Machu Picchu and Ollantaytambo

Friday 15^th April Ollantaytambo

After checking into the hotel, had a walk round the town, some of which still has the original Inca street layout and then focused on the main square where among many restaurants I found one that was pleasant and fairly busy, where I had one of the local specialities, trout, which was tasty and free of bones.  

Saturday 16th April

Early morning start since I need to be at the station half hour before the train departs, at 7.30. Perurail warns me that if I’m not there on time I may not be allowed to board and I paid US$80 for the one-way ticket for a journey of about 30km. Perurail is part of the Orient Express Group and operates the tourist services, some passenger services for local people and long distance freight services http://www.perurail.com/

Can’t help feeling Machu Picchu is their licence to print money. There is another company Incarail but they are only marginally cheaper.

Train to Machu Picchu

But once I am on the Vistadome train it is very pleasant and the scenery is spectacular as we follow the Urubamba River through a deep steep sided valley. There is a little snack of a cake, pygmy banana and cup of coffee. It takes about an hour and a half to reach Agua Calientes, the small town at the bottom of the Machu Picchu mountain. From there it is a 20 minute bus ride, US$24 return, up a series of hairpin bends to Machu Picchu itself which costs 128 sols or about US$40. So I can’t help feeling someone is making a lot of money out of this. 

Not your Average Bus Route

Looking Down at the Urubamba River

Of course there are cheaper options but they all involve lots of walking. Fortunately I didn’t suffer from altitude sickness in Cusco, or anywhere else for that matter, but I did find that even a gentle climb had me out of breath. Despite the grey and damp weather the Machu Picchu site was stunning, the ruins of what is believed to be a royal city perched high up on one mountain surrounded by others. Although there were lots of other visitors, the site is big enough that you can find a bit of space to simply stand and stare. There isn’t much information at the site, just little signs pointing to “Sun Temple” and similar, so I was pleased to have invested 20 sols to go round the Machu Picchu museum in Cusco. There were guides offering their services at the entrance but I was very happy to wander round on my own. 

Amazing Setting

Not quite enveloped by Cloud

Temple of the Sun but the Sun was not in Residence

Main Temple of Machu Picchu. 

Think the Inca Steps may Outlast the Modern Ones

Inca Broom Cupboard

Llamas have Right of Way

Was listening into one of the guides, not sure whether he was official, telling some poor tourists that the stones of one of the temples have great energy since they contain quartz which emits microwave radiation. I fully understand why the Incas and most other people from past civilisations created myths and religions to account for the workings of the natural world but it does annoy me when people who have access to the world’s scientific knowledge prefer to follow mumbo jumbo.  

My normal precaution of carrying an umbrella to placate the rain gods failed on this occasion and I had to unfurl the thing. Quite sensibly the Incas had thatched roofs on their buildings but few of these have been replaced so there aren’t many places to escape the rain. By mid-afternoon I decided I had seen most of it and headed back down the hill to a cup of coffee and a mushroom omelette in one of the many cafes in Agua Calientes. Once the rain had stopped had a quick look round the town which is the middle of a building boom. Probably the modern equivalent of a gold rush town in the American West. Since there are no roads into the town I assume all the building materials and construction equipment must come in by rail, along with the buses. My trip back was on the nominally more basic and cheaper Expedition train but there didn’t seem much difference between it and the Vistadome either in price or service. Both have tables and offer a snack. The Vistadome comes with wooden tables, a tablecloth and coffee in a proper mug. The Expedition has tables with plastic laminated surface and the coffee comes in a disposable plastic cup. There wasn’t any milk on the Expedition train but think this was an oversight rather than an attempt to differentiate the service.

Back in Ollantaytambo had dinner in Piccolo Forno, a pizza place in one of the narrow streets.

Sunday 17^th April.  
Leisurely breakfast. Explored the town in daylight when it is easier to see the Inca masonry at the  bottom of many of the houses. Climbed up to one of the more accessible ruins with a good view over the town. Later got the collectivo minivan back to Cusco.   

Inca Street in Ollantaytambo

Inca Street in Ollantaytambo

Impressive Doorway

Cusco and around

Tuesday 12^th April. Lima to Cusco

Early breakfast and car to the airport at 8.00. Don't envy the driver, it took us a full hour through heavy traffic on a complicated route from Miraflores to the airport. Check in and flight with Avianca were fine Window seat with good view over some of the Andes. At Cusco the taxi tout proved to be 10 sols cheaper than the official taxi desk at 30 sols and he proved very chatty in English telling me where everything was. The Hotel Tierra Viva is lovely, with a room overlooking pretty courtyard and a multi-coloured quipu hanging on the wall behind the bed; maybe they use it to calculate my bill. Have to admit the bed was very tempting but managed to resist and head out into Cusco. Just as I reached the main commercial street pointed out by the taxi driver there was some sort of carnival procession coming along with lots of women in traditional dress interspersed with boys in gorilla suits, young women in fishnet tights and men only bands playing the same few notes over and over again. 

Street Procession

Traditional Dress

Not so Traditional

After the procession passed by went on to explore more of the town which is incredibly picturesque with just a few wide boulevards and many narrow cobbled streets lined with lovely ancient buildings and squares with beautiful. intricately carved churches. Outside the town the mountains rise up magnificently. 

Old Building

Window Boxes

One of the Many Churches

Went to the Tourist Information Office where a helpful young guy told me about tours to the Sacred Valley, how much I should expect to pay and gave me some names and locations of travel agents. Eventually found one and booked a tour for tomorrow. Also found a place that sells stamps,  6.50 Sols, about £1.50 or US$2 which is a lot cheaper than Ecuador. Had a coffee and apple tart in cafe on Plaza San Francisco but by late afternoon it was a bit too chilly to sit outside.

In the evening was feeling quite lazy so went to nearby Italian restaurant where I had a Fettuccine Alfredo and a Coke.

Wednesday 13th April

Picked up for tour soon after 8.00 and met our guide Puma who speaks pretty good English. First stop was a small market which I wasn't too happy about but things improved from there on. Next stop was an Inca site built on a hilltop at Pisac. Puma explained that the Incas tended to put their dwellings and temples high up partly to keep the fertile valley bottoms for food production and also to avoid flooding. The hillsides were terraced to support food production. According to Puma, much of the modern town of Pisac along the river was flooded or washed away a few years ago as a result of El Nino associated heavy rains and floods. I was very happy to take the bus most of the way up to the Inca settlement or temple. Much of the knowledge of the Incas was lost as a result of Spanish looting and deliberate destruction of Inca culture considering it to be pagan, coupled with mass murder of many of the nobles. I could have done with a bit less explanation and time in the market and more to explore the temple complex. 

Agricultural Terraces at Pisac

The Incas Liked to Build on Steep Hillsides

Inca Masonry

More Inca Masonry at Pisac

Mary had a Little Lamb

From there we drove to a jewellery factory which I could have well done without.  Then it was time for a buffet lunch which was surprisingly good with lots of tasty dishes tempting me to pig out. Chatting to couple from Kentucky, both nurses. She is originally from Puerto Rico so Spanish is her first language although her English sounded perfect to me. Her husband looks Afro-American but is actually Kenyan Asian and speaks Gujarati. The other two guys in our lunch group are from Leipzig; one of them travels on business and tells me how much he likes Pakistan, saying how different it is from the image portrayed by the media. Back on the bus we headed to Ollantaytampo where we climb up more agricultural terraces to a temple, probably dedicated to the sun, at the top. Climbing up all these steps is making me breathless. Is it the altitude or would I still be breathless at sea level? Belief is that it was still being built at the time of the Spanish conquest and was never finished. But here at Ollanta, as it's known to its friends, the Incas won their one battle against the Spanish. Didn't do them much good in the long run. On the almost sheer cliffs opposite the temple Puma pointed out an Inca watchtower and food store. Food production, storage and distribution seem to have been controlled centrally. There's no evidence of any market economy or use of money.  

Terraces leading up to the Temple.
Lots of Steps to Climb

Close Fitting Masonry in the Temple.
The protuberances are believed to be for handling  the stones and would be chipped away on completion.

Food Store Clinging to the Cliff Face

Probably More Pilgrims to the Temple than ever Before

Puma showed us some Quinoa growing and showed us how you can get the seeds from the little green flowers. Although Quinoa has been grown in the area for a long time he told us it only became popular when Western health food enthusiasts embraced it. Part of the reason is that as traditionally prepared it has a bitter taste. Modern preparation methods involve more washing steps.   Back down at the bottom of the terraces there is, of course, a market. From Ollanta we headed off to Chinchero where a catholic church had been very obviously built on top of an Inca temple. The church was surprisingly ornate inside considering it is in a small village. Noticed that many of the older houses were built of adobe, dried mud, bricks and asked how long they could expect to last, considering the climate here is far less arid than Lima. Quite surprised when he told me they could last up to fifty years, although he did point out that usually the foundations and first foot or so above ground level are stone so the mud bricks aren’t directly exposed to water on the ground. 

Our Guide Puma in Front of Chinchero Church
on Top of the Remains of an Inca Temple

Later we had a demonstration of cleaning, spinning and dyeing sheep and alpaca wool. Of course the hope was that we would buy something and I felt quite guilty about not buying anything after the three charming girls had put on a show for us so I did put a few sols in the tip box. 

Dyeing with mostly vegetable dyes

Always a Kettle on the Boil for Coca Tea

From there we headed back to Cusco. We hadn't been to all the sites in the sacred valley the guy in the tourist office had said would be included and we could have done with less time in handicraft markets but for me I think it was as intense as I could cope with. Any more temples and I would have been templed out. In the evening had a vegetarian wrap, cheese mushrooms and several other ingredients I don’t remember in a popular little kebab place.

Thursday 14th April

After breakfast and dropping off my laundry at a place near the hotel, spent the day exploring the city which is totally fascinating. Many narrow cobbled streets some of them still following the Inca street pattern with the distinctive Inca stonework visible. And at the end of the streets views of the surrounding mountains. 

Narrow Streets

Inca Stonework

Surrounding Mountains

The main square, on the site of a larger Inca ceremonial plaza, is dominated by the cathedral on one side and the La Compania, a Jesuit church on a second. The rest of the square is formed of Spanish style buildings with covered colonnades. In the centre is a pretty garden around a fountain on top of which is a golden statue of an un-named Inca. 

Main Square, Plaza de Armas, with La Compania on the Right

Cusco Cathedral

Statue of the Inca

Walking up a side street near the cathedral I found the Inca Museum where I had hoped to use the ticket I bought yesterday on the tour but looking at the list of places it covers there aren’t many I am interested in. So paid 10 sols for entry. It’s in an interesting old building and is informative but not particularly well laid out with artefacts poorly displayed and lit, and it wasn’t always easy to find the information in English. As with most museums and churches in Peru there is a blanket ban on taking photographs of the exhibits. One of the guys on the tour yesterday reckoned it was because thieves posing as tourists had used photos to identify items to steal; not totally convinced. Looked round the cathedral, which I thought was more impressive than Lima's, although still not up to Quito's standards, again no photos allowed. Interesting that in the cathedral there are posters explaining some aspects of the Inca belief system and how parts of it have been incorporated into Catholicism with, for example, the Virgin Mary identified as the earth goddess Pachamama. One building which I didn't go round, the Museo Arzobispal is largely built on top of an Inca building and has particularly impressive Inca masonry. The story goes that during Cusco’s several earthquakes the Inca walls have remained standing while the buildings on top of them have been damaged or collapsed. Another museum not covered by my ticket was the Machu Picchu museum, also in a lovely old building, and well presented. Hopefully it will help me make sense of Machu Picchu in a couple of days’ time.

Lady with Llama

Pretty Traffic Lights

But Don't Think I Would Want to Live in Calle Purgatorio

In the evening found a restaurant where I had an alpaca steak, similar to a beef steak but more tender. All around Cusco I seem to be hearing Andean  pipe versions of Simon & Garfunkel songs and  the theme from Titanic. Do they have qualities that makes them particularly suitable for pipes? And if I hear “Quanta la Mera” once more I’ll scream.

Friday 15^th April

Checked out of the hotel at eleven, leaving my big bag at the hotel and taking only my backpack for the next couple of days. Realised that my cathedral ticket covered the Museo Arzobispal so had a look round that. It’s a beautiful building with pretty courtyards. It has an extensive collection of religious paintings, mostly from the 17^th and 18^th centuries. Apparently there was a specific Cusco style. Interesting that many of the biblical scenes were painted with very European medieval buildings and streets, even an inn with a hanging Inn sign. I wonder whether the artists really believed that 1^st century Palestine looked like 15^th century Europe, or whether they just chose to paint it that way.

Spanish Style Courtyard in Museo Arzobispal

From there went to the Santo Domingo Convent which is built over the remains of possibly the most important Inca temple, Qurikancha (golden place) in Cusco,  dedicated to worship of the sun. From outside it is easy to see the transition from the smooth dark Inca masonry to the later 16^th century building but what is most amazing is that several parts of the original temple were incorporated into the cloisters of the convent. Later additions have been removed so that they can be seen and walked round. There has also been some restoration but based on the information displays most of it is original. Needless to say all the golden bits were removed immediately after the conquest. It's tempting to have a rose tinted view of the Inca civilisation. There is a description, written shortly after the conquest, of the twelve Inca months divided into agricultural and ritual activities. The Spanish version is quite long but it is summarised in the English version. For the month corresponding to our June it states "The month is the time of the 'small festival of the sun'. Young boys and girls are sacrificed. The big annual population census takes place.  In the last few years more has been discovered about this chilling practice.
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2013/07/130729-inca-mummy-maiden-sacrifice-coca-alcohol-drug-mountain-andes-children/

http://www.livescience.com/38504-incan-child-mummies-lives-revealed.html

Santo Domingo Convent Built over Inca Temple

Courtyard inSanto Domingo Convent

Part of Original Inca Temple

Part of Original Inca Temple

By now it was mid-afternoon so time to get the minivan (collectivo) to Ollantaytambo. Since I was first on the van I got the front seat which I shared with a young woman who I think was the girlfriend of the driver. It soon filled up and we were on our way leaving the centre of Cusco on a road alongside a dual gauge railway track which I later learnt was used to connect the Standard gauge Wanchaq station, which is the terminus for the line to Puno, to the narrow gauge station at San Pedro station which used to be the terminus for trains to Machu Picchu. Is this how they got the locomotives and carriages to the Machu Picchu line? The journey took longer than I expected so it was pitch dark by the time we arrived in Ollantaytambo but it was a fairly straightforward walk up Avenida Ferrocarril and across a little bridge to the Hotel Tika Wasi Valley.      

Lima

Lima Saturday 9th April.

The hotel is in Miraflores, an affluent area which I wanted to explore this afternoon, planning to visit the historic centre tomorrow. Lots of restaurants but I didn't want much so chose a vegetarian restaurant where I ordered the vegetable tortilla which turned out to be massive and heavy, so not a great choice. Also had a bright, Singapore Sling pink,  "Tuna" juice, apparently made from an Indian fig and which, like the Singapore Sling was too sweet for my taste. My map showed a pre-Inca pyramid, Huaca Pucllana in Miraflores so I made my way there to find that it had just closed at 5pm. Apparently it was built about AD 500, initially as a temple and “administrative centre” and was later used for burials. Since it was built entirely out of mud bricks, only Lima's arid weather has stopped it turning into a  muddy puddle.

The man at the information booth told me it would re-open at 7pm so considered that as an evening activity. Made my way back to the hotel which took 30 minutes.

Artists selling their work in Miraflores

King of the Park in Miraflores

Huaca Pucllana

Huaca Pucllana:
Lots and lots of Mud Bricks

In the evening I decided I wasn't really that keen to visit a pile of mud bricks so  went out intending to find a bar for drinks and a light dinner.  Found the Orient Express bar but it was closed, which seemed odd at 8.30 pm on a Saturday night. Then found the Publica Bar but it was also closed. Was wondering if being included in “Best Bars in Lima” was a kiss of death. So then headed to Calle del Pizza where there are lots of tourist oriented restaurants, fast food places and cafes and, despite the heavy lunchtime  tortilla, I  was feeling definitely hungry by now so settled on one of the busier restaurants and looked at the menu. Most of the main courses were more expensive than I had expected and probably more than I wanted so I settled on another brochette, one of the cheaper items and ordered a beer to go with it. I couldn't believe the reply "Sorry, tomorrow is election day and we are not allowed to serve any alcohol. It is the law". So I had a Coke to go with my brochette. Now I knew why the bars were closed.

Sunday 10th April

Breakfast at the hotel was quite good, back to ham and cheese again, although I think I was beginning to miss it. Got a taxi to Plaza Mayor in the historic centre for 18 sols. I was a bit concerned that the historic centre of Lima would be the same as Quito but they are quite different. One thing they have in common is a cathedral on one side of the main square, which I think was a key part of Spanish colonial town planning. Walked around the square and its side streets and then across the river to a less touristy area called Rima. Clearly the municipal authorities decided that yellow should be the colour of the city. Was a law enacted requiring people to paint their buildings in yellow or was free paint handed out?  After a while I was a bit concerned that I was standing out as the only tourist in the area. Unlike Chile, Argentina and, to a lesser extent, Brazil, in Peru I don’t blend into the background. After about ten minutes I was relieved to see another obvious tourist, looking like Crocodile Dundee, in khaki shorts and a wide brimmed hat; only the corks were missing. Reminded me of the scene in the film where, on being threatened, Dundee replies "call that a knife?" Suspect any potential muggers in the crowds are too young to have seen it. By about 11.00 there were several more tourists, including some young women backpackers, so I didn’t feel quite so obvious. 

Plaza Mayor

Plaza Mayor

One of the Many Yellow Buildings in Plaza Mayor

Lima Cathedral

Archbishop's Palace

Basilica of Nuestra Señora de la Merced

 Rima, Other side of the River.
Still Plenty of Yellow Paint

Not so Touristy. No Yellow Paint

Houses Climbing up the Arid Hill Side

There were lots of police around, many in full riot gear, probably because of the election, and I found that all the churches and museums were closed. Still it was lovely walking around the beautiful and fascinating streets. They were changing the guards at the Governor's palace and the Congress building is quite close.  Stopped  for a coffee and bite to eat at pleasant cafe. 

Don't mess with the Policia Nacional

After another look round and failing to find the station for the bus back to Miraflores, I got a taxi for 20 sols to Lacomar Mall which, according to the map, is on the beach and not far from the hotel. Lacomar Mall is cleverly buried in the cliff edge and is dominated by upmarket  brands, not the place to get a cheap tee shirt. It is indeed as close to the beach as the map implies but I had forgotten about those crumbly cliffs. Found out more about them at

http://lostgeologist.blogspot.pe/2008/09/small-geology-of-lima-coast.html

Expressway Through Miraflores.
Not What I Expected in Lima

Lacomar Mall

It's a Long Way Down to the Beach

The beach is about 100 feet below the mall with no obvious non-lethal means of descending. Walked along the top of the cliff which has great views of the coast and then back to the mall where I had a fruit juice, since there is no alcohol today, and a rather sweet desert; not a hoochy mama but it sounded similar. Walked back to the hotel through a very up-market residential area that could be an affluent part of a city in California. Mostly two and three storey, detached and terraced houses interspersed with newer looking low rise apartment blocks. At the side of the road reen verges, which must be irrigated to keep them green. Possibly what you wouldn't see in California are the high metal railings topped with sharp spikes or electrified wires surrounding most of the properties. I wanted to pick up a bottle of drinking water and a Coke before returning to the hotel but such salubrious suburbs don't have mini-markets so it was quite a trek to find one. Just round the corner from the hotel were TV reporters and their vans of paraphernalia outside what I assume was the home of one of the election candidates. The whole area exudes wealth and prestige.

Eventually found my water and Coke after crossing a road into a less precious area dominated by Chinese restaurants.

Later in the evening I planned to have dinner at Saqua, which got good reviews in Trip Advisor but it was closed so went to a chicken place where the food was both better and more expensive than I had expected.

Monday 11th April

After breakfast got a taxi to Museo Largo for 20 sols which was quite a distance through Lima's congested, ugly urban sprawl. The museum itself is beautiful, an old hacienda in gardens filled with colourful flowers. Inside it shows how to do museums. The displays are well designed, beautifully lit and there is excellent background and specific information in Spanish, English and French. Also two versions of an introductory video, Spanish with French subtitles and English with German subtitles. All of which makes the 30 sols entrance fee seem like good value. More information at 

http://www.limaeasy.com/culture-guide/museums-lima/archeological-museum-rafael-larco-herrera

http://www.museolarco.org/en/

It isn’t as extensive as the Pre-Columbian museum in Santiago  and it’s more specific in area but definitely comparable in interest. The belief system of the Pre-Columbian cultures  it described was much the same as in the Albado museum in Quito but here it convinced me that it was real and not just the imaginings of someone after a few drinks of the Shaman’s concoction. Even so, I do wonder whether the historians and archaeologists read the artifacts correctly. What I wonder would future generations make of the ruins of our shopping malls? The section on erotic pottery suggests that at least one of the many cultures viewed all aspects of sex fairly positively. The dark side of the belief system was the need for human sacrifices to appease the gods.

After seeing all the exhibits decided to have a light but rather expensive lunch in the delightful restaurant in the garden. The goat’s cheese salad and a Pisco sour were delicious; the desert, supposedly made from a local fruit, was a sweet goo that tasted mostly of caramel and reminded me of an instant desert from the 1970's.

Museo Largo

Moche Ceramic

Another Ceramic Figure. Think this is also Moche

Jewellery: Ear Decorations

Jewellery: Necklace

Funerary Pieces for Nobles

Funerary Pieces for Nobles

From Museo Largo I got another taxi for 20 sols to Plaza Mayor to see the cathedral but Lima cathedral was a let-down after the cathedral and churches of Quito. What happened? Did they run out of gold? The crypt was a bit spooky; I’m not sure whether the skeletons in their funeral clothes were real but the skulls definitely were. The cathedral makes a big thing of its art collection but it didn't do anything for me. Looking at the embroidered priests vestments, bishops' mitres and gold ornamentation, the Catholic faith doesn't seem so different from the pre Columbian religions. On the plus side, it didn't directly call for regular human sacrifice although the Spanish conquest undoubtedly caused the demise of far more indigenous people than the sacrifices did. Time for another cup of coffee after which I managed to find the bus "station" which was nowhere near where I had been looking before although it was quite close to where I had been when I wasn't looking for it. It has a rather unfriendly payment system, first you have to buy a card for S4.50, but the machine doesn't accept 50 cent coins. Then you have to top up the card by a minimum of 2.50. Luckily there was an official who demonstrated all this to me but I felt sorry for all the people waiting in the queue behind me. Three buses arrived in fairly quick succession; the first two were packed solid but the third was OK. The journey was fairly quick since the buses run along dedicated, Curitiba style, bus lanes and cards are scanned at the entrances to the stations, not on the buses. But as far as I know Lima has only one of these dedicated bus routes and one metro line so public transport is rudimentary and traffic congestion is bad.

In the evening went back to the restaurant Saqua which, on looking at the menu, I realised was quite expensive but the other places nearby were about the same so I had a swordfish steak on mashed yucca which was good and a beer. Later had a Pisco Sour in the Orient Express Bar.