Cusco, Peru (Part 2)
Somehow I managed to wake on time without an alarm clock. Thank you biological clock! After a little breakfast I felt a lil better and went down to the office to meet the crew. Everybody was from North America and seemed pretty cool.
After about a two hour ride we hit the top of the road for our full day downhill bike tour. Most Dangerous Road round 2? I think so. Everybody took awhile to get ready so I decided to screw around with the pigs that were ride by some shacks. Word to the wise, pigs loooove candy wrappers. Who knew?
So we started down the downhill paved road. We weren't exactly flying because the guide was taking it easy to be safe I guess. Pffff! So we made it down maybe 15 mins and our intelligent friend Zach from Minnesota dropped his camera while pissing at the top. So we had to wait for them to ride back up and grab it. While we were waiting we saw this girl bomb by yelping like a speed freak. Surprise surprise, we found her a little further up in the concrete ditch badly injured. She skidded for about 10m and was hunched over about to get sick. After seeing that we decided to take it a little slower...which lasted about 5 mins. It was awesome though! We were bombing down the road going through streams that were going right over the highway. Ya, I don't think they've invented the culvert yet in Peru.
Once we got to the dirt road where it was rough and rocky the guide decided let my American friend and I take the lead. Oh baby, all bets are off. We just pointed it down the road the full way. That was the best part of the ride without a doubt. It was close to being the worst part after we barely dodged this three legged dog that decided to hang out on the side of the road that we were riding on just around the corner. No worries though, we barely managed to dodge the little mut.
Once we got to the bottom we waited for the rest of the group and ate our lunches. We stopped at a nice viewpoint of a river valley in the Andes which was actually a group of ruins. Our guide shared some stories and history of the specific ruins and of the Inca people. From there we were driven to our hostel in the nearest tiny Inca town. We pretty much chilled out from there and checked out the concert the locals were having. Gotta love merengue music!
The next day was our hardest day of hiking. Luckily enough, it was also when my stomach decided to act up again. The hike was mostly steep uphill climbing. It wasn't easy at that elevation but it was definitely worth it once we got up the the viewpoints. Wow! We were treated to some incredible views! Throughout the day we went on and off the Inca Trails. Contrary to what most people think, there are many Inca Trails. The Inka Jungle Trek is an alternative route that uses the Inca Trail at certain parts.
After about 6hrs of hiking we made to the hot springs. Yes! What a great reward. These were natural fed hot springs that were quite elegant. Most of us jumped in and relaxed. Problem was we didn't know we had a bit of a hike ahead of us to get to the next town. So, we had to push our lazy asses up the hill for one last climb of the day. Whew, we made it! I took it easy that night. Some people went to the local dicoteca to party it up. That wasn't an option for me because I was on the meds and my stomach was doing some funny things.
The next day was an easier 22km hike which was relatively flat. We saw some cool waterfalls and the lunch was awesome that day. The hike was all train tracks after lunch. I'd have to say that was the most boring part of the trek. The reason you go on a trek is to see incredible views. So, my friend Zach and I decided to play the name game till we hit Aguas Calientes to pass time. Ya, we also jumped in the freezing cold river on the way too. There was no hurry to get to the next town so we decided to enjoy it. Well, enjoy in a freezing cold type of way. We also got our first peek at Maccu Piccu from below. We could see some ruins peeking over the side of the mountain. That night only involved dinner and a prep for the next day. It was an early night because we had to wake up for 4am for the long hike up to Maccu Piccu.
Man, did 4am come quick. We got outside to be greeted by some rain drops. Some people bought some garbage bags so they wouldn't get wet. I declined on the garbage bag. huge fashion faux-pas in Maccu Piccu. Hello! So we headed up the 1000's of stairs in the pitch dark. We started to get some light once we got close but it was very foggy so we could hardly see any views. Maccu Piccu couldn't have come any quicker. I had one fierce delivery to make in the little boys room. That's the first time I've ever made an echo while going to the washroom. I was quite proud of myself...
The gates to Maccu Piccu finally opened and we made our way in their. The guys at the desk tried to take away my food that I brought for the day. Those profiteering assholes were trying to take my food so I would buy their overpriced food. Hell no! I found some random people in the line to hide my food in their backpack and sneak it in. Mission accomplished! Don't try to get in this guys' way when he's trying to save money. We went straight to Waynu Piccu to get our ticket because only 400 people are aloud up there a day. Once we all had our tickets the guide gave us a full tour around Maccu Piccu. It was very interesting to hear about the Inca lifestyle back then and about the hole Inca Kingdom which was centralized in Cusco. It spanned from Colombia to the middle of Chile. It was huge!
After the tour we made our way up Waynu Piccu which was another trek on its own. It wasn't so bad at that point because I think all of us were used to it by then. The top was incredible though. There are a bunch of rocks stacked on eachother that everybody just lounges on and enjoys the view. We stayed for quite a bit and chilled and reflected on the trek. After taking a rediculous amount of photos and seeing everything there is to see in Maccu Piccu, we made our way back down to Aguas Calientes. We were scheduled for a 6pm train. So we ate and then waited at the train station where we met a giant group of Peruvian school girls who had an insatiable hunger for gringos. Haha, not interested but some funny conversations none the less. After a long train ride and a heartbreaker overtime loss by the Canucks, I was ready call it quits and hit the sack.
The next day I felt great! My stomach finally felt more or less normal. I hit the town to check out some cathedrals and museums. I happened to meet up with the American guys that I trekked with and we all went to Loki Hostel to party it up one last time. And what a party it was! Loki was rediculously packed! There was a live band playing and it was Friday so...no surprise. We headed over to everybody's favourite place, Mama Africas after. We went to same other places for a bit to claim our free drinks of course. Mama Africa was amazing as usual though. At about 5 in the morning this Israeli girl convinced Zach and I to go to this Israeli bar. We were both surprised that there was even a bar just for Israelis in the middle of Peru. So, we had to check it out. We arrived there to find an Israeli in a fight with the bouncer. The Israeli guy threw the bouncer right through this huge plank door. The Israeli guy took off and the bouncer walked it off but was bleeding and really pissed off. Right away, the people nailed up the door like nothing happened. We came up to them and asked, "Uhhhh, could we come in?" They knocked on the door and said "Customers". So, they took down the door again and let us in. Seems like a legitimate establishment...nope. This place was weird! We were the only non-Israeli. They were playing some hardcore techno. Everybody was drugged up. I could just feel the vibe there. I was not into it so I pretty much left after about 10 mins to call it a night. It was a good thing because my buddy Zach stayed and said the fights didn't stop there. Apparently a guy grab a huge plank of wood and brought it into the club and started fighting a bunch of other guys. It was a huge brawl apparently. I was told there are two opposing groups amongst young Israelis. I didn't inquire too much but apparently this was the cause of the brawl.
The next day I met up with the American guys before they left for Lima and then hung out with some other friends. I checked out a few more museums and did a little more shopping but it was all a prelude to the Canucks game I was waiting to watch. After being dissapointed by my Canucks I decided to drown my sorrows one last time in Cusco. This time I decided to check out somewhere new that wasn't Mama Africa. I actually went to this place that wasn't even close to Mama Africa. It was called Las Vegas and this place actually had a lot of locals for a change. Well, my cab driver really liked the place. In fact, after he dropped me off he actually came out to the club and started partying with me and I met all his friends. Haha, what a crazy place that was. Word to the wise, it looks nothing like Las Vegas...
Sunday morning was merely breakfast and off to the bus straight to Lima. The plan was to get into Lima and taxi to the airport to grab a plane to Bogota. That was the plan...
After about a two hour ride we hit the top of the road for our full day downhill bike tour. Most Dangerous Road round 2? I think so. Everybody took awhile to get ready so I decided to screw around with the pigs that were ride by some shacks. Word to the wise, pigs loooove candy wrappers. Who knew?
So we started down the downhill paved road. We weren't exactly flying because the guide was taking it easy to be safe I guess. Pffff! So we made it down maybe 15 mins and our intelligent friend Zach from Minnesota dropped his camera while pissing at the top. So we had to wait for them to ride back up and grab it. While we were waiting we saw this girl bomb by yelping like a speed freak. Surprise surprise, we found her a little further up in the concrete ditch badly injured. She skidded for about 10m and was hunched over about to get sick. After seeing that we decided to take it a little slower...which lasted about 5 mins. It was awesome though! We were bombing down the road going through streams that were going right over the highway. Ya, I don't think they've invented the culvert yet in Peru.
Once we got to the dirt road where it was rough and rocky the guide decided let my American friend and I take the lead. Oh baby, all bets are off. We just pointed it down the road the full way. That was the best part of the ride without a doubt. It was close to being the worst part after we barely dodged this three legged dog that decided to hang out on the side of the road that we were riding on just around the corner. No worries though, we barely managed to dodge the little mut.
Once we got to the bottom we waited for the rest of the group and ate our lunches. We stopped at a nice viewpoint of a river valley in the Andes which was actually a group of ruins. Our guide shared some stories and history of the specific ruins and of the Inca people. From there we were driven to our hostel in the nearest tiny Inca town. We pretty much chilled out from there and checked out the concert the locals were having. Gotta love merengue music!
The next day was our hardest day of hiking. Luckily enough, it was also when my stomach decided to act up again. The hike was mostly steep uphill climbing. It wasn't easy at that elevation but it was definitely worth it once we got up the the viewpoints. Wow! We were treated to some incredible views! Throughout the day we went on and off the Inca Trails. Contrary to what most people think, there are many Inca Trails. The Inka Jungle Trek is an alternative route that uses the Inca Trail at certain parts.
After about 6hrs of hiking we made to the hot springs. Yes! What a great reward. These were natural fed hot springs that were quite elegant. Most of us jumped in and relaxed. Problem was we didn't know we had a bit of a hike ahead of us to get to the next town. So, we had to push our lazy asses up the hill for one last climb of the day. Whew, we made it! I took it easy that night. Some people went to the local dicoteca to party it up. That wasn't an option for me because I was on the meds and my stomach was doing some funny things.
The next day was an easier 22km hike which was relatively flat. We saw some cool waterfalls and the lunch was awesome that day. The hike was all train tracks after lunch. I'd have to say that was the most boring part of the trek. The reason you go on a trek is to see incredible views. So, my friend Zach and I decided to play the name game till we hit Aguas Calientes to pass time. Ya, we also jumped in the freezing cold river on the way too. There was no hurry to get to the next town so we decided to enjoy it. Well, enjoy in a freezing cold type of way. We also got our first peek at Maccu Piccu from below. We could see some ruins peeking over the side of the mountain. That night only involved dinner and a prep for the next day. It was an early night because we had to wake up for 4am for the long hike up to Maccu Piccu.
Man, did 4am come quick. We got outside to be greeted by some rain drops. Some people bought some garbage bags so they wouldn't get wet. I declined on the garbage bag. huge fashion faux-pas in Maccu Piccu. Hello! So we headed up the 1000's of stairs in the pitch dark. We started to get some light once we got close but it was very foggy so we could hardly see any views. Maccu Piccu couldn't have come any quicker. I had one fierce delivery to make in the little boys room. That's the first time I've ever made an echo while going to the washroom. I was quite proud of myself...
The gates to Maccu Piccu finally opened and we made our way in their. The guys at the desk tried to take away my food that I brought for the day. Those profiteering assholes were trying to take my food so I would buy their overpriced food. Hell no! I found some random people in the line to hide my food in their backpack and sneak it in. Mission accomplished! Don't try to get in this guys' way when he's trying to save money. We went straight to Waynu Piccu to get our ticket because only 400 people are aloud up there a day. Once we all had our tickets the guide gave us a full tour around Maccu Piccu. It was very interesting to hear about the Inca lifestyle back then and about the hole Inca Kingdom which was centralized in Cusco. It spanned from Colombia to the middle of Chile. It was huge!
After the tour we made our way up Waynu Piccu which was another trek on its own. It wasn't so bad at that point because I think all of us were used to it by then. The top was incredible though. There are a bunch of rocks stacked on eachother that everybody just lounges on and enjoys the view. We stayed for quite a bit and chilled and reflected on the trek. After taking a rediculous amount of photos and seeing everything there is to see in Maccu Piccu, we made our way back down to Aguas Calientes. We were scheduled for a 6pm train. So we ate and then waited at the train station where we met a giant group of Peruvian school girls who had an insatiable hunger for gringos. Haha, not interested but some funny conversations none the less. After a long train ride and a heartbreaker overtime loss by the Canucks, I was ready call it quits and hit the sack.
The next day I felt great! My stomach finally felt more or less normal. I hit the town to check out some cathedrals and museums. I happened to meet up with the American guys that I trekked with and we all went to Loki Hostel to party it up one last time. And what a party it was! Loki was rediculously packed! There was a live band playing and it was Friday so...no surprise. We headed over to everybody's favourite place, Mama Africas after. We went to same other places for a bit to claim our free drinks of course. Mama Africa was amazing as usual though. At about 5 in the morning this Israeli girl convinced Zach and I to go to this Israeli bar. We were both surprised that there was even a bar just for Israelis in the middle of Peru. So, we had to check it out. We arrived there to find an Israeli in a fight with the bouncer. The Israeli guy threw the bouncer right through this huge plank door. The Israeli guy took off and the bouncer walked it off but was bleeding and really pissed off. Right away, the people nailed up the door like nothing happened. We came up to them and asked, "Uhhhh, could we come in?" They knocked on the door and said "Customers". So, they took down the door again and let us in. Seems like a legitimate establishment...nope. This place was weird! We were the only non-Israeli. They were playing some hardcore techno. Everybody was drugged up. I could just feel the vibe there. I was not into it so I pretty much left after about 10 mins to call it a night. It was a good thing because my buddy Zach stayed and said the fights didn't stop there. Apparently a guy grab a huge plank of wood and brought it into the club and started fighting a bunch of other guys. It was a huge brawl apparently. I was told there are two opposing groups amongst young Israelis. I didn't inquire too much but apparently this was the cause of the brawl.
The next day I met up with the American guys before they left for Lima and then hung out with some other friends. I checked out a few more museums and did a little more shopping but it was all a prelude to the Canucks game I was waiting to watch. After being dissapointed by my Canucks I decided to drown my sorrows one last time in Cusco. This time I decided to check out somewhere new that wasn't Mama Africa. I actually went to this place that wasn't even close to Mama Africa. It was called Las Vegas and this place actually had a lot of locals for a change. Well, my cab driver really liked the place. In fact, after he dropped me off he actually came out to the club and started partying with me and I met all his friends. Haha, what a crazy place that was. Word to the wise, it looks nothing like Las Vegas...
Sunday morning was merely breakfast and off to the bus straight to Lima. The plan was to get into Lima and taxi to the airport to grab a plane to Bogota. That was the plan...
posted by Kean @ 11:12 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home