Well, we have just arrived in La Paz Bolivia. We have had an exciting week and have been extremely busy. Cuzco was an amazing little town. On the 10th we explored the city and walked around. We saw some amazing churches and a couple of museums as well as the ruins of Sacsaywaman which were a lot of fun and very interesting. The next day we took a tour bus to Ollantaytambo where the train departs to Aguas Calientes (also known as Machu Picchu pueblo). On the way to Ollantaytambo we stopped at several old Incan sights including Pisaq and Ollantaytambo. The scenery was fantastic with huge majestic mountains with green cloud forests. The train from Ollantaytambo to Aguas Calientes was at night so we did not get to see anything out the window on the way their. We spent the night at Aguas Calientes and got up early (around 4:30) to take the bus to Machu Picchu. We got to Machu Picchu at about 6:30 and proceeded to try and climb Machu Picchu Mountain in the hopes of getting a good view of the Machu Picchu site from above. It was extremely difficult we were at about 3400 meters at the Machu Picchu site and we climbed straight up a rock stair case for an hour and a half. We did not make it to the top but we got some great views of Machu Picchu and the Sacred Valley and got to hike through some of the coolest terrain I have ever been in. The mountain was covered in a dense cloud forest and we got to hike through it and see mountains covered in mist and interesting vegetation. Machu Picchu itself was fascinating. I did not find the stone were to be as impressive as the Mayan ruins I have been to but the layout and planning was amazing. The Incas built Machu Picchu way above the valley below where they got the stones. They managed to get all the stones up the mountain. They also planned for erosion using terraces and they also had a system of mini aqueducts to direct the water. Even more amazing was the fact that they managed an empire that stretched from Colombia all the way down to norther Chile and Argentina. That day we went back to Cuzco, arriving at 11:30 at night.
The next day (13th) we got up at 5:30am to catch a bus to Puno (Lake Titicaca). This bus also stopped at several sites on the way to Puno. It was very enjoyable and we got to see many more Incan ruins as well as a really gorgeous church. We also stopped at the crest of a mountain that was 4,355meters above sea level! We got to Puno at about 5:00 pm and rested. The next day we slept in and went to arrange a visa so we could enter Bolivia. Getting a Bolivian visa was quite an ordeal. First we went to the Bolivian Consulate in Puno and the guy working there told us what we needed. First we needed to fill out a form, next we had to get a photo taken for said form, we then had to also have reservations in Bolivia as well as proof we were going to leave Bolivia. We also had to have a yellow fever vaccine. On top of this we had to a pay an entry fee of $135 American. Amazingly we managed to get this all done in one day with the only difficulty being the yellow fever vaccine. It took us forever to find where in the hospital they gave the shots and when we did we got lucky because they only had 3 vaccines left. The following day we caught a boat to the Uros, the floating islands. These islands are man-made from reeds that grow abundantly in Lake Titicaca. We got to ride in a reed boat and eat fresh fish (the soup we ate had whole fish in them or in my case just a fish head).
Today (16th of Feb.) we caught a bus to La Paz, we had no trouble crossing the border and getting our visas. They did not even check half of the stuff that we had prepared. Once in Bolivia we had to cross part of Lake Titicaca (near Copacabana). This involved all of us getting off the bus and getting on to a rickety motor boat while the bus got on to and equally rickety looking barge. We were thus ferried across a 100meter span of water all the while wondering if we were going to make to the other side or if the bus would even make it. However, all went well. Now I am in a hostel in La Paz. La Paz is magnificent, it is a huge city crammed into a small valley with houses and buildings crawling up the mountains surrounding it. We will be in La Paz until the 20th when we will fly to Tarija, Bolivia near the Argentina border. Their we will stay with some friends of our host family.
I hope everything is going well with everybody. I know these posts seem kinda of hectic but, well, in reality it has been extremely hectic but really fun and exciting.
No comments:
Post a Comment