cusco

Another epic journey although dirt roads, past an arid and barren landscape which at times seemed more like the moon than the earth. The main highway was blocked at one point with a load of rubble so we had to pay a little kid to show us a way around. This is how they protest here. No sending letters to your local representative. Just block a motorway with a heap of stones and someone eventually listens. Anyway, this road trip was certainly worth it as Cusco takes some beating.

So I had made it to the navel of the world. I don´t mean that in a bad way but that´s how the Inca´s refered to their capital city. What they mean is the centre of the world. The layout of the city was designed in the shape of a puma and divided into sections. It was from here that the Inca´s spread out to conquer a huge expanse of South America. It is a beautiful town and it has one of my most prized features of a town; compact and easily walked on foot. Much of the Inca legacy is gone. The Spanards went to work quickly by ripping out all the gold. The walls of existing structures were incorporated into new Spanish commissioned buildings. There are two main types of walls - for religious buildings, the walls are perfect examples of symmetrical stonework while all other buildings have slightly irregular design. Both have inbuilt anti-earthquake qualities. But the Spanards built some fine buildings too. The Plaza is wonderful as are the many churches. A very nice city.

Apart from the inherent beauty of the town, Cusco is Peru´s main tourist drawcard as it is only 90km from the most famous of Inca sights; the lost city of Machu Picchu. More on that later.But true to form my first activity on the evening of my arrival was to sample the nightlife and yes, get smashed. As a result of the huge gringo footfall through the city, the place is very much geared up for a good night out. There are many pubs. Two Irish ones, one professing to be the hightest Irish boozer in the world. A raft of tacky nightclubs too. I had a few very, very late nights.

The mornings were quite noisey. The whole city was in preparation mode for the forthcoming Independence day. My hotel room overlooked one of the main squares so at about 8am each morning I awoke to a loud marching band. The first morning it was a march by school children, the second it was a march by the civil service, the third a march by the police. My gosh, the Peruvians love an old march. The locals all wore a patriotic lapel bearing the colours of the Peruvian flag or that of Cusco (it bears a remarkable resemblence to the gay pride flag - not sure whether the civic planners thought that one through) and the whole city fluttered with countless flags. An awesome sight.

I had a goof at some other Inca ruins including the fortress of Sacsayhuaman (say it quickly, go on!) and Ollantaytambo along with the Sacred Valley. A spot of horse riding was also very nice. Particularly as none of the others in the group signed up for this optional extra. A day of wonderful sights, rambling over the mountain tops , watching an elderly lady shepard round up her llama´s with the aid of a slingshot and of course, no kidding here, my horse going loco when a pack of random dogs appeared on the mountain side and gave chase. I cut my fingers on the saddle while trying to hold on. But I stayed on.

I would have liked to stay longer in Cusco but the main highlight of my whole round the world thing was beckoning. When I planned the trip I had in mind something that I really want to see in my lifetime. Up to now I had managed to tick the boxes of the other things on my wish list. Now, I would begin a 44km trek over four days to reach at sunrise the ancient lost city of the Inca´s; Machu Picchu.

Better go and buy some coco leaves!!

lake titicaca

The next two days would be spent on Lake Titicaca, visiting three of its islands. It took three hours to get to the first island; Uros. The unusual thing about this island is it is artificial. It is merely a floating mass of interwoven reeds. Every year they add to it so give it bouyancy and stability. There are a number of such floating islands on the lake and it said they were created by its people in a bid to escape the clutches of rival tribes many years ago.

That said it was a right expo in modern tourism. Boat after boat arrived with gringo´s who were given an open air lecture about the island and its people. Then the horde was let lose to buy handicrafts from the numerous vendors. Afterwards we were transported on a reed boat (not unlike a viking boat in shape and style) called a ´totora´ to another island to gaze upon the local folk once more. I found looking at the guinea pig enclosures a lot less intrusive. The little criter being a staple of the local diet snce Inca times.

So onto another boat for another three hour trip to Amantaní Island. Here an overnight homestay with a local family was arranged. The island is populated by Quechua speakers. This is the language of the Inca´s and I had a good old bash at it. It is populated by about 800 families. The idea behind the gringo visits is they obviously pay the tour company, who allocates a family, the family provide cooked meals and a bed. The gringo brings basic staple foodstuffs as a ´gift´. In the evening the family takes the gringo to the community hall to join others for some traditional dancing and music. All I said, I really enjoyed it. My host family were charming. I loved the simplicity of their life and obvious contentment they enjoy. A stark constrast in many ways to the overburdened materialism of the west. And the traditional dress was just lovely. I was given a puncho to wear and looked every part the Irish spud farmer!!

The next day, hungover, we made our way to the final island to be visited; Taquile. The island is known for their fine handwoven textile products, among the highest quality in Peru. We stayed there only a matter of hours but it was quite an interesting place to learn about the social order, the lifestyle and the history. I found it fastinating that the Spanards took exception to the type of clothing the people used to wear. So they introduced their own line of fashion. The lady´s wear the big frilly black shirts with colourful accessories and an elaborate hat. While the blokes wear what is effectively the clothing of a Spanish matador. Amazing to think that this dress code has survived so long.

I enjoyed my time on Lake Titicaca and its islands. Save for tourism, it is like going back in time. I ´m not sure whether I would be quite so romantic in my love of their lifestyle if I had to live under such circumstances for a prolonged period of time (it is a hard life after all) but I really felt an affinity for the simplicity of their lifestyle. The simple solutions are often the best solutions. Oh, and for the first time in my life I saw a shooting star. I made a wish too.

puno

The border crossing into Peru was one of the worst. Not scary or inefficient (all South American border crossing are) as such but rank filthy. Absolutely dreadful. I wasn´t even tempted to have my shoe shined despite gathering around myself scores of suitors. My reputation preceded me obviously.

On the way to Puno we stopped at an isolated spot on the edge of Lake Titicaca for lunch. Puno lies on the edge of the lake. Naturally a random dog turned up to observe proceedings. Lake Titicaca is South America's largest freshwater lake at 8300 square km. At 3821m above sea level, it is the highest commercially navigable Lake in the world. The western part of the Lake belongs to the Puno region of Peru, and the eastern side is located in the Bolivian La Paz department. More on this in the next post.

Puno itself is a small town that flourishes on tourism, primarily to gringo´s wanting to see Lake Titicaca and its islands. We stayed one night before venturing out into the lake. That night was spent wolfing down Alpaca meat and drinking much Pisco. All to the sight of traditional song and dance. Later I headed off for a little pub crawl which I found highly enjoyable. Yes, a tourist I am but it was nice to find bars that resembled in some way bars back home rather than sitting like a sado in a restaurant. I ended up in some dodgy nightclub that night. Lovely girls!!

In my drunken revelry, I actually was considering extending the organised tour thing to Quito in Ecuador. You see, I am payed up to Lima but I figured, in my drunken goodwill to all mankind mindset, that it probably wasn´t such a bad thing being confined to a yellow truck for hours on end, condemned to an ardous schedule and being expected to work too. So I asked the tour guide to investigate the additional cost. I know that the following morning at 6am, in the freezing cold, sitting on a boat for three hours while traversing lake Titicaca and inhaling lungfuls of petrol fumes that I was starting to reconsider this idea. But If they give me a good price....we´ll see.