Next stop: Puerto Maldonado
It's a Jungle Out There!
What a sight! Flying over the Amazon & seeing the vastness of it is mind boggling. It covers 60% of Peru. Looking over the jungle canopy & seeing the muddy river below, we know our next part of our journey is about to begin. We were met at the airport by a driver who took us to EcoAmazonia office. Our first impressions of Puerto Maldonado were "where are they taking us?" Crazy motorcycles, taxis (covered motorcycles), cars & trucks all vying for a piece of the road. Streets are dirt & the town is a bit of shantytown---not a destination for sure. We stopped at EcoAmazonia office which is a huge bright orange padlocked steel garage door. There's a large room with bathrooms & little else. We were told to take only what we needed in the jungle & leave our larger bags. I was a bit hesitant at this part of the trip. Our driver took us to town where we bought some water & Brazil nuts. Lots of strange sites. One that amused us was a couple on a motorcycle that were attempting to carry a mattress. Not sure that was going to have a happy ending but at least a soft landing. We went back to the office to wait for another tour group to show up so we could begin our boat trip up the Madre de Dios river. It's a huge, muddy river. It took us about 2 hrs to get to our lodge. It was about 95 when we arrived but not humid. It was a welcoming site. The grounds are very pretty with lots of flowering bushes. There was a large area filled with hammocks & a long walkway to the main office which is thatch covered roof. They greeted us with a cold fruit drink & showed us to our room. We had a bungalow named Anaconda. There are lots of A frame bungalows. It has 2 bds, a bathroom & sitting area--all the necessary items. Our welcoming lunch was very good. The food was fresh & very good. They have drinking water available during daylight hours. Next to the dining room is a large bar/game room. The only odd thing about dinner time was that we were put at a table, just the two of us. We decided to join the other group but their guide made sure that we shouldn't do that. Our guide came over & introduced himself & let us know the plans for the rest of the day. We headed to Monkey Island as our first adventure. There were spider monkeys, capuchins, tamerinds & howler monkeys. They are obviously well fed & tame but monkeys are always fun to see. It was very warm which made the swimming pool a very welcoming escape to cool off. It was very refreshing. Supper that night was wonderful-rice & chicken wrapped in banana leaves. They also had cold beverages. Later that evening we went in the boats for caiman watching but saw none. We did see a couple birds in the trees though. One happy note was the lack of bugs. I had some Buzz Off clothing but didn't see any bugs or mosquitos. Back at our lodge we were happy to settle in for the night. There is only power between 6-10pm so after a cool shower (no hot water which was fine) we welcomed a nights rest.
The next morning after breakfast (and might I add a 5:30am wake up knock) we were joined by a gal from China & our guide Marco for a hike in the jungle. Let me share with you that I came down with bronchitis in the night & coughed but didn't ache at least. It had rained during the night & we woke up to fairly cool weather which I thought was a blessing. We donned rubber boots & rain ponchos & started our first couple of miles hiking through the jungle. We didn't see any wild life but my coughing could have been blamed. The jungle was fascinating & so dense. We marched, rowed & climbed or what I call the Jungle Triathalon or loving referred to as the "Death March". After marching for a couple of miles, we got to some canoes that were filled with water that Marco had to bail & continued up a plant filled stream another mile or so. The paddles were so fat that my hand could hardly fit around them but rowed we did. We did spot a couple of interesting birds. Then it was back to marching again until we arrived at a 150 ft platform that we climbed to the top of to look out over the jungle canopy. Trees as far as you can see. We stopped to learn about natural plants & remedies. One was a hormone fruit that women eat. Then we "walked the plank" for 700 mt (a bit slippery with the rain) & then on to rowing across a lake & back to marching. Marco found a nut that he opened & found a white worm that he said they ate for asthma so he thought it would help my cough. I decided why not & munched away. It surprised me with a rather coconut kind of flavor. I was looking forward to the instant healing only to be told I would have to eat lots of them. We came to a hole in the ground that Marco stuck a reed into & out came a rather large tarantula. We also saw a huge tree & a walking tree. If I can download my photos you can see them. It took us 7 hrs to complete the "death march". Good thing we didn't know it would take so long. The rest of the time in the jungle we went piranha fishing, into a village where they were decked out in native clothes,& walked through a botanical garden. The resort had beautiful red & blue macaws that stayed around as well as a coati, tamerinds & some pig like thing. The best thing we packed was a steripen. It's a small pen that purifies water by ultra violet rays. There is no where to buy water in the jungle & we missed filling our bottles a couple times so we just filled our bottles from the faucet & sterilized the water. You can get them from REI or Sierra Trading Post. I wouldn't travel without one now.
In all, EcoAmazonia is a good place to stay. The ones who say there isn't much wildlife are right or at least they are hard to find but it's affordable ($320 pp all inclusive for 3 nts), the food is good, bungalows are fine & swimming pool is a plus. The morning of our departure was a comedy of errors. May 1 was their Labor Day. We had to wake up at 4:30am in order to catch our plane in Puerto Maldonado. Our wake up knock didn't come but we were awake. Got to breakfast & the cooks were hungover & then the boatman didn't show up. When he arrived he looked a bit thrashed. We get to the port & no driver shows up to get us to the office to pick up our luggage. We were told that everyone parties hardy for Labor Day & obviously not everyone was up & at them so early. Finally our driver shows up & gets us to the airport with 30 min to spare & believe it or not we were on time! Ready for civilization!

Great report. Love the detail and looking froward to reading more. I am off to buy a "steripen" now for our next trip!

Thanks for that report on the death march. I think I'll continue to skip PM. Hope your bronchitis did not impact the rest if your trip.

Unfortunately my bronchitis hung on so with that & asthma must say breathing was not easy but never stopped me for a moment. I want to add my photos but seem to have gone brain dead since my last posting plus I switched to Shutterfly. Can anyone help? Then I'll add the rest of our trip. And yes, the Steripen is the best advice I have. We were never without water & didn't have to buy it everywhere. I did have Big L try it first to make sure he didn't get sick.

Cusco & Sacred Valley
Percy was there to meet our plane & took us directly to Ollantaytambo. The scenery along the way was stunning. Ollantaytambo is a very cute town with lots of character. Percy explained our next days agenda but all I heard was garbled so I finally told them to quit talking. Percy recognized altitude sickness & told me to go to our hotel, drink water & take ibuprofen & lay down for a couple of hours. I had a fierce headache as well. We checked into El Alberque which concerned me at first since it's right on the tracks & was crowded with people getting on the train. But once we got inside we were met by a man from Kentucky who heard us check in for 3 nts & said he'd wished he'd known what a wonderful place he was & had stayed a couple more nights. Said it was the best place he stayed on the trip. We were shown to room #9 & were very pleased to see the lovely gardens & courtyard near our room. The room was lovely with nice down comforters, bathroom & bottles of water furnished. And it was quiet-no sounds of trains. After a couple hours of rest I felt much better so we walked up to the markets & bought our hiking sticks ($20 for 2) & also some plaid pants & water bottle holders. We went to the restaurant & had some quinoa soup & coca tea. It was a very nice restaurant. We had great breakfast each morning. The next morning Percy picked us up & begin our tour of Ollantaytambo ruins. Percy is so knowledgeable about the history. We climbed lots of steps which gave my lungs a real workout. The rock work is fascinating. I was really impressed that there were a group of 70-80 yr olds climbing up. Gotta love their gumption! Our next stop was Pisac. The road was blocked by a teachers strike so Percy told us to get out & find our way to the market & he'd find us. Believe it or not we found the market but more amazing was Percy found us. It's a big market. We did a bit of souvenir shopping & bought cute Peruvian sweaters for our little grand daughters for $22 for both, backpacks for the older ones & other items. We had about an hour which was more than enough time for Big L. We went to the ruins. There was an 11 yr boy walking up the path that Percy talked to. He walked 2 hrs each morning & afternoon to school & back. He lived at the top of the mountain & made very good time. We asked him why & Percy answered that it was easier to walk to school than stay home & do hard labor. On our way back we stopped at a local restaurant to eat. I had trout, Big L had chili rellenos & Percy had fish & chips. It was all very good. We walked around town when we got back & got some more sols at a ATM & met other travelers. We enjoyed our first Pisco Sour.
Next day we visited Chinchero. What a lovely village. There is a lot of farm ground around. The town has narrow streets & the market was closed but you could see from the empty stalls that it must be bustling when it's open. Big L & Percy didn't seem sad that it was closed. We walked up to the church & got to see a wedding in progress. The church has lovely murals & is very baroque with gold leafing. Percy took us to a shop where the Chinchero ladies were weaving & showed us how they cleaned & dyed the wool. It was such a nice place that we couldn't help but buy scarves, a shawl, hats & gloves. It was fun buying from local merchants. Next stop was Moray-the agricultural experiment station. It was fascinating to see the terraces & to find out they figured out climate zones. We were at about 11,500 ft & lots of steps. Percy reminds us that he's getting us in shape for Machu Picchu.
Our last stop of the day was the salt pans. It's quite a process & interesting to know that local families are responsible for their own pans. I bought some salt as a souvenir before leaving. We had a late lunch before returning.
Time to pack for Machu Picchu

MACHU PICCHU HERE WE COME!
Anticipation is in the air for our trip to Machu Picchu. El Alberque has kindly offered to keep our bags for our overnight stay at Aguas Calientes. So with backpacks in hand we have a nice leisurely breakfast before boarding the Vistadome. It was so handy to just walk out the door to catch the train. Percy had bought our tickets for the train & entrance to MP plus had a guide to meet us there. The train ride was very scenic. There is no picking seats so we got random seats, not together but it really didn't matter because the train was only about 1/3 full so we could move about. It was very comfy & they served a nice snack of sandwich & fruit. The Urubamba river is wild & fast. The mountains got steeper as we approached & everything was so lush green. When we arrived at Aguas Calientes we switched to a bus. What a ride up the mountain! Lots of switchbacks & basically a one lane so when we met another bus, whoever was closer to a pullout backed up. It gave us a real feeling of what Hiram Bingham must have encountered climbing to the top. At about 7700 ft, Machu Picchu is considerably lower than Cusco or much of the Sacred Valley. There is one restroom to use before you enter the gate (you do have to pay) & none inside. We met our guide Yolanda & while we waited to get through the gate she took our passports over to have them stamped. She was very good at giving us some history & didn't rush us. She also was so good to take our photos throughout our tour. It really wasn't crowded which was a pleasant surprise. May is really a great time to go. It's so green & not so busy. How to describe my first sight of Machu Picchu! It was a Tebow moment. I had tears in my eyes & the song How Great Thou Art came to mind. It is so awe inspiring just to be in its presence. The mystery that surrounds it adds to the mystical city. The architecture is mind boggling. It must have been amazing with all the thatched roofs on top. I just finished reading "Turn Right at Machu Picchu" by Mark Adams which I found much more interesting than the Lost City of the Incas by Hiram Bingham but not sure if it's because one I read before I went & the other when I came home. Adams mentions Pachacutec as being the master architect & perhaps it was his Camp David. One of my favorite buildings was the Caretakers Hut. We climbed up to the Intihuatana or the sundial. Another amazing fact was that the dirt for the terraces was carried from Cusco. That is so hard to wrap your mind around. The white granite stone with the three steps was a sight to behold. It was thing that stunned Bingham the most. We walked through the doorway & looked through the temple of the three windows & stared in awe at the condor & the wings. What an imagination Pachacutec must have had. Once our 3 hrs was up we went back out for a lunch & then returned again to just sit & watch the clouds lift. It was the most magical moment to be in the presence of Machu Picchu.

added the rest of my trip report but failed to check the box "trip report". Look under Amazing 15 day trip to Peru

Photos of our trip & hopefully it will open for you
http://idahospudtravels.shutterfly.com

Lovely trip report and another steripen convert! We had a similar SV trip in 2006 and so enjoyed the weaving cooperative at Chinchero. Now going over to read the rest on your next post.

Idahospud: thanks for this remarkable report. My husband & I are of similar age & planing a somewhat similar trip, so this report is a true gift. But what is Steripen? And Elizabeth-s: what is SV? Sorry to be such a first grader on this.

SV = Sacred Valley

A Steripen is a small device that sterilizes water using UV rays. You can fill up you water bottles from any tap or stream for that matter & put in the pen for about 40 sec & when the green light comes on it's good. Check it out at REI or Sierra Trading Post. Costco even carried during the summer. It saved us many a time. Start working out & do lots of walking because there are a ton of stairs. Let me know if I can help you in any way.

I'm enjoying your trip report so much! But, I can't find the "Amazing 15 day trip to Peru" conclusion.
Can you copy/paste it to this trip report??
Thanks so much.

Here it is

http://www.fodors.com/community/south-america/amazing-15-day-trip-in-peru-continuing-on-from-first-stop-lima.cfm