Amy Blog...Puno to Cusco
Today we are in Cusco, and miss the sweet relative calmness of Lake Titicaca and Sillustani.
Sillustani, which is near Puno, is often listed as one of those well, you shouldn´t miss this as long as you´re here places. It turned out to be astonishingly beautiful! It is an isolated place where the preInca cultures built very tall funeral towers which flare outwards, like inverted cones buried deep in the earth. The Inca took over and faced them with beautiful grey volcanic andesite stonework. What we didn´t know is that they are standing high up on a bluff next to a small lake, and then, when you climb up the bluff, on the far side is a very blue, very large, lovely, volcanic caldera! Like a miniature lake Titicaca, with lovely contrast between the yellow grass on the hills and the blue sky and the bluer lake. The towers themselves command energy - they are so high that they get hit by lightning, so the iron in the stone in them is magnetized and, like magic, our compass needle wavers and quivers whenever it is near them. Naturally our peruvian guide who like most of them loves to talk about energy sources and power emerging from the earth takes full advantage of this. He fell in love with my Target compass also but finally gave it back.
We really loved our stay at the hotel in Chuchuito, lake Titicaca, but left it with hugs from the staff to go on a day long bus ride across the altiplano which is a huge ancient lake bed, stopping at Paracas to see the pre-Inca ruins there with large carved stelae, and then at La Raya, the "top of the pass" - it is a gradual not noticeable climb when you are coming from the altiplano. At La Raya, you can see signs of the ancient Inca roads, the "Capac Nan", that went in a vast network from Colombia to deep in Chile. There are also large herds of alpacas and llamas, in ¨22 colors" per our guide. Then you start coming down, down, down the Vilcanota valley, which the Inca felt was particularly sacred because it stretches on the earth in the same orientation as the Milky Way in the sky. Amazingly after the dry yellow grass of the high plains, it is green. Just a little at first, then a lot, and more and more eucalyptus groves. We stopped at Raqchi, see Craig´s blog for pictures, and although I could go on and on about how incredible these ruins are, the best thing was noticing the old Royal Road going through this, crossing a small marsh on a causeway and then going on up on to the nearby lava fields. The local ladies in bowler hats and red skirts comfirm that you can still hike for a half hour or so without losing the roadway, so If we have time we are coming back here with our own driver and hiking up that road. It´s as magical to see it, as to go on the old Hawaiian royal road in Maui.
Now we are in Cusco and we are sorry, because it is such a busy touristy blare compared to where we have been, but this morning is lovely and quiet because everything is closed! There is a referendum happening, and in Peru you HAVE to vote or you can´t cash a check, cross a border, or anything else important. So everyone is closed for at least this morning.
Price info-- our daylong tour with great stops with Inka Express from Puno to Cusco, which takes only 5-6 hours direct but for us was a daylong adventure, was about $25 a person US, plus the price of admissions about 15 soles total or $4. Hostal Amaru, in Cusco, is $25 but can be $35 in high season or whatever. Prices are higher here in general for meals. We were met at our bus and taken to our hotel by the usual person who delivers you, coddles you and tries to set you up with tours. Prices have gone up! She was quoting an all day driver-tour guide cost of $70 to $80 to some of the places we want to go. However our hotel later told us they could get us a taxi to one of those places for 30-40 soles, or about $10-15, and it´s pretty far so that´s good. So as usual.... you have to shop around here and know what you want.
XOXOX hope you are enjoying the stories. love Amy
Sillustani, which is near Puno, is often listed as one of those well, you shouldn´t miss this as long as you´re here places. It turned out to be astonishingly beautiful! It is an isolated place where the preInca cultures built very tall funeral towers which flare outwards, like inverted cones buried deep in the earth. The Inca took over and faced them with beautiful grey volcanic andesite stonework. What we didn´t know is that they are standing high up on a bluff next to a small lake, and then, when you climb up the bluff, on the far side is a very blue, very large, lovely, volcanic caldera! Like a miniature lake Titicaca, with lovely contrast between the yellow grass on the hills and the blue sky and the bluer lake. The towers themselves command energy - they are so high that they get hit by lightning, so the iron in the stone in them is magnetized and, like magic, our compass needle wavers and quivers whenever it is near them. Naturally our peruvian guide who like most of them loves to talk about energy sources and power emerging from the earth takes full advantage of this. He fell in love with my Target compass also but finally gave it back.
We really loved our stay at the hotel in Chuchuito, lake Titicaca, but left it with hugs from the staff to go on a day long bus ride across the altiplano which is a huge ancient lake bed, stopping at Paracas to see the pre-Inca ruins there with large carved stelae, and then at La Raya, the "top of the pass" - it is a gradual not noticeable climb when you are coming from the altiplano. At La Raya, you can see signs of the ancient Inca roads, the "Capac Nan", that went in a vast network from Colombia to deep in Chile. There are also large herds of alpacas and llamas, in ¨22 colors" per our guide. Then you start coming down, down, down the Vilcanota valley, which the Inca felt was particularly sacred because it stretches on the earth in the same orientation as the Milky Way in the sky. Amazingly after the dry yellow grass of the high plains, it is green. Just a little at first, then a lot, and more and more eucalyptus groves. We stopped at Raqchi, see Craig´s blog for pictures, and although I could go on and on about how incredible these ruins are, the best thing was noticing the old Royal Road going through this, crossing a small marsh on a causeway and then going on up on to the nearby lava fields. The local ladies in bowler hats and red skirts comfirm that you can still hike for a half hour or so without losing the roadway, so If we have time we are coming back here with our own driver and hiking up that road. It´s as magical to see it, as to go on the old Hawaiian royal road in Maui.
Now we are in Cusco and we are sorry, because it is such a busy touristy blare compared to where we have been, but this morning is lovely and quiet because everything is closed! There is a referendum happening, and in Peru you HAVE to vote or you can´t cash a check, cross a border, or anything else important. So everyone is closed for at least this morning.
Price info-- our daylong tour with great stops with Inka Express from Puno to Cusco, which takes only 5-6 hours direct but for us was a daylong adventure, was about $25 a person US, plus the price of admissions about 15 soles total or $4. Hostal Amaru, in Cusco, is $25 but can be $35 in high season or whatever. Prices are higher here in general for meals. We were met at our bus and taken to our hotel by the usual person who delivers you, coddles you and tries to set you up with tours. Prices have gone up! She was quoting an all day driver-tour guide cost of $70 to $80 to some of the places we want to go. However our hotel later told us they could get us a taxi to one of those places for 30-40 soles, or about $10-15, and it´s pretty far so that´s good. So as usual.... you have to shop around here and know what you want.
XOXOX hope you are enjoying the stories. love Amy
posted by Craig and Amy at 9:04 AM
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