Then I met my Couchsurfing friend Kati in Cusco for going together to Machu Picchu, and luckily could stay with the same Couchsurfing host, Daniel, a circus artist, in his nice flat with great views over the city.
There are several ways to get to Machu Picchu: taking a hiking tour with a guide on some of the Inka trails, a train (which is fast but expensive) or travelling the whole day by several local buses and walking two hours at the end. Kati and I were planning to do the latter on Monday, but Sunday night Kati had fever and in the morning a diarrhea. The reason was found in lab tests: parasites! She got antibiotics and we decided to start our trip the following morning. Unfortunately the medicine didn't work so quickly and an early departure wasn't possible. But Kati was such a brave girl that at noon she was ready to leave even though she wasn't completely well. We took minibuses through Urubamba to Ollantaytambo, admiring the beautiful views of the Sacred Valley of the Inkas on the way. From Ollantaytambo we had decided to continue by train, but had to wait until the following morning. Kati stayed resting in our hostel room while I had a pleasant walk to the next village. Deep down I'm a real country girl and enjoyed seeing animals grazing and people working on the fields. It felt so good to escape the tourist crowds, too.
The next morning we arrived in Aguas Calientes, the Machu Picchu village close to the mountains with the ruins. I wanted to walk up, while Kati would take the bus. (Later I found out she had been too sick to leave the hostel room. Her turn came the next day when she was slightly better.) After 1,5 hours of climbing up the path consisting of stone steps I arrived to the entrance, all sweaty and short of breath. While travelling to the village I had been thinking that the pile of stones had better be worth all that effort and money I wasted getting there. Well... it sure was! Just the surrounding lush green mountains alone would have been worth it. And yes, the ruins were impressive. A friend of mine, who's travelled in Peru for 9 months, told me Machu Picchu is not the best place. So I wonder how amazingly impressive the best ruins in Peru are... But I don't have time to find out. Machu Picchu was easily accessible and anyway it's one of the new seven wonders of the world.
Travelling with other people can be complicated. Kati is a very nice girl, pleasant company and I sure enjoyed our chats. But sometimes I couldn't help getting frustrated with all the waiting and delays. I was energetic and wanted to do things and she, naturally, needed a lot of rest and had to go to the doctor. I felt selfish about being so restless and thinking about losing days when she definitely hadn't chosen it herself to get sick. Kati, in turn, felt bad that my schedule got messed up because of her sickness.But there was something excellent about spending more time than intended: we were in town during 'Fiesta de la Virgen del Carmen', so I could see a real South American carneval. There were groups playing music with flutes and drums and dancing in excuisite costumes.
There are thousands of visitors at Machu Picchu every day and Aguas Calientes was nothing but a tourist town. Hotels & hostels, restaurants, massage, souvenirs... "Excuse me, miss..." people were harrassing with menus and leaflets. After seeing Machu Picchu I just wanted to get out of the place. And this time I wanted to take the long way. Not only for the money, but also for the scenery. Kati was still sick so she took the train. The first two hours I walked a path following a railway line, a river on my left side and a tropical forest on my right, with mountains on both sides. I liked the surroundings so much that I almost wanted to stay there.
I decided to walk the next part, too, a road to Santa Teresa. I can't describe, and just barely remember, the feeling of freedom I had walking there alone in the middle of big mountains and by a fast-flowing river. Arriving in the village of Santa Teresa I was greeted by a rooster crossing the road. It's exotic, although there's nothing new in seeing animals on the road here. During a recent busride I first saw a dog, then a donkey crossing the road, a bull pulling its tether and lastly a few goats. The next sight that caught my interest in the village was slaughtering of a bull. I didn't see the killing, but I observed and photographed cutting the meat and rinsing the intestines.
From Santa Teresa I took a shared taxi to the next village, Santa Maria. The scenery along the way was stunning: the canyon seemed as deep as the Colca canyon, but the mountains had more vegetation. In Santa Maria I changed to a minibus going all the way to Cusco. We were supposed to arrive around 9.30 pm but there was a surprise in the mountains: snow! The line of vehicles moved slowly and stopped every now and then, causing us a delay of two hours.
From Cusco I took a bus to Lima; 20 hours of watching beautiful mountain landscapes and sleeping. I had been warned that Lima is grey and ugly. That was true; two hours in the city this morning was enough for me. Even though I wanted to escape the bad climate and smog, on the way to my next bus I asked the taxi driver to make a short tour in the centre. I saw many beautiful old buildings - It is for a reason that Lima is a Unesco-listed city.
Tonight I arrived in Huaraz, in the Cordillera Blanca, with a plan to continue to Caraz and do some day-trips on my own. But I let a tour operator, who had come to meet prospective customers at the bus station, talk a bit too long to me and finally got convinced to take a 3-day hiking trip. I didn't really want to follow a guide, nor be in a group after being in the middle a "cat-fight" of the German and the Israeli girl in the Bolivian jungle... But I do want some excersice and nice views, so I hope I won't regret.
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