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Mexico and Peru 2015
  • Erin N
  • Erin N

Mexico and Peru 2015

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    16 de maio de 2015
    Erin NMexico and Peru 2015Erin N

    ¡Bienvenidos a México!

    15 de maio de 2015, México ⋅ ☁️ 15 °C

    Finally made it to Mexico City and my very cute hostal after a delayed, turbulent flight and waiting over an hour at customs.

    The city looks enormous from the air (which it certainly is) and I'm super excited to explore tomorrow. Hopefully the storms let up...this window-rattling thunder is intense!

    Advice for anyone heading this way: use Sitio 300 taxi company from the airport and be sure to talk them down from their initial "tourist" price.    Leia mais

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  • Erin NMexico and Peru 2015Erin N

    Zócalo & Centro Histórico

    16 de maio de 2015, México ⋅ ☁️ 17 °C

    Mexico City is colorful, crowded, vivacious, and impressive. The Zócalo is the huge city plaza dating back to Aztec times, and is surrounded by several historical colonial buildings, including the Palacio Nacional. Surrounding this area are many commercial streets, very crowded on a Saturday!

    Also:
    - The Metro is really excellent...frequent trains and very cheap! About 33 cents US per ride. However, the extremely packed cars on a Saturday afternoon make me want to avoid rush hour at all costs.
    - There is a moderate police presence everywhere I've gone (of various types...)    Leia mais

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  • Erin NMexico and Peru 2015Erin N

    Bosque de Chapultepec

    17 de maio de 2015, México ⋅ ⛅ 18 °C

    Today I decided to stay close by and explore more of the park, including the Castillo de Chapultepec. It was a gorgeous, sunny day (until late afternoon when the storms broke out right on schedule) and it seemed like everyone was outside.

    On Sundays, the city closes down the Paseo de la Reforma to allow people to bike through the city. So today the streets were full of bikers of all ages, families, and dogs. Also on Sundays, the museums are free for Mexicans, and there were hundreds of booths set up in the park selling snacks (chips, fruit, soft drinks, ice cream/sorbet), toys, and other things.

    The Castillo de Chapultepec is the only royal castle in the Americas and was built in the late 1700s. It is now a museum about Mexican history and has great views of the city - the hill it is on was of great importance to the Aztecs.    Leia mais

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  • Erin NMexico and Peru 2015Erin N

    Teotihuacan

    18 de maio de 2015, México ⋅ ☀️ 18 °C

    On Monday I went on a day tour to the prehispanic city of Teotihuacan (Náhuatl is one of the coolest-sounding languages...) and other sites. On the way, we visited the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Mexico City.

    Teotihuacan is located 40 km outside the city in the state of Mexico. Once there, we climbed to the top of the Pyramid of the Sun and a couple smaller pyramids. The Pyramid of the Sun has 200-some steep stone steps and is not for the faint of heart, especially in the scorching sun! At the top we could see a panoramic view of the surrounding valley. It's overwhelming to think that these impressive structures were built around 2000 years ago.

    Another interesting thing on the tour was the visit to a silver shop. The guide also showed us all the incredible uses of the maguey plant. These plants of the agave family are enormous, and grow flowering stalks up to 8 meters tall. It can be used for paper, fibers/thread, needles, roofing, pulche alcoholic drink, and as a vegetable (nopales).    Leia mais

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  • Erin NMexico and Peru 2015Erin N

    Dos Museos

    19 de maio de 2015, México ⋅ ☀️ 18 °C

    Museo Soumaya was created by a Mexican billionaire who dedicated it to his deceased wife. The architecture alone was worth seeing, but inside was an entire floor of Salvador Dalí and Auguste Rodin sculptures!

    This museum is in Polanco, the 5th-Avenue-inspired (according to our taxi driver) neighborhood of CDMX. So afterward we headed back to Roma in search of a delicious lunch, and ended up eating delicious mole at Papá Chón.

    Then I finally made it to the Museo Nacional de Antropología. Here there are artifacts from the Aztec and Mayan civilizations as well as earlier peoples such as the Teotihuacanos who built and later abandoned the city before the Aztecs discovered it.    Leia mais

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  • Erin NMexico and Peru 2015Erin N

    Flying to Cusco

    20 de maio de 2015, Peru ⋅ ☁️ 22 °C

    After a long layover in Lima, I boarded another short flight to Cusco. I had heard that the flight into Cusco is spectacular, but I was still really stunned by the scenery. Not long after taking off, the Andes came into view. They were beautiful, jutting above the clouds, and to reach Cusco we had to snake in between the mountains before landing at an altitude of 11,150 feet above sea level.

    The thin air was certainly palpable upon landing. The airport is actually a little cruel in that you must walk up a very long ramp from the tarmac to the baggage claim! Luckily, I think Mexico City's elevation helped me adjust more easily.    Leia mais

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  • Erin NMexico and Peru 2015Erin N

    First day in Cusco

    21 de maio de 2015, Peru ⋅ ⛅ 14 °C

    Cusco is really beautiful...from the surrounding mountains to the stone buildings to the colorful people. There are so many centuries-old churches (colonial architecture mixed with Incan stonework) and many of the buildings have really nice courtyards. Also, it's a very hilly city, and by walking a little uphill you can see the whole city from above.

    I also checked out the Mercado de San Pedro, where you can buy pretty much anything you can think of. There's a whole aisle devoted to juice stands, (quite graphic) carnicerías, a variety of eateries, and the typical farmer's market and textile stands. The laughing woman served me papaya juice.    Leia mais

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  • Erin NMexico and Peru 2015Erin N

    Sacsayhuaman

    22 de maio de 2015, Peru ⋅ ⛅ 17 °C

    On Friday I climbed all the steps in Cusco to get to the Sacsayhuaman Inca ruins above the city and made a couple new friends along the way. Sacsayhuaman was an important military post, as it has panoramic views of the city. The stonework is very impressive: they cut each stone precisely so it would fit with the adjacent stones, and somehow transported these slabs (some 20 ft tall) to the top of the mountain. Also there was a heard of llamas!Leia mais

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  • Erin NMexico and Peru 2015Erin N

    Salkantay trek: Day 1

    24 de maio de 2015, Peru ⋅ ☀️ 25 °C

    I woke up at 3:45am to be ready to be picked up outside at 4:20...after figuring out how to get outside (a challenge of its own) and picking up the rest of the group, we were on our way up and out of Cusco. The drive took 3 hours...the first hour was on a standard 2-lane highway road. After awhile, we stopped in a small town (Mollepata?) for a bathroom break, and our guide grabbed breakfast from a street vendor, but warned us not to do the same.

    The remainder of the drive was on a one-lane dirt road weaving up the mountain. Our van forded streams and climbed over rocks, inches from sheer dropoffs down the mountain...it reminded me of pictures I've seen of the "Most Dangerous Road" in Bolivia.

    After surviving the drive, we disembarked at Soraypampa and had breakfast while the horsemen prepared the luggage. Then we began the trek uphill, from elevation 12,139 feet asl to Salkantay Pass at 15,090 feet asl. From the pass, glacier-covered Salkantay Peak loomed another 5,000 feet above us, partially hidden by clouds.

    After making a coca leaf offering as per tradition, we trekked the 3,000 feet down to our slightly warmer campsite, arriving just as daylight was fading. The night sky was incredible: the snow-capped mountains shone in the moonlight and there were more stars than I'd ever seen, even some distant galaxies.    Leia mais

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  • Erin NMexico and Peru 2015Erin N

    Salkantay trek: Day 3

    27 de maio de 2015, Peru ⋅ ⛅ 29 °C

    We joined up with the Inca Trail to cross another mountain pass: 3 hours uphill and a couple more downhill until we arrived at an archeological site with a view across the valley of Machu Picchu. Fitting for the rainforest, it was intermittently raining while we were near the top of the ridge. The awesome consequence: a rainbow appeared as we were eating lunch and gazing out at Machu Picchu. (The other amazing thing about that lunch was the mango & chicken ceviche...incredible.)

    Then we decided to hike another 2 hours downhill and travel by van to the hot springs at Santa Teresa. The hot springs felt absolutely amazing on our aching muscles, and it was a beautiful location right next to the river amongst the rocks.

    We also learned that this town was destroyed by a terrible landslide in 1998. The damage is still almost apparent today, as the buildings seem newer and temporary in comparison to other villages in the area.    Leia mais

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  • Erin NMexico and Peru 2015Erin N

    Salkantay Trek: Day 4

    27 de maio de 2015, Peru ⋅ ⛅ 26 °C

    Our final day of trekking; we hiked from Hidroeléctrica to Aguas Calientes, about 3 hours along the railroad tracks.

    Aguas Calientes is actually an enjoyable town, despite existing solely for tourism. Between the river rapids flowing through town, the large tourist market, and a number of nice cafes, it was a nice place to relax. (Also, the hot shower in my hotel room seemed luxurious.)Leia mais

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  • Erin NMexico and Peru 2015Erin N

    Machu Picchu

    28 de maio de 2015, Peru ⋅ ⛅ 15 °C

    The ascent to Machu Picchu by bus at 5 in the morning was ethereal. There were pockets of fog interspersed between the mountains, some of which are really unique monolithic shapes. As it began to get light, we climbed up into the clouds. My first view of Machu Picchu was magical.

    The tour of the ancient city was really interesting. Especially remarkable is how the Incas managed to hide the city from the Spanish: they destroyed the first few miles of the Inca Trail so that they were untraceable and retreated further into the jungle. It's incredible that they were successful and the city remained undiscovered by outsiders until 1911.    Leia mais

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  • Erin NMexico and Peru 2015Erin N

    Ollantaytambo

    29 de maio de 2015, Peru ⋅ ⛅ 14 °C

    On the way back to Cusco from Aguas Calientes, I stopped for a day in Ollantaytambo, the oldest continuously-inhabited settlement in the Americas.

    Not only are there Inca ruins just steps from the village streets, but part of the town is literally built atop Incan foundations. The old waterways from Inca times still carry water through the small village, and it was fascinating to walk through the streets and see signs of modern life merged with ancient.Leia mais

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  • Erin NMexico and Peru 2015Erin N

    Pisac

    30 de maio de 2015, Peru ⋅ ⛅ 22 °C

    My first of a couple interesting adventures in Latin America: taking a local colectivo to Pisac from Cusco. First, I had to find the spot where they left from...there are numerous little garages on random streets away from the touristy areas where the colectivos leave from, a separate location per destination. You just have to walk by and someone will ask you "Pisac?" or "Ollantaytambo?" and you get into the van and wait for it to fill up. The ride is very cheap...this one was 4 soles, or just over a dollar. What you sacrifice is just a little comfort and personal space.

    The whole process was actually really simple, and we made it over the hill to Pisac pretty quickly, after a stop to buy newspapers and snacks.

    The ruins at Pisac were nice, though not as stunning as Machu Picchu or Ollantaytambo. The really impressive thing was the Inca tunnel: apparently they expanded a crack in the rock until they could walk through to the other side. It's actually quite long and today you can still walk through.    Leia mais

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  • Erin NMexico and Peru 2015Erin N

    Bienvenido a Arequipa

    31 de maio de 2015, Peru ⋅ ☀️ 22 °C

    As my overnight bus pulled into Arequipa, I noticed that the city was sunny, sandy, and a little chaotic (the drivers, anyway). At first the change from Cusco (climate, and many fewer tourists) was overwhelming, but then I noticed the volcanoes towering over the city. Misti, Chachani, Pichupichu. These tall, snowcapped peaks are beautiful and a little ominous, since Misti is an active volcano.

    Arequipa's buildings are primarily built out of sillar, a volcanic rock mined nearby. This gives the city a really unique, beautiful look and earns it the nickname "ciudad blanca".    Leia mais

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  • Erin NMexico and Peru 2015Erin N

    Juanita & Monasterio de Santa Catalina

    1 de junho de 2015, Peru ⋅ ⛅ 21 °C

    Juanita was a young girl who was sacrificed to the gods ~550 years ago on the top of a volcano near Arequipa by the Incas. She was discovered in 1995, remarkably well-preserved because her body had been frozen since her death.

    Today in Arequipa, her frozen body is on display in a university museum. It was really remarkable to see her, almost as if she was transported through time. Also, the artfacts found in and around the burial sites are incredibly well-preserved. It's interesting, however, that nowhere in the museum is a discussion of the morals of this aspect of Incan culture...

    Also in Arequipa is the Monasterio de Santa Catalina, a very beautiful and huge complex where nuns have lived since the 1500s. Even now there are about 20 nuns who live there in silence. The monastery is full of gorgeous color contrasts, yet the solitude and isolation of the cells is palpable.    Leia mais

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  • Erin NMexico and Peru 2015Erin N

    ¡Vicuñas!

    2 de junho de 2015, Peru ⋅ ☀️ 14 °C

    Along the road to Colca Canyon is the Salinas y Aguada Blanca National Reserve, home to herds of vicuñas. Vicuñas are small, non-domesticated animals of the camelid family (same as alpacas, llamas, and guanacos).

    Also on this drive we ascended to 16,000 feet above sea level, and met some alpacas!    Leia mais

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  • Erin NMexico and Peru 2015Erin N

    Condors & Colca Canyon

    3 de junho de 2015, Peru ⋅ ☀️ 14 °C

    Colca Canyon is the second deepest in the world, twice as deep as the Grand Canyon, and was breathtaking. Even more impressive are the condors that cruise through the canyon on a nice morning. Condors have a wingspan of nearly 15 feet, a lifespan of 70 years, and are monogamous, so much that they are known to commit suicide if their partner dies.Leia mais

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  • Erin NMexico and Peru 2015Erin N

    Parque del Amor

    4 de junho de 2015, Peru ⋅ ☁️ 20 °C

    At the edge of the swanky neighborhood of Miraflores is a Gaudi-esqe seaside park, the Park of Love.

    Before I arrived, I expected to hate Lima (based on the impressions given by several friends), but instead I was immediately drawn to the ocean, the liveliness, even the comforting humidity. Maybe I simply felt at home in the fog...(thanks, San Francisco!)Leia mais

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