Costa Rica and Peru .::. Summer 2005

Earlier this week we took a long bus ride from Cuzco to Puno. The bus ride was about 7 hours long and took us south to the high altitude lake called Titicaca. During the ride we saw some amazing snow capped mountains. This part of the country is also known for it's abundance of alpacas and sheep.

We arrived in the bustling city of Puno during the afternoon. After settling into our hostal room, we took a tour of the city. Puno has a large outdoor market with vendors selling literally anything you could imagine. We saw the following items for sale: chickens (live and dead) guinea pigs, various body parts and organs of animals, machinery parts, crafts, clothes, food, sacks of potatoes, and much much more! As we walked through the "animal parts" section we were both overcome by the awful smell and we were shocked to see women handling the raw meat with such a disregard for food safety. We just may have bought that sheep head if the lady selling it were wearing plastic gloves.

On Sunday we took a boat tour to the islands of Uros and Taquile. Uros is a man-made island constructed of layers of reeds that grow in the lake. It is amazing to think that the inhabitants of the small island constructed the island and all of their huts from reeds. As you step on the island the reeds squoosh under your feet and you sink in a few inches. It is like walking on a grassy waterbed. The islanders sell crafts and rent out reed huts to tourists.

Three hours later we were at the island of Taquile. The island is about 5 km in length and has roughly 3,000 inhabitants. To the Southeast you can see Bolivia's snowcapped mountains and deep blue water shimmers under the intensely bright sun. The island has a very mediterranean landscape with a high rocky middle and stone fences protecting the sheep. Wild herbs grow everywhere and the islanders have managed to make use of everything living on the island. When we got off of the boat we were greeted by an islander and he offered to let us sleep at his house with two other tourists from London. As we walked for 40 minutes to his house, he pointed out all of the plants that were growing around us.

The house was at a far end of the island and we stayed in a house seperate from our host. During our stay we were fed like kings, enjoying feasts of freshly caught fish, rice, tomatoes, and huge bowls of tasty soup. We also drank tea made from coca leaves and an herb that grows on the island. We walked down to the beach and waded in the freezing water. The islander we were staying with have a row boat that they use to catch their fish. We went out for a ride and we helped them cast out 2 sets of fishing nets. The 50 meter nets are weighed down by rocks and are left out overnight to catch any schools of fish that swim by. On a good night, you can catch up to 50 fish in the nets.

After all of our fishing chores were complete, we hiked up a steep rock incine to watch the sunset. From a high point on the island we watched the sun dip below the distant horizon. As we walked home the temperature began to drop. Sheep could be heard making their funny bahhhh sound and bright stars began to poke through the tapestry of the sky. Once we were home we were amazed at just how many stars fit in the night sky. We saw what looked like 10 galaxies.

Dinner was fantastic and we were all in good spirits as the islanders offered to dress us up in their traditional clothes for some dancing. They played the mandalin and guitar as we took turns dancing with the kids of the family around a bright fire made with eucalyptus cuttings. The fire smelled great and produced intense bursts of flames. At about 9 pm we were all exhausted and we fell asleep like children on Christmas eve. We were excited at to wake up early the next morning for sunrise.

We woke up at about 6 am the next morning just in time to see the sun rise from the Bolivian landscape. The temperature went from freezing to hot in a matter of minutes. We went down to the boat and paddled out to the fishing nets to see how many we had caught. As we pulled the nets in we saw fish tangled in the tiny squares. The pile of flopping fish in the center of the boat got bigger and bigger. When we were done pulling in the nets we had caught about 50 fish!

Breakfast never tasted so good. After having walked down to the water, hauled in the night's catch of fish and then hiked back to the house, we were happy to put some nourishment in our bellies. We spent most of the morning laying around in the sun, playing with the kids and making mental notes of the amazing scenery. We ate fish for lunch and then made our way back to the boat launch for our 2 pm ride back to Puno. The walk was long and our packs felt heavy all the way back to the boat. To get to the boat we had to end our hike with a descent of 500 stone steps. Our legs jiggled as we settled on the boat. And then we were off for our slow, 3 hours ride back to shore.

After getting roughly 3 hours of sleep, we were woken up by a rooster cockle doodle dooing in the frigid, damp sunrise. Our little amigo who let us sleep on his porch, who apparently doesn´t sleep, asked us if we wanted to get up to hike Machu Picchu. We just looked at each other and could not believe what had happened the night before. We were so EXHAUSTED from being scammed by our tour, homeless for a couple of hours in a new city, befriended by some Peruvian dudes and overwhelmed by the fact that we were actually in Machu Picchu, the place we have been dreaming about. It was unreal to be lying under those alpaca blankets knowing that we were unbelievably tired but had to rally hardcore because we were in one of the most amazing places on the planet. We could not extend our time bec. there were no hotels, no atms, we already bought our train ticket back to Cuzco and had booked our bus ticket to Puno. The only money we had was what we recovered from the envelope Rich stole back from the ¨buta¨ at the hotel. We got up, muscles aching, feet dragging and told our amigo to store our stuff because we were heading up to Machu Picchu!

Now despite what the guide books or tour companies tell you, Machu Picchu is incredibly expensive and complicated to get to. Thankfully we used our student cards and got a discount on our admission tickets (We technically shouldn´t get one bec we´re not under 25 but we worked it). We tried to get the discount for the bus up there but it wouldn´t work. So including everything the travel and admission we paid over 150 bucks!

Regardless of the cost, once you get up there you realize that it is worth it. Machu Picchu is one of the most beautiful, complicated and ingenious places ever designed by man. It is thousands of feet above sea level from the Urubabma River. It would have taken months just to get up there, let alone bring gigantic boulders to build the city. The Incans built it in complete harmony with nature. First of all it is in a mountainous tropical rainforest surrouned by llamas and alpacas grazing. It is so green and at that high altitude the sky is so blue. In the distance is the gorgeous snow-capped mountain called Salkantay.

Just being there is special, we quickly forgot about the fact that we might not have a place to stay for the night or that we were tired and on a strict budget. We felt energized and explored the Lost Incan City for 5 hours. The weather was perfect. We hiked all over, including the cliff-hanging hike to Wayna Picchu, which has a 360 view of the entire valley. What an amazing and rewarding experience.

On Monday we took a bus tour through the famous Sacred Valley. The valley meanders through the unbelievably high Andes mountains. Our bus flew around the tight turns and we gasped at the possibility of falling over the cliff edges. The valley is more lush than most of the surrounding valleys because the Urubamba river flows through it. The river actually goes all the way through Brazil to the Atlantic ocean. We stopped at the ruins of Pisac, built high on the top of a mountain. We hiked along the narrow stone path that the Incans built and there were times where we both thought we were going to fall. It was pretty scary but once we reached the ruins we could relax and take in the views.

Click here to learn about Pisac

We continued our trip to the city of Ollantaytamba. This is where the road ends and the only way to continue our trip was by train. In Ollantaytamba there is also an amazing ruin and a town filled with vendors selling coca leaves and porters carrying hundreds of pounds on their backs. We stayed in Ollantaytamba for a few hours until our train departed for Aguas Caliente (Machu Picchu). We hiked the ruins and learned bout how the Incans built elaborate sun and moon temples to help them grow their crops. We watched the sun set and the clouds pass under the tips of the surrounding mountain tops. Our guide Walter pointed out that we should gaze over toward the edge of a steep mountain terrace in the distance (hundreds of feet high) and look for the face of an Incan man carved out of the cliff. He mentioned that every June 21st, the sun shines right through the face and it lights up. The Incans celebrate Inti Raymi every June 21st (equinox), the festival of the sun. We sat there and took in the strange lush desert-like landscape and could totally understand why the Incans lived in this valley. After the sun went down, the temperature changed dramatically. The wind started kicking up and the busy city quieted down. We found a cafe overlooking the Urubamba river and warmed up to some delicious hot chocolate. (The hot chocolate is no joke here, they melt real coco, rice and canela (cinnamon). We then went to an adorable family-run restaurant playing excellent Peruvian music and ate brick oven pizza (very popular in Peru). After dinner we layered up and took the walk down the dark road to the Aguas Calientes train station.

At exactly 8 O'clock the guards opened the gates and everyone pushed their way onto the tracks to board the train. We have learned that in Peru you will be pushed by people who want to get in front of you ... all the time. We climbed into our train car and took our seats. We waited for the train to move. We waited some more. An hour went by. Then two hours. Everyone just wanted the train to move. After 3 hours of sitting in the train yard, we finally moved. Then we stopped. Then we we went back to the train yard. Then we moved forward again. Then the conductor hit the brakes hard. We went backwards again! Finally we moved toward our destination and we fell into a deep sleep.

When we woke up it was 1 in the morning and we were in Aguas Calientes, the gateway to Machu Picchu! We were tired but excited to be in such a special place. The tour guide who arranged our trip told us to expect someone from our hotel to pick us up at the train station. Nobody did. We walked into the town plaza and found our hotel. As we approached the hotel a tired looking lady asked us if we had a reservation. We handed her the envelope that our travel agent told us to give her. Her eyes lit up ... there was money inside the envelope. This is where things went sour. The lady quickly placed our envelope in her office and escorted us across the plaza to another hostal. This hostal was clearly not as nice as the one we were supposed to stay in. She walked us up to a room and told us that someone would be at our room in 10 minutes to give us instructions for the next days tour of Machu Picchu (nobody ever showd up). She left. We were alone in the room and upset that we were dropped off in such poor accomodations. The room was dirty and there were various stains on the walls ... and ceiling? Rich walked around bed and saw a fresh pile of POOP on the floor! It was huge and discusting and could not have come from a human. Outraged, we went back to the original hostal and pounded on the door. We woke up the lady and demanded that we stay in a better room. She said that there were no rooms in the hostal or the rest of the hostals in town for that matter. It was now 2 am and we were supposed to hike Machu Picchu early the next morning. We needed a place to sleep. After some arguing, Rich went into the office and grabbed the envelope full of money and we walked off into the night without a room to sleep in or a clue where we were.

We found a pizza place still open and asked them if they knew of a hostal with rooms. A young man with a long pony tail and an easy going smile offered to walk us around town to look. After an hour of waking up hostal managers, we finally found a hostal where we could speep outside on their balcony. We were just happy to have place to sleep so we agreed. We slept on two couches pushed together and when we woke up the next morning we could finally see where we were. We were in a lush, green valley with towering mountain peaks. Things were looking up.

More to come ...

In cusco we bought a tourist pass to visit the nearby Incan ruins. On Sunday we took a bus up into the mountains and were dropped off about 8 kilometers from Cuzco. We walked through 3 sets of ruins on our hike back to the city. The ruins were amazing and the views were breathtaking. The great thing about tourist attractions in Peru is that you can really walk anywhere you want and do not have to worry about guards keeping you back away from the site. We walked freely on the rock walls that the Incans built and spent as long as we wanted exploring. We have come to realize that Peru is a country full of rock walls, rock buildings and rock fences. It is mind boggling to think about how much work has gone into building all of these structures.

The most amazing ruin we visited is called sacsayhuaman.

Click here for history and photographs of sacsayhuaman

During our hike we were sometimes in the middle of beautiful eucalyptus forests with no other people around. At one point in our hike we came upon 4 llamas grazing under some trees. We watched them pick at the grassy ground and we got close enough to take some great pictures. We also helped an old lady get her baby pigs across the road safely. Rich waved his arms and pushed the little guys across just before a bus screamed by.

The end of our hike was a descent down into the city of Cuzco. Altogether we hiked about 10 miles that day and after a dinner of crepes we fell fast asleep.

The futbol game started and within the first 5 minutes, three players were badly injured. One of the players on the Lima team had to be taken away on a stretcher and police barricaded him so that he could get into the ambulance. While he was getting into the ambulance, the tv cameras were in his face, people were throwing stuff and screaming obscenities. We felt so bad for the guy, people try to avoid going to the hospital (especially the ones around here) so it must have been pretty bad for him to go. Throughout the rest of the game there were many more injuries. Roughly 6 players suffered bad headbutts while they tried to hit the ball with their heads. At least 5 players suffered kicks to the you know what.

With about 5 minutes to go in the first period Cuzco was given a corner kick. A corner kick is exciting because one player gets a free kick from a corner near the goal and all of his teammates line up near the goal with the hope of heading or kicking the ball in. This corner kick happened right in front of our seats. The ball floated toward the goal and all of the players jumped up for their chance to make contact. The ball bounced off of a Cuzco head and shot like a dart into the upper right corner of the goal. The goalie was left laying on the ground and the crowd jumped to their feet to cheer.

To witness a goal in a championship futbol game in South America is unlike any goal, touchdown or basket in a US game. People were not only cheering, they were outright exploding with happiness. At the far end of the stadium, the fans quickly cleared a section of the stands and then a loud explosion could be heard. They had set off what sounded like a quarter stick of dynamite. After the blast a puff of smoke started to rise and then the raging fans filed back into the opening to do a victory dance. Red smoke bombs filled the air and entire rolls of toilet paper were hurled onto the field. When it calmed down we saw riot police covered in toilet paper and confetti.

Halftime started rather abruptly. The players just ran off the field and all of the fans quickly ran for the food vendors and the bathrooms. We figured this would be a good time to get some snacks and water. Michelle decided to make the trip and leave Rich to guard the seats. Halftime at a futbol game is not like halftime at a Knicks game. For starters, there are rules of conduct at a Knicks game. You do not push or trample other people. You also do not use the ladies bathroom if you are a guy. Both of these rules are completely disregarded at a futbol game. Michelle was shoved around and pushed into a frenzy as she tried to make her way to the bathroom. It was as if there was absolutely no regard for personal space. Men and women were all pushing her. She tried to get some food but gave up. In the end she just wanted to safely return to her seat. When she reached the walkway back to our seats the was a row of people 4 deep standing between her and the stairway. They would not let her in. She finally pushed her way through and thankfully sat back down in her seat. We quickly made a group decision that we would be leaving the game early.

The second period was just as exciting and injury filled as the first. Men were left rolling on the field in agony, holding their shins and there were many close shots on goal. Lima scored a goal but had it taken back. Then Cuzco scored a goal and as the crowd raged and set off fireworks, we decided to sneak out of the stadium. We really wanted to avoid the fights, stampedes and confusion at the actual end of the game. Peru does not have a good track record at sporting events. In 1964, in a game in Lima, the worst sports disaster ever happened. 300 people were killed in a stampede.

We walked down a set of stairs toward a metal door being guarded by police. As the police tried to open the door, a crowd of children pushed their way in. We had to run backwords to avoid the rush of the crowd. The police could do nothing, there were just too many people. So we ran back up the steps with the crowd of people. Then we took a right turn and squeazed through some more people and then headed back down another set of stairs. At the next exit there were police on horses and the riot police were out as well. Nobody was getting in past them. We finally tasted freedom! When the dust had settled, we both looked at each other and were just thankful that we had experienced our first South American futbol game and SURVIVED!