Pluses:
Clamboring up the dunes, panther style, is a nightly treat. The views from the top are breathtaking and the heat on your sore limbs buried in the cooled-off sand is to die for. The lagoon is swimmable, but I wouldn't give it any more credit than that. Watching the sandboarders, as well as riding the boards down on your belly, is way too much fun. Everything about this little town that is so far from ordinary is lovable.
Minuses:
The sand is so hot during the day that if you touch it, you spontaneously combust. Also, the lagoon is super cool due to its status as an ACTUAL oasis, but it is a bit smelly and very dirty with both turbidity and trash.
Pisco/ Paracas, Peru
Getting There and Away:
Multiple buses daily make the short and popular trip from Ica to Pisco. As Pisco is in a major rebuilding process following devastating earthquakes in the last two years, and most travellers stay there just to volunteer in the rebuilding effort, the recommended course of action is to hop in a colective taxi to the panamerican highway (cruce de Pisco), then a combi bus south to the national reserve entrance and the town of Paracas.
Places to Stay:
There are a few upscale hostels and hotels, and there are the travellers budget variety. Hotel Ballestas will lend you a double bed with cable TV for 15$ a night. This is an extremely short walk from the waterfront, where everything is, and they will even give you towels! If you want a 10 sol discount on your room, book your Islas tour through the hotel front desk.
Places to Eat:
It seems like there are a hundred cheap tent-style eateries in town, and the value is far and away better than the traditional trveller restaurants on the waterfront. Big ceviche platters for only 15 soles!
Pluses:
When you are going on a tour that starts at 8AM, it is better to be at the point of departure overnight than in Pisco and have to make the 45 minute drive in the morning. Plus, its nice and quiet and you can catch up on sleep during the day and attempt to kick the stomach problems you are dealing with.
The Tour: Boats fitting about 15 people depart for the much-hyped Islas Ballestas in the morning. You are told ahead of time that it last 2 hours, including the 30 mins each way to the islands, and that it will all be watching from the boat. therefore, you don't get your hopes up. However, when you get island side you are in awe of countless different types of birds (including penguins!) and sea lions dwarfing the San Francisco wharfs. On your way back you may even see little dolphin fins sticking up out of the water! Unfortunately your camera cannot focus in time to capture the fins in their full effect.
Minuses:
Small town that completely revolves around the tours to the park and the islands, without a ton to do otherwise, and you may want to vomit in your crammed combi bus on the way. Its the Peruvian coast, and it smells like fish!
Lima, Peru
Getting There and Away:
Head North on the Panamericana for a bit and you'll find yourself in a place that might confuse you for Lima proper. Instead you are in no mans land, but a 20 minute taxi ride from Plaza de Armas (S/10). Every city in Peru has a central Plaza (or two), and they all have one called Plaza de Armas. This one is stunning with three churches, the President's mansion, countless security guards and traffic control women who have a propensity for waving and blowing whistles.
Places to Stay:
Two options on Jr. Azangaro: Hostal España, and Hotel Europa. One has dorms for 14 soles each where large frenchmen snore loudly through the night, and come in talking about cigarettes at the crack of midnight. The other has a double bed in our own room with a shared bathroom for 13 soles each. The numbers add up. You do the math. We moved to Europes finest after one days.
Places to Eat:
Across from Plaza San Francisco (which houses 500 year old bones and 400 year old books) lie multiple Menu spots where you can get succulent ceviche paired with chicken sauteed with loads of veggies, with a little salad and a lot of white rice on the side, or pan seared trucha plated with lighlty cooked vegetables, white rice on the side (comes standard with every meal you ever get).
Churros around the corner are delicious, hot, and tempting. Stuffed with warm banana, they are all the rage anytime of day.
China Town: complete dimsum for two comes out to under $10. Humbau, shumay, and shrimp balls, topped with sweet pork bread for dessert. Egg rolls on the street could keep you satisfied for weeks.
Jimmy's (with a soft J): The pastry king of Sudamerica! Hooks it up with fresh apple pies, empanadas, and all other baked delights to satisfy your morning inkling for sweets.
Pluses:
This city is incredible to walk around in, from the olfactory delights of Chinatown, to the bustling plazas that light up neon at night and seem to always occupy demonstrations of some sort, to a dazzling waterfront that sits on high, and even Starbucks!
Minuses:
There is no bus terminal, which is annoying when you want to buy tickets and you have to walk all over town. But that is just nitpicky. Seriously, Lima is a must visit on any travellers agenda to Peru.
Cuzco, Peru
Getting There and Away:
Buses going to Cusco are a dime a dozen. The route is well travelled and very scenic...not a bad trip to choose to do during the day. During the time of research, the direct road to Cusco from Lima was closed due to a particular town not allowing passage through. Therefore it is possible that your 17 hour ride turns into a 26 hour ride. Not fun.
Places to Stay:
Immaculately located Hostal Caceres will put you up extremely economically (in an extremely un-economical part of town) on the third floor, overlooking a main artery leaving the central Plaza de Armas. The saggy double beds are a welcome sight after you spend over a day on a bus, even if it is "semi-cama". The hostal is equipped with a laundry service, which may mistakenly give you someone´s clean socks, and forget to give you a dress you had washed until multiple hours later. The hostal also has an internet "cafe", which makes for convenient all-around services. They will also store your essential belongings in a safe, and keep your auxiliary things for indeterminable amounts of time while you travel "light" into the sacred valley.
Places to Eat:
Tupana Wasi: An amazing, "I'd come back here" (and we did) Mexican restaurant with 15 Sol ($5) full course meals including chips with guac to start, a little pisco sour, a glass of lemonade, a soup or delicious avocado salad, and an entree of either succulent beef and vegetable filled fajitas, enchiladas, quesadillas, or even typical dishes of the region. Mexican food is a rarity down here, and this place does it right.
El Buen Pastor: The bakery you just can't stay away from! Awesome chocolate doughnuts, fudge borrachitos (little chocolate balls that are to die for), ham and cheese croissants or pizzas, and countless apple or berry options to wet your whistle. Coupled with the fact that there always seem to be 10 people working there, it makes for a lovely dining experience.
The Real McCoy: This english restaurant is always bustling with internationals, as their daily food and drink speacials attract even those who are not interested in an English breakfast. The cafe, with its comfy bean bag chairs and couches, is a great place to lounge while waiting for your bus, and you may see your friends there randomly, creating three separate occasions where you say goodbye and give the parting hugs.
Pluses:
You come through here to go visit El Valle Sagrado and Machu Picchu. What more excuse do you need. Also there is good shopping for artesanal wares, but don't forget to bargain. You can get about half off the starting price consistently if you are near the center of town. Off the main strip the prices are much more reasonable, but still inflated.
PS a real plus is when a family friend has an affordable apartment (albeit not in the center of the City, but only a 20 minute walk in) that is magically available for you and the couple you are travelling with during your stay in Cusco. An even added bonus is when the dates you are there are over Thanksgiving, and you have a fully supplied, spacious kitchen in which to cook Holiday delights! Roasted turkey (that may or may not have been a chicken, but don't tell anyone), sweet potatoes, mashed potatoes, gravy, makeshift cranberry sauce that was actually boiled down south american cherries, broccoli, and viiiiiiiino!
Minuses:
"Massage, massage, massage!!!!!" While these are welcome words (especially when the cost is about $10 per hour) the first few times, or possibly if you are really sore, they beign to wear you thin shortly thereafter. Travellers cannot peruse this cute and quaint town without seemingly endless acostment by any of the three following peddlers: people giving you flyers for their spa, people asking you to look at the menu they are holding and insisting you come into their restaurant no matter the time of day or if you don't seem in the slight bit interested, and people selling you whatever it is they are holding.
Editors' Note: The Sacred Valley town of Pisaq is not to be missed. The most spectacularly constructed and continous set of ruins aside from Machu Pichhu are a 5 kilometer hike from town up a steep hill and then along a breathtaking ridge overlooking a thousand years of history. Pisaq is located in between Cusco and Urubamba and the methods of transport are in busses from Cusco that leave every 15 minutes.
Oyallantatambo, Peru
Getting There and Away:
From Cuzco, take a local bus direct to Urubamba. The 2 hour ride should cost you about .70 cents. In Urubamba you can either pack it in clown style in a colectivo van (most economical, and that is the only superlative to bestow on this method of travel aside from most vomit inducing) or have a taxi take you the 25 minutes (warning: prices and participation may vary...the price seems to jump by factors of 2 at times). Once in Ollantaytambo one is blessed with spectacular ruins on either side of the little village. One side costs 130 soles to enter (free with boleto turistico that you buy in Cusco for 130 soles), and the other is free. In the middle is a fertile valley where the Incans of old built underground flumes and other conveyance methods to bring water from the hills into the village and to the farming terraces on the cliffs surrounding the ruins. While farming and other native practices are still prevalent, Ollanta (pronounced Oyanta) is mostly used as the starting point for trains travelling through the sacred valley to Aguas Calientes. One interesting tidbit is that this little travellers hub is believed to be one of the oldest populated areas on earth. Genial!
Places to Stay:
There are a number of budget opportunities here, but one of the best is located along the river on the walk towards the train station. Listening to the river rush by in its constrained, man-made channel is reminiscent of summers sleeping peacefully on the banks of the Deschutes River. Plus there are two adorable puppies running and wagging around the riverbank patio who are sure to steal your heart for the duration of your stay. The owners will kindly store the majority of your belongings while you make the trip into Machu Picchu.
Places to Eat:
Everything here is overpriced except for a couple options that serve inexpensive menus del dia. There is a lovely little English-run joint called Hearts Cafe that created a non-profit in the same name which donates 100% of their profits to helping women in villages throughout the sacred valley. They contribute through sexual and hygiene education, food assistance, and raising awareness of the plight of the indigenous women and their children. Plus they make great chocolate chip cookies!
Pluses:
This quiet town has some of the most astounding ruins aside from Pisaq and MP, as well as crashing rivers colliding to a T along the highway running through the Sacred Valley, otherwise known as "El camino del Inca" (but not the actual Inca Road because that's in the mountains). For travellers who cannot afford to pay for the big ticket train to MP from Cusco, this is the place to start your trip to Aguas Calientes (1.5 hours away in train, 7 hours away in bus...needless to say, they do not take the same route). Also the walk from Hidroelectrica (5 km from Aguas Calientes along the train tracks) is beatiful, especially as the sun goes down. However it is strongly suggested that you wear pants or use bug spray on your legs, because the sand flies will get you good. This suggestion is not to be taken lightly.
Minuses:
The train to Aguas Calientes is slightly expensive (tourists have no choice, right?) and the alternative is death defying. If you are not thinking the train os for you on the way, you will change your mind for the way back. The alternative route takes you up through the mountains, above the clouds in seemingly endless cloud forests, along roads that frequently recive erosion from above to the point of no passage, involves taking three legs in three different types of transportation, and takes 6-7 hours. On the way your bus will break down (the same bus where they overcharge you because you are white, and even though all the pasengers on the bus think this is unfair the fare collector still wont budge, except for one passenger who tells you that this bus is not for tourists and that's what the train is for), after which you are forced to take a colectivo bus that your original bus driver says he will pay for, and then doesn't. On the final leg your colectivo bus will fail to start after the driver has pulled over to the side of a 200 foot cliff, where you are forced to get out and push the bus in order to jump start it while it is running down the hill on the side of said cliff!
Aguas Calientes / Machu Picchu:
Getting There and Away:
The two possible methods of travel to Aguas Calientes are explained above, including the shortfalls/perils of each. Getting to MP, ironically, has dual options as well. One costs 7$ for a 20 minute bus ride. The other is an hour walk, straight uphill, that costs nothing. Once the numbers are crunched it becomes clear which method is to be chosen (and only one of them involves getting some much-needed exercise). The suggested time of departure from the shwanky basecamp that is Aguas Calientes at 4:30 AM, getting you to MP at 5:30 and before that first bus arrives full of excited visitors. The other suggestion is to wear the jersey of your favorite pro sports team of all time in order to attempt to get on the jumbotroninside the arena (cross your fingers with me now...). Once you have arrived at the front gates you wait patiently for your turn, during which time the attendants will ask you which time slot you wish to enter the grounds of Wayna Picchu.
Inside the Gates:
Experiencing the wonder that is Machu Picchu is beyond explanation. In short, a city was built on the top of a mountain by chipping off rock from the mountain top itself (the quarry is the mountain top!) and carving it into perfectly shaped boulders that fit together immaculately, with farming terraces thrown intermittently throughout the city. There are also multiple temples, ingenious waterways funneling springs from the neighboring mountain, sundials that are believed to have been used for a seasonal calendar, and large grassy areas that must have served as meeting places and mingling areas. The builders were the Incas, the place defined by its remote location in the Sacred Valley on top of a mountain due to their worship of the sun god, and the reason is unknown. There is no written history, and it only existed in myth until 1911 when an American historian/adventure trekker, with a local indigenous boy as a guide, stumbled across the overgrown site while looking for a different site. Speculation as to the impetus for building the architectural masterpiece is that the empire know they were on the brink of destruction by Spanish colonialism and they wanted to build a masterpiece that would stand the test of time. We hope they are right, although scientists believe that the the entire site is slipping down the mountain at a rate of 1 cm per month due to heavy foot traffic. But the funny thing is that they will not let you go barefoot!!! The site could collapse due to the weight of the thousands of daily visitors, but they mandate that you wear shoes! Only in Peru...
The grounds are covered with lawnmowers (also known as Alpacas), iguanas, red blooming flowers, and chinchillas hide away in the cracks! If you are lucky you will go on the first day in over two weeks when they have seen sustained sunshine and no rain (but only if you are super cool...). One more time, the sand flies are not to be underestimated...you either wear bug spray or your legs will look like you have chicken pox for the next two weeks.
After exploring the counless stones and feeling like you have experienced the most regal of Incan daily life, you head up the vertical steps that are the path to Wayna Picchu. This journey takes about an hour up, and 25 minutes down. At the top you see more ruins that were to appease the sun deity , and feel as though you are on top of the world. Although they limit the number of people who make the climb daily, at the top you are with a hundred other brave souls who are all moving too quickly. Long story short, mild panic attacks have been known to strike travelling males who have a slight fear of heights. Its not so much the heights as it is the unrestrained heights, as there is not a single rail or kick plate at the top (although they have deeply embedded cables and steel to assist with the climb up...how the Incas did it without that i will never know), and one wrong step and you're a goner. This climb is not for the faint of heart. At the top you have a spectacular view of the Valley and a view over the top of the whole MP site...simply amazing.
In the afternoon one starts to feel the effects of a 4 AM wakeup call coupled with endless exploring, hiking, and climbing. Time to head down and relax in the natural hot spring pools that Aguas Calientes has to offer. And a beer. or three. Then you take the train back to Ollantaytambo, because you are not as poor as you pretend to be and you have learned your lesson.
At the risk of sounding a bit cliché, a trip to Peru is merited by the experience of Machu Picchu alone. DO IT!
MP From on high (view from Wayna Picchu).
I believe this is the residential sector, intermingled with the industrial (who am I kidding, look how beatiful this place is!).
An Incan Princesa
He shoots he Scores! And the crowd jumps for joy!
Unbelievable
