In the beginning of December 2008
we (Tanya and I) spent 12 days in
Day 1 (
We flew in to
We took a taxi (outside the airport
gate, much cheaper) to Plaza de Armas, where an annual procession in honor of 
under a close watch of the no nonsense armed
guard. 
and unsuspecting
jet-legged tourists
. After walking around the Plaza and nearby
pedestrian streets, we took a taxi to Miraflores 
where we had a delicious see food lunch,
walked around the Park del Amor 
and looked at the foggy Pacific coast 
. Then we went back to the airport and flew to 
After a short walk in the center and around 
, we
called it a day in a local hospedaje.
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Day 2 (
As 
,
famed by its spirited Old World nuns that enjoyed having multiple servants
several century’s back and a relatively comfortable living (for nuns) 
,
although some might have still found cocking 
and washing 
a bit difficult. This was definitely a good place to visit 
and get away from dusty and noisy streets.
For lunch we went to the Yanahuara
neighborhood, to an overprized (by 
. A look at nearby churches with intricately
carved entrances 
, and
crosses decorated in the local fashion with “historical” tools 
In the evening we went to a local museum,
(accompanied by a horde of stray dogs freely roaming in the streets) 
to look at Juanita, a mummified teenage girl
that was ritually sacrificed by the Incas about 500 years ago and
well-preserved by the glacier ice that recently melted due to volcanic
activity. Finally, another walk around
Plaza de Armas in the evening 
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Day 3 (
In the morning we went rafting on
Rio Chili (class 1 to class 4 white water) 
. We spent about 1.5 half on the river (plus
about 2 hours setting up and getting there).
It was fun, bringing back memories of our previous (separate) white
water trips in 
. After lunch we went to the bus terminal 
,
and took a bus to Puno, a port city on lake Titicaca. After a 6-hour bus ride with some amazing views 
,
but with cold and stuffy air and multiple extended sales pitches during the
trip (mostly offering to buy various natural remedies and, of course, all kinds
of food), we both came to Puno feeling pretty sick – most likely due to much
higher altitude (Puno is 3, 830 m (12,565 feed above see level). Fortunately the owner of the hospedaje where
we stayed in
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Day 4 (Puno)
In the morning we both felt sick
(kind of a bad hangover feeling that makes you want to keep staying in bed and
not moving). But Tanya managed to get
outside for a early walk in the center, where a long line of local women was
forming near the bank 
,
and men were reading newspapers 
.
After breakfast, a stroll around Plaza de Armas 
,
where we were immediately offered some finger puppet souvenirs 
. Then we walked to the port where a fleet of
tourist boats was ready to tour the lake 
,
passing some disserted-looking water amusements on the way 
. After arranging a two day trip of the lake
for tomorrow and some souvenir shopping, we returned to the center in a local
bicycle taxi 
– euphemistically called ecological taxi (some
of the streets are pretty uphill and some of the riders, probably have
grandchildren, still a lot of people travel this way, although there are also
many motorbike-taxis that look like a carriage). After lunch we went to Sillustani with a tour
of old Inca 
and
pre-Inca 
burial grounds about an hour from Puno near
another lake. This serene wind swept
place on the hill was big, solemn and beautiful. On the way back, we were watching some local
farms 
and families working on their land along the
road 
-- all by hand, no tractors. We visited one family farm 
,
shown the crops 
,
offered to taste some of their home made cheese they make here 
,
and some guinea pigs, that live in their own miniature house, and are another
Peruvian delicacy (along with cats) 
,
although I didn’t feel like eating either.
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Day 5 (Puno – Uros – Amantani)
In the morning we set sail for Uros
– a group of small floating islands made of (edible) reeds, which are home to
numerous Aymara-speaking Indian families 
. An island lasts for about 30 years, and then
a new one has to be built – takes about 6 months. On one of the islands we had a brief lecture
in a mixture of Aymara and Spanish/English on how the islands are built 
,
visited an island family 
,
which was relatively well off – had a solar battery powering a TV set in the house,
even with a video game console 
,
although the cooking was still pretty traditional 
,
but there was enough for everyone 
. Finally, a local water taxi ride across to
another island nearby 
,
passing other floating islands on the way 
(each with its own name )
,
and other family houses with solar batteries 
and various attractions along the local
skyline 
.
Our next destination was Amantani,
a big, (solid ground) island about 3 hours away 
. Once there the guide set up everyone in our
group with a local family to stay with for a night 
(all the women there are constantly knitting
or weaving even as they walk).
Accommodations were pretty dissent, a big and clean separate room in a
two story family house 
,
but you had to go outside to use the bathroom 
(ours had a roof and a door that guarded a
hole in the ground – but comfortable
bathrooms with running water and toilet paper are definitely not something
commonly found in Peru, just like hot water that seems to exist everywhere only
in theory, not when you actually want to use it). After lunch, a short walk to the Plaza de
Armas 
and a long steep walk to the local ruins at
the top of the hill (over 4, 000 m / 13,123 feet high)
These were two different pre-Inca
ruins, Pacha Tata – father Earth 
(still used periodically by locals for various
rituals) and Pacha Mama – mother Earth 
on a neighboring hill.
. In the evening after a home made dinner 
we went dancing 
in the local club, doubling as a bar and a store 
, wearing
local costumes brought to us by our host families 
. Except for musicians, all the locals at the
dance were women (they gave each other sarcastic knowing looks when I asked
where all the men were) and apparently this sort of outing happens only when
tourists are in town (there are 10 small communities on Amantani, but only 5
get tourists, and some are only periodically), and it felt a bit awkward (look
at the sleeping child above), although the dancing was certainly good natured
and well intended.
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Day 6 (Amantani – Taquille – Puno)
In the morning, we said good bye to
our hostess Olga, a very warm and hospitable woman who walked us to our boat 
with her daughter Allison and nephew
Franklin. We left for Taquille, another
big island on Titicaca, already feeling a bit nostalgic about Amantani and its
people 
with its tall and beautiful Eucalypts and
garden terraces 
, 
.
After an hour we reached Taquille. Another steep walk from the marina 
to Plaza de Armas 
,
where local men hang out 
and weave their famous hand crafts (using lama
and alpaca wool they have to buy in Puno – neither animal is found on the
islands) 
,
also on local streets 
, passing
locals who were looking at us as if we were strange creatures from another
world (which is true in many ways) 
,
even the kids gave us wondering looks 
,
not to mention the animals 
. After some time in the town and a good lunch
we walked back to the boat 
and after another 3 hours returned to
Puno. This time feeling much better, we
ended up staying late in a cozy bar (Kamisaraki) next to our hospedaje,
drinking and playing Jenga with the guys from our island tour 
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Day 7 (Puno --
In the morning we said goodbye to
Puno 
and took a bus to 
Kids playing soccer 
and farmers tending to their land 
We arrived to 
)
and went out. After lunch we arranged
for a four day Salkantay track (through JJJ tours on Plaza de Armas 
-- the weather was changing almost every few
mintues 
This track is typically done in 5 days, but
we had only 4 days left – logistically
it was a challenge for our guide and organizers, but amazingly except some
minor hiccups it all worked out). After
spending some time getting supplies in little shops lining old streets 
that date back to pre- Inca times, we went
back to pack and get ready for a 4:30 AM pickup, after one more look at night
Cuzco spread out in front of us under a full moon 
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Day 8 (
By 5 AM we were already at a local
bus station in 
to local glacier lakes that you couldn’t see
from the road 
It is actually two lakes 
,
separated by a small natural dam. The stones in the dam filter the water as it passes between the
lakes, so it is brown and muddy in the first one, but then becomes turquoise in
the second one. The lakes are being fed
by a local glacier 
that makes many streams we had to cross 
On the way back we got glimpses of the mighty
Salkantay 
through the constantly moving clouds and fog 
. Lunch
and dinner went quickly by, separated by a short helpful nap. After a little
comforting bone fire we went to sleep around 9 PM.
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Day 9 (Soraymampa – Chaullay -- Qollpapampa/ camp 2)
At 5:30 AM we were served hot tea
in our tents (What service!) and after breakfast around 8 AM began ascending to
the Apacheta pass (4, 650 m/ 15,256 feet)
under intermittent rain that turned to snow and sleet by the time we reached
the pass 3 hours later
. Going was pretty tough, but we all made it to
the pass, even the two Danish boys, Lucas, 12 
and
Ditleo, 9 
traveling with their brave father. The rain continued for another 3 hours on the
way down, until lunch, but then when we were in the jungle area it finally
stopped and it became much warmer and more enjoyable to walk. There was also a quick and drastic change in vegetation 
. We were passing small villages 
When we reached our
camp after 10 hours of walking, it was already dark – which did not stop Lucas
and Ditleo from playing soccer with the local kids 
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Day 10 (Qollpapampa – Santa Teresa – Aquas Calientes
)
After our 5.30 AM tea-in-tent 
(you can really get used to this quickly) and
breakfast we set out for an easy, mostly descending jungle track. While our
backpacks and the rest were being again moved on horses 
by our horseman Rolando 
. One last look at our camp 
and off we went 
,
again passing small local villages 
with serious looking kids 
and busily breast feeding animals 
. We crossed lots of small 
and big streams 
, waterfalls 
Now that it wasn’t raining, being in the
jungle, we could really appreciate all forms of life around us 
(Peruvian national flower) 
, 
while
eating some familiar berries 
. After about 3 hours of walking, at the end of
the foot path and beginning of a dirt road we were picked up by another minivan
and driven first to a lunch place, in a small village along the way, and then
to Santa Teresa, where we were gritted by two playful monkeys 
. There we split with our group, and, after a
short cab to Hidroelectrico, took a train 
to
Aquas Calientes 
while getting first glimpses of Machu Pichu
and surrounding mountains 
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Day 11 (Aquas Calientes – Machu Pichu -
Another early rise (this time at 4:30)
-- and no tea in bed, instead we had a nice room and hot showers in our
hospedaje (Los Caminantes) that turned out to be much better than the
description in the Lonely Planet’s Peru guide suggests (at least for
off-season). The
owner/manager?? Aristos was also very helpful in figuring out the
logistics of our visit (Machu Pichu tickets and guide, return train and bus
tickets, dinner, all that was still included in our tour). We took a bus to Machu Pichu and got their
around 6 AM when the gates open. The
views were stunning to say the least, with clouds constantly moving on all
sides, giving the lost city of the Inkas a mysterious and somewhat surreal
feeling. 
We had an informative guided tour (about 2
hours), that oriented us to different parts of the city – living quarters 
,
steeply descending agricultural terraces 
. It was almost inconceivable that a city that
big, carrefully constructed and complex could be built by a civilization that
did not have a writing system. How did
they design, plan and manage all of this without keeping records? After the tour we decided to climb the tall
Waynupichu, before it would disappear in the clouds. We were lucky and got some good birds’ eye
views of the Inca city 
and surrounding area 
,
birds 
and
chinchillas
. After climbing Waynupichu we descended on the
other side of the mountain to a small cave used for various rituals and then
walked back through Machu Pichu down to Aquas Calientes. In the evening we took the train to Ollanta,
and than a bus to 
around 10 PM, we found out that there were no
rooms and walked around
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Day 12 (
By 8 AM we were already in the air
flying toward 
and surrounding mountains 
. After landing in 
trying as many things as we could from the
lunch menu($5 for both of us) 
Then walked around Miraflores a bit 
,
learning on the way that extraterrestrial life exists 
and Marcians are now for sale. But not ready to leave Earth, we ended up at
a site of 2,500 year old Indian ruins 
that were buried for many years in a pile of
rubble and dust, and were only recently “won over” from real estate
developers. As the adobe bricks that
were used in the construction of these ruins are made mostly of mud – the only
reason these structures are preserved for so long is that it practically never
rains in 
Finally, as this was the first clear and
sunny day in 
and got another good look at the Pacific coast from
the air 
,
much better then on Day 1. Late in the
evening we boarded a plane for 
,
already planning to come back another time.