Machu Picchu Archives - In Search Of Umami

Our favorite highlights of south america All created by man

Ok, we- humans destroy a lot, we kill animals and our environment. But sometimes we create. And when we do, it can be pretty incredible. Here is a list of the most impressive human creations in South America

Casa Pueblo in Uruguay

It reminds me a bit of architecture that I saw on Lanzarote from Cesar Manrique: big, white and fascinatingly futuristic. Casa Pueblo was constructed by Carlos Paez Vilaro as a summer house and workshop. It took him 36 years to finish it. The artist passed away already but his family still lives in a part of the house, the rest is a museum and a hotel! It’s truly magical and it’s situated just by the water which makes it even more enchanted. Every evening at sunset they have a nice peaceful tradition of playing one of the poems written by Vilaro and some music. We enjoyed that moment a lot because it was just so relaxing and full of pure, silent joy. It also felt like the white walls were a canvas for the colors of the setting sun. Incredible!

Mechanic flower – Floralis Generica in Buenos Aires, Argentina

It’s an unusual gift from an architect, Eduardo Catalano, for Buenos Aires. The steel flower opens its petals every morning to close them in the evening just like a natural flower would. It looks very fragile and gentle but at the same time it’s actually massive- 23 m high and 18 ton. Since building it in 2002 there were many issues with the mechanism and when we were there the pool underneath it was covered and under maintenance, but even so it was worth seeing it.

Incan Empire- almost everywhere

We didn’t like standing in line to Machu Picchu and the crowds there manage to kill any magic in the place but… it’s not the only one. Incas ruled areas from North Argentina to South Colombia and they created really many cities, left many incredible artifacts and even mummies. All of their constructions were one of a kind and the majority was situated on a slope of a mountain which automatically assures you there is going to be a nice view from each one of them, and a good work out to get there.

Street art- whole South America

Street art was very present in our whole travel really. It all started in Argentina when we arrived in Buenos Aires and we saw murals everywhere. It was just incredible for us that there artists get payed to paint on the buildings and that they get recognition for it. Each of the masterpieces was signed and some even with a web page. The art was not only beautiful but also made us think about so many issues in South America. It was political, cultural and funny, it was everything. The passion in the street art didn’t change all over South America. We saw some incredible masterpieces everywhere, especially in big cities. The bigger the city, the brighter and more daring were the murals.

Wine- Argentina, Uruguay

Both Argentina and Uruguay produce amazing wines. Argentina is already very famous for it. Unfortunately Uruguayan pride- Tannat is not so popular. It’s a shame because it’s definitely one of the most delicious red wines we have ever had, very deep and dry. When it comes to Argentina we were very positively surprised with fresh, white, fruity Torrontes.

Textiles- Bolivia, Peru

Especially in Bolivia and Peru we saw a variety of incredible textiles of all kind- ponchos, capes, blankets, carpets and all you could think about. They were all incredibly colorful and they told us a lot about local culture. Many of them were showing funerals, chicha production (corn beer) and other community events. The form and colors were all changing depending on the region and subject.

Christmas lights-Colombia

Colombians say it’s a pity that Christmas lasts only one month- December. It really does! On the first of December EVERYONE has to have lights everywhere. The bigger, flashier, brighter the better. In big cities like Bogota, Cali, Medellin they create tiny villages of light. They are truly incredible and surprisingly they don’t have that much to do with Christmas anymore. But it still has the atmosphere of Christmas maybe because of the booze & food stands and the crowds surrounding it. Obviously the weather is far from winter snow and cold.

Trek to Choquequirao

Going to Choquequirao, the Inca city, I was expecting amazing nature. At least tarantulas around me, condors above me and cacao trees next to me. Big nothing when it comes to that. The nature was not getting more exotic than horses passing us by. But reaching the first campsite at least I got an exotic "toilet", no words can explain how "different" the toilet was, only a picture (posted under). And the way to it was also an adventure on it's own.... The woman from the campsite wanted us to take a shower as well... It was a bucket of water and walls could be made with foil stretched between a few sticks... The funniest part was that the shower was just under the campsite so that you could see the person showering from your own tent... Free show. Obviously we passed on that entertainment.
Further trek was rather disappointing until we reached the check point in Choquequirao. Immediately we saw the ruins scattered on the mountains and we went flying to the campsite closeby to build our tent and start exploring. Firstly we went to extensive terraces and water temple just next to us. By far more impressive than Machu Picchu. Choquequirao has been known since at least the 17th century by the Spaniards and it has been mentioned many times. Also Bingham visited it before he discovered Machu Picchu and still the site was not excavated until the 1970s. Now only 30-40% has been excavated and that is already bigger than Machu Picchu. And we felt like in an Indiana Jones movie, all alone on the ruins and on each terrace we could see further buildings and terraces overgrown by vegetation. Incredible!!! Super excited we barely could sleep waiting for the next day to come to explore the ruins up on the mountain above us. And so on the next day we were busy exploring temples, squares, priest houses, workshops and most impressive: hugeeeee terraces with figures of llamas on them. On few terraces there were small llamas with mama llamas. All of it just partially uncovered.... No wonder Peru wants to build a cable car as an alternative to a two day trek to attract more tourists and more dollars... Making it a new Machu Picchu. Now it is only visited by few, maybe 20-30 people a day. Choquequirao was everything for us that Machu Picchu wasn't: mystical, without people trying to sell you cheesy gifts, big Americans with their huge cameras and fat wallets. Simple, beautiful and unforgettable.
And so was our trek back... We needed to go exactly the same way as we came and waking up early we already started walking back at 5.30 a.m. At around 10 a.m. we were already what seemed to be half way. There cheered by a local guide we decided to walk up the mountain to do the whole route in one day. According to him we would be done within 4 hours leaving him our big backpacks that he would take up by horse... After 4 hours we were nowhere near the end. We were almost in tears, covered in sweat and bites in full son walking up a mountain... Ready to give up... After 7 hours we finally reached the top and promised ourself never to trust Peruvian time estimations...

Mini guide for those who would like to do the trek:
1. The whole trek cost us a total of 658 soles so around 189 euro for two of us for 4 days. Most of it we spend on:
-250 soles (around 68 euros) on transportation to the view point from Cusco and back (on the way back we overpaid to get to Cusco faster which cost us around 50-60 soles more)
-135 soles (around 37 euros) on food - nuts, noodles, milk in powder, pasta etc.
-190 soles (around 52 euros) Renting equipment- tent for two people, two sleeping bags, sleeping pads, little kitchen with utensils, walking sticks
-56 soles (around 15 euros) on entrance ticket to the ruins (37 normal ticket, 19 with student discount)

2. First day we left Cusco at 5 a.m. and we arrived to the viewpoint at 10 a.m. (first taking a bus to Curawasi, then shared taxi to Ramal, then private taxi to the viewpoint). From there we walked to Playa Rosalina in 3.5 hours and then 2.5 hours to Santa Rosa Baja where we stayed for the night. Second day we started walking around 6 a.m. and it took us 2.5 hours uphill to get to Marampata. From there it was an easy 1.5 hour walk to the Choquequirao campsite where we stayed one and a half day. The forth day we left the camp at 5.30 a.m. and walked to Playa Rosalina (4.5 hours) and then we walked all the way to the view point (6.5 hours) without our big backpacks. Not recommended to do that in one day. We were destroyed in the end of it.

3. We didn't buy water, we had purifying pills but if you want there are plenty of places selling water (2.5 ltr water bottle for 12 soles, so around 3 euros)

4. From the viewpoint you can rent horses for the whole way, we didn't, we walked with our backpacks except for half a day, the last day, when we paid 20 soles (around 5 euro) for bringing our bags to the viewpoint

5. For navigation we used Maps.Me and GPS in our smartphones

6. We had plenty of bug spray which didn't help us but we are afraid to think how we would look like if we didn't have it

7. On all of the campsites you can buy water, inka cola, cola and snacks and often also cooked meals. Only on the Choquequirao site there was nothing to buy

8. To camp on most of the sites you need to pay 5 soles (a bit more than 1 euro) per tent, except in the Choquequirao campsite where it's free. The campsites are Chiquisca, Playa Rosalina, Santa Rosa baja, Santa Rosa alta, Marampata and Choquequirao so plenty to choose from.

9. You really need at least one day to explore the ruins because they are huge and quite far away from each other

If anyone would like to do it and something is not clear or there are unanswered questions, let us know:)

You can download the map here Choquequirao.kml or here Choquequirao.kmz.
You can use Maps.Me to open the files on your smartphone or google my maps on your PC.

Salkantay trek to Machu Picchu

To get to Machu Picchu you can take a train, walk or do many of the offered treks. Only money is the limit. To go for the Inca trail, which is the most famous way, we would need to book in advance, sell a kidney (or two) and let an old man drag our stuff through the mountains in sandals (animals aren't allowed to carry everything). So that was not an option. By train it seemed just not that special and we wanted to make some effort before coming there. And I wanted to sleep in a tent, just because I have never done it before and I have always wanted to try:) and so we went for the Salkantay trek. It was probably the most beautiful walk in our life!!!

In our group we had three Peruvians who were not really interesed in meeting us, so the usual here in Peru, but at least they didn't want to sell us anything either. Luckily we also had a really lovely Australian-New Zealand couple who were just amazing companions in sweat, rain and pain. First day we walked through an old Inca canal to reach our first campsite in Soraypampa with an amazing view on snow peaks and glaciers around. I was really excited to sleep in the spot, Jandirk was a bit less excited just because he doesn't like tents in general and he definitely likes them even less in freezing weather. Shivering but he survived.
On the next day we reached the Salkantay pass just next to the sacred Inca mountain- Salkantay. It was just amazing, the feeling of accomplishment and satisfacion and the surrounding of snow and glaciers. Just unforgettable. And then going down the climate changed drastically. Out of the sudden we were in the "cloud forrest" full of butterflies, wild plants, orchids and.... bugs. I was absolutely sure that our 40% DEET would make me invisible but there were really many bugs who managed to get me, on their (I hope) suicidal mission.
Through the next days I felt just like in a botanic garden, bananas, passion fruit, avocados, coffee beans everywhere!!! And plenty of suicidal bugs too. On the 4th day we reached the Llactapata ruins on a mountain. There are many theories of what it was, maybe an astronomical observatory or ceremonial spot. But what we know for sure now is that it has an amazing view on Machu Picchu! Absolutely surreal!!! From there we convinced David and Janelle (our fellow couple) to walk with us to Aguas Calientes, the village just next to Machu Picchu. It seemed more of a fair way to get there walking then by train, and way cheaper too. Since walking is (still) for free (rumors say it won't next year) the road is not really a road just stones next to the railroad. But it was still a really nice hike with amazing companions. We reached the village sweaty, dirty but excited. After a cold shower in Aguas Calientes (the irony of the name "Hot waters") we passed out to wake up at 3.50 a.m. to start lining up for the first bus (after a 5 day walk around 2000 steps in an hour didn't sound like an appealing way to get to Machu Picchu). At 5.30 the first bus took off with us on board. It was a free roller coaster ride that made us all wide awake. Up and down, through a rocky, bumpy road and with the speed of light we got there within 20 min. And we lined again this time in front of the entrance.
Honestly I didn't expect much of Machu Picchu. I thought it would be crowded and overpromoted. So I was pleasantly suprised when we entered. Covered in early morning fog it looked mystical and just ingenious. Perfect rock constructions closed between Machu Picchu mountain and Wayna Picchu mountain. Agricultural terraces, temples, houses, storage places everything looked out of this world. And even lamas on the terraces looked just in place. Even the crowds were not that overwhelming as the people just spread everywhere and around 1-2 p.m. most of them disappeared. Probably their bladders were not as strong as ours. There are no toilets on the site because it's sacred (I'm sure the Incas didn't pee or poo at all there) so you need to get out which is quite a long walk and then re-enter and you are only allowed to do it twice. Also you can't eat there so that might be another reason for the early evacuation of the majority. We decided to put our needs on hold which was not as much of a challenge mostly because we were sweating all of our liquids away. Especially while climbing more than 2000 steps to get to the top of the Machu Picchu mountain....
From the top of it we saw how dense the vegetation covering the surrounding mountains is and it wasn't such a shock anymore that the Spaniards haven't found it but we were still shocked that in 1911 when Bingham discovered the site there were few families living there and even farming....
After an exhausting but great day we packed ourselves on the train and then bus back to Cusco. Me already with ideas for new treks, Jandirk in hope to say goodbye to sleeping in tents... At least for a while:)