The after of Machu Picchu and the tic-tac-toe of places to go. Peruvian Chronicles. Days 8 and 9.

After coming back from Machu Picchu with minus one woolen hat, my intentions included resting and sleeping at least until mid-morning and think about my options for the following days one last time. That didn’t happen because hashtag anxiety -me- was awake at 7 am watching “My best friend’s wedding” or whatever its name is.

After the movie and the thinking, my options were: Arequipa, Puno and the Titicaca Lake and go to Bolivia, or going to the Amazon rainforest. Once again, letting my intuition get in the way -because Monkeys- the Amazon choice won. After all, I had taken the yellow fever vaccine just in case.

So, I watched the movie, got up to have breakfast and then went straight to the same travel agent I had chosen to go to Moray and the Sacred Valley, not only because everything turned out fine with them but also they had offered me a slightly better price for the trip to the rainforest.

Let me explain a little bit about the choices I had at the moment. The closest options to go from Cusco to the rainforest are Puerto Maldonado and Manu National Park. The first one is a little bit more far , with better facilities and therefore a little bit more expensive. However, the money issue wasn’t such an important factor as my real motivation to go to the rainforest: the monkeys. The travel agent I chose such as the other ones I consulted suggested I’d see more monkeys in Manu than in Puerto Maldonado, so there I went.

I had already been told the itinerary and the list of stuff I needed for the trip but they repeated everything once again. Here it goes. Day 1, roadtrip to Pilcopata where we would spend the night in a lodge with electric power and hot water. Day 2, again to the road until Atalaya where we would take a boat and sail the Madre de Dios River to our accomodation for the next two nights, a lodge in the rainforest, with no hot water and electric power for a limited time per day. Beforehand, I have to admit this was an issue for me, but it ended up being a bless and an opportunity to connect with my trip mates. Day 3, walks. Day 4, roadtrip back to Cusco.

This is part of the informative flyer I was given. The purple line indicates the road from Cusco to our lodge in the rainforest.

Afterwards, I had to take care of the checklist of items I had to take to the trip: a swimsuit, insect repellent, a flashlight and a rain poncho. I thought that finding a swimsuit in Cusco wouldn’t be easy but I found a pretty good one, and not expensive at all. Since then, I ALWAYS travel with a swimsuit in my bag just in case, specially considering how little space they occupy.

After resolving the where to go issue, I did only this for a day and a half: walk around Cusco, drink mate and take photos.

The other thing I had to take care of and wasn’t in my checklist was a new hostel for my return to Cusco because the one I was staying at had a reservation for my room and the available one costed twice as much. I booked a room in a hostel that was just around the corner where my cousins had stayed a couple of months before and costed way less than the one I was staying at. I later realized why, but that’s another story.

Another photo from my random walks. This is San Francisco Square and Church, the one from “my neighbourhood” as I used to call it because it was around the corner from my “house”.

The next day, after preparing my backpack for the adventure and my closed luggage waiting for me, I set myself to walk aimlessly around Cusco carrying my mate and thermos. At least now, people approach me in Spanish.