After we had this very interesting time in
We arrived
early in the morning, and as we heard before, Hostel Loki was usually a good
choice for traveling people of our kind, and thus we jumped the cab with
another two American girls, who’d just arrived in Cuzco with us, and off we went.
Unfortunately,
the place was packed and chances were little that enough people would check out
so that the 4 of us could reside there together. Also it was insanely
expensive, compared to the hostels we have been to before. SO, next stop
“Pariwana Hostel”, a place that was recommended by some other friends, and
which was even closer to the centre. There they had enough space for us, and
after having put down our stuff, we went into town to book ourselves one of the
mystic Jungle Inca Trips with a visit to the holy Traveler’s Grail on the last
day.
Badabing
Badaboom, first place offered tours for 170$ and we were hooked instantly. The
party would begin the next morning around 6:30am and happily we returned to our
hostel, only to find out that it was the Dutch Queens’ Birthday. Usually, no
one would really care about that, but as our neighbouring hostel “The Point
Hostal” threw a massive party in Her Majesty’s honor, with a beerpong
competition, we were hooked for the second time this day.
Chris and I
competed in the Beerpong thing, and unfortunately lost the 3rd round
due to me being already too wasted and having blocked the opponents ping pong
ball before it hit the glas… (who knows the game and it’s rules knows that this
is such an unnecessary reason to lose. :-/ ) Anywho, the place recommended
another party after their Pong competition and with the flyers lying around in
the place, a free drink was even included when going to the Mystery club (or
something like that). Chris was again on top of it and grabbed about 16
free-drink flyers and off we went.
Now having
the free drink flyers doesn’t mean you can get drunk instantly, or let’s say
worsen the state we already were in, because when you don’t get through to the
bar, you can have all the flyers in the world, but will still stay dry. Luckily
for us, I had brought out my orange glasses and one of the guys from the bar
staff absolutely loved them. As soon as I punched my way to the bar, I offered
the champ a deal: He could keep my glasses and be the star of the party, if he
made sure that every time I waved with our “free-drink” flyers he’d instantly
get them Vodka-Orange drinks prepared and pass them over to me. Said, done.
Long story
short, we tumbled out of the place around 4 towards our beds and were
completely plastered. I didn’t even think about the tour which would start only
a few hours later, cuz I was that much abuzz with having a good time around all
these orange people.
Inka Jungle
Tour – Day One
Around
6:30am our two American companions, who did not come out with us the previous
night, jumped out of their beds and screamed in panic that we were late and
we’d miss our tour. Chris and I couldn’t care less in the first minutes. We got
out of bed and Chris slowly moved towards the bath. When I found out it was
6:45 already, I started moving faster and upon Chris’ return from the bath, the
three of us were already gone and looking for the minivan which was to pick us
up. The greatest thing this morning was Maggie asking for Chris and upon seeing
him stating “OMG, he moves like a fucking turtle…”
The drivers
and guides were really pissed at us and after breakfast actually did move us
into another bus as they didn’t want us to be in their group. :D After
breakfast, we drove up a mountain for about 3hrs, just to get out into the
freezing cold there and being handed a mountain bike to cruise down the whole
damn thing again. In the beginning no one enjoyed being in the cold, but after
a while the cold went away and after we went below cloud level we were rewarded
with an astonishing view of the mountains.
After about
4hrs we arrived at the bottom of the mountain, grabbed some lunch and drove to
our first night’s accommodation in the next village. There we discovered a small
soccer pitch and luckily for us, the hostel even had a ball, so Chris, another
guy and I went out and harassed everyone in town to join us for a little bit of
kicking around. After 10 minutes, the place was packed with local children and
we played for a good 2hrs, despite some rain and some really annoying wind.
GOOD TIMES!!
The night
was finished of by a decent dinner and a single beer in the town’s only bar,
who surprisingly had a great collection of games to play there.
Inca Jungle
Tour – Day Two
In the
morning we got up around 7 and walked towards breakfast, only to start our two
days of hiking towards Machu Picchu
right after. In comparison to some other groups, our tourguide was THE SHIT!!!
He was amazingly funny and simply a good tour guide, constantly stopping along
the way and explaining this and that and giving us great inside into the Inca
culture.
Apart from
the astonishing views we got along the way, we stopped at one point and
received Coca leaves to try, which would (against all prejudices NOT make you
high, but rather) suppress hunger, thirst and altitude sickness. Additionally,
our faces were painted with some part or a local flower and after a good 45min
break continued our way up to the highest point of the Inca Trail.
After
another 3hrs of hiking we reached a little bridge which could only be crossed
by a tiny gondola. There we had to wait for about 30mins as almost 6 other
groups were ahead of us and the gondola only fit like 3 people at a time. The
wait was rewarded though, because after another 30 minutes of hiking we reached
the local hot thermes, which were the final stop of the day.
After a
good 90mins of warming up in the thermes, we grabbed a cab and drove into town.
It was some Peruvian holiday, as we found out the next day, but none of us were
able to go out and celebrate big time. The Queen’s birthday still hung in our
bones, plus we didn’t even bring any cash with us, except for the dough we
needed to get along (water, snacks, entrance to Machu Picchu and so on). So
again we were in bed early and were asleep after just a few minutes.
Inca Jungle
Tour – Day Three
This day,
we again had to get up early, even earlier than the night before. After a
strong cup of Coca-Leave Tea we were off towards Machu
Picchu , or rather Aguas Calientes, at the bottom of the Machu Picchu Mountain . And it was a strong piece of
work we had to do that day. The sun was burning down on us mercilessly and the
dusty path we walked on, made our lungs suffer additionally.
After a
good 2hrs we arrived a little control point, just half an hour before lunch,
from which we could look up the Mountain and see the first stones and terraces
from the old Inca
City . And it was a good
teaser, that made us rush along the last 30mins towards lunch.
After lunch
we had to walk the last few kilometers towards Aguas Calientes, which basically
meant we needed to walk on the Railway tracks that lead towards the town and
which were for the lazy people that were not physically able or willing to walk
towards Machu Picchu ,
but still wanted to see it.
It took
another few hours, with lots of breaks organizes by our tour guide, to gather
or “Inca Power” for the last bits of the track. Upon arrival, we had like an
hour to buy some groceries and snacks for the next day on Machu Picchu , because lunch wasn’t included,
nor was Dinner. So we packed our bags and after a decent dinner went to bed
again really early, as the alarm was set for 4am the following morning.
Inca Jungle
Tour – Day Four
The alarm
mercilessly kicked us out at 4am sharp to gather our stuff and get ready for
the long day ahead. At 4:30am we started walking towards the bottom entry gate
of the Grail Mountain and finally entered around
5:10am only to be confronted with another 45min hike up the steep mountain
side. On the upside, the Spaniards had carved a set of 2800 stairs into the
side of the mountain to make it easier climb the place, but still it was a
sunofabitch to get up. For the earlier mentioned lazy or unwilling people there
were even buses driving up the hill, to get even the un-fittest bloke up there
and let him enjoy a culture he’d never heard of before.
After
arriving at the top we kinda lost track of our fellow group members and as we
were transferred to another guide the previous day (our tour guide had some
other business to attend in Cuzco
and had to leave) we didn’t even know who to look for. After a good 30min
search we finally found them and followed to one of the terraces on which we
hoped to see the sunrise on Machu
Picchu . Sadly, the clouds prohibited any sun to shine
through and thus we listened to the new tour guide in the cloudy darkness, as
he explained things about the lost city. After a 2hr tour we were dismissed and
were allowed to explore the lost city by ourselves. This opportunity was gladly
embraced and after having taken some of the classic Machu Picchu pictures, Chris and I basically
pissed the day away by just chilling in the sun on one of the terraces
overlooking the ruins.
As the
clock hit 2pm, we had already eaten most of our lunch stuff and went to see the
Sun-gate, an entrance through which all tourists came, when doing the actual,
real Inca Trail. And I can imagine that the first view onto the ruins from the
Sun Gate must indeed be breath-taking and stand in no comparison to just
entering the site through the front door.
Upon
arrival at the Sun Gate we saw that heaven was closing in on us and that
massive black clouds were rushing into the valley. Without hesitation, we
grabbed our stuff and raced down the mountain. It took us about 20mins to get
back to the ruins and from there another 30mins down to the front entrance. An
additional 25mins walk towards Aguas Calientes was inevitable but was rewarded
with some delicious dinner in one of the many restaurants in the little town.
Also, we enjoyed and feasted upon the 5 for 1 cocktail offer of one of the
other restaurants with at least another 15 other Inca Jungle Tour members,
before we had to leave for the train station, and our train that departed at
9pm sharp.
After a
60min ride on the train and another 3hrs after, we touched down back in Cuzco around 1:30am and
rushed back to our beloved Pariwana Hostel, where we had pre-booked another two
nights in advance. Exhausted and reeeeeeally tired we fell into bed at 2am, but
everyone with a broad smile on their faces. Great 4 days!!!! GREAT!
The next
day was a Saturday, and despite our tired feet, we still decided that we need
to hit Cuzco
another time loud and hard. This time we’d all go out, including our new
friends from the Jungle Inca Trip. But first, laundry had to be done, our stuff
smelled horrible and this had to be changed immediately. In the evening, I
unpacked my cooking skills for a few friends and made up a fantastic “mushroom
- white wine - cream - sauce” which went splendidly with some rice and
vegetables. And after this delicious dinner, we got our drinks on and went to
rip Cuzco a new
one. Mission
completed, I would say, because we returned home around 5am and were loaded
like seldom before. :D
The
following day was used solely to recover from the previous night and write some
blog. Additionally, I managed to book my flights back home, which is sad, but
inevitable, and finally I’m looking foreward to fly home soon. It has been
amazing so far and I’m sure there is so much more to discover on this
incredible continent, but the fun has to end at one point, and I can’t wait to
see all my friends again.
The
following day would be our last in Cuzco , as Arequipa and after Bolivia were waiting for us and we
were running out of time. So we packed our stuff and left for the Bus station
at 6, but not before we had not gotten a 60min massage in one of the little
relax-centres which are everywhere to be found in Cuzco . And for only 25 Soles per person, our
body and souls were crunched, hurt and finally relieved of all the pain that
had accumulated during the previous week.