We arrived back in Iquitos in mid afternoon and after checking into the Plaza Dorada we strolled along the Malecon, the wide walkway skirting the river. The view over this tributary was actually quite stunning. The late afternoon sun reflected from the smooth surface giving an orange glow to the huts along the bank and the passing river traffic. And close in to shore, the water was covered in abundant vegetation, sparkling in the sun, as if a giant bright green, diamond-studded carpet had been laid in the shallows along the river as far as the eye could see. Along the shoreline were a number of floating shacks which were home to hundreds of local people, each hut with one or two canoes moored along side. Other thatched-roof buildings closer to the shore were built on high stilts apparently well above the high water mark.
These ramshackle structures stretched along the coast for a mile or so until they melded with hundreds of similar structures packed together to form a small village, known appropriately as the floating village of Iquitos. All of these huts rise and fall with the river and when it is at its lowest, they simply sit in the muddy riverbed. Apparently at that time of year, the stench is terrible and the pools of stagnant water foster hordes of mosquitoes, spreading misery and disease to the village inhabitants. We could only imagine what life must be like for the thousands of poor souls who have to live here, having to traverse the filthy mud flats to go to work or school or to fetch food from the market, all in the sweltering heat, humidity and malodorous air, which form a constant part of their existence.
As we have seen in many parts of the world however, here in Iquitos along the Malecon, there were also scenes of complete contrast to those of the horrible poverty and primitive, filthy conditions along the river banks. Some of the colonial buildings on the opposite side of the street were very beautiful, their exterior walls being covered in ceramic tiles brought from Portugal. The tiles of each building which are called azulejas, displayed different colors and intricate designs, giving the facades a most interesting and pleasant appearance. If you looked towards the river you saw the meager homes of the poor; but turn your head the other way and you could have been looking at a colonial building in any of the fashionable tourist areas of Europe. In fact, Sue recalled that we had seen tiles on buildings just like these when we had visited Lisbon some years ago.
We had a quiet evening and hit the sack early as our transportation to the airport was picking us up at 6:00 a.m. We were in plenty of time for our 8:00 a.m. flight to Lima, and in plenty of time to pay our departure tax. One of the frustrating parts of travel in this part of the world is the seemingly constant “nickel and diming” of the tourist. Every airport has a departure tax, some of them being as hefty as $30 per person. Everyone seems p.o.’d at having to pay this every time you board an aircraft and I think it would be much better if all the airlines just included this fee in the price of the ticket. And this particular morning I was especially irate. We paid our departure tax at the Iquitos airport and boarded our LAN Peru flight to Lima, where we connected to a flight to Cusco. As it turned out, our plane was continuing on to Cusco, but…could we just stay on board and continue on ??….of course not! We had to de-plane onto a waiting bus which drove us to the terminal. There was no “in-transit” route to the departure lounge, so we had to basically leave the baggage area as if we were leaving the airport, wend our way through the milling throngs back to check in and security. And, naturally, we had to pay another airport tax, about double the amount we had paid in Iquitos. I ranted at the agent that we’d already paid and that I shouldn’t have to pay again just because LAN couldn’t get its act together for passengers continuing on the same plane to the next destination. However, it was all to no avail and I had to fork over the money. So, we re-boarded the same plane we had just left and took the exact same seats we had vacated earlier. Joy !! Oh well, I guess it’s all part of the travel experience!!
Our next destination, Cusco, was the ancient capital of the Inca empire. It is situated in a valley at an elevation of 11,500 ft. The tall mountains surrounding the city, and the gusting winds which whip up in the afternoons, make landing of aircraft something of a challenge. But we made it safely to the ground having dropped like a stone from 20,000 ft once the plane cleared the mountain tops.
Because altitude sickness is a real concern, we had made plans to go straight to Ollantaytambo (often referred to by its short form of Ollanta), a small town in the Sacred Valley of the Incas about a 90 min drive from Cusco and some 2000 ft lower. The idea was to spend a few days at a lower altitude acclimatizing slowly to the rarified air, before actually spending time in the higher regions of Cusco. Unfortunately in my case, this plan didn’t work too well, as I’ll get to shortly.
We had arranged a driver to take us to the hotel and he was waiting for us as we left the airport. We initially made a long ascent out of the valley and as we climbed we were presented with a magnificent view of the valley and city spread out below…a “buena vista” as we said to our driver. Today Cusco is a city of over 300,000 people and the thousands of red brick buildings with their red tile roofs, spread out across the large valley and up the slopes of the surrounding hills. Quite a sight!
We continued along the road towards Ollantaytambu, passing through some magnificent terrain. The green valleys and terraced hills rose sharply to the high mountains flanking our route on both sides. At this altitude the weather was much cooler than it had been along the coast and the Amazon. The day was heavily overcast and at one point is started to rain and then hail heavily. I wouldn’t have been surprised to see snow, but in the end we just got a cold rain and biting wind to welcome us to the highlands. But as we started to drop down from the high hills into the Sacred Valley we could actually feel the temperature start to rise rapidly and by the time we reached Ollantaytambu, the weather was actually quite pleasant.
Like the town, our hotel’s name was a bit of a mouthful, but the Pakaritampu hotel was yet another gem. Several two-storey buildings were built in the walled grounds, each containing 8 large rooms. We had windows on three sides of our second floor room with magnificent views of the beautifully landscaped gardens, mountains beyond and the famous Inca ruins we were to tour the next day.
We were welcomed in the reception by a friendly young lady who offered us a small mug of cocoa tea which was always available in a thermos there. The same plant that is used to supply the cocaine trade is also used to produce a mild tea which is frequently served in Peru and is claimed to reduce the symptoms of altitude sickness. As we later found out, the leaves are also chewed like a wad of gum, for the same reason. So we both sipped the weakly flavoured tea which tasted not unlike other herbal teas we drink. As it turned out I was to end up drinking cocoa tea regularly over the next days.
By the time we arrived in Ollanta, I had started to get a headache and for the next four days I suffered 24 hours a day with a an at-times severe head pain. A couple of extra strength Tylenols would give me an hour or so of partial relief, but the next few days were to be most trying as I endeavored to continue our sight seeing while trying to ignore my throbbing head as best I could. And to make matters worse, my GI problems which I thought I had conquered with a course of antibiotics, returned with a vengeance, so the next few days for me were nowhere near as enjoyable as they should have been, considering the sites we were to see. And unfortunately, my altitude-induced headaches and GI problems were to continue on and off (mostly on) until we left Peru three weeks later, certainly detracting from the Peru experience, for me at least. Luckily Sue was to remain almost completely unaffected by health problems.
We had heard from many travellers about being sick all the time in Peru, but we really didn’t think it would happen to us. And we had also heard that altitude sickness strikes indiscriminately and has no relationship to age, sex, physical condition, etc. Still, I have big lungs and my conditioning regime over the years has resulted in an apparent efficient use of oxygen, as my resting heart rate is normally about 56, so I was mentally, as well as physically taken aback, when I, of all people, succumbed to altitude sickness! But at least I know for sure now that I won’t be doing the Everest Base Camp trek !!
Our hotel was about 500 metres outside the small town of Ollantaytambo, a picturesque town of narrow cobblestone streets and stone buildings, many of which were constructed on the foundation of ancient Inca structures. It was at Ollanta that the Incas had built a massive fortress as a defensive position against the Antis peoples from the neighboring rain forest, and the next morning we walked beyond the town to tour ancient ruins. A series of terraces leads up the steep hill above the town to the walled fortress which is an absolute marvel of architecture and construction. Huge stone blocks from a quarry several miles away were dragged up this mountain and stacked to form temples, storage buildings and houses. These blocks, many weighing several tons, were so finely cut that they fit together in a jigsaw fashion so precise as to defy belief. It is impossible to slip even a hair into the seams between these massive stones that are designed not only to produce a beautiful and impregnable fortress, but to resist damage from earthquakes through the use of trapezoidal shapes for construction. The buildings were simply mind-boggling and how the Incas were able to accomplish this mammoth construction project with ropes, levers and primitive obsidian cutting tools is anyone’s guess. In the days ahead, we were to see many more examples of the skills of the Inca builders as we toured some of the many ruins which are scattered throughout this region of Peru.
A typical street in Ollantaytambu
The next day I was feeling so poorly that we decided to cancel a planned excursion to some nearby attractions. We especially regretted not getting to a town called Moray where Incas had formed an amazing system of concentric circles carved into natural depressions some 500 ft deep. These huge carved concentric channels were irrigated with flowing water which resulted in microclimates at different altitudes along the hillside as the circles descended. The Inca planted different crops at various altitudes, experimenting with the different growing conditions to discover which plants grew best under what conditions, so they could maximize production on the larger terraces elsewhere. A great scientific endeavor and the forerunner of today’s agricultural research stations.
The weather in Ollanta, and for that matter, most of Peru at these altitudes, was cool with frequent cloud and rain showers. However, that afternoon the sun came out for a while and we sat in the gardens of the hotel amidst the splendid mountain scenery and played a couple of games of Scrabble. We also watched the chefs from the hotel’s restaurant as they tended to a roast cooking in the large outdoor clay oven. These semi-spherical ovens are quite common in this part of Peru but the one at the Pakaritampu was certainly the largest we came across.
The next morning, Friday March 30, we were catching the train to Aguas Calientes , the small town at the foot of Macchu Picchu. I had taken several Imodium tablets which at least kept my stomach problems at bay. We set out from the hotel with just our two overnight backpacks and walked the half kilometer to the train station for our 10:30 “Vistadome” train. The Peru Rail trains are the only means of transport to Macchu Picchu (other than by foot along the fabled Inca Trail) and we had been looking forward to this supposedly romantic and scenic journey. However, Peru Rail turned out to be on of our few disappointments on this trip. The journey takes about 90 mins and a return fare is 75 USD – pretty steep for transport in this part of the world (the locals pay $5). We had envisaged a domed car such as are used on the trains through the Canadian Rockies, but these so-called first-class Vistadome coaches were pretty standard with tightly-packed seating. The scenery en route was much the same as we’d seen in and around Ollanta, nice but nothing different. And the staff on board who serve up a soft drink in a tiny plastic cup and a small sandwich (Peru Rail’s concession to the “first class” moniker), double as street hawkers, trying to sell various Peru Rail labeled merchandise throughout the trip. So what we had thought would be a wonderful and memorable trip through the exotic Andes en route to one of the world’s most magical destinations, turned out to be not much more than another bus ride between towns. In retrospect, we were glad that the train from Macchu Picchu to Cusco the next evening had turned out to be full. We would return to Ollanta the next evening instead of taking the four-hour $130 train ride back to Cusco…and in the dark to boot!
These ramshackle structures stretched along the coast for a mile or so until they melded with hundreds of similar structures packed together to form a small village, known appropriately as the floating village of Iquitos. All of these huts rise and fall with the river and when it is at its lowest, they simply sit in the muddy riverbed. Apparently at that time of year, the stench is terrible and the pools of stagnant water foster hordes of mosquitoes, spreading misery and disease to the village inhabitants. We could only imagine what life must be like for the thousands of poor souls who have to live here, having to traverse the filthy mud flats to go to work or school or to fetch food from the market, all in the sweltering heat, humidity and malodorous air, which form a constant part of their existence.
As we have seen in many parts of the world however, here in Iquitos along the Malecon, there were also scenes of complete contrast to those of the horrible poverty and primitive, filthy conditions along the river banks. Some of the colonial buildings on the opposite side of the street were very beautiful, their exterior walls being covered in ceramic tiles brought from Portugal. The tiles of each building which are called azulejas, displayed different colors and intricate designs, giving the facades a most interesting and pleasant appearance. If you looked towards the river you saw the meager homes of the poor; but turn your head the other way and you could have been looking at a colonial building in any of the fashionable tourist areas of Europe. In fact, Sue recalled that we had seen tiles on buildings just like these when we had visited Lisbon some years ago.
We had a quiet evening and hit the sack early as our transportation to the airport was picking us up at 6:00 a.m. We were in plenty of time for our 8:00 a.m. flight to Lima, and in plenty of time to pay our departure tax. One of the frustrating parts of travel in this part of the world is the seemingly constant “nickel and diming” of the tourist. Every airport has a departure tax, some of them being as hefty as $30 per person. Everyone seems p.o.’d at having to pay this every time you board an aircraft and I think it would be much better if all the airlines just included this fee in the price of the ticket. And this particular morning I was especially irate. We paid our departure tax at the Iquitos airport and boarded our LAN Peru flight to Lima, where we connected to a flight to Cusco. As it turned out, our plane was continuing on to Cusco, but…could we just stay on board and continue on ??….of course not! We had to de-plane onto a waiting bus which drove us to the terminal. There was no “in-transit” route to the departure lounge, so we had to basically leave the baggage area as if we were leaving the airport, wend our way through the milling throngs back to check in and security. And, naturally, we had to pay another airport tax, about double the amount we had paid in Iquitos. I ranted at the agent that we’d already paid and that I shouldn’t have to pay again just because LAN couldn’t get its act together for passengers continuing on the same plane to the next destination. However, it was all to no avail and I had to fork over the money. So, we re-boarded the same plane we had just left and took the exact same seats we had vacated earlier. Joy !! Oh well, I guess it’s all part of the travel experience!!Our next destination, Cusco, was the ancient capital of the Inca empire. It is situated in a valley at an elevation of 11,500 ft. The tall mountains surrounding the city, and the gusting winds which whip up in the afternoons, make landing of aircraft something of a challenge. But we made it safely to the ground having dropped like a stone from 20,000 ft once the plane cleared the mountain tops.
Because altitude sickness is a real concern, we had made plans to go straight to Ollantaytambo (often referred to by its short form of Ollanta), a small town in the Sacred Valley of the Incas about a 90 min drive from Cusco and some 2000 ft lower. The idea was to spend a few days at a lower altitude acclimatizing slowly to the rarified air, before actually spending time in the higher regions of Cusco. Unfortunately in my case, this plan didn’t work too well, as I’ll get to shortly.
We had arranged a driver to take us to the hotel and he was waiting for us as we left the airport. We initially made a long ascent out of the valley and as we climbed we were presented with a magnificent view of the valley and city spread out below…a “buena vista” as we said to our driver. Today Cusco is a city of over 300,000 people and the thousands of red brick buildings with their red tile roofs, spread out across the large valley and up the slopes of the surrounding hills. Quite a sight!
We continued along the road towards Ollantaytambu, passing through some magnificent terrain. The green valleys and terraced hills rose sharply to the high mountains flanking our route on both sides. At this altitude the weather was much cooler than it had been along the coast and the Amazon. The day was heavily overcast and at one point is started to rain and then hail heavily. I wouldn’t have been surprised to see snow, but in the end we just got a cold rain and biting wind to welcome us to the highlands. But as we started to drop down from the high hills into the Sacred Valley we could actually feel the temperature start to rise rapidly and by the time we reached Ollantaytambu, the weather was actually quite pleasant.
Like the town, our hotel’s name was a bit of a mouthful, but the Pakaritampu hotel was yet another gem. Several two-storey buildings were built in the walled grounds, each containing 8 large rooms. We had windows on three sides of our second floor room with magnificent views of the beautifully landscaped gardens, mountains beyond and the famous Inca ruins we were to tour the next day.We were welcomed in the reception by a friendly young lady who offered us a small mug of cocoa tea which was always available in a thermos there. The same plant that is used to supply the cocaine trade is also used to produce a mild tea which is frequently served in Peru and is claimed to reduce the symptoms of altitude sickness. As we later found out, the leaves are also chewed like a wad of gum, for the same reason. So we both sipped the weakly flavoured tea which tasted not unlike other herbal teas we drink. As it turned out I was to end up drinking cocoa tea regularly over the next days.
By the time we arrived in Ollanta, I had started to get a headache and for the next four days I suffered 24 hours a day with a an at-times severe head pain. A couple of extra strength Tylenols would give me an hour or so of partial relief, but the next few days were to be most trying as I endeavored to continue our sight seeing while trying to ignore my throbbing head as best I could. And to make matters worse, my GI problems which I thought I had conquered with a course of antibiotics, returned with a vengeance, so the next few days for me were nowhere near as enjoyable as they should have been, considering the sites we were to see. And unfortunately, my altitude-induced headaches and GI problems were to continue on and off (mostly on) until we left Peru three weeks later, certainly detracting from the Peru experience, for me at least. Luckily Sue was to remain almost completely unaffected by health problems.We had heard from many travellers about being sick all the time in Peru, but we really didn’t think it would happen to us. And we had also heard that altitude sickness strikes indiscriminately and has no relationship to age, sex, physical condition, etc. Still, I have big lungs and my conditioning regime over the years has resulted in an apparent efficient use of oxygen, as my resting heart rate is normally about 56, so I was mentally, as well as physically taken aback, when I, of all people, succumbed to altitude sickness! But at least I know for sure now that I won’t be doing the Everest Base Camp trek !!
Our hotel was about 500 metres outside the small town of Ollantaytambo, a picturesque town of narrow cobblestone streets and stone buildings, many of which were constructed on the foundation of ancient Inca structures. It was at Ollanta that the Incas had built a massive fortress as a defensive position against the Antis peoples from the neighboring rain forest, and the next morning we walked beyond the town to tour ancient ruins. A series of terraces leads up the steep hill above the town to the walled fortress which is an absolute marvel of architecture and construction. Huge stone blocks from a quarry several miles away were dragged up this mountain and stacked to form temples, storage buildings and houses. These blocks, many weighing several tons, were so finely cut that they fit together in a jigsaw fashion so precise as to defy belief. It is impossible to slip even a hair into the seams between these massive stones that are designed not only to produce a beautiful and impregnable fortress, but to resist damage from earthquakes through the use of trapezoidal shapes for construction. The buildings were simply mind-boggling and how the Incas were able to accomplish this mammoth construction project with ropes, levers and primitive obsidian cutting tools is anyone’s guess. In the days ahead, we were to see many more examples of the skills of the Inca builders as we toured some of the many ruins which are scattered throughout this region of Peru.
A typical street in Ollantaytambu
The next day I was feeling so poorly that we decided to cancel a planned excursion to some nearby attractions. We especially regretted not getting to a town called Moray where Incas had formed an amazing system of concentric circles carved into natural depressions some 500 ft deep. These huge carved concentric channels were irrigated with flowing water which resulted in microclimates at different altitudes along the hillside as the circles descended. The Inca planted different crops at various altitudes, experimenting with the different growing conditions to discover which plants grew best under what conditions, so they could maximize production on the larger terraces elsewhere. A great scientific endeavor and the forerunner of today’s agricultural research stations.The weather in Ollanta, and for that matter, most of Peru at these altitudes, was cool with frequent cloud and rain showers. However, that afternoon the sun came out for a while and we sat in the gardens of the hotel amidst the splendid mountain scenery and played a couple of games of Scrabble. We also watched the chefs from the hotel’s restaurant as they tended to a roast cooking in the large outdoor clay oven. These semi-spherical ovens are quite common in this part of Peru but the one at the Pakaritampu was certainly the largest we came across.
The next morning, Friday March 30, we were catching the train to Aguas Calientes , the small town at the foot of Macchu Picchu. I had taken several Imodium tablets which at least kept my stomach problems at bay. We set out from the hotel with just our two overnight backpacks and walked the half kilometer to the train station for our 10:30 “Vistadome” train. The Peru Rail trains are the only means of transport to Macchu Picchu (other than by foot along the fabled Inca Trail) and we had been looking forward to this supposedly romantic and scenic journey. However, Peru Rail turned out to be on of our few disappointments on this trip. The journey takes about 90 mins and a return fare is 75 USD – pretty steep for transport in this part of the world (the locals pay $5). We had envisaged a domed car such as are used on the trains through the Canadian Rockies, but these so-called first-class Vistadome coaches were pretty standard with tightly-packed seating. The scenery en route was much the same as we’d seen in and around Ollanta, nice but nothing different. And the staff on board who serve up a soft drink in a tiny plastic cup and a small sandwich (Peru Rail’s concession to the “first class” moniker), double as street hawkers, trying to sell various Peru Rail labeled merchandise throughout the trip. So what we had thought would be a wonderful and memorable trip through the exotic Andes en route to one of the world’s most magical destinations, turned out to be not much more than another bus ride between towns. In retrospect, we were glad that the train from Macchu Picchu to Cusco the next evening had turned out to be full. We would return to Ollanta the next evening instead of taking the four-hour $130 train ride back to Cusco…and in the dark to boot! Souvenir shopping while waiting for the train.
We arrived in Aguas Calientes just after noon. The town was an eclectic collection of buildings seemingly built in random fashion up the side a hill leading from the fast flowing river that bordered the town. This river was actually the most amazing part of the town as it rushed violently through a narrow gorge, creating perhaps the largest and most turbulent rapids we’ve ever seen. We speculated on whether anyone could survive a rafting or kayaking expedition on this thunderous waterway, but quickly concluded it would be impossible for any craft to make it along this stretch of water in one piece.
After checking into our hotel, the Inti Inn, we wandered into the centre of town to the ticket office for Macchu Picchu. Our plan had been to go up to the ancient Inca city that afternoon and stay till closing to see it after most of the tourists had left, and then return the next morning for some more in-depth exploration before our 4:45 train back to Ollanta. Our guidebook (which was the latest edition) said the entry fee was 70 Soles or about 25USD. However, when we enquired at the ticket office we found that the tariff was now 120 Soles or 40USD. That, coupled with the $12 bus ride, meant that our budget wouldn’t support two visits!!
We were somewhat taken aback by the rapidly escalating prices associated with Macchu Picchu and we hope that the government isn’t going to be perceived as out to “gouge” the tourist. Peru Rail’s already exorbitant rates were set to rise another 15% on April 1. And we heard that the government is considering putting up the entry fee at Macchu Picchu to 100USD.!! People may still pay that lofty sum to see one of the great wonders of the world, but it would certainly tarnish Peru and give it a reputation as a place where tourists are ripped off. Hopefully that won’t be the case.
Anyway, suddenly having a free afternoon at our disposal, we decided to explore the town and then take a walk some way along the road towards Macchu Picchu. We walked along the road which ran beside the river, until after a couple of kilometers it began its ascent the 1500 ft up to the Inca city. We actually climbed up the footpath you can take up to Macchu Picchu for a few minutes, but just enough that we could say we had actually walked part of the Inca Trail. We met several (young) people we had made the descent by foot and they looked pretty tired just having come down!! They did report however, that the Macchu Picchu experience had been simply amazing.
So, that night we retired early with great anticipation of the next day’s visit to the legendary mountain city of the Incas, Macchu Picchu.
We arrived in Aguas Calientes just after noon. The town was an eclectic collection of buildings seemingly built in random fashion up the side a hill leading from the fast flowing river that bordered the town. This river was actually the most amazing part of the town as it rushed violently through a narrow gorge, creating perhaps the largest and most turbulent rapids we’ve ever seen. We speculated on whether anyone could survive a rafting or kayaking expedition on this thunderous waterway, but quickly concluded it would be impossible for any craft to make it along this stretch of water in one piece.After checking into our hotel, the Inti Inn, we wandered into the centre of town to the ticket office for Macchu Picchu. Our plan had been to go up to the ancient Inca city that afternoon and stay till closing to see it after most of the tourists had left, and then return the next morning for some more in-depth exploration before our 4:45 train back to Ollanta. Our guidebook (which was the latest edition) said the entry fee was 70 Soles or about 25USD. However, when we enquired at the ticket office we found that the tariff was now 120 Soles or 40USD. That, coupled with the $12 bus ride, meant that our budget wouldn’t support two visits!!
We were somewhat taken aback by the rapidly escalating prices associated with Macchu Picchu and we hope that the government isn’t going to be perceived as out to “gouge” the tourist. Peru Rail’s already exorbitant rates were set to rise another 15% on April 1. And we heard that the government is considering putting up the entry fee at Macchu Picchu to 100USD.!! People may still pay that lofty sum to see one of the great wonders of the world, but it would certainly tarnish Peru and give it a reputation as a place where tourists are ripped off. Hopefully that won’t be the case.
Anyway, suddenly having a free afternoon at our disposal, we decided to explore the town and then take a walk some way along the road towards Macchu Picchu. We walked along the road which ran beside the river, until after a couple of kilometers it began its ascent the 1500 ft up to the Inca city. We actually climbed up the footpath you can take up to Macchu Picchu for a few minutes, but just enough that we could say we had actually walked part of the Inca Trail. We met several (young) people we had made the descent by foot and they looked pretty tired just having come down!! They did report however, that the Macchu Picchu experience had been simply amazing.So, that night we retired early with great anticipation of the next day’s visit to the legendary mountain city of the Incas, Macchu Picchu.
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