come together
"Here come old flat top, (s)he come groovin' up slowly
(s)he got joo joo eyeballs, (s)he one holy rollers
(s)he got hair down to his knee
Got to be a joker
(s)he just do what he please, (s)he wear no shoeshine
(s)he got toe jam football, (s)he got monkey finger
(s)he shoot Coca Cola, (s)he say I know you, you know me
One thing I can tell you is, You got to be free
Come together, right now
Over me" Beatles
Photo Credit: Josh Coleman
$1400 per person
10
days
If there’s one word that describes our voyage to the stunning country Peru, it’s a.d.v.e.n.t.u.r.e!!!
In the midst of spring break, seven of us came together to explore the expanse of Peru. Our first halt was none other than the magnificent Machu Pichu. Flying into Lima, we made our way from Lima to Cusco, where delectable Peruvian food embraced us. We ate at a restaurant called Marcelo Batata, located in the middle of the old city. Sitting on the rooftop, gave us a panoramic view of the entire city, with the beautifully carved cathedral looming around us. The varied list of delish appetizers left us craving for more and their famous aji de gallina, is totally worth a mention. Full, satiated and fired up on pisco sours & camdens, we hired a taxi to drive us to Ollantaytambo, from where we had a train booked to Aguas Calientes. En route, we stopped at Chinchero, to play with Llamas, Alpacas with a gorgeous green terrain in the backdrop. The drive is spectacular and with every turn, one is a witness to the glorious colors of the sky and the simultaneous mountainous and flat landscapes. We made it well in time for the Inca Train that took us to Aguas Calientes, the base of Machu Pichu. We stayed a night here in order to commence our hike up at 4:30 AM. Our early morning rise did not deter some of us from exploring the cute town of Aguas at night. With its narrow alleyways filled with shops and restaurants, the town has an amicable vibe. We didn’t get so lucky with the Mexican food we tried late that night. The restaurant had fun board games, but I wouldn’t return for the food.
Machu Pichu
Next morning after oversleeping, we commenced our walk up at around 6:00 AM. The hike up to the entrance of Machu Pichu consists essentially of steep staircases. There is an option of taking a bus ($24 return). The walk up can take around two hours or more, depending on the speed and frequency of rest breaks. At this point, our groups split and one group made it up on time to hike up to Huayna Pichu, the peak in front of Machu Pichu, also fondly known as the staircase of death. The rest of us made our way up slowly but surely. Nothing can prepare you for the breathtaking sight of Macha Pichu, even though one might have seen myriad pictures, overlooking the Inca city is a whole different feeling. The Inca’s arrived to South America in the 1100’s and were functioning as local fiefdoms, until the ninth King, Pachacuti began expansion and built the Machu Pichu around 1452. Also, known as the lost city of the Incas, it was abandoned during the Spanish conquest and was never discovered under the Spaniard rule. It wasn’t until 1911 that it emerged to surface when Hiram Bingham, a historian stumbled upon this classical Inca town. To obtain a higher bird-eye view of Machu Pichu, we trekked up to the Sun Deck, a trail that is way more relaxed than Huayna Pichu, but at a similar height. A path, highly recommended for easy-going hikers. After spending the day soaking in the architecture, the sturdy engineering and photographic moments, we decided to take the bus back. The smells and outdoor seating above the stream at Toto’s Café, adjacent to the bus station, lured us in where we ate the most mouthwatering trout slides marinade in yellow chilli cream and quinoa with a crunch, Tiradito de trucha de valle, a taste so exquisite, it blew our mind and taste buds alike.
03/10/17-03/19/17
Getting There
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Flight from New York to Lima:
LAN Airlines
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Duration: 7 hours
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Cost: $550
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Stay
Aguas Calientes
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Samananchis: $15 per person
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Rating: 2.5 out of 5
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Ollantaytambo
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Mamasimona hostel: $17 per person
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Rating: 4 out of 5
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Arequipa
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Wild Rover: $9 per person
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Rating: 3.5 out of 5
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Iquitos
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Tree house lodge booked through airbnb: $31 per person
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Rating: 4 out of 5
Food Much
Cusco
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Marcelo Batata: $43 per person for boozy lunch
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Recommendations include: Aji de gallina & Alpaca, Pisco sours & Camden gooseberry cocktail
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Iquitos
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Dawn on the amazon cafe: $18 per person
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Recommendations include: Fresh seafood
Local Travel
Flights
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Lima to Cusco, 1 hour 30 minutes: $123
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Arequipa to Lima, 1 hour 30 minutes: $85
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Lima to Iquitos, Return, 1 hour 50 minutes: $255
Trains
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Inca Rail, Return journey from Ollantaytambo to Aguas Calientes: $127
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Cabs
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Cab, Return journey from Cusco to Ollantaytambo (included visiting sacred valley sights): $25 per person
Buses
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Cruz Del Sur, Cusco to Puno, 7 hours 30 minutes: $26
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Cruz Del Sur, Puno to Arequipa, 6 hours: $25
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Highlights
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Chinchero
En route from Cusco to Ollantaytambo
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Landscapes & Llamas
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Machu Pichu and Huayna Pichu
(Peak in front of Machu Pichu): $62 person for both peaks
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Sun Deck Trail, Free
Lake Titicaca
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Boat ride to floating straw Islands: $5 per person
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Arequipa
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Free walking city tour
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Colca Canyon tour, www.findlocaltrips.com: $42 per person
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Iquitos
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Amazon Rainforests: Day & Night Safari, including all meals: $55 per person
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Boat ride on Amazon River: $35 per person
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Cusco & Lima
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Old town, city center: Plaza de Armas
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Free walking tours
Our return train from Aguas Calientes took us back to Ollantaytambo, where we decided to stay the night. A very quirky hostel was our selection, which prides itself on displaying flags of the world (they’re still working on including all countries hopefully as I write)! Right by the stream, they have an amazingly large patio, where we pre-gamed on our cusqueña beers, not realizing that getting food after 11:00 PM in this town would be a bit of a challenge. With only the moonlight to guide us, we walked in search of an open restaurant and found a pizzeria, which was the best for, you guessed it right merely pizzas. No complaints, the wooden oven-based pizzas were the best we could have hoped for as the clock struck 12.
The next day entailed driving back to Cusco, our cabman recommended a place for lunch, where once again the view of the city was marvelous. The food had mixed reviews, a few of the dishes were enjoyed and some could have been more flavorful. On choosing between a walking tour in Cusco city and driving around the sacred valley sights around Cusco, in retrospect I would recommend the walking tour, or if you have the time then explore both. We decided to drive around the sacred valley close to Cusco and without a guided tour one merely saw rocks. To be able to get insight of anecdotes is crucial to make the past come alive. We did use Lonely Planet to get tidbits of the contextual stories. These sites included rocks dedicated to Pachamama, mother earth and sacrificial sites where humans and llamas were sacrificed. The bath that the Incas used is showcased with spring water still flowing through.
Photo Credit: Josh Coleman
Lake Titicaca
With an aim of seeing and experiencing as much as we could, we took an overnight bus to Puno, where we spent the morning at Lake Titicaca, a lake in the Andes bordering Peru and Bolivia. It’s the largest lake in South America, also called the highest navigable lake in the world at 12,507 feet. We took a boat to the straw islands, which were made during the time of the Incas. The indigenous people at the time had constructed these floating islands to conceal themselves from the aggressive approach of the Incas. People still reside in these floating islands and it was fascinating to see their fishing practices and lifestyle. There is an option of staying overnight on these floating islands to get an in-depth feel of the place. We had an afternoon bus to Arequipa, and arrived to the old colonial town at 9:00 PM at night. We decided to stay at Wild Rover, which is true to its name, truly wild. With a bar in the hostel premises, it’s a great place to meet travelers from across the world. Later than night / morning at 3:30 AM, we were going to be picked up from the hostel for the Colca Canyon Hike and instead of shutting eye, we collectively decided to stay up all night, drinking, dancing and exploring the city center. I do have to say it didn’t hamper our spirits beyond repair and after sleeping on the bus from 3:30 AM to 7:00 AM; we were all ready for our 7 hour hike that lay ahead!
Colca Canyon
The hiking trail was filled with stupendous sights, and as the clouds slowly cleared up we got a peek-a-boo into the Colca Canyon, which is as deep as 11,488 feet. More downhill than uphill, it was still a challenging hike and the accompanying stick that became part of our gear was helpful as we descended deep deep within the canyon. We were told that we would be viewing an oasis at the bottom of the canyon and eagerly awaited the sight. However, I should highlight here, for those of you intending to hike Colca Canyon, the oasis is pretty much a man-made swimming pool! We reached around sunset and our stay was in the middle of the mountains powering around us larger than life. The hike back up the next morning was from another route, which was extremely steep, wet and high. To experience another aspect of adventure, five of us decided to ascend the climb on mules and enjoyed the nature trail from a mule-height view. For anyone visiting Peru, I would highly recommend hiking the Colca Canyon. The sights on path are truly exquisite and the Andes up close are unique treasures of our planet home.
Amazon Rain forests
In the last two weeks, torrential rains had been pouring down in Lima and as we headed to the airport we heard the road between Arequipa and Lima was flooded and thus, blocked. Our flight was delayed, with us sleeping the night at the airport. Our last leg was the Amazon Rainforests and we had an early morning flight from Lima to Iquitos. In this journey, we had seen every season and this was optimized as from the freezing cold in Arequipa we transitioned to the sweltering humid heat in the Amazon. Iquitos is a big city, which serves as the entry point into the Amazon jungle. Our tree house for the night was an hour walk into the jungle, but after the hikes we had under our belt, we breezed our way into the jungle surprising our guide by being Speedy Gonzales’. Being in the midst of the Amazon jungle was the epitome of adventure. We had abundant hammocks in our tree house and after eating a scrumptious fish-eterian lunch, we lounged around waiting for the peak afternoon sun to subside. There was a stream, walking distance from our lodge and a few of us innocently took a dip in the cold refreshing water, filled with logs and weeds. At that moment, we had no idea what we were going to witness close to the stream later that night!
An evening and night expedition into the jungle were highly eventful. We found logs hanging from a tree, which led to Jane and Tarzan jumps and impersonations, probably giving the animals a sufficient dose of entertainment for the week. With water up to our calves, we walked through the thick of the jungle with our guide clearing the path of branches and dead roots with his machete. The night in the jungle is a different world all together, unknown, unpredictable and down right scary. Hearing loud croaks in the darkness, led us to find a fluorescent frog on the bark of a tree, known to be extremely poisonous. As we walked, wasps stung two people in our group, as they were continually attracted to the flashlights on our forehead. The highlight of the night trek, nonetheless, was when we saw a snake right next to the stream, where we had dipped earlier that day!!!! Gulp!!!!! A snake, whose poison could kill people within a short span of twenty minutes. Having seen enough for the night, we returned home only to find massive spiders sprawled all across our path, almost as big as tarantulas.
Given the wild life encounters the night before, we all slept well and unharmed :P It was pouring cats and dogs in the morning and as we made our way out of the jungle, lo and behold, one adventure just led to another. The car that came to pick us up got stuck in a ditch twice over. In the torrential weather, we all stepped out aiming to push the car through, placing logs under the wheels and searching for big rocks to recover our ride out. We got lucky the first time, however, the second time over, despite several attempts to push through, we had to abandon our sweet ride and walk to the main road in order to procure a new way home! Just when one thought it couldn’t get more adventurous, the universe said, ha!
As the rains petered down, we prepared for our boat ride on the Amazon River, which was a scene from a book. There are many tributaries that flow into the Amazon, but the Amazon River is the most distinctive in terms of its color. Due to the sediments below, the blue river has a brown undertone to it. It also has a thriving sea world, which we got a sneak peak into, as we hauled our boat to fish. Some of us caught a piranha! The river is also home to pink dolphins and we saw a pod of dolphins as they gracefully swam in the amazon. It was most exciting and all I was waiting for was a nice big wet kiss :* Will have to return for one of those luscious dolphin kissies.
We arrived at an island, where we had anticipated seeing wild animals in their natural habitat. We were disappointed to find that many of the animals were caged and on display, similar to a zoo. The monkeys were the only free birds waiting at the entrance to welcome us, cuddle into us and drink our beer. We did see sloths, the most fascinating creatures who would be snail’s best friends. It was literally watching movement in slow motion - so intriguing. There was the Hyacinth & Scarlet Macaw, Boa constrictor and the Anaconda. We made our way back from the Amazon River, which has a city on water and spent the night in Iquitos. The food was just legendary, fresh seafood, hit the spot like no other.
Lima
Our last day was spent in Lima, which is a massive city. We used Mira Flores as our base and ate at Embarcadero 41. They have a great variety of food, delicious cocktails and a very cute outside sitting area. The center of town is quaint and colonial. Using Lonely Planet, we did a self-directed walking tour, re-living moments of history in Plaza de Armas, San Francisco square, past the presidential and archbishop palace. In 1535, the conquistador, Francisco Pizarro decided to use Lima as a base to govern the rest of South America. This plaza holds great eminence as in 1821, Jose de San Martin, proclaimed independence of Peru on this very plaza.
Traveling through Peru was mind-blowing, and if one has more time in hand, the best way to see the country is by traveling on buses, which makes it so much more economical. We really spent time exploring the countryside, which I would highly recommend to anyone planning a trip to Peru. The cities are historical in nature and have a lot to offer, so using the cities as more than transition bases, is recommended as well.
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- Kamiya Kumar