Fourteen bus hours later, my next stop was Huacachina-an oasis in every sense of the word. Restaurants and hostels that surround a large pond, set among sand dunes hundreds of feet high in a desert that goes as far as the eye can see. It is clean and there are no cars which means no diesel fumes to breathe and no honking horns. Twice the price of what I'd previously been paying the peacefulness was totally worth it. The big attractions there are dune buggy rides and sand boarding. Both were a complete blast!
From there it was a 17 hour bus ride next to a baby that cried all night then she and her sister both suffered from altitude sickness and vomited so there was a lovely sour stench wafting around the confined space for the remaining 10 hours to Cusco. Definitely better than Lima but it's still a dirty, noisy, crowded city full of people trying to rip off Gringos. At least the two hostels I stayed at had hot water and water pressure for their showers--truly amenities in this country. Most people rave about Cusco but I don't know why. I didn't feel the need to spend anymore time there than necessary to book a trip
I very much wanted to do the original four day hike but at $650, not including tips for the guides, the cost was prohibitive. Not to mention the weather forecast was rain and after my poor performance on the Santa Cruz trek, I decided to go with the "private car" option. By private car they mean a 15 passenger van. At $135 it was $75 cheaper than the one day trip and it included accommodations and meals. The catch was that from where the van dropped us off, we had to walk 2.5 hours along the train tracks to Aguas Calientes. For me, this was a bonus. After seven hours, going up and down mountains with at least a hundred hairpin turns in a cramped, uncomfortable van, I was grateful to walk. And what a beautiful trip it was! Trains and train tracks have such a timeless romantic feel and with the rushing muddy river on my right and tropical flora like banana trees, wild impatients and other jungle greens surrounding me, the end came too soon. But Aguas Calientes is a cute tourist town of steep cobblestone streets, many of which are closed off to automobiles, so it wasn't all bad.
The tradition on Christmas Eve and NYE throughout Peru is to set off fire works for at least four hours with the majority of the noise at midnight for 30 minutes but continuing until at least 2:00 a.m. If I hadn't forgotten to bring my ear plugs and didn't have to get up at 4:00 a.m., perhaps I wouldn't have minded so much. But the bed was damp from the humid jungle air and the drunk Aussies that kept tramping through the room until 3:30 the night before meant two nights in a row without sleep and I had over 2,000 steps to climb in the predawn hours. We met in the Square at 4:30, donned with flashlights and headlamps and proceeded to walk 30 minutes to the Machu Picchu entrance, which opened at 5:00. During orientation they said "for sporty people it will take up to 1 hour and for non-sporty people, 1-2 hours." Apparently I'm non-sporty because it took me 85 minutes and I barely came in ahead of the last four people, two of which were older, overweight and using walking sticks. To be honest, I'm incredibly embarrassed at how much I've struggled on these hikes. I just can't imagine how I'd be faring if I hadn't spent six months in Oregon getting into shape! Granted, none of my training was at high altitude nor on the stair master and always with a good nights sleep but still! I should be doing better than this!!
Machu Picchu is something I've wanted to do just because I thought it would be cool to see. Never was it a burning desire but I'm so very happy I went there. Our tour started at 6:30 and lasted two hours and didn't even cover everything. That place is so expansive! Incredibly immense with a spirituality that can still be felt in the early morning hours before the throngs of tourists arrive. The architecture and engineering of a 700-year old city built into the side of the mountain is more sophisticated than anything that exists in modern day Peru. In my opinion, the decline of this country began the day the Spanish killed the last Inca king. With all the modern knowledge available it's disturbing that most every place touched by the Peruvian people literally becomes garbage strewn piles of rubble with undrinkable water and a sewer system so poor that one can't even put toilet paper in the toilets without clogging them.
Two more stops before I leave this godforsaken country: Lake Titicaca and Arequipa. Another seven hour, overnight ride to Puno where I chose to do an overnight tour of the islands. At 3,812 meters above sea level, Lake Titicaca is the highest navigable lake in the world and the largest in South America. The first stop was to a reed island of the Uros people. They live on these tiny, floating islands made of reeds as they have for centuries, constantly replenishing them and useing the old ones for cooking fuel. It's a fascinating if not dull existence and I thoroughly enjoyed the tour/education until they tried to pressure us to buy their handicrafts or pay an extra fee to go for a ride in their reed boat.
Island number two, Amantani, was much larger and we spent the night there with a host family. The two story house was quite large and on a huge piece of property but in disrepair and without running water. Yes, by Western standards that must be appalling but really it isn't. An inconvenience yes, but it works fine. This isn't the first country I've been to in my travels in which I encountered a similar situation and although at first it is a bit shocking, you quickly realize it's fine and how wasteful people with running water can be, especially considering it is a more precious resource than oil. After a vegetarian lunch (they don't have meat on the island) we went for a hike to the top of the island to watch the sunset. After dinner we were dressed in traditional clothing and headed to a fiesta held in our honor. It was great fun with lots of dancing! The band played a raucous pan flute, much more enjoyable than the traditional Latino music I've been forced to endure for the last three weeks. I know they do this every night for the tourists but I still feel it was the best part of the trip.
In the morning we cruised to the last destination, Isla Taquile, unique because the indigenous men wear knit caps to denote their social status. Red tip means married, white means single, etc. Aside from gawking at the locals and watch a fascinating demonstration of making soap by smashing two plants together with water, there wasn't anything of much interest on the island other than the beautiful view during the two hour walk to the other port where the boat docked. Overall I enjoyed it but there was an general feeling of cattle being pushed through a route and pressure to buy handicrafts or tip people at every turn.
Yet another seven hour bus ride to Arequipa, my last stop in Peru. I wasn't expecting it to be so dry and dusty but it didn't matter...it quickly became my favorite city in Peru. Built by the Spanish, it is more organized and aesthetically pleasing. Cleaner, lacking the endless street vendors, stray dogs and rubble, even the noise level is acceptable. And because of the lack of people selling their crap on the sidewalks, one can actually walk down them comfortably. The Plaza and many other buildings are made of the beautiful white stone, an impressive block long monistary turned tourist attraction and other grand churches and buildings form the city. Unlike any place I've been in Peru, there seems to be some thought and consistency in the design and architecture of the city. There is a lot to do here and I took in a quick but fun white water rafting trip, enjoyed seeing the condors and hiked through Colca Canyon. The two day canyon trek is quite popular but without beautiful vistas and not even a very enjoyable trek (dust, gravel, rocks and full sun exposure) I'm not sure why other than to say you've hiked the deepest canyon in the world. I wish I had more time to spend in Arequipa but Carnival is only a month away and I still have to get through Chile.
As I leave Peru I try to find some good about the people and their culture. The best I can come up with is they don't smoke. That is to say, it was three weeks after my arrival before I smelled any cigarettes and that was in the hostel bar. The other observation is that, somehow, despite the noise and chaos and stray dogs, roaming steer, sheep and alpaca, somehow it just works for them. It's not for me but that's ok, it doesn't have to be. I think it's a shame that I feel this way about Peru because, truthfully, it has some of the most incredible landscape that I've ever seen: the sculptured Andes Mountains with their beautiful valleys, raging rivers and numerous waterfalls, Machu Picchu, the sand dunes of Huachchina--all unrivaled in my experience. But I'm looking forward to Chile if for no other reason than to see an old high school classmate whose parents now live in Santiago. How awesome is it that our schedules will collide and I'll be able to see part of the country through the eyes of native Chileans!
