17
August 2016, Santiago and Flight to Lima, Peru
In
the morning we went to Mercado. Mercado is a big market that sell almost
everything. It had a “tourist” section that sell souvenirs and seafood
restaurants. It also had some counters that sell tour packages. We didn’t spend
so much time here. After bought Moai (easter island statue), we decided to back
to hotel and get our luggage. We took turbus from Alamameda bus terminal to
Santiago Airport. Our flight by Skyairlines from Santiago, to Lima was at 15.10
pm.
17
August 2016, Lima, Peru
We
arrived at Lima Airport at 17.00 pm. Our flight from Santiago took about 4
hours and there’s two hours time different between Santiago and Lima. First
thing we did was to find Scotia ATM to withdraw money. Because from the tips we
read, never exchange money at airport money changer as it has the worst rate.
The ATM was on the second floor. We withdrew soles and US Dollar. After we had
the cash, we took Uber to the hotel, it cost 40 soles. We chose to stay near
the old town and Continental Hotel was one of the hotel within walking distance
to the old town. The trip from airport to hotel took almost 1 hour because of
the traffic jam almost along the way from airport to the hotel.
After
checked in, we directly went to pedestrian shopping street Jiron de la union
(to have dinner), where we can find many shops and restaurants. We decided to
try Chifa. Peru was known for its Chifa, a Chinese – Latin American fusion
cuisine. There were over 9.000 chifa restaurants in Lima. As expected, we liked
the food, the taste was so good. We tried the fried rice, sweet and sour
chicken served with fried rice and fried wonton for the appetizer.
After
had dinner, we strolled along the street, though it was quite late at night,
there were still so many people on the street and all the shops were still
open. Beside the commercial shops, there was a beautiful church, Iglesia de La
Merced. It was a historical church since the first Holy Mass of Lima was
celebrated here.
Jiron
de la Union street was a long street, just following the street, at some point
we will arrive at Plaza Mayor. Plaza Mayor or Plaza de Armas is a big,
beautiful and historical square in Lima. It is the place when Jose San Martin
announced Peru’s independence from Spain. The Square was surrounded by many
important buildings, such as Catedral of Lima, Archbishop’s Palace (just next
to the Catedral), Municipal Palace (across the Catedral) and beautiful Presidential
Palace.
Then we
walked Jiron de la Union street at the opposite direction and we arrived at San
Martin Plaza. But since it was already late of night and we still have half day
tomorrow, we decided to back to hotel and get some rest.
18
August 2016, Lima, Cusco and Ollantaytambo
After
simple breakfast at the hotel, we started our Lima walking tour. Since San
Martin is the closest to the hotel (less than 5 minutes walk), we decided to
start from there. San Martin Square is one of the historic square in Lima. As
its name, this square is dedicated to Jose San Martin, the leader for Peru’s
independence. In this square we can also find the famous Gran Hotel Bolivar.
Francia
Square was the next destination. The most important building in this square is
Recoleta Church. Its blue facade makes an outstanding appereance, compare to
other surrounding buildings in this square. It’s a nice place to have a short
rest, sitting on the bench under the tree.
Then
we continued walking to Parque de la Expostion, passing the Real Plaza Shopping
Center. Just across the Parque de La Exposition, we can see the magnificent
building of Palace of Justice. We can not enter the building, but the façade
and garden in front of it, make it worth a visit. As for Parque de la
Exposition, it’s a nice park where we can also find Lima Art Museum and Italian
Art Museum.
From
Parque de La Exposition, we walked to Parque Universitario. The park was named
after the Natioanl University of San Marcos. We can see the university near the
park. Inside the park, there is a clock tower that plays Peruvian National
Anthem every day at 12 pm.
Next
was Basilica San Pedro. It’s a very beautiful church in Barouque style. It has
rich and detailed ornaments. It’s one of the most important building in Lima.
There’s no fee to enter this church. 
Not far from Basilica San Pedro is Mercado Central (Central Market). It sells
everything. There were so many shops and stalls in this area. We tried the rice
pudding at one of the street vendor. It taste good, it had soft texture and
sweet taste. This area also connected with China Town (Barrio Chino). The area
was marked with typically china type gate, with the specific shape and red
color. The ground was decorated with tiles that represent twelve Chinese
Zodiac. Actually we planned to have lunch here, since it was a bit early (11.30
am) the restaurants did not serve lunch until 12 pm, they only serve breakfast
menu.
So,
we continued to Plaza Mayor. This Plaza is charming both in night or day time.
And we were just in time for the changing guard at Presidential Palace. We can
watch from behind the fence. It was crowded, so many people were watching the
parade enthusiastically. We could not watching the parade until it finish,
because we only had few time before our flight to Cusco and we still need to
have our lunch, and the fastest option was KFC at San Martin.
Then
we hurried back to the hotel, got our luggage and find Uber to the airport. The
traffic was also bad but we can arrive at the airport on time. Our flight to
Cusco was at 15.10 pm. We took Avianca Airlines.
We Arrived
at Cusco Airport at 16.17 pm. From the airport, Nancy (our tour operator)
picked us up. She was very helpful, make sure that we had enough cash in soles
(we stopped at money changer). Since we took our train to Machu Picchu from
Ollantaytambo and the train departed very early in the morning (06.10 am) and
we must be there 30 minus prior the departure time, we decided to stay at
Ollantaytambo. Because if we stay at Cusco we need 1 hour 45 minutes to get to
Ollantaytambo and that means we need to wake up at 3 am. So we decided, it
would be less risky to miss the train and we will have more energy to climb
Machu Picchu the next morning, if we stay in Ollantaytambo. And since we would
do our Machu Picchu as a day trip from Ollantaytambo, we would go back to Cusco
after finish Machu Picchu at the same day, and also there’s capacity limit for
the bag (max 5 kg/bag) that we can carry in the train, we decided to put our
luggage at our hotel in Cusco.
After
we dropped our luggage, Nancy brought us to terminal collectivo location.
Collectivo is usually a small bus where the collective passengers share the
cost of the journey. There are no scheduled times for collectivos, they will
wait until full before heading off. But in our case, the collectivo was a car,
with capacity of 7 passangers. And lucky for us, we were their last passanger.
From here, we went on our own (without Nancy) to Ollantaytambo. The driver
dropped us off at the Ollantaytambo terminal, which was a square with some
restaurants, cafes, souvenir shops and minimarkets.
We
decided to have dinner first before going to the hotel. After dinner, we bought
some snacks and water for us to bring to Machu Picchu. After that we went
straight to the hostel, Chayana Wasi. It was a good hotel, with good location
(very close to the main square and not to far from the Ollantaytambo train
station – 15 minutes walking). Good price EUR 35 per room per night and
children free of charge. The room was clean and the shower had a good hot water.
They also can prepare packed breakfast because we will leave the hostel very
early in the morning.
19
August 2016, Machu Picchu
The Big
Day! We woke up early in the morning at 4.30, got our packed breakfast, hot
drinks (coffee and coca tea) and off we go! Our train was at 6.10 am. We must
arrive at the station 30 minutes before departure time. We took Expedition Train.
The train’s interior was very nice, with large window and skylight. The view
was also very beautiful. We got drinks and huge cookies. And they also play
traditional Peruvian songs that we like it so much.
After
1 hour 30 minutes ride, finally we reached Aguas Calientes. From train station,
there was already someone who met us (Nancy already arrange all the things) and
guided us to the bus terminal (bus to Aguas Calientes to Machu Picchu). From
here, he introduced us to a Lady that later put us in the queue. The queue was
really really long. Lucky for us, the lady put us in the middle of the queue,
so we didn’t need to queue at the very end of the line (we couldn’t even see
the end of the queue line). After 30 minutes finally we were at the bus. The
bus ride to Machu Picchu entrance took about 25 minutes. Again, the view was
breathtaking. We can see Machu Picchu on top of the mountain.
The
bus stopped at the entrance of Machu Picchu. At the entrance area, there was a
small resto, luggage storage and the most important: toilet. Because there’s no
toilet in Machu Picchu site, no wonder, there was a long line in front of the toilet.
We can also find and hire a tour guide in this area. Since our package already
include tour guide, so we just need to find our guide. Though there was crowded
with visitors and tour guides, we can find our guide easily because they
organize the tour very neatly. In fact, since we arrive at Aguas Calientes,
everything was very organized. Our group was English speaking group with max 15
people.
After
we met the tour guide, now we must pass the ticket control. We need to present
the ticket and passport. Then, we officialy started our tour. After short
briefing about Machu Picchu, we need to hike until we reach large plateau where
we can see the classic view of Machu Picchu. It was the only part that needed
hiking, the rest was very easy. And yes, when we arrived at the plateau, we can
see the magnificent Machu Picchu. It was the best spot to take picture. Though
it was full of people but with lots of patience and quick shot, we managed to
get our best photos.
Machu
Picchu is one of the most amazing places in the world. The locals believe that if
they visit Machu Picchu, it will give them strength. That is why we can see lots
of local people come to Machu Picchu. Until now, the purpose of Machu Picchu is
still not very clear. Some think it was for religious purpose, others think it
was for astronomical purposes.
Machu
Picchu was built at the golden era of Inca Empire (15th – 16th
century), which was under the ninth emperor, Emperor Pachacuti. How they built
it, it is still a mystery. We still don’t know how they can lift all the super
heavy stones up to the hill. The world knows about Machu Picchu because an American
explorer Hiram Bingham III re-discovered Machu Picchu in 1911.
The
guided tour lasted for 2 hours. After that we explored Machu Picchu by
ourselves. At around 1.30 pm, we decided to go back to Aguas Calientes. As our
tour guide already informed us, that after 1 pm the queue line for the bus was
very long, we must manage our time wisely so we will not miss our train. He
suggested that we at least spare two hours before our train departure time (One
hour waiting for the bus to Aguas Calientes, 25 minutes for the bus ride and 30
minutes we must at train station before our departure time). So, when we exit
Machu Picchu, we saw a very long line to the bus. We spent time by eating our
snack and finally it was our turn to go to the bus.
We
had our late lunch in one of the resto near bus terminal. There were so many
restaurants around here, as well as souvenir shops. After lunch, we went to the
market next to the train station and we ended up buy quite some stuff. Alpaca
was a must buy. We bought a nice alpaca sweatshirt for 30 soles (USD 10), an
Incan design table runner (15 soles), a dream catcher (8 soles) and an Incan
design scarf (10 soles). We spent our time there until our train come.
This
time, we got the Vistadome train (since Expedition train was already sold out).
It was a bit expensive than Expedition. We got a small size spinanch quiche
with drinks. In the middle of the ride, there was a performance and fashion
show by the train attendants. They wore alpaca products and we can buy those
items.
When
we arrived at Ollantaytambo Train Station, there was already someone who was
waiting for us and guided us to the bus. This time we got a big bus. The bus
dropped us at Plaza San Fransisco, from there we need to walk to our hotel for
about 15 minutes. It was really cold. Cusco has a very large difference
temperature between day and night. At day time it can reach up to 22C and at
night it can drop to 2 C. It was almost 11 pm when we reached our hotel,
Montecristo Hotel. All we need was a good hot water shower and good sleep.
20
August 2016, Sacred Valley Tour
We
had breakfast at the hotel. It was a simple breakfast with the same menu everyday.
But the staff at the reception was so nice and helpfull, they even change our
room to a better one because we told them that our room was really cold.
Today we join the Sacred Valley tour. Exactly at 8.30, a
lady from the tour came picked up us. She guided us to Plaza San Fransisco where
the tour bus was already waiting for us. It was a big bus. The bus made one
more stop to pick up another passanger then we were ready to go. Our tour guide
spoke in English and Spanish.
Before we went to Pisac, our tour stopped at a traditional
market. Our guide said it was cheaper to buy items here compare to other place.
We only buy an alpaca sweatshirt which had the same price with the one we
bought at Aguas Calientes market. We also made photo with girl and llama, just
need to pay 1 soles. After that we went directly to Pisac. Approaching the
site, there was a small ticket office and also a toilet (as there is no toilet
on the site, better use the toilet here). We bought the Partial Cusco Tourist Ticket – Sacred Valley. It includes four
attractions in the Sacred Valley:
Pisac, Ollantaytambo, Chincero and Moray. The ticket is valid for 2 days and
cost 70 soles.
The Sacred Valley was an important area for the Incas because
it was the center of agricultural, spiritual and political for them. Even until
today, this area still provides agricultural product for the city. Though there
are many archeological sites in Sacred Valley, but usually people visit the two
main sites, Pisac and Ollantaytambo.
When we arrived at Pisac, there were already so many tour
buses. From the parking area, we need to walk to the site. At the site, we can
see the stunning terraces, where the Incas used to plant corn, potatoes and
quinoa. Keep walking forward, we arrived at Inca cemetery, embedded in the
hillside. It was a big cemetery. After that, we climbed the hill to see the
ruins and get a splendid view of the valley. Besides of the ruins, Pisac is also
well known for the artisans’ market.
From
Pisac, we made a quick stop to a silver jewelry workshop in Urubamba. They were
demonstatring how to make the jewelry and the meaning behind the designs. Some
of the designs based on Inca’s such as, Inca Calendar and Inca cross.
Then
we had our lunch. We had a buffet lunch at El Maizal. It was a nice restaurant
with a nice setting. We can choose to sit inside the restaurant building or
outside under the huts. They had salad bar, main menu counter and dessert
counter. The food was good. It cost 40 soles per person (but for us it was
already include in the tour price). While enjoying our food, we were also
enjoying a beautiful music performance with traditional Peruvian music.
Now
we all had enough energy to continue our tour. Next destination was Ollantaytambo.
We got off at the bus parking area, then walk to the site. From the entrance,
we could see the magnificent view of the terraces (and also could imagine, it
would not be an easy walk). When all the tour participants ready, we started
our hiking. We climbed the stairs until we reached the first stop, a wider
terrace with some stones that had a neatly position. The stones made a perfect natural
seat! We sat nicely (to caught our breath), while listening to our guide. The terraces
at Ollantaytambo were built for farming and irrigation. They also made a
fortress. From the terraces we can see the valley where Incas use as storage.
They stored their agricultural in the store houses. Also, if we take a good
look at the valley, we can see that the rock formation looks like a face. It’s believed
as the face of Wiracocha, the god-the creator. And if wee look at the valley as
a whole, we can easily see an image that looks like the god is carrying sacks
on his back.
Then,
we climbed further until we reached the Temple of the Sun. Temple of the Sun
was functioned as a calendar for the Incas. There, we can see big stones with its
perfect shape. With their 50 tons weight, it’s still remained as a mystery how
they can get to their position. Temple of the Sun is an an unfinished temple,
for unknown reason.
Though
there are others interesting ruins, but we only visit Temple of the Sun because
we did not have enough time to explore this site thoroughly. We got back to our
bus. Some of our tour participants finished the tour at Ollantaytambo and took
the train to Machu Picchu. And for the rest, we continued to Chincero.
Chinchero
is the center of Peruvian weaving. First we stopped at one of the shop to see the
textile weaving demonstration. It was really interesting to see the process
from the beginning, first the will clean llama fur with natural detergent, then
the will make the fur into yarn, after that they will dyed them with natural
colorings then dried them before use for weaving. While watching, they also
served us with coca tea. After the demonstration, we can purchase their
products in this shop.
From
the shop, then we went to the church. It was quite hard to get to the church,
though it had much lesser stairs to climb (compare to Ollantaytambo). We
thought maybe because it was higher (about 3700 m above the sea level), or
maybe because we already ran out our energy after climbing Ollantaytambo
before. But finally we managed to reach the plaza where the church was
standing. It was a colonial church that built on top of the remains of an Incan
Palace. Unfortunately we could not get inside the church but we still can see
through the door (which was opened for a short time) the beautiful paintings
and ornaments. On the way to the church, there were lots of shops. But because
it was already night time, most of them were closed already.
Chincero
was our last stop before we headed to Cusco. The bus dropped us at Plaza San
Fransisco. We had dinner at KFC Plaza de Armas and also bought some for our
tomorrow tour.
21
August 2016, Chincero, Moray and Salt Mine Tour, Cusco city
Today,
we join Chincero, Moray and Salt Mine Half Day Tour. The tour picked up us with
small van from the hotel to the big bus at Plaza San Fransisco. Our first stop
was Chincero, and like yesterday, we stopped at textile weaving demonstration.
Though we already watched last night, we did not mind at all to see it twice (Because
it was really interesting and entertaining). This time, after the
demonstration, we did not go to the church. We directly went to Moray.
Moray, lies between Pisac and Ollantaytambo. It
is a very unique place to visit. It has a deep bowl shaped with circular shape
terraces. It is still unkown why the Incas made those shape. But some theory
said that it have been used as an agricultural research station. Their depth,
design, and their orientation with regard to the sun and wind are all telltale
signs that they have a specific purpose. Because of the different conditions at
each level of the terraces there is a difference in temperature of 15 °C from the
top to the bottom. It is thought that the Incas used the terraces and the
different temperatures to test crops and experiment with them. (source: the
only peru guide)
Still in the site, there is another place that
interesting to see. It has a same circular terraces, but we did not know the
purpose of it. We could not get information about that.
From Moray, we went to Salt Mines. The salt mine
is located in Maras, a small town not far from Moray. We had our packed lunch
in the bus (we brought our oen lunch as we were already told that we did not
get lunch and the bus did not stop for lunch). The entrance fee was 10 soles.
Our bus parked at the parking lot, then we walked to the site. It was a hot
sunny day. When we reached the site, it was really amazing to see the white
terrace pools of salt. We can even walk through the salt flats. Just be careful
not to step into the pools. We can also purchase the salt (and other stuff) in
the local market here.
Salt Mines Maras was our last stop. Our bus
brought us back to Cusco. We arrived at around 3.30 pm. Still have enough time
to explore Cusco city. We started with Plaza San Fransisco, though we had been
there so many times but only now we could really “see” the plaza (usually when
we arrive, it’s already dark, after finish our trip). Because this plaza has
become a meeting point for so many tour bus, it’s a busy and crowded plaza. In
this Plaza we can visit San Francisco Church. It was built in 15th
century.
 |
| Cathedral |
 |
| Church of de La Merced |
From
Plaza de Armas, we went to Koricancha (Temple of the Sun). Koricancha was the
most important temple in the Inca Empire. It was dedicated to the Sun god. The
temple complex consists of four main chambers, each dedicared to different
gods, the moon, stars, thunders and rainbows. The Spanish used the foundation
to build the Santo Domingo Church.
As it
was already 6 pm, and all the attractions were closed, we decided to stroll at
Plaza de Armas. We found a small Chifa restaurant not far from the Plaza. The
food and price was good. It was getting colder and colder, so we decided to
back to the hotel. We bought some
souvenirs at the shop near our hotel. Tonight was our last night at Cusco. We
flew back to Lima tomorrow morning.
22
August 2016, Cusco to Lima, Explore Lima
In
the morning, Nancy met us at the hotel. We still need to pay her for our Moray
& Salt Mines tour, because it’s not included in our package. We also booked
our taxi from her, which was much cheaper (only 10 soles-and she even paid the
fare for us! So it was a free ride!) compare the fare from our hotel. Our
flight from Cusco to Lima was at 08.40 am. We arrived at Lima Airport at 10.05
am. We put our luggage at the luggage storage in Domestic Terminal. Then, again,
we took Uber to get us out of the airport.
This
time, we wanted to explore Miraflores area. We asked the Uber driver to drop us
at Parque Kennedy. It costs 50 soles. We began our walking tour at Parque
Kennedy, from there we walked along Avenida Jose Larco with its shops, restos
and hotels until we arrived at the Larcomar, a nice shopping malls by the
ocean. From Larcomar, we continue walking from park to park, such as Parque
Domodossola, Beato Marcelino Champagnat Park, Parque Intihuana with its
fountain and Parque del Almor with its huge kissing sculpture and curve shape
walls covered with mosaic tiles. Actually, there was nothing much to see in
Miraflores, just some parks and a nice shopping mall in Larcomar. But the
walking path was nice, with Pacific Ocean view.
From
there, we walked back to Parque Kennedy then went to Calle Gonzaled Prada and
Avenue Petit Thouars. In this area, we found there were so many art and craft
markets. All type of souvenirs, we can find it here. The price was quite
similar with the price at Cusco. After roamed in the market, we had a quick
snack time at Dunkin Donuts in Calle Gonzales Prada. After that, we took Uber
to back to the Airport. Our flight to Amsterdam was at 20.00 pm. We arrived at
Amsterdam at 15.25 the next day. Expenses:
Air Tickets
Air ticket from Amsterdam – Santiago and Lima – Amsterdam : EUR 869.49 (child) + EUR 1064.85 (adult)
Air ticket from Santiago to Lima : USD 540 (2 adults + 1 child)
Air
ticket from Lima to Cusco (return) : USD 142.37 (adult) + USD 127.03 (child)
Machu Picchu : USD 740
(train peru rail + Machu Picchu entrance + Sacred Valley tour + Airport transfer +
transportation from Cusco to Ollantaytambo return)
Peru rail Expedition USD 57 (adult) + USD 29 (child)
Peru rail Vista dome USD 77 (adult) USD 39 (child)
Machu
Picchu entrance : PEN 128 (adult) + PEN 65 (child)
Bus
ticket from Aguas Calientes to Machu Picchu : USD 24 (adult) + USD 12 (child)
Tour & Admission
Tour Moray & Salt Mines : PEN 30 + PEN 30 + child free
Entrance
ticket Sacred Valley (Moray, Pisac, Chincero and Ollantaytambo valid for 2
consecutive days): PEN 70 + child free up to 9 years oldTour Moray & Salt Mines : PEN 30 + PEN 30 + child free
Entrance
Basilica Catedral Cusco : PEN 25 + child free
Entrance
Qorikancha : PEN 15 + child free
Entrance
Compana de Jesus : PEN 10 + child free
Maras
Salt Mine entrance : PEN 10 + child free
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