The first thing that comes to mind when Peru is mentioned is, of course, Machu Picchu! Maybe Paddington Bear comes in a distant second!! Reality is – like all countries with a world renowned landmark – think Taj Mahal in India, or Eiffel Tower in France – Peru has a lot more to offer!! From the coast of the South Pacific, to the dizzying heights of the Andes and the lush Amazon rainforest – Peru has it all!! Add the rich history of the Incas and the forgotten glory of the Inca Empire – just visiting Machu Picchu can’t do this beautiful country justice! For the Coolkarnis, Peru was even more exciting – visiting one more Wonder of the World – and then, first time in South America!! In fact, this was our first trip south of the equator!! New country, new continent, new hemisphere!!

We had a leisurely itinerary to come to Peru – also hoping to sneak in a day in Miami before heading out. Flight delays from Chicago meant that the only sights in Miami we saw were the airport and a mall close to our hotel. We flew into Lima quite late, and our hotel for the night (picked mainly for the available airport shuttle!) was in a very industrial looking area – didn’t really invoke the warm and fuzzies!! Back at the Lima airport next morning, waiting for our flight to Cusco – we had a chance to try a couple of local snacks. The plantain chips were quite delicious, but the luridly fluorescent yellow Inca Cola – hard pass, thank you!! Cusco is at 3400m, and as we stepped out of the airport, the altitude hit us right away – even with the Diamox we had been taking. I wasn’t expecting such a huge town at this altitude!! We were headed to a heritage boutique hotel – Hacienda in Cusco Historical Center – and it was such a beautiful property!! The concierge first introduced us to Coca tea – a herbal tea made with coca leaves to help with the altitude sickness. The coca leaf – as we were to find out – was integral to the Inca culture. Brewed as a tea, or chewed like tobacco – and used in a variety of religious functions as well!

The hotel also offered 10 minutes of complimentary oxygen – Manasi and I got the giggles thinking of taking them up on this kind offer – but after a short walk around the historic center left us quite breathless, we weren’t laughing anymore! Early start next day, we were to take the train to Aguas Calientes – and fingers crossed, get tickets to Machu Picchu!! But first, a tour of the Sacred Valley of the Incas. With Cusco as the Capital City of the Inca Kingdom, the Sacred Valley was the surrounding region, the valley of the River Urubamba which was the prime agricultural land for the Incas. The valley is still dotted with Inca ruins, and villages where the Inca style of living is still preserved. Our first stop was in Chinchero, visiting a community textile center – a traditional awana wasi, or House of Weaving. These places are most certainly tourist traps – we’ve seen versions of these in other countries – an exhibition or demonstration of local culture and customs, followed by a visit to the gift center with exorbitantly priced artifacts!! What can I say though – I’m still a sucker for these kind of places!!

And this one was particularly charming!! Right at the entrance was a cute guinea-pig enclosure – well, cute, until our guide asked us which one we wanted for our dinner!! Turns out baked guinea-pig or cuy is a special Inca delicacy – and these cute furballs scampering about were not family pets, but dinner!! Yikes!! Next up were the alpaca pens, to feed the alpacas – and a very sad looking goat as well! We eagerly accepted the offer of traditional Inca ponchos – it was colder than we had anticipated! But while Ajey and Manasi got wool hats to complete the traditional outfit, I was given a wooden hat – which was HEAVY – to keep it from flying off as the women worked outdoors. Um, wouldn’t a chinstrap be easier on the neck? The woman giving us the demo was very charming, showing us the process of washing, spinning, weaving of the alpaca wool, followed by the natural dyeing process – she kept up a continuous patter going which was very entertaining!! Goes without saying, we bought – correction, I bought – a couple of probably overpriced scarves – but hey, support the local economy, right?!!

Chinchero has the omnipresent Inca terraces, and a colonial church which is built on Inca foundations. We didn’t spend too much time here, it was back to the Mercedes travel van to head to our next destination. At this time, I wasn’t aware how much time we were going to end up spending in vans like these – spoiler alert, it was a LOT of time!! Anyway, next stop, Moray! This site had Inca terraces (!), but in a very unique circular formation. The terraces in concentric circles formed individual micro-climates – and the Incas used this site as an agricultural lab, to improve their crop strains! Potatoes and quinoa, along with maize were the main Inca crops – and of course, the very important coca plants! Apparently, the Incas cultivated over a 1000 varieties of potatoes!! Imagine all the different batata-wadas!!

Another bus ride through the mountains before we arrived at Ollantaytambo – an important city during Inca times, it served as a temporary capital during the Spanish conquest, and was also an important stronghold for the Incan resistance. Today, it is the start of the famous Inca Trail hike, and the train station to Aguas Calientes – a gateway to Machu Picchu, if you will. We had a train to catch in an hour, so it was a race up the massive stone ramparts – but totally worth it!! The imposing fort has an unfinished Temple of the Sun at the top, and there are several stones lying about, dressed and ready to be placed in the structure – the size of these massive stones totally brings an understanding and appreciation of the Inca ingenuity – their techniques for moving these stones were probably the same as used by the Egyptians when building the Pyramids! Equally spectacular is the sight of the Inca granaries across the valley! The current township of Ollantaytambo is built on Inca foundations, seamlessly merging the ancient with the modern.

From Ollantaytambo, we headed to Aguas Calientes, and Machu Picchu. The train brought us back to the same station, and it was back to the tourist vans to our journey back to Cusco. Instead of a hotel, we had a cute little AirBnB apartment in the historic district, a 10 minute walk away from the Plaza de Armas, or City Center. Best part of having an apartment – a washer and dryer!! Being able to do laundry in the middle of a vacation – especially a hiking trip – is literally a godsend!! After several loads of laundry, and a quick trip to a small grocery store to stock up on some basics – we set out to explore Cusco. First stop – Taste of India – an Indian restaurant we had seen on the first day!! What can I say – after 3 days of Peruvian food, even Manasi was craving the dal-rice comfort!! On the hunt for souvenirs, we made our way to the historic San Pedro Market. The narrow streets were quite crowded – with tourists and locals both jostling along the sidewalks, dodging the street vendors! We did find souvenir shops, yes – but the San Pedro Market is also home to fresh produce stalls, meat and fish stalls, fresh juice and snack stalls, clothing and hardware – anything and everything is sold here!! I was keen to see the over 90 varieties of potatoes that were sold here – but by the time we arrived, most of the produce stalls were closing for the day – so haggling for souvenirs it was!! I just love browsing though local markets – reminds me of shopping for vegetable in Pune’s Mandai – the constant hustle-bustle, the variety of sounds and smells – the best way to experience the local culture!!

Next day was the famous Rainbow Mountain, and finally, a chance for some real hiking!! We had a really early start, pickup was at 3:30am – but before the hiking, there was a 2 hour journey – yes, back again in the Mercedes van! Ajey had booked this excursion through the AirBnB site, and there were 8 more people in our group. Rainbow Mountain, or Vinicunca, has gained popularity very recently – it is only around 2013 that the glaciers retreated, revealing the beautiful stripes of red, ochre, yellow, white and even hints of green and purple that are caused by mineral deposits. Today, Rainbow Mountain is a must-see for all visitors to Cusco. Unlike Machu Picchu, there is no limit on visitors – there is however a 25 soles entrance fee, that will usually be included in your tour package. The 100 mile drive to the trailhead is very picturesque – flocks of llamas and alpacas dot the landscape, and the mountains change colors dramatically. Of course, goes without saying – the road winds around like crazy – I was very glad that I had my Dramamine with me!!

After a quick stop for breakfast, we were at the trailhead – from Cusco at 3400m to 4360m at the start of the hike to 5200m at the top. There are restrooms at the trailhead, but at a charge of 2 soles per person – so good idea to keep some change on hand. It’s a good 1.5 to 2 hour hike to the top – a very steady incline, but the altitude does it make harder. We also underestimated the cold, so without gloves or warm hats, it was freezing – really glad our buffs kept off the worst of the wind! But the view – spectacular doesn’t even begin to describe it!! One of the very few sights that looks exactly like the pictures – no touchups, no filters – only nature in its full glory!! The beautifully striated Rainbow Mountain takes center stage – but the range stretching out behind it is equally spellbinding! We were one of the first groups to start hiking, so by the time we reached the top, it wasn’t that crowded – we were able to quickly get our picture taken at the best viewpoint and then could explore a bit. The photo-ops with the placid llamas, decked out in colorful scarves and sunglasses – really cute pictures! And if you’re still not breathless enough, there’s an additional steep slope to be tackled with even better views – I left that to the intrepid adventures, Manasi and Ajey!!

The way back to our van – there’s 2 choices – go back the same way, and easy descent. Or for an additional 20 soles per person, just behind the Rainbow Mountain is the Red Valley – another hour or so of hiking. And there’s no need to walk back for the descent, our guide said there’s a ‘shortcut’ to head back to the parking lot. The walk to Red Valley is a narrow, very narrow trail – only one person at a time – and unlike the trail up to Rainbow Mountain, very gravelly. Although not many people choose the Red Valley hike, in my opinion, it’s totally worth it – you’re already above 5000m, what’s another hour of walking!! And once again, the view is spectacular – the iron-rich, blood red valley opens up right as you turn around Rainbow Mountain – with the blue skies, and the occasional snow-covered peak, it is a very dramatic landscape!! The descent – the promised ‘shortcut’ – was another story. Much steeper than expected, and with the loose gravel making footing uncertain – it was painfully slow – toes, ankles and knees took quite the beating!! A rare sighting at the bottom made up for the hardship – our favorite ‘CAT’ hard at work!! By the way, if the walking is not for you – you can also get up to Rainbow Mountain in relative luxury on horseback!!

We were exhausted by the time we were dropped off in Cusco – it had been a really, really long day – not only the 3-4 hike, but close to 7 hours in that van!! And we had a similar day again tomorrow – this time to Humantay Lake. Once again, a pickup of 3:30am – our group had many people from the previous day! top for breakfast, once again the steep meandering road through the mountains for almost 3 hours – and we were at the trailhead – well actually, about a half mile before the actual trailhead since a landslide had blocked the road. Our starting point was a village called Soraypampa at 3850m, which is also the starting point of the Salkantay Trek. Our guide jokingly referred to the Humantay Lake trek as an entrance exam for the Salkantay Trek!! We had great views of the snow covered peaks as we started walking – and even a glimpse of the mighty Salkantay. At 6271m, Salkantay is the highest peak in the Vilcabamba range, and is worshipped as a sacred Apu or a Protector by the Incas.

All the travel guides list this as easy-to-moderate hike, a good beginner hike. But this is not an easy hike by any stretch of imagination. First of all, there is almost a 400m elevation in just 2kms – 3850m to 4200m – so it is quite steep – up one hill, and then another. The trail is also quite uneven, rocky and gravelly, which makes it harder. For some reason, I was just not able to get my breathing regulated on the way up, so I did struggle a bit – but I’m nothing if not persistent – so did make it, albeit much slower than the others!! The reward was the beautiful glacier lake – sparkling turquoise waters reflecting the ring of snow capped mountains around it!! Great spot to take pictures – there were even a couple of proposals here!! Did I pass the Salkantay entrance test – well, just barely!! The descent was quick, and we were soon on our way back to Cusco – another long journey in the van!! Celebrated our last night in Cusco with another visit to Taste of India!!

The next day we were on our way to Lima – the Peruvian adventure will continue, but in another post!! A word about the title – I mentioned Coca tea earlier – this quickly became my favorite daytime drink in Cusco! Our first night at a Peruvian restaurant, they gave us a sample of the local drink – pisco sour – and then, I was looking for pisco sours every place we stopped! The original pisco sour actually tastes a lot like a margarita, but pisco with passionfruit – absolutely delicious!! I must have ordered one everywhere – which is why Manasi suggested the title!! So, cheers – and one more pisco sour please!!!

Last Peru post coming soon – stay tuned!