Copacabana and Cuzco
Door: Karin
Blijf op de hoogte en volg Karin
03 Augustus 2014 | Peru, Cuzco
It feels like I have enough ideas for another story. Some of you are occupied with your own vacations and might read it later on, and some can’t wait for my next update to read it right away. In any case, it feels good to write my thoughts down and post them so that you can read them if you want.
As the title suggests I haven’t covered too much ground in the past weeks. I've actually been in Cuzco for two full weeks now (excluding Machu Picchu). This has several reasons. After visiting the lovely Isla del sol from Copacabana (at Lake Titicaca) and taking the Inka Jungle tour to Machu Picchu (no Inka Trails, but mountain biking, zip lining and driving the Peruvian Death Road) I needed to recover. I needed to recover from the food poison I had picked up on the way to Cuzco and the effort it took to walk around to see the post card pretty site. I have to say: it looked pretty out there, sitting on top of a mountain with few people around in the first few hours. Then later on when the sun had started shining a mist came up from the valley. It had something mystic.
Once I got back to Cuzco it figured that I wouldn’t need to go home early, so the sped up travel schedule left an extra 4 to 5 weeks for which no plans had been made. I needed to figure out how to spend those weeks. It felt a bit strange to not have a plan. For the first time in ages I had no goal and no direction for any determination. It was uncomfortable. I realized I needed some quiet time to be able to figure out again what it was that makes me enthusiastic. I got myself into a quiet hostel and slept a lot. My new plans involve some volunteering – you’ll hear about it next time if it works out- Iquitos in the north of Peru and then slowly making my way through some less touristy places to Lima. From there I’ll have my flight in about 5 or 6 weeks from now.
Still, as many of you know, I can’t sit still very well and I ended up doing some interesting things while figuring other stuff out. I did some free walking tours, tries different food stalls at the market, found myself a special lady at the fruit juice department (discount, hurray!), went on a horseback riding tour (no asking if we had any experience, just go up that wobbly road!), eating cuy (guinea pig - sorry Mart), discovered the nightlife and of course walked around town with nice people from my basic but cozy hostel.
For those wondering I’ll add a tiny bit about the food here. It’s mostly based on potato, rice and chicken. It’s hard to avoid meat. The standard meal at the market starts with a soup and then ‘seconds’, which would be a main dish. It’s easy to vary with each dish, since there are a lot of nice dishes and the mamita’s (market ladies) each have their own recipes. Besides that I ended up eating quite a few dinners in the Loki bar (yes, Cuzco has one, too). They often have a daily special, and the Peruvian dinner (in honour of the Peruvian Independence Day) and Christmas dinner (only 5 months to go) were my favourites. A few days ago I started buying some bread and making myself a nice brunch with bread. Who knows if I’ll cook my own dinners (successfully) any time soon.
Enjoy your summer holidays and stay tuned for more stories!
As the title suggests I haven’t covered too much ground in the past weeks. I've actually been in Cuzco for two full weeks now (excluding Machu Picchu). This has several reasons. After visiting the lovely Isla del sol from Copacabana (at Lake Titicaca) and taking the Inka Jungle tour to Machu Picchu (no Inka Trails, but mountain biking, zip lining and driving the Peruvian Death Road) I needed to recover. I needed to recover from the food poison I had picked up on the way to Cuzco and the effort it took to walk around to see the post card pretty site. I have to say: it looked pretty out there, sitting on top of a mountain with few people around in the first few hours. Then later on when the sun had started shining a mist came up from the valley. It had something mystic.
Once I got back to Cuzco it figured that I wouldn’t need to go home early, so the sped up travel schedule left an extra 4 to 5 weeks for which no plans had been made. I needed to figure out how to spend those weeks. It felt a bit strange to not have a plan. For the first time in ages I had no goal and no direction for any determination. It was uncomfortable. I realized I needed some quiet time to be able to figure out again what it was that makes me enthusiastic. I got myself into a quiet hostel and slept a lot. My new plans involve some volunteering – you’ll hear about it next time if it works out- Iquitos in the north of Peru and then slowly making my way through some less touristy places to Lima. From there I’ll have my flight in about 5 or 6 weeks from now.
Still, as many of you know, I can’t sit still very well and I ended up doing some interesting things while figuring other stuff out. I did some free walking tours, tries different food stalls at the market, found myself a special lady at the fruit juice department (discount, hurray!), went on a horseback riding tour (no asking if we had any experience, just go up that wobbly road!), eating cuy (guinea pig - sorry Mart), discovered the nightlife and of course walked around town with nice people from my basic but cozy hostel.
For those wondering I’ll add a tiny bit about the food here. It’s mostly based on potato, rice and chicken. It’s hard to avoid meat. The standard meal at the market starts with a soup and then ‘seconds’, which would be a main dish. It’s easy to vary with each dish, since there are a lot of nice dishes and the mamita’s (market ladies) each have their own recipes. Besides that I ended up eating quite a few dinners in the Loki bar (yes, Cuzco has one, too). They often have a daily special, and the Peruvian dinner (in honour of the Peruvian Independence Day) and Christmas dinner (only 5 months to go) were my favourites. A few days ago I started buying some bread and making myself a nice brunch with bread. Who knows if I’ll cook my own dinners (successfully) any time soon.
Enjoy your summer holidays and stay tuned for more stories!
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03 Augustus 2014 - 21:49
Christa:
Zussie! Wat een lekker verhaal zeg. Jam jamm. Die cavia's piepte zeker even als je in je garnering ritselde? Ben bijna helemaal terug uit Berlijn (zit nog in de trein) dus had alle tijd voor je verhaal. Wat voor vrijwilligerswerk wil je gaan doen? Ben benieuwd! Xx -
04 Augustus 2014 - 10:31
Helena:
Leuk om te lezen Karin! Ik hoop dat je nog een leuke tijd hebt daar! -
04 Augustus 2014 - 21:24
Floor:
Hee Kaat, wat geniet jij toch heerlijk van het leven! Leuk je verhaaltjes te lezen. Liefs! -
05 Augustus 2014 - 08:54
Sytske:
Leuke foto's! Have fun! -
05 Augustus 2014 - 11:51
Ellen:
Hoi Karin, kreeg je reisverslag doorgestuurd van mijn moeder. Wat een indrukken doe jij op, wauw! Inspirerend maar ook vermoeiend lijkt mij. En wat is het prachtig daar. Ik wens je nog veel moois en innerlijke verrijking toe en voorzichtig met dat eten hè! Groetjes, Ellen -
06 Augustus 2014 - 11:09
Ed:
Ha Kaatje, ik heb net (na terugkomst uit Zweden) in één keer al jouw verhalen gelezen. Natuurlijk bestaan de meeste foto's uit kiekjes van het locale eten, wat had ik anders verwacht!! Veel goeds en een mooi vervolg van je reis gewenst.
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