Cusco

Wednesday, February 23

The complimentary breakfast at the Paradis hotel included bread, fruit, and eggs to order. We thought the bread at the hostel in aguas calientes was terrible but we realized, at this fancy hotel, that breakfast bread in Peru is always bad. Like white bread naan that was baked many days ago. Still, the fruit was great and they even had a basket of coca leaves.
We checked out and got an Uber over to the intended hostel – Chusay Rooftop – where Karen was staying. Finally feeling well rested and more acclimated to the altitude we decided to walk around the town.
Our first stop was the San Pedro market which consists of a large indoor marketplace and many adjacent outside streets with people selling all kinds of things. The indoor market was well organized by row such as ‘meat’ on one side and ‘dried things’ on the other. The meat section was the biggest culture shock as they had huge hunks of every kind of animal hanging out in the open air.

Even though it was before noon we decided to get some lunch. We tried the ‘ceviche’ area and found an area with tool stools and an eager salesperson who invited us to sit. We were comforted when other people started to sit around us too. We ordered the trucha (trout) ceviche for 15 soles ($3.75 dollars). The order included the ceviche, “corn nuts” (really maíz nuts), a fish broth soup, sweet potato and a shot of tiger’s milk which we learned is like a vinegary fish broth that was my favorite part of the meal. They also served purple Chicha which I don’t think was alcoholic.

After this meal we walked around the outdoor market area and marveled at how good the weather had been for us. There were streets and streets of people selling fruits and vegetables and some of the people were kind enough to tell us what things were when we asked. We ended up buying some dried figs and pistachios inside and then some deliciously ripe plums outside. I regret not getting more! We also bought a bag of coca leaves for 1 sol (.25 cents)

Then we walked down one of the main commercial streets to another indoor market that the Uber driver told us was an artist’s market and a good place to buy souvenirs. Well, I think everything inside the market was from the same factory in China but at least it was quiet and the people weren’t too pushy. I ended up getting a little alpaca keychain made out of baby alpaca fur.

We were starting to feel tired again but didn’t want to go back to the hostel because the weather was good and we wanted to explore Cusco more. We chewed on some more coca leaves and really noticed the beneficial effect on our attitudes and ability to walk uphill in the altitude.

We walked uptown toward the historic area. We decided to check out the coca museum. The museum was small but it had explanations in English and we learned also about the indigenous peoples in Peru. We bought some coca beer out of a Coca Cola cooler and sat on the museum couch to take a rest. The beer wasn’t that cold and it didn’t taste great, but maybe it gave us more motivation than a normal beer would have.

From here we walked up, up, up to a viewpoint above the city. We admired all the red clay tile roofs and spotted several cats on the roofs, dozing in the sunshine.

Even though it was early we decided to get dinner at a place recommended by our Colombian travel agent (he couldn’t help himself and continued to send us many recommendations!). The place was called Pachapapa and it was a bit pricey for our new hostel-going identity but we were lured in by the interesting looking cocktails and wood fired oven. Both of our cocktails had Pisco in them but Carl’s was more smokey while mine tasted like fake honeydew melon (in a good way). We learned Pisco is a fortified wine that tastes good in other drinks besides Pisco sours, though I think Pisco sour is the best form of it. As an appetizer we ordered stuffed Rocoto peppers and were surprised how spicy they were. For our main we split the roasted lamb which had a great sauce and fell off the bone as we cut it.

From here we made the semi-long journey back to our hostel to get to bed early.

Thursday, February 24 – Rainbow Mountain (Palccoyo)

Our alarms went off at 3:20am. No, not a typo. 3:20am. Though we had our own room, the walls of the hostel were paper thin so we got ready quietly and with hushed whispers crept downstairs to the lobby area. Our guide was waiting outside for us and we climbed aboard a van at 3:45am. He introduced himself as Josue and let us know we’d be the only 3 in the 15 passenger van. We had 1.5 hour drive to the breakfast spot so he advised us to try to get some sleep. Well despite having the van to ourselves we were very uncomfortable. It felt like the driver kept speeding up and then slamming on the brakes before every speed bump. And there were SO MANY speed bumps. Sweet Jesus if there wasn’t 1,000 speed bumps before we got out of the city. I started counting thinking it would help me calm down but it only made me angrier. I moved from the front of the van to a row further back to try to lay down. I then discovered that the van was exactly as wide as I am tall. The top of my head rested on the left side, my bum barely fit on the second seat before the aisle, and my legs crossed the aisle to the seat on the right side where the soles of my feet fit perfectly on the other side of the van. I tried this position for about 30 seconds until my brain about rattled out of my skull because my head was touching the side. I then scooted down and bent my legs, letting my bum hang slightly into the aisle. This worked for a bit until the driver slammed on the breaks and I flew forward. Luckily the space between each row was so tight that I fell against the row in front of me (sorry Karen) and not down onto the ground. We finally arrived at the restaurant for breakfast and the sun still wasn’t out yet. Our guide explained our early departure was intended to avoid the crowds to which we unanimously replied we’d rather have slept in and had people in our stupid photos. But there was a kind lady waiting to serve us food so we went inside and sat down for our 5:20am breakfast. The coffee they served was new to us – hot water in one container and thick coffee (like syrup) in another so you could make your own strength cup. They also had bean juice which was frothy and warm and tasted kind of like the red beans used in Asian pastries. We asked “what kind of bean is the juice?” and Josue replied “juice of the bean”. We later googled ‘Peru bean juice’ which returned few results and confused us more. For food they brought us us fruit and eggs which we politely ate even though we rather would have been asleep. Oh- and more very dried out bread.

Back in the van for another 1.5 hour drive up the mountain. From the restaurant we left the paved roads and headed uphill along bumpy dirt roads. If we thought it was hard to sleep before it was like the gods heard and added more rocks and curvy roads. But as we ascended the sun came up and we could see the beautiful scenery. There were mountains with natural steps and in some areas the locals had used these steps to plant their crops up the hill. The road snaked back and forth upward along a river which was gushing full of water and flanked by deep red rocks and desert vegetation. There were packs of alpacas everywhere, keeping the grass trimmed. Finally we came upon a village where all the buildings were made out of big bricks of the red clay we had seen in the mountains on the way up.

Reaching the top of this mountain we were let out and shown up a slightly inclined path. We walked slowly and still felt out of breath. It felt like we had just ate a full thanksgiving dinner and were trying to run a marathon. Then our guide informed us we were at 16,000 feet- taller than the tallest mountain in the continental states (Grand Teton in Wyoming is 13,775 and Mount Whitney in CA is 14,500 feet) No wonder we felt terrible!

We took it slow and took many breaks. We all chewed on some coca but even then Karen’s asthma was really affecting her and we all had headaches. Josue was also acting as question master asking us everything about ourselves to a point it was ridiculous. He asked Carl where the best place is and then clarified, “but where is the best place to party?” To Karen he asked soo many questions including why she and I had matching rings when Carl and I are the ones engaged. Finally we reached the top and could see three ‘rainbow mountains’ which are called this because of the stripes of different colored rock you can see. There are actually two ‘rainbow mountains’ in the Cusco area – we were at Palccoyo which was slightly lower elevation, easier hike, and much fewer tourists. The other mountain is called Vinicunca.

We took a lot of photos and Carl and I walked across the Valley to another mountain but were careful not to walk on the actual colors to respect the local people that believed these mountains to be sacred. We also learned that the rainbow mountain tourist attraction is a new one only made possible because the glaciers that used to cover them have since melted. In traveling we have experienced many times the conflicting feelings of exploring the world as climate change worsens. On the one hand, we don’t want to exacerbate the problem. On the other, the world is changing quickly and beyond our control and we want to see and experience things before it is too late to do so. With this sentiment we admired the mountains and all their colors and expressed gratitude that we are lucky enough to have seen it. And for photos without any other stinking tourists in the background!!

As we left another bus of tourists pulled up but before then we had been the only humans for as far as the eye could see, which was actually nice (but undecided if it was worth the early wake up).

We walked back down the mountain. Another scenic and jostling van ride back to the same restaurant. We were able to order off a menu and I got trout ceviche (I would eat trout ceviche every day if I could), Carl got the alpaca lomo saltado (stir fry), and Karen got pesto pasta as one of the few veggie things available.

Before heading back to Cusco, Josue offered that we could stop by a popular photo spot of a giant hand hanging over a view point of a town. We paid 6 soles ($1.50) and waited in a line to take pictures in the giant hand.

Back in the van for another 45 minute ride to Cusco. I had downloaded an audio book that I actually didn’t like very much but it worked out perfectly as it lulled me to sleep and then I didn’t care how much I had missed when I woke up. We all were able to nap on the way back but we were still pretty exhausted when we got to the hostel at about 4pm.

We did some trip planning (and agreed we missed our Colombian trip planners, Kontour) and Carl and I decided to get an early dinner so we could go to sleep early and prepare for another early morning the next day.

We had heard of Chaufa or Chifa, a Peruvian take on Chinese fried rice. We sought out the google top rated chaufa restaurants and found the one that had good food reviews though they said the tv was way too loud. Sure enough, two tvs – one on first floor and one on second- were blaring. They were on the same channel but somehow off by half a second so the audio was repeating like we were in a bad dream. Luckily after we sat down the waiter eyed us and muted the tv next to our heads. We got Coronas, chaufa, and a stir fried chicken and broccoli dish. It was basically like American Chinese food, but it was good and comforting after a long day.

Friday, February 25 – Humantay Lake

We had planned to meet our tour guide at 5am and so set our alarms for 4:30am. At 4:30 he called me through WhatsApp and said he was outside waiting for us. Peeved, we said we would’ve down when we were ready. We got down to find a van nearly full of people. The poor souls that woke up early and then waited for us! Carl and I got in while Karen remained behind, the altitude from the previous day proving too much for her asthma.

Like a bad dream it was the same day trip scheme again: 1.5 hour drive to breakfast, 1.5 hour drive to the mountain, 1 hour hike up, 1 hour hike down, 1.5 drive back to the same restaurant for lunch, and then 1.5 hour drive back to Cusco. The van drove in the opposite direction than rainbow mountain and we actually were going close to where Machu Picchu sits. There were almost no speed bumps but the road was windier. I was between a man on my left and Carl on my right and it was like playing the car game, jello, as I lurched back and forth between them.

The breakfast was really good fruit and…chaufa! Chaufa for breakfast?! But it was good. More of the coffee syrup + hot water which was fine. Arriving to the mountain finally we got out and found it was raining. For being the rainy season it was amazing that this was our first time the whole week that we were in the rain. We dressed accordingly- putting our rain jackets over our packs. And we were able to borrow some hiking sticks to assist with the muddy slopes.

The first part of the hike was slightly inclined and we felt stronger than we had the previous day because we were at slightly lower altitude. Then the hike got steeper and our group starting lagging behind. Carl and a guy from Boston named Casey kept a fast pace and I followed slightly slower behind. We passed by cows and horses munching on the grass. A few times a man or woman leading several horses downhill would ask me if I wanted to rent a horse (“Señorita? hhoooarse?”) and I would exhale “no, gracias” and try not to be offended that they thought I looked like I wasn’t going to make it on my own.

Finally we made it to the top and our hearts dropped as we saw the mountaintop lake and the surrounding mountains were mostly covered with a thick fog. You could still make out the intense aquamarine blue color of the lake water caused by the glacial soil but we agreed we would have to photo shop our faces on some picture from the internet instead of using our own photos on Instagram. As we stood around and waited for the rest of our group to each the top, the fog lifted slightly and we were able to see more of the lake and some of the mountain looming behind it. Edgar, our guide, explained a few things about the lake including that the government had decided to put trout in the lake that only the indigenous locals were allowed to catch. I questioned the ecological sense of putting river trout into a glacial lake but held my tongue because I was the one eating trout ceviche everyday so sure they needed to source all that fish from somewhere. As Edgar spoke, the fog continued to clear and we were able to get some better photos. Then we headed back down the hill, into the fog, which drenched our fronts and somehow left our backs dry.

Back to the same restaurant for lunch. They served vegetables, a yummy pesto soup, rice, pasta salad and a well marinated chicken. They also had warm anise tea.

Back into the van for the 1.5 hour drive back to Cusco. A Dutch couple had moved into our seats saying that they suffered car sickness so they wanted to be closer to the front. I sat next to them and poor Carl went in the back and did not feel well when we arrived in Cusco.

We decided to try Peruvian sushi for our last night in Cusco and went to a place called Cuzmo. We got trout sashimi and two weird rolls- one had tiger’s milk poured on it and the other was somehow smoky with a fruity sauce on top. It was weird, good sushi and it helped Carl and me feel better. That night we went to bed at 8:30pm and didn’t get up until 8:30 am the next day.

Saturday, February 26

We slept in hard and then checked out of our hostel and meandered to a cafe for coffees and some breakfast. We stopped by the chocolate museum and got a free tour with many free samples. The guide said that mosquitos pollinate the cocoa bean which I still don’t believe. We tried some hot chocolates where they gave us melted chocolate and warm milk and a myriad of spices to make our own varieties.

Afterward we walked up to another market in a courtyard, San Francisco market, which turned out to be more of the same touristy knick knacks. Then Carl and I went back to the San Pedro food market to see if we could use our last 5.5 soles. We were able to get some coffee for 4 and then only had 1.5 soles for snacks. We found a woman who had a bucket of corn nuts and she weighed out 1.56 soles worth for us, laughing and shaking her head at us for having so little to spend.

Carl and I wandered around the neighborhoods a bit before going back to the hostel and getting an Uber to the airport.