COUNTRY: Peru
PROGRAM: GapBreak
PROJECT: Teaching & Construction
WRITTEN BY: Stephanie Rainbow
Hola,
The beginning of Week 6 of our trip in Peru finds our group returning from the magnificent sights and experiences of Machu Picchu. Duringthe three-day hike up the huge snow-capped mountain Salkantay, I might as well have been one of the pack horses due to the slow, plodding pace I was doing. The view was breathtaking, however, and I was blown away by how huge the Andes were. They were made even more beautiful by the fog that constantly curls around their peaks.
Arriving at Aguas Calientes on the third day was quite a relief for my poor feet, which were not at all happy with me. The town was not at all what I expected, nestled amidst the rainforest and accompanied by the constant soundtrack of the swirling river that flowed in its midst. We were also lucky enough to arrive the night they were doing work on the power plant and so the town was without power for most of our stay. Nevertheless we were relieved to be sleeping in a real bed with access to hot showers. The next day we woke bright and early to catch the bus up to Machu Picchu, joining the thronging crowds who had exactly the same idea. Luckily our guide Juri had told us to bring plastic ponchos because as soon as we hopped off the bus it began to rain. Despite not exactly matching the sunny postcard pictures, Machu Picchu is absolutely stunning, and much bigger than I had thought it would be. And a lot more stairs too!
We were told by the guide about how Machu Picchu (which translates to Old Mountain) was built, eventually discovered and the theories about what it was used for, which was all very interesting. We were then left to our own devices and explored the many nooks and crannies that the sight possesses, before ascending to the point where you can capture the world famous picture that is seen on the postcards, which we now have lots of. Exhausted, we descended and explored Aguas Calientes, experienced having lunch with no power, took a dip in the famous hot springs and spent all our money in the markets. Returning to our home stays in Cuzco was a strange experience after that adventure and we are once again having to turn our minds towards lesson planning and construction.
Machu Picchu isn't the only thing we have done since the last blog, however, as the previous weekend we travelled to the town of Puno and the floating islands that inhabit Lake Titicaca. We set out on the Saturday on a coach which stopped off at several sights along the way before arriving at Puno where we celebrated my birthday at a restaurant that was eloquently named 'Pizza and Pasta'.
The next day we embarked out onto the Lake and visited the richly cultured, very colourful and yes, quite touristy floating islands, where everyone bought a lot more than they should have. We then went to one of the main islands in Lake Titicaca for lunch. There you could look out on the vast expanse that is the lake, though from the view we had it looked more like an ocean. It was breathtaking. The island did however mark the end of the tour and we took the long trip back to Puno. Despite everyone dreading the overnight bus ride back to Cuzco, the bus was pure luxury, something you'd expect on a business class flight.
Our trip in Peru is drawing to a close with only three weeks left until we part ways, which is somewhat hard to believe. Our last big trip to Arequipa is coming up for Halloween, but until then....
Adios!
Steph
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