MACHU PICCHU

The very shiny Hiram Bingham train

Shake that groove thing!

One of John's cool reflection shots

21 December

Galapagos has a challenger in the ‘Highlight of the Trip’ category. Ladies and gentlemen, may I present…Machu Picchu! (Thunderous applause!!) Machu Picchu would have to be one of the most phenomenal experiences of our lives. It exceeded all of our expectations, as did the journey on the Hiram Bingham train.

Notice that John has orange juice, not champagne? Por que?

Whereas Nic has no intention of exercising any such restraint!

We were very excited about our little train trip, and eagerly clambered into the taxi for our 20 minute drive from Cusco to Poroy station. The drive itself was quite interesting. It had rained most of the night (as it seems to do every night in Cusco!), and the morning saw the drizzle persisting. Once out of the cities in Peru, there is a clear lack of footpaths of any sort, and so with the regular rain of the region, everything is awash with mud – roads, cars, people, buildings…dogs! But the rain did not deter us. Once at Poroy station, we leapt from the car, bidding Eduardo adieu, and let ourselves be swept away by the fantasy that was the Orient Express owned Hiram Bingham train. Everything about this train fulfilled all dreams about old world train journeys. Such decadence! Such luxury! AND champagne at 8:30am!! Bliss! Peru Rail, Hiram Bingham train

Bike taxi

Indigenous Peruvian woman strolling through her village

There were a small group of indigenous Peruvian musicians and dancers on the platform performing for us as we arrived, and being the helpful and, oh so retiring people that we are, we joined them in a bit of a dance. It didn’t take long for us to get a bit puffed, though, bloody altitude! Once exhausted by our exertions, we climbed aboard and explored the train. There were two sumptuous dining carriages, a bar and lounge carriage (that also had a jewellery display cabinet for those inclined to shop!), and an observation carriage at the rear, which had a glass ceiling and was open at the back.

Village bridge

Village houses along the river

Nic settled in to write in her journal (which had been much neglected of late), but was distracted from her task by striking up a conversation with a couple from Belfast, Robert and Richard, who were sitting opposite us in the dining carriage. Our connection was immediate, animated and vivacious, and we didn’t stop talking until we got off the train at 10:15pm!! We are already planning our trip to Northern Ireland!

Dining carriage

Us in the observation carriage

The 3 or so hours of train ride passed quickly, in contrast to the actual speed of the train, which meandered along at a charming pace on the narrow gauge rails. Our time was spent in conversation, as well as quick runs to the observation carriage with many ‘oohs’ and ‘ahhs’ at the magnificent scenery. The scale of the mountains really is impossible to fathom, and drifting through the tiny picturesque villages dotted with colourful poncho-wearing people and their llama companions, continued to make us smile as we attempted to capture the moments with our cameras. What took us by surprise were the many young eucalyptus trees sprinkled throughout the landscape – a tiny snippet of Aus right there in Peru.

Robert and Richard, enjoying the scenery

Beginning of Inca Trail - we weren't up to that particular journey

When we arrived in the small town of Aguas Calientes (at the base of the mountain that is home to Machu Picchu), we were faced with many market stalls and hawkers selling their wares. It was a cute little town – a smaller, Peruvian version of Thredbo! We boarded our bus for the very winding ascent to the top, jaws agape at the ever more awe-inspiring scenery unfolding at each hairpin turn.

The first glimpse

Carlos, our guide, was a bit of a photographer, too

But even our train and bus journeys could not prepare us for the beauty and wonder that greeted us as we climbed the first rise in the national park and saw before us the citadel of Machu Picchu. There was something so very moving, almost spiritual, about that place. There were tears in Nic’s eyes as she gazed, slack-jawed and a little ‘trembley,’ at the ruins. Our intelligent and witty guide, Carlos, must be so used to such reactions, and he waited patiently for us to gather our composure before taking us to the best viewing spots for photos and filling our hungry minds with information about the ancient city – he answered our questions before we could even ask them!

A little bit closer

From a different vantage point

It was fascinating to learn about this civilisation that lived in complete harmony with nature. They were so NOT about pillaging the earth and letting greed rule their lives. Their engineering was phenomenal; the structures they created with their primitive tools were beyond belief – especially the sun temple, which has not needed ANY reconstruction since it was ‘rediscovered’ (not even earthquakes have impacted on that sucker!)

These photos may seem like more of the same, but they ARE different

What was once agricultural terraces - the sensible way of farming when on the side of a mountain!

Carlos explained about the harmony of balance in the architecture, as well as the importance, and holiness of the ‘threes’ in the temples (windows, steps…) – we didn’t expect it to extend to the 3 chinchillas sitting on a rock in one of the many, many temples! They were very cute – a chinchilla looks like a cross between a squirrel and a rabbit.

Machu Picchu and the river below that surrounds the mountain

Another shot of us and the citadel below

A closer glimpse of the citadel

...And closer still!

2 of the 3 chincillas

After exploring the citadel remains for a few hours, under the guidance of trusty Carlos, we alighted from our time machine, and joined our fellow travellers in the Machu Picchu Sanctuary Lodge for high tea (all inclusive of our Hiram Bingham experience). From there we held on for the winding descent to Aguas Calientes, drifted aimlessly through the numerous stalls back to the station, and breathed a satisfied sigh when we were ensconced in our dining carriage aboard our familiar, luxurious train. Nic decided NOT to buy the magnificent, truly gorgeous piece of jewellery that had been taunting and teasing her throughout the outward bound journey (that mongrel thief in Lima put an end to those dreams!), and settled for some more excellent Argentinian wine and food instead.  Such sacrifice!

The sun temple, untouched by time...or earthquakes!

What are YOU looking at?!

Our journey back to Poroy station (and the trusty care of our driver Eduardo), passed even more quickly than the outgoing one. Our conversations with our newfound friends were cranked up a notch, as more and more surprising connections were made, and laughter flowed more freely than the wine. It seems we managed to cram a week of companionship into the one day, and we were sad to say goodbye at the end of our adventure.

CUSCO

Plaza de Armas, Cusco

18-20 December

It was nice to be moving on this morning, and leaving the city that had given us such heartache. On the plane to Cusco, Nic was chatting with a lawyer who lives in Cusco and works at the university there, who said that Lima is ‘awful’ – her 12 year old son had his mobile phone stolen while he was using it to take pictures, just in the brief moment she turned away to hail a cab. Bastards!

Puppy and laundry

John and the hobbit door of our Cusco accommodation

Cusco, however, is a beautiful city. We were delivered safely (yay!) to our accommodation, a lovely B&B called ‘Second Home Cusco’ – yes, there is a connection to our Lima digs, it is run by Lilian’s brother, Carlos (who happened to be in Lima celebrating their father’s 83^rd birthday). We were left in the trusty hands of Raúl, who handled things beautifully, sweet boy. Second Home Cusco

Nic and native Peruvian girl in traditional dress...and her llama

One of the most exciting things about coming to Cusco, was meeting up with Sam, who had just finished walking the Inca trail! Go her, but not something we were up for. Sod that for a lark! Not for the faint-hearted, or the weak-kneed! After check-in, we strolled to the Plaza de Armas (every city must have one!) to find Sammy. We found her with her fellow survivors of the trail at ‘The Tea Rooms.’ What a funky little establishment! The furnishings were a little ‘Edina’ from Ab Fab, but a lot of fun. Excellent salad, too.

Busy street in Cusco

Spent the afternoon strolling, and did a tour of the Cusco Cathedral, which was pretty awe-inspiring. Only thing that bothered us, really, was that Jesus was always in a frock – elaborately embroidered, full skirted, in multiple colours and gold thread. Hmmmm.

John, Sam & Nic at Cristo Blanco

We met Sam again in the early evening and caught a cab up to the statue of Cristo Blanco – a mini version of the Christ the Redeemer statue in Rio de Janeiro (this one was a present to Cusco from the Brazilians). There was a stunning view up there, but it was bloody cold! And the cab ride up and back was a tad hairy – VERY windy roads, with a hoon at the wheel (and it wasn’t Nic…or John!).

John, Nic & Sam at Los Perros

We then walked through the town square to a cool, lounge pub called ‘Los Perros’ (‘The Dogs’), run by Aussies (it even had an Australian flag outside). The owner’s dogs enjoy hanging out with the guests, so the staff are thrilled when patrons are dog fans. John had his first Mojito, and found it very much to his liking. Had trouble deciding on what to eat, as everything looked fantastic. Ended up choosing potato skins (bloody fantastic), and a range of other tapas style things that escape me now, but were scrummy and wonderful. By the end of the evening (and our lovely walk home in the rain), we had begun to feel as though we were back on track on our holiday. We felt better, safer, less afraid.

Nic at the entrance to "Sexy Woman'

Our second day in Cusco began with a climb to Sacsayhuaman (pronounced very much like ‘sexy woman’) – some very impressive Incan ruins just outside of town, and ALL up hill. It was a bit tough due to the altitude, so there was much huffing and puffing, but we made it and thoroughly enjoyed the spectacular views of the city.

Plaza de Armas with Cathedral

Nic and Sam climbing 'Sexy Woman'

Sam giving Nic an Incan history lesson

After our much easier stroll down from ‘Sexy Woman,’ we had lunch at ‘The Muse’ – renowned for it’s crunchy topped and amazing vegetarian lasagne. Had no idea that the portions were going to be gigantic, and so also ordered a vegetable curry. Lots of waddling was done to get out of there. We continued our tradition of an arvo nap, did some window shopping, and met Sam at ‘Greens’ for dinner. Another fine choice (suggested by both Rough Guide and Lonely Planet), where we had a whole bunch of ‘sides,’ such as ratatouille, garlic sautéed mushrooms, and a quinoa tabouli.

The rocks of Sacsayhuaman

Another girl and her llama

Nic and Sam and Inca ruins

Another shot of Sam and Nic atop the ruins

Our third day began with a long wait in the bank arranging cash for our apartment in Buenos Aires (our next stop). As with all ATMs, the ones in Peru only dispense a certain amount of cash at a time, and since we needed the total weeks accommodation plus security deposit for BA, we needed to sort ourselves out (AND the ATMs in Argentina allow less than $100USD at a time). Balls. It was more depressing on finding out we needed to return with passport, and THEN, didn’t actually need to wait the 2 hours we spent in the chairs listening for our number to be called on the second visit – we could’ve jumped straight to teller 17! Double-plus balls! Glad when that was sorted. Bright side – got some reading done!

View of plaza from Inca ruins

...and the rest of Cusco

Street vendor and her wares...guinea pig!

Went back to the Centro de Textiles Tradicionales that we visited the day before to buy a hand woven table runner. This centre also houses a little museum explaining the history of textiles in the country, as well as a shop with a wide range of woven products made by people in over 300 communities throughout the country. The good thing about this place (apart from the superior quality of the work), was that 70% of the money paid by the customer goes to the community of the artist/weaver who created the piece – often they are working in the Centro, where we get to see them in action.

Famous 12-sided building block in Inca temple in the middle of Cusco

We ate at a vegetarian place called Restaurante Govinda. It had moved from the address listed in the Rough Guide (there has been a few of those), but we were helped by a spruiker from another restaurant trying to get us into his establishment, which was lovely of him to do! In fact, when we couldn’t find it, he saw our dilemma and followed us down the street to show us exactly where it was! We ordered some ‘spicy’ rice and vegetables – why does no-one believe us when we say we want food spicy? A bit weak again, oh well.

The magnificent cathedral

Cusco street (one that cars, obviously, cannot negotiate!)

Pretty dome in Cusco

We booked into a spa for an hour ‘remedial’ massage each. While it certainly wasn’t of a rigorous enough nature for us, we were both so relaxed that, afterwards, it was difficult to wake up enough to safely negotiate our way down the stairs and out the door. Enjoyed another evening of looking in shop windows, and wandering around the picturesque plaza that was all dolled up for Christmas. Nic was very excited to find a replacement Lonely Planet Latin American Phrasebook. Thought she might have to order one on Amazon and have it delivered to the apartment in Buenos Aires.

Nic and stray...who followed her for a few blocks until she left his neighbourhood

School group in Christmas costumes rather than school uniforms

Rooftops and mountains

Dinner was at ‘Pachapapa’ on the Plaza San Blas (just down the street from where we were staying). Had the most phenomenal oven roasted trout. It was so easy to eat, as it was fully filleted, but still had its head and tail on for presentation. Was stuffed with fennel and tomatoes. Delicious!! Ate too much, of course (!), but had a lovely evening.

A sneak look inside a closed door in Cusco

FROM QUITO, ECUADOR TO LIMA, PERU (and the little hiccup!)

Street art in Quito

14 December

Before arriving in Peru, we stayed another night in Quito, and our flight was around 9pm the following evening. We really didn’t do much in our final hours there, as we were both very under the weather with blocked noses and congested chests – probably a result of a combination of all the cold-water snorkelling, the wrong foods, the air-conditioned boat, and Nic forgetting to include the fishermen’s friends in the Galapagos luggage! So we just did some laundry and found a little vegetarian restaurant called El Mantle (I think!) in the new town in the hope of having a small dinner, and received 2 gigantic plates of spicy vegetables and brown rice – delicious! We couldn’t eat it all, so they gave us doggy bags and we finished it for breakfast the next morning!

Nic at the vego place with her yummy spicy veges and rice

The next morning was a little adventure – mission: to post the snorkelling gear home! The previous day we had hunted down 2 cardboard boxes at a supermarket, which John used to create one large box to fit the rather cumbersome sized fins. Very clever, that bloke. We then used our trusty phrasebook to valiantly try to explain to the patient woman behind the counter that we wanted to send the gigantic parcel ‘certificado’ in the hope it would reach its destination. It took some time, but mission was accomplished! Now, we just have to wait to see if it arrives!

Fast food Indian lunch

The rest of the day was spent slowly, VERY slowly, walking through the new town looking for bookstores that sold English language novels so we could ‘stock up.’ The reason we had to take things so slowly, was Nic was having trouble with the hills. No, she hadn’t become ridiculously unfit – the chest infection and altitude made it feel like Jabba the Hutt was sitting on her chest when a hill was attempted. Found a fantastic second hand bookstore run by an English chap who had lived in Quito for 23 years. We had a good old natter, and Nic found another Louis de Bernieres novel to sate her appetite, as well as a Stieg Larsson (she wants to see what all the fuss is about with The Girl with the Dragon Tatoo).

KFC, Quito style

Lunch was had at an Indian place that sold cheap, ok food and we filled ourselves to the brim in the anticipation of no time for dinner – all for less than $10 (including beers!). Waddled SLOWLY back to digs where we relaxed and blogged till it was time to leave. The hosts at Casa Aliso were so incredibly kind. They let us continue to use the room for the day until 6pm without any further cost. Patricio, the owner/manager insisted on bringing Nic hot water and lemon to help her chest, and made us the gift of a handmade wooden box (crafted by his sister) filled with chocolates, because we were ‘special guests.’ I guess it does pay to use the one place when popping in and out of a city – they went above and beyond in so many ways. We had no idea how much we would miss Quito and Casa Aliso after the night ahead!

Our driver, Fermin, cleaning the glass from Nic's seat

16 & 17 December

Well this was the night from hell. When we landed at Lima, it was 11pm on the 15^th. We were both tired and looking forward to bed, and Nic was deaf in one ear because it hadn’t unblocked due to her stuffed head. The driver was late, but that wasn’t really a concern. We got our bags in the boot of the car, got ourselves in the back seat, locked doors, windows up. Were waiting at traffic lights when a guy smashed Nic’s window and grabbed her handbag from her lap and took off. We had trouble getting out of the car because of the central locking, and by the time we managed to do so he had completely disappeared. Nic lost her passport, phone and a stack of cash (cash not covered by insurance, of course). This happened around midnight. Our driver took us straight to the police station and helped us make a statement. Luckily, John’s stuff was still in his possession, so Nic got on his phone and cancelled credit cards, rang Telstra to put lock on her phone and sim, and notified the insurance company. By the time all this was done, we got to the B&B at about 1:30am. What a shit of a day.

Plaza de Armas, Lima

Got very little sleep. Woke full of stress and grief and lists of what needed to be done before leaving Lima in 48 hours. Our first full day in Lima was spent in taxis getting to the Australian Embassy and doing the paperwork and running around to get a new passport. Luckily we had a photocopy of the original, but not of the Brazil visa inside (still trying to sort that one out). Ran around getting photos and making special requests to fast track the emergency passport as we were flying to Cusco in 2 days. Back at the B&B, we had to fax a copy of our e-ticket to prove we were leaving to assist in the fast tracking.

Tiny cab in Lima

We then had to get a copy of the police report, both for the passport, and for our insurance purposes. This was an adventure in itself. It took the rest of the day – with half an hour alone just in the offices of the station trying to print the one page report on 3 different archaic dot-matrix printers. Throughout all of this, our host continually commented on how well we were coping and how positive we were. We were making a conscious effort to not get sucked into the negativity, but it was bloody hard sometimes. Finished the day on the balcony overlooking the garden and the ocean with a bottle of red and a gigantic packet of chips!

The steps down to Victor's studio (with a guy cleaning the roof below)

View from our window

The accommodation in Lima was quite an experience. It is called ‘Second Home Peru’ and is run by Lilian Delfin, daughter of famous Peruvian artist, Victor Delfin. The B&B is one big gallery, with his works throughout the house and gardens, all for sale. We also had the opportunity to meet the artist at work in his studio. Before this visit, we were not at all familiar with his work, but were still a bit star-struck! We were smitten with a raunchy sculpture, but being now broke, didn’t even entertain the idea of purchase! Second Home Peru

Nic in the Plaza de Armas

Waiting for the changing of the guard at the Presidential Palace...in the heat!

We made a bit of an effort to be tourists on our second full day. We went to the Plaza de Armas in Centro Lima and prepared ourselves to watch the changing of the guard at the presidential palace at noon. For some reason, there was something bigger than a simple changing of the guard planned for this day, and it didn’t kick off till about 12:45pm. There was much pomp and ceremony and for a full 20 minutes or so we watched the marching band (which ultimately blocked everyone’s view of the rest of the action), before getting a bit bored waiting for the president, and deciding to go and get some lunch. Glad we did – we beat the rush.

Nic and Christmas llama

After lunch, we toured the Museo San Francisco (the convent museum). It contained the most amazing library – the largest collection of old books in Lima, and the most lovely decore – even had 4 large skylights to make reading easier (unusual for this time period). The catacombs were pretty amazing, too. They were only discovered in 1951, and contain the skulls and bones of 70,000 people. Having been built in the 17^th Century, it’s surprising that the basilica still stands, due to the earthquakes, unlike most things built around that time or before.

Nic blogging in Lima

John in the many mirrors in the bathroom

Caught another of many cabs back to the Australian embassy to collect the passport at 3pm. From there we went to biggest shopping mall in Peru to try and find replacement gear for Nic. Not at all impressive – had nothing on Erina Fair! No luck, just a junky wallet (but no cards or cash to put in it!).

Took another long cab ride back to digs and had another dinner of wine and chips, and prepared with anticipation of leaving this bloody city!

One of Victor's sculptures in the garden

The mock Tudor house, built in the early 1900s

Sunset from our balcony