Today is the day our group began to separate. Some left at 8 am for a midday flight. There was another group who was to be picked up at 11 am for a 3 pm flight. We are on the schedule to be picked up at 3:30 pm for a 7 pm flight.
Don woke up feeling a little better, but not that great. We hoped a hike would revive him.
We were not thinking clearly. We were both beaten by the 11,000 feet altitude, so to hike straight uphill another 600 or so feet was probably not the best use of our day. In hindsight, we should have gone to the Machu Picchu Museum Casa Concha and had a leisurely lunch instead.
Researching the trip, I had read about the Temple of the Moon and thought that would be a nice activity for the morning. Google Maps said it was a 45 minute. Maps have a way of looking flat. Still, we should have known better after our "25-minute" hike to Cristo Blanco that lasted well over an hour and kicked the wind out of my sails.
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| Pretty views, and places to rest |
The flat part before the climbing
The hike itself was winding up streets that were far away from the tourist path. These led to staircases that led to spots with amazing vistas and even more uphill streets. As I waited for Don to catch up (a rarity when we go for walks together as he is usually the one zipping up the trail), I paused to take a picture of two dozing dogs when they woke up and one of them decided to attack my sweater as I tried to take his picture. I never did get my picture, but I did save my sweater.
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| Rare to see Don lagging behind me |
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| That's a good sign |
The sign led us to cut through a field where someone was receiving a horseback riding lesson. The map kept saying "not much further," or at least the time to destination kept going down.
As we walked through this field we met a couple from Maine. One of the few Americans we encountered on our vacation. Something that was pointed out to me later, but which I did not appreciate in the moment. Peruvians are desperate for tourism, but Americans seem reluctant to go there. I told Peruvians I would encourage my friends to visit. Consider these posts your encouragement.
I was looking for a visitor's center, hopefully one with a free bathroom, interpretive signs, and maybe even a gift shop. As there was no information center, I'm so glad we stopped to talk to the couple. They gave us some advice: walk around the rock formation to the back and go inside the cave. They noticed offerings and could smell incense as if the offering had been made earlier that day. They then suggested we take the Old Incan Trail back to town, that down would be easier than up. We would pass the Temple of the Monkey, which would need our imagination to see. After saying that they were heading back to the main road to hail a ride share.
We found the rock formation, and the fence saying keep out. We dutifully followed it around to the back. I had flashbacks to walking all around Australia's Uluru, but in browns, greys and greens instead of red. It was also not nearly as large, nor as hot. I suppose the similarities are just that there is a giant rock formation in the middle of nowhere that you can walk all the way around. One that I would understand better with a guide, but there was no guide and internet service was light.
Doing more research since coming home I learned the Temple of the Moon got its name from the crescent moon shaped symbol on it, as well as a snake, puma, and Andean condor (the Inca trilogy). I would have benefited from someone pointing these out to me.
Inside the cave is a finely carved altar. According to what I have read, moonlight reaches this altar through a hole in the top. As it was daylight, and we were warned not to visit at night due to vigilantes, that's why the websites have hours listed. I'll take their word for it. We saw some food offerings, but did not notice the scent of incense we were told to expect.
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| Beautiful views of the Andes on the way out |
When we were there we only saw one other couple who kindly offered to take our picture, and a man sitting next to a shack. As we walked down, we saw a few other tourists out hiking. I know, it looks like a fake backdrop.
We found the Old Inca Trail, a nice wide, grassy path clearly identified by short stone walls on either side. This is my kind of hiking.
A short distance on the path and we noticed people leaving a smaller rock formation. The Temple of the Monkeys. We looked around for a few minutes before continuing back on our path towards the Plaza des Armes.
The hike was going well until we found some new, unexpected friends:
When I first saw them, they were in the middle of the path, reminiscent of the moose in the opening credits of "Northern Exposure." Fortunately they were just crossing to find even tastier grass.
People riding mountain bikes zipped past us, as did a local woman with a small collection of dogs out for their daily dog walking excursion. I was really feeling out of shape, even on the downhill.
Views from our hike downhill. The vistas were more enjoyable on the way down.
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| Glad we didn't see this sign until we were leaving the Old Inca Trail |
When we reached the San Blas Market I knew where we were. Rather than walking past the Cathedral one last time, we headed towards the hotel and had one last meal at Basilica. We were a little sad Guadeloupe, our favorite server, was off. We had burgers that were too big to eat. The altitude was really messing with our appetites.
To round out our Cusco experience we walked to the shopping mall we had been told about on our first day. It is amazing how shopping malls look so similar. This one had an Adidas, Merrell, and other American sporting good stores. Don was hoping for a LEGO store, but alas the closest one was in a suburb of Lima (too far for our limited time). The bathroom was free, but they kept their toilet paper in the area outside the stalls so you have to plan ahead. There was something depressing about being in a brightly lit shopping mall, so we made our way back to our hotel where we rested for the first time in days.
The rest of our group of six seemed ready to leave Cusco. We all waited quietly, practically in separate corners, as if we all agreed to recharge. There was nothing left to say. People were ready to go home. The other two couples had early morning flights. One was staying at the airport hotel on their own dime because the tour company refused to switch them. The other couple wished they had planned ahead to do that. As our pick up time wasn't until after breakfast, and I still wanted to walk around Lima, we were happy to return to the hotel from our first night.
Our pick up for the flight was ridiculously early. If we thought of more to do, we could have taken a taxi for less than $10 and made our own plans to return to the airport. It only has a few gates. There is no need to arrive three hours early. We were picked up so early we had a 20-minute wait for check-in to open because the crew was having a staff meeting.
Don and I had tried contacting Exoticca the day before to see if they could put us on an earlier flight as my Lima wish list was longer than my Cusco one, and Don thought (rightfully so) his altitude issues would disappear as soon as we landed. Exoticca promised to get back to us. Spoiler alert: they did not. Someone in the group recommended only using them if we go through a travel agent first who would serve as our defensive team.
We waited with Ruth and Bill. Other than our ride to the hotel, it was our last chance visiting with them. Kim and George were on the other side of the room waiting area. Their 26 day journey was almost over. They had been ready to go home since I met them on the train to Machu Picchu. They were ready to just be together.
Don and I were tired, but very ready for the 80 minute flight to Lima.
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