Today, I took a spur-of-the-moment trip to Otavalo with a few friends. We just went for the day and took a bus early in the morning to make the most of our time. Above is a picture from "Kinti Wasi," which is a natural lookout point with a giant construction of a hummingbird that has an amazing view of the entire city.
It was nice to have our friend Alex, who is from Otavalo, with us there because he showed us around the city, got us the best food in town, and even helped me negotiate to get the best discounts for souvenirs for my family at the market. He helped me get my dad a really cool poncho down from $40 to $25! Here is a picture of me and Alex trying on some of the hand-sewn face masks. After shopping at the market and eating some lunch, Alex drove us to "La Cascada Peguche" (or Waterfall Peguche). It is a 50 ft waterfall that is considered an Indigenous Ceremonial Site, where the Inti Raymi celebration is held, also known as the Sun and Harvest celebration. Finally, we finished off the day by visiting Lago Cuicocha, which is a 2 mile wide crater lake located at the foot of the Cotacachi Volcano. It's name means "Lago del Cuy" or "Guinea Pig Lake". (Btw, cuy is a popular dish in Ecuador that most tourists try at least once!) This lake is absolutely gorgeous, and we got extremely lucky that we were even able to visit it, because we arrived after the doors to enter were already closed. Alex had to convince the security guard to let us in just real quick, telling him that we came all the way from the US and would not get a chance to return. It was super nice of the guard to still let us in, but we had to visit the lake quickly!
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Humantay Lagoon was the last trip we went on during our time in Perú, so it was really bittersweet knowing that it was all going to end soon. But it truly was a beautiful way to say goodbye to this amazing country. Our bodies were incredibly sore from all the hiking we had done on the days prior, especially after hiking Machu Picchu just yesterday, but it was 100% worth it. This lake reminded me a bit of Laguna Quilotoa in Ecuador because of the turquoise waters that are nestled inside the mountains of Salkantay and Humantay. What I loved about this one, however, is that it was completely hidden from view until we trekked up the steep mountain which is at about 13,000 ft above sea level, and takes the average person about 1-2 hours to climb. Some of the people in my group found it too difficult and decided to rent a horse to take them up, but this option is pretty expensive so it should only be used if absolutely necessary. I struggled a bit but had to keep reminding myself that everything is mental, you just need to convince your mind that you can do it! We were all super proud to make it to the top after our bodies were so sore from a long week of hikes!
Machu PicchuThe day I have been waiting for has finally come! Today I fulfilled a dream that I have had since high school, which was to visit Machu Picchu, one of the 7 Wonders of the World. And let me tell you, this site did not disappoint. I was absolutely awe-struck when I saw it, almost in disbelief. It is seriously one of the most beautiful and incredible places I have ever visited, and everything about the trip went perfectly. Our group woke up very early to get on the first bus to go up the mountain, which took about 30 minutes, plus waiting in line for about another 20 minutes at 5 in the morning. When everyone gets off, people usually immediately start hiking up the mountain to get a view of the sunrise over it. Our tour guide, however, decided to go on a different path to start off, which allowed us to get a view right in the heart of this fortress built into the side of the mountain with literally nobody else there with us. Our small group got to experience the beauty of this place without a single other soul there with us. It was unbelievable!! Here is our group posing with a llama! Fun fact: llamas have longer faces with banana-shaped ears, while alpacas have straight, pointed ears with a more smushed in face. Also, alpacas look fluffier and have much more fur (which is the soft wool that is used for sweaters, blankets, and more). So if you have trouble telling the difference just know that alpaca are much fluffier and have a shorter face! After looking at Machu Picchu and getting the tour close up, we hiked up "Montaña Machupicchu" (or Machu Picchu Mountain). It is a 1.25 mile hike, but all ascending straight up so it gets pretty difficult. The elevation gain is about 2,000 ft, and the approximate walking time is 3 and 1/2 hours round trip. It was a demanding hike, but absolutely worth it once you get to the top! Here is a picture of some of us once we reached the top!
Tonight, after a really long all-nighter the night before at the airport in Quito (in order to avoid the violent protests of the Paro Nacional that have broken out in various cities due to the lack of oil subsidies), along with a long day of connecting flights from Quito to Guayaquil, then to Lima, I finally landed in Cusco, Perú! It was a crazy 24 hours and I was exhausted when I finally landed. Of course, once I got to the hotel, there was no Wi-Fi, and my mom had been waiting for me to tell her that I made it safely. When she did not hear from me for hours, she got really worried and contacted the study abroad advisor from my school. It wasn't until the next morning that the Wi-Fi was working again, and I woke up to at least 5 missed calls from my mom, along with emails from my advisor checking in on me, haha! But after that, things calmed down. I can honestly say fell in love with this incredible city the second I saw it. It is full of beautiful architecture, incredible archaeological sites, unbelievable mountainous regions and lakes, and is very peaceful (which is a really nice break from the constant hustle and bustle of Quito). I seriously could move here right now and be so content. Our first day we visited various incredible archaeological sites in Cusco. This image is of a site called Tambomachay, and the exact function of this site is not known. It is believed to have possibly been a site used for Incan ceremonies, as a spa, or as a military outpost. The architecture is quite impressive, with trapezoidal niches built into the retaining walls. The whole site was also built on top of a natural spring, which is why this very likely could have been used as a spa for the Incan ruler, and has an alternate name of "El baño del Inca" or "The Bath of the Inca". It is also very likely that it had more than just one use. The two images above are from another archaeological site in Northern Cusco, called Sacsayhuaman. This name means "place where the hawk is satiated" in Quechua. It is a fortress of sacred buildings such as towers, aqueducts, and shrines. The walls are tremendously impressive, with some of the stones beings as large as 5 meters (15 ft) high and 2.5 meters (8 ft) wide, and weighing up to 125 tons. Aside from the incredible size of the stones, this site is so impressive because the workers carefully cut each and every stone to fit perfectly on top of one another without using any mortar to hold them together. This cyclopian architecture certainly makes one wonder how they were able to create such a complex fortress so many years ago without the modern-day equipment we have now. There was even this incredible natural slide at the Rodadero, where Incan children used to play, in the northeastern Suchuna sector. It is a smooth, diorite rock that you can actually slide down. (But don't worry, we slid down feet first, not face first. That was just us posing for the picture).
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Ashley KoboldMy amazing experience studying abroad in Ecuador. ¡Qué chévere! Archives
December 2019
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