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| View of Cusco from Q'enqo |
May 20, 2018
We had some not-so-great experiences today, but it was still probably my favorite day yet. We set out for a 10 mile hike to some of the Incan ruins just outside the city. To get into the sites, you have to buy a city pass. For foreign tourists, it costs 130 soles, which is about $40, but for students with a valid card it costs 70 soles, or about $22. We rode a taxi to the top, then hiked all the way back down.
Our first destination was Tambomachay, then Puka Pukara, then Sacsayhuaman, then Q'enqo (Q'enqo was my favorite).
This is mainly pictures, but you can read about our 3 main sketchy experiences at the bottom (:
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| Tambomachay |
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| View from Tambomachay |
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| Tambomachay |
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| Baby Alpaca! |
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| Baby Alpaca again! |
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| Puka Pukara |
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| Puka Pukara |
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| View from Puka Pukara |
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| View from Puka Pukara |
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| You can see Cristo Blanco and Sacsayhuaman in the distance |
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| Sacsayhuaman AKA Sexy Woman |
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| This pic was a struggle. The wind was blowing the towel quite nicely. Sacsayhuaman. |
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| Sacsayhuaman |
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| Sacsayhuaman |
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| Sacsayhuaman |
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| View from Q'enqo |
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| View of Cusco from Q'enqo |
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| Q'enqo |
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| Q'enqo |
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| View from Q'enqo |
Now, here's some of the kind of bad experiences we had, which were kind of funny in hindsight:
Number 1: The Sketchy Restaurant
Our host dad recommended a place for us to eat lunch outside of Sacsayhuaman. Supposedly, it was a super cool place with animals inside and really good food. Well, we were walking down this street, and we didn't know the name of the place, so eventually we just walked inside this random "restaurant". We were about to walk out because we didn't see anyone else in there, when some people came up to us excitedly and had us take a seat (at the only table there). They gave us a menu, so we tried to order off of it, but they said they didn't have what we wanted. Instead, they said that they had chicken and fries (which was not on the menu). One of the girls is a vegetarian, so she couldn't have that, so the man said that he would check with the cook to see what she could eat. 25 minutes later, he returned with our food without even asking if she wanted what they had (it was the same as everyone else's meal, but without the chicken). Also, they didn't even have anything to drink, which especially sucked for me since I had run out of water. We kind of thought the food looked sketchy, so we only ate a little of it, which we kind of felt bad about since it's rude to leave much food on your plate here. A while later, this sweet old lady came out to collect our plates (I think she was the cook), and she asked us why we didn't eat much. We just said we weren't very hungry but that the food was delicious. She said it was 20 soles for each of us (even the girl who didn't get chicken). In the end, we just paid it and left. The worst part of it was that about 10 feet past that restaurant was the really cool restaurant that Sandro had recommended to us. Ten. More. Feet.
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| Here's the restaurant. It looked very promising. Looks are deceiving. |
Number 2: Hannah Almost Got Ran Over by a Bus
After leaving the "restaurant", we walked to Q'enqo. We were walking on the left side of the road (on the side, not on the actual road) when this bus came up behind us in the left lane, passing a car in the right lane. If Hannah had been standing 1 inch closer to the road or if she had been a couple inches taller, it would have been game over for her. But, she didn't get hit so that was good.
Number 3: The Sketchy Taxi
After Q'enqo, we decided to take a taxi back to our homestay. The only taxis you should take here should have numbers on them and a certification. Unfortunately, we realized the taxi we chose had neither of those things after we hopped in the car. All was well up until the driver took a small dirt road that we had never seen before. To get back on the road, we had to go over a curb. We could not get over the curb. As he tried to drive over it, the bottom of the car scraped the cement, then eventually wouldn't move anymore. He told us to get out of the car, so we did, then saw why the car wouldn't move: all four of the wheels were off the ground, with the body of the car caught on the curb. Eventually he got it off the curb, so we got back in and made it home alive. Not to mention, he almost ran into a couple other cars and a few of the warning lights of his car (like for the engine) were on. Oh well. You live and you learn.
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