Andi’s Weblog

We continued our trip along lake Titicaca from Copacabana to Puno. The small town has nothing to offer but some very touristy rip-off trips to some small islands. The highlight was to enjoy the Eurocup final inside some crowded restaurant with Spanish and German fans. We moved on to the neat and very toursity town of Cuzco, where we explored the place a bit and used our time to relax before the big Salkantay trek. The best thing to see in this town is Plaza de Armas, the cathedral, as well as the restaurant “Granja Heidi”. Seldomly on our trip have we enjoyed such good food!

The Salkantay trek, a five day walking tour along the Salkantay mountain in direction Aguas Calientes and Machu Picchu, was an amazing adventure. We started in a hot, well-vegetated environment and walked about 1300m further away from the sea level. Our camp was located below two glaciers at 3800m, therefore the night was freezing. The next day we had to cross a pass at around 4700m and go back down to 2900m – another very exhausting but fruitful experience. We got to see many different kinds of landscapes and could even watch Condors passing us quite frequently. Two more days of walking in the jungle, partially along rail ways, and we finally reached the highlight of the trip: the ruins of Machu Picchu. Machu Picchu is another cultural complex that cannot be described in words. It can only be experienced because all the snowy mountains, the jungle and the environment as a whole add a lot to the impression the left-overs of this ancient city make on its visitors.

In summary, Machu Picchu was another highlight (who would have guessed that? of our trip and the food in Granja Heidi added a lot to our perception of the quality of living in Cuzco. One thing is for sure: Machu Picchu has to be part of every trip to South America, it is – just like Angkor Wat – a cultural highlight of the region.

We are now looking forward to pass Lima in order to spend our last week of the trip on the Galapagos Islands.