Day 11 – Jack’s Tasties in My Mouth
Location: Cusco, Peru
Date: Thursday, October 21, 2010
Enough with the historic sites, already. Today was a break from the historical and a visit to the practical. In South America, there is nothing more practical than learning Spanish. To that end, I subjected myself to three hours of Spanish tutoring. Read more…
Day 10 – Please, I Want Pay You To Make Me Work
Location: Cusco, Peru
Date: Wednesday, October 20, 2010
Seeing people out of context is a strange thing. Today Ashley, a friend since high school, arrived in Cusco. The last time we saw each other was a couple years back when I visited DC. Or was it when she came to California for Christmas? Regardless, it’s been a long time. Read more…
Day 9 – Expedition Class
Location: Tracks and roads between Aguas Calientes and Cusco, Peru
Date: Tuesday, October 19, 2010
So this is how the other side lived. Sitting on a plush train from Aguas Calientes to Ollataytambo, Dave and I are living large. We’re not supposed to be here. Literally. That’s because we were supposed to already be in Cusco by now. That didn’t happen because yesterday, after exploring Machu Picchu, when we jetted down to the train station to buy cheap backpacker train tickets, the cars were all booked. The only transport left were in higher class (and higher priced) train cars. We decided to wait until today to get on the “Backpacker” car. Read more…
Day 8 – Through the Haze (Machu Picchu)
Location: Machu Picchu, Peru
Date: Monday, October, 18, 2010
Machu Picchu was a dream, but that may have been because I was half asleep when I got there. Dave and I began our assault on the Machu Picchu mountain at 4:15 in the morning. We left Aguas Calientes just like we arrived: in the dark. We didn’t meet any other tourists on our chilly 1.5 km walk to the bridge that crosses the river to the mountain.
Turns out that’s because all the most ambitious tourists were already there, waiting under incandescent lights at the locked gate to the bridge. The bridge didn’t open until 4:45 a.m. When the guard let us through, 40 of us streamed up the road to a footpath up the mountain. Read more…
Day 7 Bonus – How to Get To Machu Picchu Without Taking The Train
The following is a guide on how-to travel from Cuzco to Aguas Calientes (the gateway to Machu Picchu) without taking the train. You may also be interested in reading Mervyn’s account of his trip here which includes pictures of the route. If you have any questions, you may e-mail Mervyn directly at mervyn at theoverpacker.com.
There are many ways to get from Cuzco to Machu Picchu. You can book a trek on the Inca Trail (or one of the alternates). You can take the train either directly from Cuzco or via Ollataytambo. This is a guide for those who don’t feel like a full on Inca Trail trek, want to spend as little as possible, and want a bit of adventure to boot. It describes how to get from Cuzco to Aguas Calientes (the gateway town to Machu Picchu) in one or two days via Santa Maria. Read on. Read more…
Location: Road from Cuzco to Machu Picchu via Santa Maria/Santa Teresa/Hydroelectrica, Peru
Date: Sunday, October 17, 2010
The minibus’s rear wheels slipped sideways over the gravel. That didn’t stop our transport from flying forward. At every blind corner the driver tapped the horn to alert oncoming drivers that he had the right of way. It was a prudent measure, because 90% of the road was just wide enough for one car. The road was also perched between two cliffs—the one on the right went up, the one on the left went down to the river. Way down. Occasionally, the cliff on the right wrapped itself over the roof of the car just to prove that no god—Catholic, Incan, or otherwise—intended this mountain to have a road. The sacrilege of dynamite has, however, allowed men to defy that divine decree. Read more…
Location: Qorikancha, Cuzco, Peru
Date: Saturday, October 16, 2010
Qorikancha was just what the Spanish were looking for. It’s hard to tell from the outside, but this used to be the richest temple in the Incan empire. The three Spanish buffoons that stumbled into this place must have been doing the Spanish colonial equivalent of high fives. The walls of each chamber were covered with sheets of molded gold and silver. Chroniclers state that the men ran through the temple ripping the artifacts off the walls while all the Incan priests could do was watch. Read more…
Day 5 – Totally Megalithic (Saqsaywaman Fortress)
Location: Saqsaywaman, Cuzco, Peru
Date: Friday, October 15, 2010
Today I don’t feel like a conquistador. I don’t feel like an Incan warrior. I feel like a six hundred fifty pound chain smoker who’s only ever eaten fried cheese and whipped cream and has been forced to climb a flight of stairs. I’m winded. I’m out of breath. And I’m freezing. Read more…
Day 4 – Arrogance at Altitude
Location: Roads between Nazca and Cuzco, Peru
Date: Thursday, October 14, 2010
The 20-hour bus from Lima to Cuzco (via Nazca) felt like being in the bowels of a ship on a dyspeptic sea. Settlements were few and far between, so no light shone through the bus windows and it felt as if you were being rocking on the ocean because you couldn’t count to “three” before the bus would be turning either left or right. I’d heard that the Lima-Arequipa-Cuzco bus was more comfortable; now I know why. This journey is not for the motion sick. Read more…
Day 3 – On A Steel Horse I Ride (Squirrel!)
Location: Transit from Lima to Cuzco (via Nazca), Peru
Date: Wednesday, October 13, 2010
I wonder what it’s like to be a jet setter. I’m pretty sure you get a jet. I don’t think you get a bus.
Part of traveling long term is spending only for what’s important. For me, I’m willing to pay for food, experiences, and time. One thing I’m not willing to pay for is a jet. Read more…
Day 2 – Sometimes Racism Just Works (Lessons in Spanish)
Location: Lima, Peru
Date: Tuesday, October 12, 2010
¡Bienvenidos! Welcome to Peru. To some, this is the land of the Inca, the site of Spanish conquest, and a place rich with history, culture, and food. For you, native English speaker, it is also an endless Spanish quiz. With that in mind, please read the following questions carefully but quickly as your responses are timed. A late response will count as an incorrect one. Because this is real life, the solutions will be provided immediately.
Good luck. ¡Buena suerte! You may now begin your quiz. Read more…
Day 1 – Things You Learn in a Mexican Airport
Location: Mexico City, Mexico
Date: Monday, October 11, 2010
Mexico City isn’t a destination, but I did get a passport stamp. Odd, since Mexico City is just a layover on my way to Lima, Peru and I never left the airport. During my five hours in Mexico City(‘s International Airport) I did the following: Read more…
Prologue to South America
Location: Living room floor, Southern California, California, U.S.A.
Date: Sunday, October 10, 2010
For some reason I can never sleep the night before I travel. Scratch that. I know the reason. I never sleep because I’m packing. Doesn’t matter whether it’s a three-day weekend in NYC or a five-month trip to Asia I barely sleep the night before I leave. Read more…
Intermission – San Francisco Zoo
Dateline: San Francisco Zoo, San Francisco, California, U.S.A.
I’m supposed to hate zoos—the liberal media tells me so. Zoos are a depressing place where humans cage other animals for fun and profit. The beasts should be free to roam the savannah, climb the jungle canopy, and march the ice fields of the Antarctic. Those who participate in the incarceration of creatures are perpetuating an abomination against Mother Nature. Visiting a zoo just means you’re feeding the prison machine. Read more…
Epilogue
Dateline: Southern California, United States of America – Thursday, August 12, 2010
Asia’s over. After five months of wandering through the land of white rice and brown people, I’m stateside to try my hand at a brief intermission; a break from my break, if you will. Fear not readers, I will, remain a traveler at home. Read more…
The Overpacker 