So get your laughs out now – yes, there is a lake in Peru named Titicaca. The third grader in me giggles with embarrassment – you said titi and caca!! Ha ha! But in seriousness, this is one of the most ancient and sacred lakes in the world. We stayed in the main city by the lake shores called Puno. This city is a bit like San Francisco. The landscape is very mountainous, so all the houses are built along the mountainsides with steep roads connecting the residential areas to the main “downtown” of the city. To our surprise, our little canyon workout didn’t really do much to help us climb these vertical streets any easier. The main problem was the altitude, which was about 12,400 feet above sea level. We were out of breath just walking a couple of feet. We felt like such fatties.
In this region the main drink is Coca tea, which is just water and coca leaves, and helps your body adjust to the altitude and prevent altitude sickness. Coca leaves are actually what they make cocaine out of. Of course it takes about 200 kg of leaves to make 1 kg of cocaine, so a couple cups of tea was harmless, although I kept freaking out to Rob saying, “Great, now I’ve done drugs! I’ve done cocaine!!” I didn’t really, but I tend to be a bit dramatic at times. Oh, and a little fact – Coca Cola used to be made out of coca leaves, that’s how it got the name!
We had plans to go visit a bunch of the little islands around the lake, but ended up having something come up with our family back in the States and we felt like we needed to be there. The traveling has been amazing, but at this point in our journey we were starting to get a bit run down (mostly because of all the sicknesses!) and were already feeling ready to head back “home.”
So we decided to change our plans and head back early. However, we absolutely HAD to visit Machu Picchu before we left Peru. We were able to cancel our Machu Picchu trek and made last minute arrangements to head to Cuzco, the base camp city to Machu Picchu and then make the trip ourselves to the mountain city.
In Cusco our time was short, but we did meet this couple from Canada at our hostel, and we out on St. Patrick’s day with them which was a blast. One of the best parts of travel are all the amazing people you meet from all over the world!
The day after we arrived in Cusco, we started the trek up to Machu Picchu. It consists of several combi rides (collective taxis) that took most of the day, then a three hour hike to Aguas Calientes, the closest city to Machu Picchu. The next day, we paid a ridiculous amount to take a bus up to the actual sight, since we were toasted from all the traveling/walking the day before. But all the effort was totally worth it.
There is this spot at that looks over the ruins of Machu Picchu and it will make anyone speechless. Here you are at 7,970 feet, surrounded by towering mountains and floating clouds, looking upon a city built on a mountain peak in the middle of the sky. The city is just there, like something had set it on top of the mountain. All the sides surrounding the city are straight drop-offs. How this location was chosen, how this city was built, and how people survived up here is unfathomable. This place is so mysterious, like many ancient places in Peru, where there are more questions than answers. One just has to stand in awe in the face of unbelievable earthly creations and feel the shivers run down your spine. Beautiful, incredible, unbelievable. How blessed we are to have been in that place and experienced it’s magic.
In this region the main drink is Coca tea, which is just water and coca leaves, and helps your body adjust to the altitude and prevent altitude sickness. Coca leaves are actually what they make cocaine out of. Of course it takes about 200 kg of leaves to make 1 kg of cocaine, so a couple cups of tea was harmless, although I kept freaking out to Rob saying, “Great, now I’ve done drugs! I’ve done cocaine!!” I didn’t really, but I tend to be a bit dramatic at times. Oh, and a little fact – Coca Cola used to be made out of coca leaves, that’s how it got the name!
We had plans to go visit a bunch of the little islands around the lake, but ended up having something come up with our family back in the States and we felt like we needed to be there. The traveling has been amazing, but at this point in our journey we were starting to get a bit run down (mostly because of all the sicknesses!) and were already feeling ready to head back “home.”
So we decided to change our plans and head back early. However, we absolutely HAD to visit Machu Picchu before we left Peru. We were able to cancel our Machu Picchu trek and made last minute arrangements to head to Cuzco, the base camp city to Machu Picchu and then make the trip ourselves to the mountain city.
In Cusco our time was short, but we did meet this couple from Canada at our hostel, and we out on St. Patrick’s day with them which was a blast. One of the best parts of travel are all the amazing people you meet from all over the world!
The day after we arrived in Cusco, we started the trek up to Machu Picchu. It consists of several combi rides (collective taxis) that took most of the day, then a three hour hike to Aguas Calientes, the closest city to Machu Picchu. The next day, we paid a ridiculous amount to take a bus up to the actual sight, since we were toasted from all the traveling/walking the day before. But all the effort was totally worth it.
There is this spot at that looks over the ruins of Machu Picchu and it will make anyone speechless. Here you are at 7,970 feet, surrounded by towering mountains and floating clouds, looking upon a city built on a mountain peak in the middle of the sky. The city is just there, like something had set it on top of the mountain. All the sides surrounding the city are straight drop-offs. How this location was chosen, how this city was built, and how people survived up here is unfathomable. This place is so mysterious, like many ancient places in Peru, where there are more questions than answers. One just has to stand in awe in the face of unbelievable earthly creations and feel the shivers run down your spine. Beautiful, incredible, unbelievable. How blessed we are to have been in that place and experienced it’s magic.
