[ Zoom Map ]

Cuzco, Peru
7° 15' S 76° 28' W
Dec 30, 2005 23:51
Distance 1512km

Choose another map, showing:

• Amazon
• South America
• The World

Other entries in Cuzco

now you can call me a tourist

Text written in: English

we arrived in Lima monday night to find two familiar faces. two Finish girls who had stayed at Mondu Taitu in Bocas del Torro, Panama had been on our same flight and we bumped into them at the baggage claim. we had only really hung out with them a few times but the most notable was when we played a rousing game of Trivial Pursuit with over half of the players being from outside of the US. now the funny thing about playing with foreigners is taht most of the questions are designed to be about American events. so when the Swedish kid gets the obvious question about which SF giant is an obvious steroid abuser, he smiles and guesses Michael Jackson. however, never underestimate the luck of the Fins. these girls got everything right especially when no one else had a clue. they were extremely good guessers and even better rollers of the dice. luckily, mid-game i made a trade and acquired one for some pringles and she was the reason we won the game. but i digress.

Lima is a huge city that resembles Los Angeles. Its on the Pacific ocean, surrounded by mountains and has filled in all availible land in between, has different neighborhoods with different names all belonging to the larger city, is filed with crazy drivers and overpriced everything, and generally gives me the willies. we shared a taxi with the Fins to our neighborhood being entertained the entire way by our crazy taxi driver who stopped mid-trip to purchase 4 cigarettes, yes only 4, and pointed out that in certain areas, the present one included, talking on celular phones was not permitted, rihgt as he accepted a phone call on his cell. he pointed out that with the new year coming up, it was time for new everything. new friends, new girlfriend, new life. all the while he was cracking himself up with a devilish giggle and howl. we were all a bit tired from a long day of travel so we were actually enjoying his character perhaps due to delirium. we got to our hostel, met up with davids sister marisa, and went quickly to bed. we were leaving early the next morning for Cuzco because marisa only had a few days vacation and machu picchu is clearly the priority of things to do.

david had made an excellent decision when choosing flights to cuzco. there was a flight leaving at 8 but a 20 dollar cheaper one leaving at 6. i guess i cant fault him at the time for saving the money but taking 3 flights in 18 hours is not really a fun experience so in the future, ill pay 20 bucks to sleep in. he also was suffering from the first real sickness of the trip and couldnt eat anything at all. on the early morning ride to the airport, he directed the driver to the side so he could empty his stomach of whatever little remained. i dont know how many of you have played the Sega genises game, Toe Jam and Earle, but if you have and remember the boogie man and the noise he makes while chasing you around those wacky levels, imagine that sound accompanied by wetness hitting both lips and pavement. i felt bad for him but coudnt muffle my laughter at the analogy i drew in my head.

a short flight to cuzco later, we were battling the fiercest tourist hagglers wed seen so far. from the moment we entered the airport from the runway, we were being harassed to a new level for cheap deals and machu picchu arrangements. there were literally kiosks lining the walls all around the baggage claim room. in the middle were the carousels and a colorfully decorated native band playing enthusiasticaly for the new arrivals. it was here that i started to pity the locals in tourist towns. i feel bad for the people who must make a living off of the budgeted allowance of visitors from around the world. were coming to see their natural wonders and theyre forced if not compelled by necessity to put on a show for us and hope we buy what theyre selling. people stood around watching, pointing, taking pictures, and clapping for the band but few if any i saw bought cds or merchandise. outside was worse when two cab drivers nearly started a fight over our fare. dozens of drivers were waiting anxiously outside the terminal as the latest flight emptied its belly of tourists onto the streets. we walked through the guantlet and while marisa began talking to one, i started up with another to compare prics and ensure the best deal. my guy offered me one price but when i told him we were three, he said no problem and we could all go for the first offer. i relayed the number over to marisa and her guy matched the price but began yelling at my guy for trying to steal his people. my guy tried to explain the truth, that i had approached him but the other wouldnt hear it and continued to yell and curse him. unfortunately we went with him and while we were walking to his car, he continued to look back and yell words at the other driver. but when we got to his car, his attitude changed and it was all, welcome to cuzco, amigos. we didnt tip him.

our hostel is great and located at the top of the hill that the city is built on. we got into our room and crashed immediately. the flying and the change in altitude knocked us right out and we slept well into the afternoon. when we got up, it looked like it was going to rain so we ducked into the coca shop across the street. it was a very nice, warm, environment with comfy chairs, friendly staff, and bob marley playing in the background. the ownre came over with three coca teas and also brought with him coca biscuits and coca chocolates on the house. everything was made from the coca leaves that are a tradition in this country and everything was delicious. we found a box of Spanish Scrabble and began to play. we spent a few hours in there avoiding the rain and enjoying the pleasant atmosphere. when the rain looked like it wasnt letting up, we left with ponchos dawned, and went in search of the ever important cuzco tourist card. all the sites require this card for admittance. we sludged through the rain to the tourist office and bought the cards.

the city of cuzco is amazing. it was built by the Incas and later conquered by the Spaniards so it has influences from both cultures. all the streets are either coblestone or brick and most are one way and narrow as hell. walking around is a feat while you try to stay on the slippery, thin sidewalks and avoid cars and puddles while also looking at the amazing sites this town has to offer. we found a tourism shop that offered tours of the regions famous sites and booked one for the next day. after that we retired to the hostel so david could rest and then later ate a great dinner. i had wine, garlic bread, andean soup, beef strips with onions, tomatos, and potatoes, and a coke for dessert. david had alpaca meat with rice and marisa some potatoes covered in a non-spicy peanut curry sauce. all were delicious.

this morning we boarded a tour bus with a ton of other people to see three different significant incan sites around the region. each was about an hours drive but well worth the wait. the first was Pisaq, a religious temple built on the top of a mountain. the hike up there was hard especially with the added pressure of the altitude. our tour guide spoke both english and spanish but at this point in our trip, i was actually able to understand most of the spanish. the ruins were cool and the views were just as good. ill save you the details of the diologue but it was a lot more interesting than the descriptions i received in 10th grade history class. the other thing to note was that here, as well as at all the other sites we saw today, there was a constant stream of people selling their wares with an extremely aggresive agenda. most of them were children which made me more upset at the idea of tourism and the exploitation of the natives and their land. from Pisaq we went to Ollantaytambo which was an untouched, abandoned fortress from the Inca empire. it was set atop many rows of terraces (the side of the mountain intentionally made flat for many levels for agriculture purposes or anti-erosion purposes) and like i said, was untouched by the spaniards because it was abandoned before the conquest started. we climbed to the top and found massive, 40-ton red granite stones making up a sun temple. it seemed an imposibility for ancient indians to drag these goliath rocks to the top of this massive mountain but again our tour guide explained all about it. it was pretty interesting so ill give you the brief. the rock quarry was 6 km away at the top of another nearby mountain. they broke the rocks up there and carefully dragged them down to the base so as not to damage them. then there was a 40 m river to cross. they took the boulders to the shores near a small island in the middle of the river and then blocked half of the river so the water was diverted to the othe side of the island. when it dried up, they pulled the rocks to the island, released the water and did the same stoppage on the far side and repeated the process. then they had to get the stones up to the top of the next mountain. they applied ramps and a shit ton of man power and finally got them up to their desired location. hard to imagine without cranes and diesel engines but the proof was there to be seen. on the way down we passed a school group that we had seen at the first site. one of the kids pointed to Davids massive fro and then turned around and whispered to his companion. i recognized their excitement with seeing this modern-marvel of headware so i asked them, quieres tocar su pelo? (do you want to touch his hair?) to which they were all to eager and reached out and grabben hunks of his curly locks. he tried to resist them but they were quick with their grimy mitts and secured several grabs and feels. all i could do was laugh. we finished the tour at the worst of the three sites cause the church we went to was closed and it was becoming night. on top of that, supposedly there were more ruins behind the church but our tour guide didnt tell us about them. i had to find that out from some adventurous travelers on our bus taht went off exploring. but the day was well worth it and i guess i wouldnt have seen the sites or known the facts if i hadnt succumb to the tourism bug. i still felt a little dirty.