Allie's sequel
Tue Aug 4, 02:58 PM
Here is Allie’s second book:
So once we survived getting off the boat at the border of Peru, Colombia, and Brazil, we hoppped on moto taxis with all our luggage and sped through the town of Tabatinga to Laticia to spend the morning. I dont think I mentioned the moto taxis before, but there were quite the experience. Being on the back of motorcycle for me is bad enough, but to be on the back of a motorcycle with my small backpack in front of me and my 30 lb backpack on my back it was a little nerve racking. At least when we got into Colombia they made us wear helmets.
After spending the night we took a 12 hour speed boat (which was also not so glamorous, but relatively quick to the 6 days we had just endured on a boat) to Iquitos, Peru. We were traveling with two Germans at this point and basically just wanted to get to the airport and fly out. Andy, Sarah and I were planning on getting to Cuzco, Peru asap. The Germans we were with were still unsure of their plans but ended up flying as far north in Peru as possible to get to Ecuador.
We could only get a flight to Lima so got on the soonest flight. We got to Lima at night and spent the night in the airport before flying to Cuzco the next morning. We elected to not spend anytime in Lima due to what we had heard from other travelers. Lima is supposedly a huge city with not a whole lot to do and slums everywhere. We also heard of few stories of muggings and getting drugged at bars. Which after more traveling we noticed that no matter where you go someone is going to have those stories.
So once we hit Lima in the airport, embaressingly enough we headed straight for McDonalds. The food on the boat was as I mentioned quite bland and really not what we were used to. All three of us just wanted to order a meal when we knew exactly what we were getting. Just for the record, none of us make a habit of eating at McDonalds when we are home.
The flight to Cuzco was only about 45 minutes. We got there early in the morning. I went straight to bed after finding a hostel and slept almost the whole day as I was still recovering from my bad stomach. Andy and Sarah explored the city and had nothing but positive things to say and even found an awesome coffee shop that had Italian Espresso.
We got to Cuzco on a Saturday and signed up for a trip to Machu Picchu on Monday. We were all pretty tired and slept for 12 hours Saturday night and Sunday we did some more wandering around Cuzco. Cuzco is a cool little city. The area we were in was definitely dominated by tourists. American culture has such a pull on what is available in each town weve been in so far. Every other restauraunt advertised hamburgers and pizza.
The market place was interesting. In the areas where peole sold meat there were pig head, or just whole pigs. Most of the animals they were selling you could tell what they were because their whole body was still there, but not alive. The worst part was the smells that went along with the animals. But, all an experience. The fresh fruit is amazing and we took advantage of having it available. The rest of the market was full of vendors trying to sell us hats, sweaters, pants, etc. They were somewhat successful.
The tourist part of Cuzco is all cobblestone streets and store after store created for the traveler{s convenience. Many of the buildings have a lot of colonial influence so it looks like a town I would imagine in Europe.
We got very lucky with our hostel as it had hot water. Some have argued that hot water is over rated, but not in Cuzco. It is the coldest place we have been on our journey so all three of us agreed we were willing to spend a few more bucks a night to have it.
After a few days wandering around Cuzco, we made our way to Machu Picchu. Due to availability, time, and below normal levels of health, we opted to take the train to Machu Picchu instead of getting on the Inca trail. We took a bus and then a train to a town called Agua Calientes which is the base town for Machu Picchu and created solely for the purpose of accomodating Machu Picchu{s visitors. The price of any item that we could have gotten in Cuzco doubled or tripled here. We did find a few cheap meals, but overall Aguas Calientes sucks the money out of you. Andy, Sarah, and I did think that it needed a coffee shop which we were willing to open and put right at the front of the line where people wait for the buses up to Machu Picchu which start departure at about 5 am.
Machu Picchu itself is an experience I will never forget. Pictures or descriptions do not do it justice. I have learned a few things about it in school, but never enough to really understand what it is. We got there before sunrise and even with people everywhere, the sight is still amazing. After wandering and taking about 100 of the same picture, we met at the gate to take a tour. I was glad we did the tour because there was a lot of information that I did not know and I learned a lot about the Incans. They are an intriguing people. Their engineering of Machu Picchu was amazing considering that they did not have all the modern conveniences we do today. Also, the trek up the mountain and getting supplies up there must have been a ton of work. I cannot even begin to imagine the work taht went into building a city such as Machu PIcchu.
At the end of the tour we sat and ate lunch, which we got in trouble for because you are not supposed to bring food or plastic into the area. There were so many people there, but it was sad to see that some people had such little respect for the ruins. There were plenty of places where people just dropped their trash or their kids were climbing all over the ruins. It seems to be these people that are going to cause the closure of Machu Picchu, which they are considering.
After our tour we made our way up a path to the drawbridge they INcans constructed. You are not allowed to cross it or go past a certain point. A man that got to the bridge when we did not only passed the point you were not allowed to go beyond, but also crossed the drawbridge. Sarah and I were cringing the entire time because witnessing the death of some dumb tourist was definitely not on our itenerary. Even Andy who is definitely a dare devil, thought the man to be stupid. Luckily we did not witness his death and he made it back across safe and sound. This man definitely lived up to the term ‘dumb american’. The path beyond the bridge looked a bit narrow for any of our liking and we were all in awe that the Incans were able to make the trek along such a narrow path hauling all sorts of stuff and steering llamas.
It was a long day, but well worth it. I would love to go back someday and maybe do the Inca trail or something similar to it as I have heard really good things about alternate trails.
Our next task was getting back to Cuzco. We were supposed to meet a man at his restauraunt to get our return tickets but apparently our tickets were still in Cuzco. It was not until about fifteen minutes before our train was leaving the next morning did we finally get our tickets.
After making it back to Cuzco, Andy got sick that night. After two days he seemed back to normal and we were all ready to leave Cuzco but still had a few more days. Our last afternoon Andy and I opted to go to ruins near Cuzco. We had to climb quite a number of stairs to get there and I had to bust out my inhaler about half way through them. The ruins were amazing. The time it must have taken to even carve and shape one rock is unfathomable. Cuzco was originally built in the shape of a puma. The ruins we went to were meant to be the teeth. Only 20 percent of the ruins remain, but it was a quite impressive 20 percent. There was quite a brutal battle that the Spanards ended up winning. They then tore down as much of the ruins as they could and used the rock to build their own buildings in Cuzco. One side of the ruins was a strange polished rock that Andy and I could not quite figure out what is was used for. We guessed it was probably the world’s first waterslide.
Our time in Cuzco and Machu Picchu was really fun, but it was time to go. We had four days to get Andy from Lima to Quito. We flew back to Lima on 26 July. Andy left Sarah and I at the airport so he could go buy us bus tickets. He got in a taxi and not two seconds after, a policeman with a gun got in and yelled at the taxi driver to step on it and to follow the car ahead of them. So Andy was in a high speed chase through the airport parking lot. It turns out that the taxi that was being pursued was not a liscensed taxi and was robbing people.
So, Andy returned safe and sound to the airport and we played cards and passed time in the Lima airport once more until our bus departed that night. The next three days and nights are a blur as they were spent on buses to Quito.
20 minutes into our first bus ride from Lima, we were stopped at a road block and a police officer got on the bus. Andy was one of the passengers furthest back on the bus, but the police headed straight for him and asked for his passport. Then he went to the front of the bus and took another white mans passport. After about 15 minutes, Andy did get his passport back, but I think all of us were a little on edge the rest of the journey. We had also heard several stories about cops stopping buses at night and looking for Americans to get their money so that made me even more nervous while we were bussing through Peru, but we made it through successfully.
We made it across the Peru, Ecuador border and in about two hours of driving in Ecuador we were stopped by police about 3 or 4 times. They looked at all our passports and nothing really happened, but it was a little nerve racking after a few of the stories we had heard. We spent a few hours in Cuenca, Ecuador while awaiting the departure of our bus to Quito. It seemed a bit like Cuzco with the architecture and the cobblestone streets. Apparently Cuenca is where the Panama Hats originated. We wandered around looking for something to eat and kind of wished we could spend more time there.
We got back on our last bus leg to make it to Quito. It was a night bus and started out poorly. Right off the bat it was really cold on the bus, and then the road was really turbulent. The bus driver was not really trying to miss potholes or any other obstacles along the road. At one point he had to stop the bus to make sure he hadn’t broken anything underneath because the bus wouldnt accelerate. But, after a long three days and nights, we finally made it to Quito and gave Andy two days to wander around Quito.
Quito was a breath of fresh air. Ecuador in general has been my favorite so far. Peru was difficult to travel in because there was so much poverty. Driving up the coast was shanti town after shanti town. Once we were in the mountains of Ecuador there were nicer houses and the towns we drove through seemed to have at least some sort of infrastructure compared to many areas we went through in Peru. Even in Cuzco, as soon as you left the cobble stone area and went up in the hills a bit there were people living in cardboard homes. I had to wonder how many people that actually live in Cuzco and its surrounding areas have ever been to Machu Picchu.
I am getting kicked off the computer, but I will wite more about Quito and Ecuador in a few days. Sarah leaves here soon and I’m off to Ambato, Ecuador to work at the orphanage. Andy did make it home safely much to his dismay. It was great having him a long and sad to see him leave. Hope everyone at home and other places it doing well! I wish I could say I miss home…but I’m not sure I want to come home. Adios for now!
