annoying tourists were there to get out of the way, it was time to say farewell to Macchu Pichu and head back down to the town to get our train home. Typically the weather began to clean as we were leaving!

We had time for a quick wonder around the markets in Aqua Caliente and for an ove
r priced cup of coffee before we headed to the station to catch our train home. We were relaxed and ready to have a little sleep on the train when suddenly the lights went out and after a few seconds when they came on there was a man dressed in a crazy rainbow striped fancy dress costume with a terrifying wig and mask who proceeded to dance and terrify everyone in our carriage for a good 20 minutes, after a quick snack we were then treated to a fashion show by the service crew who tried to sell us a whole host of Alpaca and Llama wool products, no sleep on this train for us then.

After a long day we made it back to the hostel and it was time to have a good look at my ankle to see just how much damage I had done. Oddly other than being really swollen it was not too bad so I strapped it up and hoped for the best.

When we planned our stay in Cusco we pretty much thought that we would be done after Macchu Pichu, but no such luck, there were a whole host of Inca ruins that we needed to explore so we booked another couple of tours, this did mean that we spent a lot of time on buses going backwards and forward along the same route but it was cheaper and more convenient than moving town.

First up the Sacred Valley including the ruins of Pisac, Ollantaytambo and Chincheros. Pisac was pretty cool, although the speed that the guide dragged us up and over these ruins left us panting for breath and barely able to use or cameras or take in the view, but it was pretty cool and afterwards we visited the quaint market town of Pisac where we could stock up on cheap llama wool socks, gloves and hats to protect us from the cold nights. Ollantaytambo was also a cool sight with huge terraces which from the top of which provided awesome views back over the town. Again it was survival of the fittest and we very nearly lost a few of our travel companions to the altitude and the stairs. Thankfully everyone made it back to the bus. We were due to end the tour at the Chincheros ruins, but sadly by the time we got there it was pitch black but the guide still dragged us up hill to the entrance to see absolutely nothing, thanks dude!

The following day it was our last tour to the town of Maras which was the home to the Moray ruins. These were some of my favourite ruins as they were best viewed from the top and meant that my lungs were given a break. They also looked pretty awesome with terraces created in perfect concentric circles. The reason that the terraces were built in this location and in this format was to best protect the stocks of potatoes that were grown in the area. By digging down into the ground the cold air and high winds would pass over the crops thereby protecting them from the elements. Here is an interesting factoid for you, did you know that it was over 10,000 years ago that potatoes were domesticated in the Andes and there are now over 3800 varieties of potato in Peru!!

Our final destination was the Salineras, a terrace built into the side of a valley wall containing 3,000 small pools for collecting natural salt from the mountains. A natural spring pushes the salt through the mountain where it settles in the pools and is harvested during the dry season. This was awesome, although the journey to the entrance felt a little like we were in the movie Final Destination as we were headed at speed down hill, down a narrow two way road with a sheer drop to our right and a solid rock cliff to our left. The brief stop for a photo across the valley made us all the more terrified seeing just how far the sheer drop was. We made it safely to the bottom and happily headed deeper and deeper into the salt pools. Sadly we had forgotten that we were at altitude and faced a killer climb back to the bus. Damn you altitude.

All in all we had a great time in Cusco, getting selfies with small goats, llamas and locals, we met our new cruise buddies Maggie & Rick for a Pisco Sour, we saw more Inca ruins than I ever thought necessary and we finally began to adjust to life in the clouds. Which was just as well as our next stop was Puno to see Lake Titikaka, the highest lake in the world! Bring it on!