Cusco is a city right in the middle of the Andes mountains at an altitude of 11,000ft above sea level. The place where we first stayed basically sucked. We each had our own bed, however there wasn't much of a common area and the people who owned the place had dogs and cats. Their dog named Chester was the cutest little golden retriever puppy that I have ever seen, however if you got him excited, he would tear up anything in his way including pillows and your pants. There was pet fur all over and every morning for breakfast we were served a drink called Coca Tea, that I did not care for at all, but it was supposed to help with altitude. The people who owned the place were as nice as could be, however the place itself wasn't all that sanitary. When our neighbor from MN arrived we finally decided we'd had enough and we moved to a really nice hotel.
Cusco is a fascinating city because much of the architecture is original Incan stone. Also there are tons of cultural markets where they sell Alpaca clothing. Alpaca is a huge industry in Cusco and alpaca fiber makes very nice clothing. It is warmer than wool although you don't sweat. Alpaca's are similar to llamas. You can also bargain for cheaper prices, which I think is very enjoyable. Cusco also has delicious food. They sell guinea pig, which is considered a delicacy to eat, although I didn't have a chance to try it. One day we did some touristy stuff and went to see an Incan agricultural area and some salt mines.
Finally the night before we went to Machu Picchu we met our guide Saul (pronounced S-a-oo-l) and he gave us a briefing of what we were going to be doing. The next morning we got up at 5am and headed out in a bus to Machu Picchu. When we got there we learned that we were going to have to hike an extra 4k because the regular road was closed for construction. The first day was relatively easy and we didn't have much difficulty. Lunch was an awesome 3 course meal complete with table and all. Afterwards they let us have a half our nap before continuing. It really was glamping (glamorous camping). When we reached our campsite for the night we passed out. We got to sleep on a pad, air matress, and sleeping bag, so it wasn't uncomfortable at all. The second day was definitly the hardest and we hiked over 13,500ft. We skipped lunch so that we could keep going but it was really difficult. Almost all of it was uphill, and the summit was amazing as it was above the clouds and almost half way done with our journey. It was also the highest I've ever been and it was enjoyable to have a half hour break and eat beef jerky. By the end of the day my legs were practically dead. Day three was easy and awesome until dinner. We hiked through a cloud forest and had the coolest campsite ever.
Sadly that night we all got very sick, a combination of food poisoning and altitude sickness. I threw up 15 times in three hours and by morning I still wasn't better. The fourth day we all had to stumble down a slippery mountain slope for three hours with practically no strength left before we made it to Machu Picchu. My first glimpse as I passed through the Sungate was amazing as we were actually higher than Machu Picchu and we had to hike down to get to it.
Instead of staying to explore, we took the bus to the bottom where we then walked to the hostel that we were staying in. We took a hot shower, had some awesome pizza and then went to bed. The next morning we took a bus back up to Machu Picchu where we had our formal tour. No one actually knows how or why Machu Picchu was built, and what we see today is actually thirty percent restored after the original strutcture collapsed in places. I learned that Yale University has many artifacts from Hiram Bingham's expedition, despite a deal that they made with the Peruvian government, and they won't give any of them back.
Frankly the pictures just don't do it justice. Machu Picchu is INCREDIBLE! It is gigantic and all of the stone walls are amazing. After Machu Picchu we took an awesome panoramic train back down to the bottom of the mountain, where we then took a bus back to Cusco. We stayed one more night in Cusco before heading back to LA for three days!!!
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