3rd October 2008 - Puerto Maldonado and Cuzco

Although our hotel was far from the best we've ever stayed in the beds was actually quite comfortable and we managed to get a decent night's sleep once the baby in the room opposite had fallen asleep. We left the hotel very early (around 7am) the following morning and found a small cafe just around the corner which was serving breakfast. Here we had a couple of ham and cheese sandwiches washing down with yet another bottle of Inka Cola, the perfect way to start our final day in the jungle.
Afterwards it was still too early for most of the other shops to yet be open and so we decided to just sit in the Plaza de Armas and wait for an hour or so. Luz soon got talking to the respectable-looking middle-aged woman who was sat next to us on the bench and it turned out that she was also from Arequipa. Her husband was from the area and worked in Puerto Maldonado and she had been living there for a number of years.
I left them to talk and went off to explore the area surrounding the square. Just behind the square and further down the same street that our hotel was on I found a small park which overlooked the Rio Madre de Dios. The park contained a statue of Miguel Grau, the Peruvian hero of the Battle of Angamos in the War of the Pacific of 1879 to 1883, one of many honours that can be found to him throughout Peru. Unfortunately the entrance to the park was taped off and so I was unable to enter.
Elsewhere I found the tiny Puerto Maldonado cinema which was apparently showing the 3rd Star Wars film - The Attack of the Clones. So, only 6 years behind Europe then!
By the time I got back to the plaza Luz had finished her conversation with her fellow Arequipena and by that time it was around 9:30. Our flight wasn’t until 12:30 but as we couldn’t think of anything else to do we decided to go to the airport to wait and so we flagged down one of the many passing motor-taxis to take us there.
The airport was already very busy with many tourists milling around inside and outside the small departure building. The building contained a few small souvenir shops and a café, as well as toilets that had no paper and could only be flushed by pouring a bucket of water down there. Before we could board the plane we first had to pay the 30 dollars airport tax and so we queued up in front of the small window where this task could be carried out. A small disturbance was caused when one of the tour guides brought his entire party to the front of the queue so that they could pay their taxes. This rather upset a few individuals who were waiting in the queue behind, especially the guy directly behind us who made his feelings known very clearly and loudly.
Eventually we were able to go through to the equally small departure lounge, which also contained a few small souvenir shops and not much else. Through the large windows of the lounge it was possible to see some of the earlier flights land and take-off through the thick jungle which surrounded the airport.
Our own plane left on time and the short 30 minute return flight to Cuzco was just as bumpy as the outward one although, due to there being less clouds, it was at least possible to see a decent view out of the window. We passed over the high mountain range which separated Cuzco and the surrounding altiplano from the jungle. Here and there a small, deep blue mountain lake sparkled in the sun and occasionally the mountains were broken up by small, green valleys.
Once we had landed and collected our luggage it was around 1:30 and as our bus back to Arequipa was not due to leave until 8:30 that evening we had about 7 hours to kill in Cuzco. I wanted to see if it was possible to go horse riding in the area around Cuzco and just outside the luggage collection area we found a small tour agency which offered just that opportunity and told us we could be taken straight there.
The stables were situated just outside the Sacsayhuaman complex in the hills above Cuzco and after we had been dropped off there by our taxi driver we met our long-haired Quechua guide who would accompany us, on foot, during our ride.
After we had mounted our steeds the first part of our journey was along the steep path which led up from the stable to a small hill which gave fantastic views over to Sacsayhuaman and the hills surrounding Cuzco across the valley. Shortly afterwards we crossed the main road which runs from Cuzco, past other sites such as Q’enko, Puca Pucara and Tambo Machay to the Sacred Valley then made our way through a Eucalyptus forest until we reached a grassy area from which it was possible to get spectacular views of the surrounding mountains. Through these mountains, around 60km to the NW, was the marvel that is Machu Picchu.
Just next to this area was the site of the Templo de la Luna (Temple of the Moon), also known as Salapunco or Laqo. As this is quite far from the main road it usually isn’t included in the tour packages which visit the various Inca ruins around Cuzco. The temple comprises a large rock which houses a number of small caves. These caves contain various carvings in the shapes of the 4 animals which were considered most sacred to the Incas – pumas, llamas, snakes and condors as well as a number of altars were sacrifices could be carried out and niches in the rock where mummies could be kept. A small hole in the roof would have brought the light of the full moon directly down onto the main altar during the religious ceremonies that were held there.
Outside were more rock carvings, including a llama and a condor.

Alongside the large rock an archeological dig was in progress and a number of external rooms had recently been discovered. The previous day the workers had also uncovered three Inca mummies which unfortunately were covered in plastic sheeting and so we were unable to get a look at them.

Leading down from the temple complex to the main area below was a grassy slope and sit along this were 3 local women who were selling various tourist souvenirs. At least we ignored them as our guide wanted us to climb back onto our horses but eventually they managed to persuade us to have a look at their wares. I bought a tiny metal llama and a stone puma whilst Luz bought a sort of jigsaw puzzle in the shape of an Inca wall for Matthew. They had some quite good stuff actually and I would have bought more but we didn't have much money on us at the time.
Once we were finally back on our horses we climbed further up the hillside through a rocky moorland landscape. I spotted a pair of kestrels swooping through the sky close by as well as a couple of rabbits running around, possibly the next meal for the kestrels. At the top of the hill we rested for a short time whilst our guide re-arranged our stirrips so that they were more suitable for the next leg of the trip, the downhill part.

This part was actually quite tricky as the horses had to made their way along the steep, narrow, rocky path which led down to the grassy plateau below and a number of times they almost lost their footing and once my horse and Luz's actually colliding slightly although no real damage was caused. At the bottom of the hill the horses must have sensed that they were on their way back to the stable (they had probably done the same trip many times) and occasionally broke into a fast trot during which the ride became rather uncomfortable as it meant I was bouncing around in the saddle quite a lot.

We then passed back through the Eucalyptus forest and across the main road before reaching a rocky outcrop which looking out over Sacsayhuaman. Here we stopped so that our guide could take our photo but unfortunately both the photos he took turned out to be poor. He also dropped Luz's camera and damaged it slightly.

Once we had returned to the stables and dismounted our guide took us to a small chicheria (as denoted by the bundle of red plastic found outside it) for a very large, refreshing glass of chicha (corn beer).

As we were waited for our taxi which would take us back down to the Plaza de Armas we were shown a recently discovered archeological site which contained the bones of many hundreds of llamas (along with a few empty crisp packets) which had been sacrificed by the Incas during the Inti Raymi (Festival of the Sun). This ceremony is still held today, every year on the 24th June, but nowadays it is carried out purely for tourism purposes.

Once we reached the Plaza de Armas it was almost dark and as we were now quite hungry we had a pizza before going to the English-style Cross Keys pub for a few drinks. The pub also offered fine views over the lit-up plaza.

Afterwards we walked down past the Coricancha to an area which contained a number of large artsenia markets to buy a few souvenirs. My father has asked me to try and buy him a typical Peruvian hat and just inside the market I spotted a nice leather one that seemed to fit the bill very nicely. After a bit of bartering with the stall-holder I was able to get it at a very good price.

After we had left artesenia market it was time to go to the bus station to await our departure. However, due to our location we had a lot of difficulty finding a taxi driver who was willing to take us there as they were all heading back up to the Plaza de Armas. Eventually we decided it would be best to go back there in order to find a taxi to take us to the bus station. This proved a lot easier and 15 minutes later we arrived at the bus station only to be told that our bus wouldn’t actually be leaving from there but from the Cruz del Sur office which was located just around the corner from where we had earlier been trying to flag down a taxi!

In the office all the passengers who were waiting for the bus were enthralled by the Peru v Argentina volleyball match in the U20 South American Championships that were being held in Peru at that moment. We had time to see Peru lose the first 2 sets before it was time to climb onto the bus for our journey to Arequipa. This time we were upstairs and the seats were a bit more cramped than those downstairs.

After the same tourism/music documentary we had watched on the way to Cusco the movie this time was Flight Plan with Jodie Foster. I think I must have been just about the only one watching it though as it seemed every one else just went to sleep instead. It was quite silly film but as I couldn't sleep and there was nothing else to do I managed to watch it to the end.

For the rest of the 11-hour journey I again tried to sleep and yet again was mostly unsuccesful.