Peru is high!

Peru is high, and not just because everyone chews coca leaves and drinks coca tea.

Bill and I had both been to Peru in 2009 and 2008, respectively. We were surprised to see how much had changed. Most of the changes seem to be good for wealthy tourists, but bad for budget tourists and Peruvians, but more on that later...

Us at Machu Picchu on a beautiful day, with Huayna Picchu mountain behind it. 

We flew from Panama City at sea level to Cuzco, which is at 11,000ft (yikes). We felt like we were moving through quicksand. If you've never gone from sea level to high altitude, I wouldn't necessarily recommend it. Best to slowly acclimatize. After traipsing (very slowly) around town to buy a variety of tickets we needed, we made the smart decision to bus directly to Ollantaytambo at 9,100ft for a few days to help us acclimatize a bit better.

Side note: we are still having a bit of sticker shock. Having come from Southeast Asia where things are cheap, we are still adjusting to the higher prices in South America. It is definitely not as easy to stay in our budget here.

We spent our first day in Ollantaytambo seeing the Incan ruins in and around town. Like most Inca sites we visited (there is SO much more than just Machu Picchu), Ollantaytambo's ruins involved terraces, temples, buildings for grain storage, waterworks, and extremely accurate masonry. Certain, special parts of the complex are lit up on the summer and winter solstices because the Incas knew their astronomy well. It is also suggested that one large section of Ollantaytambo seen from afar has the shape of a llama. Across the valley, there are more ruins centered around a "face" in the mountain. Also, it is believed that the whole valley takes the shape of a condor, and the city of Ollantaytambo itself was built in the shape of a corn cob. Our guide book had some nice illustrations of this, but it would be tough to see if you weren't looking for it.

Looking up at the terraces at Ollantaytambo. 

Bill next to some fine Inca masonry. They didn't use mortar, just cut the rocks to fit together exactly. This style is very earthquake proof. 

Some of the terraces at the Inca ruins at Ollantaytambo

The Temple of the Sun at Ollantaytambo. Who knows how they carved those rocks so precisely.

The view across the valley from the Temple of the Sun. It is difficult to tell unless you know what you're looking for, but to the left of the buildings on the mountain across the valley is the "man in the mountain". 

The more one learns about the Incas, the more you respect their architecture, their ingenuity, their hard work, and their knowledge of agriculture, medicine, astronomy, and hydrology. The Inca empire rose in the 1200s and collapsed when they were finally conquered by the Spanish in 1572. Even though they didn't have wheeled vehicles, draft animals, knowledge of iron and steel, or a system of writing, they still created an impressive, expansive empire, which was centered around the capital, Cusco.

One of the things we saw most was terraced hillsides. Since the Inca empire centered largely around the Andes mountains, they had to deal with high altitudes, and not much flat land.  Terraced hillsides allowed for the farming capacity needed to feed the empire's 10 million people. We visited an Inca site called Moray outside of Cusco whose purpose we're still not 100% sure of. Moray is a series of concentric circled terraces that get progressively lower. It is suggested that it was used as an "Agricultural Research Station" because the temperature at the top edge can be as much as 30 degrees lower than the temperature at the bottom. The Incas may have used this system of terraces to test seeds for use at higher altitudes. The circles also have excellent drainage such that the bottom is never flooded in spite of the heavy rains that the region gets sometimes. This theory seems plausible since you can now find hundreds of corn varieties and thousands of potato varieties in the Andes.

Moray, which is said to have been an Incan agriculture research station.  

As for the precise masonry, it becomes even more impressive when you find out that they didn't use iron or steel. We were told that they used harder rocks to cut the stones they built with. Those harder rocks happened to be 80% iron. But the edges were perfect, and they didn't use any type of mortar.

Our 2nd day in Ollantaytambo, we woke up at 4:15 to take the first train to Aguas Calientes, and then we boarded a bus which does about 25 switchbacks up a mountain to the entrance of Machu Picchu. We got an English-speaking tour guide, who walked us through the giant complex, explaining the various temples, the function of the terraces, the sacred parts of the complex (the ones that are lit first by the sun on the solstices), the waterworks, and much more. We had purchased timed tickets to climb Machu Picchu mountain, so we had to then hustle over to start our hike. The hike took about four hours total, and went from 8,000ft to 10,000ft. We are a bit out of shape from lounging on the beach the last several weeks in Panama and Colombia (especially me since I don't kitesurf), and the altitude made it that much harder. So we took lots of breaks, but eventually made it to the top. Even though it was cloudy by that point, the 360 degree view was stunning. Not only could you see Machu Picchu in the distance, you could see whole mountain ranges, deep river valleys, and everything in between. It was tough to capture in a picture.

Machu Picchu and its surroundings are just stunning. We got lucky with the weather too. 

Some of the terraces at Machu Picchu. The mountain in the back middle is Machu Picchu mountain, which we climbed. 

The Sun Temple in Machu Picchu. The sun shines through the right window on the summer solstice and the left window at the winter solstice. 

Perfect Incan masonry, except when the ground starts to shift over time...

Inside Machu Picchu

The super steep Incan steps up to the top of Machu Picchu mountain. We (well, mostly I) huffed and puffed!

At the top of Machu Picchu Mountain with the Urubamba river in the background. 

Our photos really don't capture the incredible views of the mountains and valleys. That's Machu Picchu in the middle. 

The next day we traveled back to Cusco where we spent a day and a half poking around town and the Inca sites nearby (like Moray - see above) and the salt pools of Maras. I cannot emphasize enough how beautiful riding through Peruvian highlands was. Absolutely stunning! Usually at these altitudes, things are pretty desolate, but it was green, green, green, with backdrops of gorgeous mountains. Unfortunately, we didn't get any great pictures that captured this.

In Cusco, we visited several museums, including a chocolate museum that offered free samples. Yum!

The salt ponds at Maras. 

The Peruvian highlands are absolutely gorgeous!

Finally, we tried the famous Pisco Sour drink, which basically tastes like a margarita, but has a bit of froth on top from an egg white in the mix. All in all, we had a great time in Peru.

Pisco sours to drink and an appetizer of roasted corn (one of the many corn varieties in Peru). 

A bit of a side note/observation/rant:
Generally speaking, I've been pleased as we've traveled to see how (relatively) well people are doing across the countries we've visited. America is certainly not the only great place to live (although I am getting excited to come home in April). This is largely based on comparisons to my previous travels. Infrastructure such as roads and plumbing is generally ok (some places are better than others, of course), more people have access to internet and cell phones, and we've seen less poverty in general. However, in Peru is seems the general population could be doing better given the massive influx of money from tourism.

The pretty obvious case in Peru is that foreign companies have taken over much of the tourist business. There is plenty to see and do in Peru as a tourist. The prime example is visiting Machu Picchu, the famed Incan village high in the Andes. Well, the train to get to Machu Picchu is a 50/50 joint venture owned by Belmond, a British company that specializes in luxury hotels, cruises, and trains, and Peruvian Trains and Railways. This means that the cheapest one-way ticket from Ollantaytambo to Aguas Calientes (the stop for Machu Picchu) is ~$65 for a 1.5 hr ride, each way. The ticket from Cusco is even more. Once you get to Aguas Calientes the bus up to Machu Picchu is another $12 each way (or a 1.5 hr hike), and big surprise, it is run by another for profit company. At this point you haven't even entered the site. But perhaps you're thirsty, well a bottle of water will cost you $3 as will a snickers bar. Want a guide? That will be another $20. Want to climb Machu Picchu Mountain? $15. Bathroom? Take a guess.

There are alternatives... very unattractive ones. You can take a 7 hr bus ride to a village downstream of Aguas Calientes and then walk up the railroad tracks for 3 hrs, then hike up another 1.5 hrs to Machu Picchu... We bucked up for the train and the bus up but hiked down.

All in all, it was a $500 day for us, by far our most expensive travel day yet. Ouch! Luckily, the Peruvians don't have to pay that much to ride the train, but this is an example of how foreigners are benefiting from tourism, and budget travelers and locals are getting left behind. At the end we saw an incredible site but it left us wondering if it was really worth it compared to other things we could have done.

Our suspicions were confirmed on the day we visited some other Inca sites around Cusco (Machu Picchu is just one of MANY Inca sites - they left their impressive marks everywhere). Our tour guide told us that the town of Chinchero will be completely changing in the next several years as an airport is being built to replace the current Cusco airport. Foreign companies are already buying land in Chinchero and building homes and planning for hotels, restaurants, etc. The current inhabitants are potato and corn farmers. We visited a women's collective in Chinchero where we learned how they dye and weave brilliantly colored alpaca wool. It's a bit of a sob story, but these local people will likely be pushed out by the new airport and all of its related businesses.

At the women's collective in Chincero where we learned how they dye and spin wool into beautiful colors. 

We are certainly not blameless in all this, since we are travelers and come from such a consumer-driven society. It's just interesting that in this case, as I'm sure it is in many others, the local people, many are descendants of Incas, whose magnificent creations are on display for visitors, are not benefiting from tourism.

Locals in Ollantaytambo

We saw lots of llamas and alpacas. 

Next up: Bolivia!