Did you know that there are over 3000 different types of potatoes in the world, and over half of them are found in Peru. If you are anything like me you can't name more than 5 different kinds without starting to say things like 'french fries, tater tots, or mashed'. This knowledge, of the different types of potatoes, is what I chose to research before traveling alone to Peru. I didn't think to research population, natural disasters, climate, crime rate, cuisine, or different activities for tourists; nor did I research what is needed when traveling alone such as necessities or what not to do. Instead I took this trip on as a sort of 'learn in the moment' type of trip. I knew I wanted to visit Machu Picchu, I knew the name of the city I was flying to and the name of the hostel I had a reservation at, I knew they spoke spanish, and I knew that they had a lot of potatoes. Other than that, I knew I was in for an adventure which is exactly what I got.
It all started on the night of October 13th, 2011. I had a bus ticket to Santiago and strict instructions from my host mother warning me not to take a taxi from the bus terminal to the airport because they would overcharge me and have been known to be a little dangerous for tourists in the past. I was all set with my hiking backpack and a fanny pack I borrowed from the family because I refused to buy one. My plane was planned to take off at 7 am on Friday and I was going to stay the entire night, Thursday, in the airport because there were no busses that could get me to the airport on time Friday morning. I said my goodbyes to the host family and as I was walking out of the house my host mother yelled after me, 'From this point onward, until when you return, enjoy everything!'. I set out, for the unknown, well not exactly the unknown, I really set out for the bus station. Then one and a half hours later, I was in Santiago, ready to find a bus to the airport. Except there was one little problem, the busses to the airport had stopped running a half hour before I arrived. Well that is just great, the only two rules that my host mother had given me were about to go straight down the drain. 1) Don't take a taxi, they overcharge and they can be dangerous for tourists. And 2) Enjoy everything. Well now I have to take a taxi to the airport, and if it's overcharging me with the potential of being dangerous, I'm certainly not enjoying it! But it turned out fine, I found a taxi, it didn't turn out to be dangerous, it was expensive, but I also found out later that a friend of mine had been charged more than I payed. Then I make to the airport and the real madness begins. It turns out that on said night of the 13th, Justin Bieber was flying in to Santiago for a show. The airport was full, and I mean FULL, of screaming teenage girls. It was a nice way to pass the time, but I've got to say that after an hour of screaming girls, it gets old; and when I was boarding my flight at 6 am the next morning, there were still screaming teenage girls and no Justin Bieber.
So now I've made it to Peru. My flight has landed and I just have to collect my backpack and find the person I'd reserved to pick me up and take me to my hostel. I collect my belongings, walk out the front door of the Cusco airport, and encounter hundreds of people. Some holding signs with names on them, others shouting 'taxi, taxi, you look like you need a taxi', and others that just looked like family members waiting to see their relatives. Amongst all of the shouting people, there was not one person with a sign that had my name on it. After I waited a few minutes, and had yelled at every single taxi driver, and told them all that I didn't want or need a taxi, I decided to go in the airport, find the information desk, and call my hostel. According to them, I had failed to reserve the airport transportation service (even though I still have the e-mail stating clearly that I did reserve it) and that I'd have to take a taxi to get there. Great, once again I'm about to break one of my mothers rules, and on top of that, I have to return outside to the taxi drivers that I had just been yelling at 5 minutes previously. Needless to say I found a nicer looking old man (more of a chance he wouldn't remember me), who brought me to my hostel at a decent price. Now first thing's first, I have to check in and then find a tour package of Machu Picchu, because I was told to wait until arriving in Peru to buy a tour due to the fact that they are everywhere and about half the price than the ones found online. Check, and check. I purchased the 3 day, 2 night 'Inca Jungle Trek' which was set to depart at 7 am the next morning. At this point I had time to walk around the city, get to know the area, snap a few photographs, drink a beer and try some delicious Ravioli de Cuy (translation to come later).
Now this is the first time I've stayed in a hostel, and I'm sharing a room with 14 people, and a bathroom, which is coed, with no hot water, and for the entire hostel. It was a new experience and had I not been exhausted from the previous night in the airport, I might have actually enjoyed the party type atmosphere a little more than I did. But, having no sleep for the last couple nights, and having to wake up from another restless night at 6 am to take a cold shower, I had broken the other of my two rules; I was not enjoying it very much. But that was all in the past. It was nearing 7 and my tour guide was on his way to pick me up, along with 8 others not staying at the hostel, and I was determined to enjoy the upcoming tour.
Day 1: I am the first person to be picked up. The tour guide, Edson, walks with me up the street a couple blocks and we find two others coming on the tour, Ash from Australia and Sabrina from Italy. We begin talking right away with each other and continue walking with Edson. We come up to a van that has another girl sitting in it, Tina from California. (Her name isn't actually Tina, but I can't remember what it really is so we'll go with Tina) Now we start driving; Ash, Tina, Sabrina and myself talking and sharing stories of our travels. After a few minutes the van stops and 5 more people enter, all speaking in Portuguese. They seem to know each other and we have already kind of established our friendships so we appear to have formed 2 separate groups. We continue driving, its a three hour drive to the mountains and we only stop once for a break and some snacks. Once we reach the top of the mountain range we unload the mountain bikes, the helmets and pads, and we bike down the other side of the mountain.
Now seems like a good time for introductions. There are three guys including myself, and four girls including Melanie. Sleeping arrangements are set up as the three guys in a room, two girls in another room, and the other two in a different room. On our walk to the hot springs, I decide I should find out more about my new group. It turns out that they are all from Brazil. The two guys live a little inland from Rio de Janeiro; their names are Guilherme and Tertuliano. The three girls are traveling together and live in Sao Paulo; their names are Milena, Silvia, and Maria. (Maria isn't really her name either, and I feel a little bad for not remembering it because she didn't leave after half a day). We all seem to get along really well. Tertuliano, Guilherme, and myself are the only ones that decide to go for a swim, and after a few hours, the three of us walk back up the mountain for dinner, beer in hand and one flashlight between the three of us, dodging mud, streams, and cars. After dinner we are told to meet back at the restaurant tomorrow at 830 for breakfast, after which we will continue on our way.
Day 2: We get up and get ready, take yet another cold shower (the Brazilians inform me they've never had to worry about cold showers in Brazil, to which I told them I didn't in the US, but in Chile every now and then it happens). Go to the restaurant, eat breakfast, load our backpacks into the van, and drive about half an hour to our next location. Time to zip line through the canyons. This was a slight additional cost on the overall tour price, but completely worth it! Milena and Silvia chose to do the hike instead, but everyone else was geared up and ready to go. Edson went with the two girls and told the rest of us that there would be a vehicle waiting for us as soon as we were finished to bring us to the next meeting point for lunch.
After lunch is a three hour hike, following the train tracks through some of the best jungly, mountainous, scenery that Peru has to offer. The end destination is Aguas Calientes, a small town that can only be described as suited for the gods. Built into the mountain, next to a river, and within walking distance to Machu Picchu. We have some free time before dinner here, so Tertuliano, Guilherme, and myself get ready, store our stuff in the room, and walk around the town for a while waiting for dinner. After we walked around for a little bit, we drank a bottle of wine (walking that much makes you thirsty), and then it was time for dinner. This time at dinner we were given a menu (up until then it was all pre-ordered food but still all delicious three course meals) and after dinner we were given our entrance tickets to Machu Picchu and were told that we would be waking up at 4 am to hike the hour or so up the stairs through the mountains to the entrance.
Day 3: Now as much as I'd like to describe Machu Picchu to everyone, there is nothing that I can say or show you to explain the feeling of actually being there. This section is going to be a few photos with some explanations, but that is all I really can offer for Machu Picchu, which may be somewhat anticlimactic and I am sorry for that, but hopefully the photos will give you just enough of a taste to make you want to visit.
I had to go up to Huyana Picchu alone at 7 while the rest of my group went up at 10, it wasn't so bad though; I met a nice lady from Peru, another lady from Scotland (who had just done the Inca Trail for four days) and a few gentlemen from Spain. After the morning we all met back up and Tertuliano, Guilherme and I went to Ponte Inca (a bridge) and the girls went a different direction to walk around more of the ruins.
After spending most of the day in Machu Picchu, we descended and met back up in the restaurant where we ate dinner the night before. The three of us shared a few beers and some pizza, and once the girls all arrived back we got our train tickets for the trip back to Cusco. The train ride is about an hour and a half long and ends in a town about an hour from Cusco. I encountered a few problems in this town because my name was not on the list with the rest of my group for the bus ride back. So after a little convincing and a lot of persistence, I was able to get a ride in one of the vans that had room. This was officially the end of the tour and the girls were all returning to Sao Paulo the next morning. We all said our goodbyes and then the three of us remaining started walking towards our hotels/hostels.
I knew that I wasn't going to be able to sleep in the first hostel I had stayed at, and after waking up at 4 in the morning and then hiking up two mountains and walking around all day, I needed to find somewhere more suitable for sleeping. I followed the guys back to their hotel to see if there was any rooms available for my remaining two nights in Cusco. There wasn't, but they did direct me to a great hostel that was only a little over a block away. I had my own room, my own bathroom with hot water, and cable TV all for about 15 dollars a night. It was just what I needed, the irony was that when I finally got a place with hot water, I was sunburned and unable to use it!
Day 4: For my final day in Cusco I had decided to spend the morning alone, walking around and finding a few souvenirs and maybe finding a nice little cafe for breakfast. The guys and I had made plans for later in the day so I had until about 11:30 to complete everything on my list. The morning was a success.
In the afternoon I met back up with Tertuliano and Guilherme for a trip out to Tipon to try some real cuy at a cuyerilla. It was about a half hour taxi ride to the town and about a 5 minute wait for the cuy, along with some warm beer but I think it was worth it to say that I've tried it... (prepare yourself)
In the end I've discovered a few things about traveling alone. It takes a certain type of person to be able to do it; they have to be somewhat smart, resourceful, outgoing, calm, and most importantly willing to try new things no matter what they are (a knowledge of the local language helps also). I think I can safely assume that I match all of those requirements and I passed the 'traveling solo' test with flying colors. I made some great friends who have invited me to Brazil (my next big trip I'm planning), learned some useful information for the next time I'm traveling alone (like don't bring a lot of stuff with you, only a small backpacks worth of clothes, and always bring toilet paper when traveling in South America), and have the best stories to tell from my adventures in Peru.
I realize that this is a bit long and I do want to thank you for reading it all the way through (and just know I cut a lot of information out to try to make it shorter, but left in the essentials). I hope everyone is finding themselves in good health and enjoying your fall/winter weather back in the US. Just know that I am nearing summer here and its been rather enjoyable. I leave for a trip to Southern Chile (the island of Chiloe) in 3 days and will no doubt have another great story to tell when I get back. Until that time...
No Vemo Pronto
S.R.
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