Bangalore and around: Chikkamagaluru, Belur and Halebidu temples

Belur temple

Last year, I visited Bangalore after many many years. I spent a few days in the city, exploring how it would be to live there. And then went out of town for two days, to the hillside town of Chikkamagaluru. We visited Mullayanagiri and Bhadra tiger reserve there, stopping at the Belur and Halebidu temples on the way back.


Drive to Chikkamagaluru

The drive from Bangalore to Chikkamagaluru takes about five hours, so we left early around 5:30 am to avoid the local Bangalore city traffic. The route till there was mostly a highway and fun to drive on. Even though there were no major towns on the way, and most of our drive was through rural areas, it did feel a lot more well-to-do than other places I have driven in India, as at least all the houses were pucca.

All along the drive, we were surrounded by greenery on both sides and it already felt refreshing. As it was spring, we saw loads of roadside trees laden with yellow and pink flowers, adding to the brightness of the drive. And I saw so many women wearing bright coloured sarees, with flowers in their hair, it was lovely to just watch all the colour around. In fact, I also bought some flowers to put in my hair, first time ever since 1987 when I had lived in Tamil Nadu!

On the way, we stopped at a local dhaba to eat dosa (I think I ate dosa daily on this trip, the benne masala dosa is so yummy)! We also had sugarcane juice at a few stops on the way, always a pleasure to have in India. Interestingly, there was a stretch of the road, where everyone was selling Adivasi hair oil, produced locally. It's made by adding local herbs to coconut oil. I bought some of it, as it looked interesting. Also buying local things on the way is such an integral part of any driving experience.


The Serai, Chikkamagaluru

We were staying at the Serai resort and once we reached it, it felt as if we had landed in heaven. The Serai was a huge property with huge bungalows spread out all around. Each of the bungalows had its own private pool. The rooms were tastefully decorated and felt luxurious, though they were very simply furnished. And the bathrooms were surrounded by so much greenery, it felt like we were almost outdoors. It felt like the place had been designed with care.

The Serai

There were a few swimming pools, and access to a few sports activities at the resort. It had a nice restaurant too. The resort was surrounded by coffee farms. I walked around a bit and saw a few monkeys and some big birds on the walk. I could even hear a lot of insect and bird sounds all around. Still, there was so much calmness and serenity at the resort, as it was set in nature. I loved it.

The first day, we had Malnad lunch with fish cooked in banana leaf - it was so yum. And it was so relaxing to be in the resort (the air just made us so lazy), that we ended up cancelling all our plans for the day and just pottered around.


Mullayanagiri

View from Mullayanagiri peak

The next day, we again woke up at 5:30 am and left early for Mullayanagiri peak, to avoid the hot afternoon sun. The drive through the hills was gorgeous. We drove though many lush green valleys, and the hills looked stunning in the morning fog. We crossed coffee plantations and some villages on the way but most of the drive was through remote stretches.

View from the peak

We had been following Google Maps but when we reached the destination, it turned out the peak wasn’t there 😃. It took us a while before we could find someone to guide us to the right spot. Once we got the right directions, we had to drive all the way back to reach the place. And by that time, it had got hot. And crowded! We still walked up to the peak in the sun. The route was made up of stairs, and lined with shops. It was a short hike though. The views from the top were stunning though, of green valleys and a lake far beyond. 

Temples with colourful 
gopurams

When we got down, I ate maggi at one of the shops (joys of travelling in India😇)  and then headed back to the Serai. On our way back, I also finally visited one of the temples I had seen so many of in Bangalore - with the colourful statues of gods on the temple gopurams. I have always found them fascinating - the colours and the statues - and was finally able to see them up close.



Bhadra tiger reserve

The same afternoon, we had booked a tiger safari at a nearby reserve, called the Bhadra tiger reserve. We drove to the reserve in the afternoon. The drive felt like it was through the Karnatakan hinterland, passing by some small home stays and coffee plantations. And there were a few lakes on the way too.

Apparently the reserve has a few tigers, so we went on the Safari to spot some. But the guide already told us to not expect to see any, as they are quite tough to spot. Still, it was nice to be out in the jungle, a different jungle this time.

We were in a jeep, driving through the forests. It was mostly a dry brown forest. The green areas were full of teak trees. And we did spot some small animals like a turtle, giant squirrels, spotted deer, barking deer, a few sambar deer, monkeys, some langurs and wild buffalo, but the tiger eluded us.


Belur and Halebidu temples

Entrance to Belur temple

While driving back from Chikkamagaluru, we stopped at Belur and Halebidu to visit the ancient temples from the 12th century, built by the Hoysalas. They were such an eye-opening experience. Made of stone in the Hoysala temple architecture style, they were magnificent. And surprisingly not that well known. Spread out in a temple complex, carved intricately in stone and just an absolute pleasure to look at and explore. I could have spent so many hours there just exploring and appreciating all the handwork around the complex.

Belur temple

We first went to the Belur temple, which was in the middle of the city. It is an active temple and was full of devotees, including women in bright silk sarees, even in the heat! The temple complex had a grand entrance, and many smaller temples inside, all carved in stone. Each of the temples had tens of pillars, all carved with figures and geometric designs. Some brown, some in black stones. And the stones inside the temples felt so cool in the heat, we did not feel hot inside at all.

Halebidu temple

Our next stop was the Halebidu temple which is located a bit outside of town, next to a lake, surrounded by trees and gardens. They were not functioning temples, so there weren't as many crowds there. The Halebidu temple is dedicated to Shiva, while the Belur is for Vishnu. The carvings were again mind-blowing, every inch of stones was intricately carved into gods, dancers, animals and mythological scenes. The shivling, the main deity in this temple had a divine quality to it somehow. It is a huge stone in black, decorated like most temple deities. I took one look at it and felt something. The temple also had a huge Nandi statue carved in stone.

Intricate carvings

Intricate carvings

 

Nandi temple

It was extremely hot when we visited these temples, but I'm glad I did. They will remain with me for a long time, such an exquisite symbol of ancient Indian art and architectural beauty. Also, both these temples were so clean, it felt heartening to see that.

On the drive back we stopped at Hoysala Village Resort near Hassan and ate Malnad food again. It was tasty, though heavy and the spice was a lot milder. The drive back was fine though as expected, we found traffic in Bangalore and then it took us a while to get home.


Bangalore

Inside Cubbon park

Before and after the visit to Chikkamagaluru, I spent a few days in Bangalore, mostly meeting friends but also exploring it a bit (for the first time actually, as I don't think people think much about exploring Bangalore when they visit, and I hadn't done much earlier either). One day we went to the central area around MG Road and visited the local parks. It was such a lovely area to drive through, with its grand old colonial buildings like the Vidhan Sabha, which charms one as you drive past them.

Colours of Cubbon park

Then we went to Cubbon park and walked in the park looking for blooming spring flowers. It's a huge park but also has roads inside it. Many of the trees were full of pink and yellow and purple flowers, some of them on the ground and the rest on the trees. And as usual, we had some sugarcane juice after to deal with the heat. Then we went to Lalbagh which had a nice variety of flowers and plants too, though it was already dry (even in February!).

And after all the walks in the sun, we stopped at a local dosa point to have the benne masala dosa which was a totally new experience for me and I loved it.

Apparently there are dozens of famous silk saree shops in Bangalore, all of which have a great collection. Though I only went to one, RMKV silks. It was already so much fun for me (and exhausting), that we never managed to check out the others. They had such an elaborate collection, with many different varieties of sarees from the South Indian states. I ended up buying multiple sarees from there, leaving behind so many more. Being able to buy sarees with such a vast variety to choose from is something I miss in the North as the saree is not as common there. This saree shopping was definitely a highlight of the Bangalore visit for me.

Flowers of Lalbagh

Overall I found old Bangalore to be a slow moving cute little town, with two storey houses, a lot of old educational and professional institutions, with lots of space and so many parks and greenery all around. Everywhere in the old town, there were trees lining the road, laden with yellow, pink and purple flowers, with the reds just about starting to bloom. The many lakes have mostly disappeared now though there were a few still surviving. Bangalore has very few high rises in the old parts though a lot more in the new areas.

Most of the roads are narrow, which is the reason for the traffic jams now. But still people drive slowly without aggression. The government is trying to improve that, so you can now find flyovers at random places, which aren't helping the traffic much yet.

Another local temple

People seem to be relaxed and unhurried. The city still feels conservative but open too. So many women wear sarees on a daily basis and I loved seeing that. Religion is also very visible here. I saw so many temples, with their colourful statues of gods. I even went into one of them - they all look so bright, yet so simple and inviting.

In the new areas, there is a chill vibe, a founders vibe too given this is a startup city. There are tons of restaurants springing up everywhere. All the breweries are fun places to hangout too. And you can see tech being used everywhere (maybe the local startups test it all locally first!). And last but not the least, the new Bangalore airport is pretty. Created with a green and natural tinge to it - my last impression of the city was also a good one .

Overall, I was impressed. Everyone who lives there likes the city, its chill vibe and some remaining old world charm. The traffic of course is a pain but I guess the rest makes up for it. And I loved the saree shopping, and the visit to Belur and Halebidu temples. So overall, an enjoyable stay in the Garden City.

Postcards from Peru: Cusco (4)

Peru: Itinerary (1)
Peru: Lima and coastal Peru (2)
Peru: Amazon (3)

Cusco… how do I even start to explain all that this city stands for? A city so deeply steeped in culture and history, and a true testament to the human spirit—the determination and ingenuity of the Incas to build a civilisation at such incredible heights, more than 3,000 metres up in the immense Andes, with their own unique way of life - their unique traditions of farming, weaving, art, worship, architecture, and so much more.

Peru had been on my list of places to visit since I was a teenager. Mostly for Machu Picchu. But as our trip got closer, I started reading about the Andean civilisations, and I think I became more excited about visiting Cusco and the Sacred Valley, than the world famous Machu Picchu.

Traditional dresses

I had started reading the book, ‘The Conquest of the Incas’ by John Hemming before the trip. Leaving the whole colonialism aspect of it aside, just reading about the majestic valleys of the Andes and the traditions of the Incas had piqued my curiosity immensely, on how the world I had read about for months would actually look like. All the names of places I had read so many times - the magnificent capital of Cusco, the mighty fortress of Sacsayhuaman, the sun temple of Qorikancha, the town of Ollantaytambo, the terraces of Pisac, the Sacred Urubamba valley, the last stronghold of the Incas in the Amazon at Vilcabamba - all these names now held a meaning for me. And I was curious to see what stories they would tell me when I meet them.

And I was not disappointed. I wasn't able to visit all these places on my trip. And most of the Incan grandeur I had read about had been destroyed 500 years ago already. But what I found was still incredible. Cusco was still alive, its Incan heritage still beating. And I enjoyed the few days I was there, trying to explore and uncover this Incan heart, long challenged by Spanish colonisers, but which is still intact.

Cusco from above

From Puerto Maldonado, we flew to the Andes, to the town of Cusco. We stayed 2 nights in Cusco initially to acclimatise to the high altitude. Then we were off on the Salkantay trek to Machu Picchu for 5 days. After coming back from there, we stayed for 2 more nights in Cusco, taking a train to Puno after. In Cusco, we mostly walked around, shopped, ate, acclimatised, joined the festivities and mostly soaked in the Incan sights and atmosphere. 


Getting to Cusco

Flying over the Andes

The flight from Puerto Maldonado to Cusco was a short one, just 30 mins. It flew first over dense green forests, interrupted sometimes by wide meandering rivers and once in a while by a solitary road. And then we were flying over the Andes. As we got closer to Cusco, we saw many villages down in the valleys, spread along these valleys and also along the mountainside. And then Cusco appeared, a huge city spread out all along the Huatanay valley. And it was a beautiful sight landing there.


Cusco

Tika Wasi Casa hotel

For the first two nights, we were staying at the Tika Wasi Casa hotel which was up along the mountainside on the same hill as the Incan fort of Sacsayhuaman. The hotel was a cute little place, with a hammock in its garden (my favourite spot on this Peruvian trip), and a sweeping view of the city of Cusco. It was within the Cusco Centro Historico and within walking distance to Plaza de Armas and all the other sights to visit.

El Balcon hotel

The last two days after coming back from the Salkantay trek, we were staying at a different hotel, the El Balcon, near the Plaza. The building was in an old colonial design, with a nice green garden in between. It didnt have a view of Cusco though, as it was in the flat valley in the centre. It felt like in a residential area with lots of small gardens and squares around.

Cusco is located at a height of 3,400 metres, a height at which the human body has difficulty breathing due to a lower oxygen content. So we had kept the first 2 days for acclimatisation to the high altitude conditions, planning to just walk around and not exert much while we got used to thinner air. Still there was so much walking up and down involved, it was tiring. So we slept and rested a lot during this period while also exploring the town a bit.

We drank a lot of coca tea (every few hours). It's made by adding coca leaves to hot boiling water, and letting the flavour seep in. It is said to help with the high altitude. Locals generally chew the leaves on a daily basis, while tourists prefer to have the easier to drink tea version. It took me a while to develop a taste for it, but once I did, I was a regular. It also was very welcome given how cold the evenings got there. We also bought some coca candy for Cusco as well as the Salkantay trek later. It did help, but we still rested a lot more when walking around during the first few days. Also, it was difficult for me to fall asleep the first few days because of the thin air too.

For the next few days we explored Cusco, mostly around the historic centre, its lanes, its architecture, the food, the shopping and the overall feel. And also getting used to the mountain air. We did visit some historical sights like Cristo Blanco, the Convent of Santo Domingo and the fort of Sacsayhuaman but most of our time there was spent without a defined agenda, at the festivals around the Plaza de Armas. 


Walking around

The Centro Historico is the part of Cusco where the Incan capital used to be. When it was destroyed by the Spanish, they built a Spanish style city on top of the old capital. So even though the feel is of a Spanish town, the foundations of the city are very Incan.

Streets of Cusco

The streets of Cusco on the mountainside are quite steep, cobbled and narrow. They are all lined with one to two storeyed houses, painted in white, with orange roofs and blue wooden doors. Many of these houses have flowers in their balconies or outside their doors. And the streets have brass lamps everywhere. There is so much colour and art everywhere, it's a pleasure just to walk through them. (Of course you have to stop every few 100 metres to gasp for breath! And we took Uber quite often too, especially in the evenings when walking up the hill felt like a torture when we hadn’t acclimatised yet). One specific moment I remember is a street violinist playing at one of these streets while we were returning back at night. His music is one of the sweetest, most soothing music I remember hearing ever. 

A square in Cusco

As we were walking, we kept coming by so many grand squares, cathedrals and convents. Each of the squares would have a green space in the middle, and some grand colonial buildings around. Cathedrals and convent abound in the centre, each more impressive than the other. Many of these have been converted to museums now. I remember the Convent of St Assisi being one of the impressive ones. And Cusco looked so fascinating at night, with all the twinkling lights in the valley and along the hillsides. That view is also imprinted in my mind.

There were some streets in town where the buildings had foundations different from the colonial structures above. The base would be made of huge boulders precisely cut and fitted together without mortar, while the building on top would be built in a typical colonial style. Apparently this was the Incan style of dry-stone masonry which was used to build buildings to survive earthquakes. They were so strong, so robust that the Spanish had been unable to destroy them. So they had decided to build their churches and other buildings on top of the old Incan foundations. Many of these were exposed in the earthquakes of 1650 and 1950 when the colonial structures collapsed but the Inca foundations survived and showed up. And since then, many of these Incan walls have been left exposed so visitors can imagine what the town would have looked like centuries ago. I had read about it in my book, and walked around town looking for such structures. There were many and they were impressive, really impressive.

Streets of Cusco

Most streets looked quite similar, with old colonial houses in single lane cobbled streets. But some streets were different, especially one around the Plaza. That felt like a modern street with modern buildings, but most of Cusco felt like it belonged to a different simpler age.

Sometimes it was tough to figure out what part of Cusco was Spanish, what was Incan and what was just touristy. It just had so much to offer, it was fun to walk around. In the centre, there was so much activity at all times, either with the tourists or with the locals. We criss-crossed these streets so much, we had already started remembering them 😂.


Plaza de Armas

Our favourite of course was the main square, Plaza de Armas. It is a grand square with a park in the centre, the Cusco Cathedral and the Church of the Society of Jesus on one side, loads of cafes and shops on another and then a row of wooden buildings with colonial metal balconies overlooking the Plaza.

Plaza de Armas at night

These balconies are now lined with fine dining restaurants. So during the day we would sit at the Plaza enjoying the festivals. And the evenings we would be back there, eating at one of the restaurants with the balconies. The views outside were magnificent, with the whole of Cusco lighted up at night, and the after-festival party goers still having a great time. It was so surreal every night. The Plaza is the centre of all events in town. It is full of tourists all the time and feels so alive. And of course since we were there in May/June, it was festival time, with the Plaza being at the centre of it all. 


Corpus Christi festivals

In May and June, the festival of Corpus Christi is celebrated by Cusco for a week or so, with all the residents of the city taking part in it. And the whole town turns into a party town. Somehow even without timing it, we had turned up on the first 2 and last 2 days of this festive period! On the first day, the 15 saints and virgins from various other churches of Cusco are brought in a procession to the main Cusco Cathedral. What this involves is the residents of those parishes dressing up in traditional clothes and carrying their saints on elaborate platforms (known as andas), parading through town, all the way till the Cusco Cathedral. The processions move through town, with local bands walking in front providing music and the rest of the parade with hundreds of followers, dancing behind as the procession slowly snakes through town.

Corpus Christi festival

And whoever is not part of the procession, all assemble together in the Plaza de Armas. The whole day, they all dance, make merry and enjoy, sitting along the stairs of the cathedral when tired. It felt like the entire city was there to enjoy the festivities. After the saints are enshrined inside the Cathedral, they are said to remain there for eight days, and "debate" the city's future and the behavior of its residents.

On our first day in Cusco, we could hear music from the morning itself. And by the time we reached the Plaza, we could see multiple processions with thousands of people passing through the streets. It was amazing to be there, just sitting in the crowd and watching all the happenings going on. And the after-party did not end till very late at night - we could hear music coming from the centre till at least 2 am. And every day till the 8th day, there is some or the other festival going on. I think we ended up witnessing many of those events.

From the balconies

One of the days, we saw old men and women dressed up in traditional clothes dancing gracefully to band music late at night. One night, there was a DJ in front of the Cusco Cathedral, belting out song after song while everyone danced in the Plaza. In 5 degrees! One of the evenings, we saw groups of young boys and girls doing rehearsals late at night for the traditional dance performances the next day. And one day, we saw another group practising in one of the squares around, choreographing their dance, again in 5 degrees temperature. It felt like there was a festive environment all around, and everyone wanted to be a part of it. And every day while walking back, we would see all the people drunk and partying till late at night. It was like every day was a party day in Cusco.

Last day of the festivities

When we came back from our Salkantay trek, the festivals were still going on. And we saw the farewell processions again around the Plaza de Armas, where the saints were again taken with full pomp and show, accompanied by dancing and music, back to their own cathedrals. It was just so electric to be there at such a time.




Qorikancha and Church of Santo Domingo

After the first two days in Cusco, we were off to Machu Picchu for 5 days, hiking on the Salkantay trek. After the gruelling effort of traversing the Andes, we were back in Cusco for two days of rest and relaxation. Now that I was acclimatised, I finally did some touristy stuff around, while my friends were still doing high altitude hiking to Rainbow Mountain (I was done with hiking for a while) and learning traditional Inca weaving techniques.

One day, I explored the local markets and the temple of Qorikancha. The next day I walked up to Cristo Blanco (the White Christ), a huge statue of Christ located on top of the Pukamuqu hill overlooking the city of Cusco. It reminded me of Christ the Redeemer in Rio.

Street market

The first day, I just walked away from the historic centre, away from where all the touristy sights were. I saw parents picking up their children from a school, and vendors selling stuff like popcorn to those children. I walked through some local markets in front of a church where the locals shopped. There were 100s of different herbs and spices being sold there. And sugarcane too. I had sugarcane juice at a local stall. Then I walked to the San Pedro market, a covered local market selling a variety of local handicrafts and textiles. There is so much stuff being sold here, at every turn. And it was mostly the women doing all the selling. The walk away from the centre felt quite different, so simple, so not fancy, a bit poorer than the other parts. Also, this was the first time when I saw everyone going about their daily lives (as everything in the historic centre had felt more oriented towards tourists).

Convent of Santo Domingo

After the local walk, I went to the Qorikancha or the Convent of Santo Domingo, a Spanish monastery built on top of the original Inca sun temple. The Qorikancha was the most important temple for the Incas. It was plated with gold and housed the mummies of all the deceased Incas. Its walls were built of solid stones, again in the same Inca masonry style where perfect boulders were interlocked without using any mortar.

Inside the Convent

The Spanish found it tough to completely destroy the old sun temple, so they chose to build the church and convent on top of it. It remained so for centuries but in the earthquake of 1950, the Inca walls became exposed and can now be seen by visitors. The tour of the Qorikancha is very informative, talking about what the original temple would have looked like, based on what remains.

View from Qorikancha

One can also explore the new monastery which is still there and quite pretty. The flowers and paintings all around made it look extremely inviting. I loved this tour, including the view of the city from the temple.

Children's festival

When leaving Qoricancha, I again saw people celebrating, this time it was children! There were 100s of children all dressed up in traditional clothes, walking by their parents. They were in groups, and each group had a different attire, maybe based on the parish they were from? Apparently today was the children’s festival day. It was so cute 😄. That afternoon, the Plaza de Armas had been even more decorated. There was a statue of the Inca in the centre, and many children were dancing and showcasing their skills that day.


Cristo Blanco

Ruins of Sacsayhuaman

The second day, I hiked up the Pukamuqu mountain to get to the Christ statue, the Cristo Blanco. I walked past the Sacsayhuaman fort and finally saw the huge boulders of the fort that had been described in the book. They were huge, some of them were even taller than me. And they stood just liked they would have centuries ago. Solid and immovable.

 

Walls of Sacsayhuaman

I still wonder how a civilisation living in such inhospitable high altitude conditions with no horses or access to cement was able to transport such huge boulders from one place to another and construct a fort. Which has survived till today, even after all the Spanish invasions and destruction. Hats off! 

Cusco from high above

After the fort, I hiked up to the Cristo and was mesmerised with the view from the top. You can see the whole of Cusco from there, the valley and all the hillsides covered with houses almost all the way up. I stayed there till sunset, as parts of the city slowly started to move into the shade. It wasn't a very picturesque sunset though as the sun set at an angle, but seeing the city slowly move toward night was memorable.

While I sat there watching the sun go down, I observed many people coming and leaving the statue. There was a Quechua woman there, dressed in the traditional Andean clothing, with an alpaca baby. She was selling some stuff to tourists. And I saw her approach so many of the people there, offering what she had. She was so so so softspoken, it was like her voice had humility. She spoke some English words, and said them so sweetly and softly, I couldn't help but notice her.

And I remembered excerpts from the book I was reading which talked about how the common Quechua people had always been very simple, believing in the goodness of the world around them. They were so simple, they easily became more vulnerable to exploitation by the Spanish than some other cultures. I don't know if it's a stereotype but I felt it at that moment, how simple and soft spoken the woman was. And I felt very sad for all this country and culture had lost over the centuries. And how the simplicity of the population made them easy prey to all the atrocities that were committed on them.

Cristo Blanco

On the positive side, it was also nice to see how Christianity in Cusco had merged with everything Incan, including the festivals they celebrated and how the Christ statue was looking over this Incan town. I realised while reading up for the blog though, that the statue was a gift given by the Palestinian community in Cusco to the city in 1945, in gratitude for their acceptance and refuge during a time of conflict. Given all the conflict going on around the world, actions like this show a positive future - Muslims from Palestine gifting a statue of Christ to Cusco, which follows its own Inca religion too.

Walking down

After spending some time gazing at the beauty of this city, I started walking back into town. But I chose to take a different path than the one I had come by. I just followed Google Maps in the opposite direction, walking on the road and then taking stairs down, which looked like it would take me to the Plaza. (I could identify it from the loud music coming from that side😁). 

I just started walking down the stairs, walking past residential areas, and choosing whichever way looked like it would take me in the right direction. It was a bit scary as there were very few people around and some of the stairs were blocked. I walked past gardens and small houses and so on. It was an adventurous detour thought I am not sure if it was such a wise idea 😁.

San Blas

Though it all went well. When I reached town, I walked through the San Blas area which felt quite artistic. I stopped to check out some paintings and handicrafts being sold there. Finally, I reached the Plaza (we ended up there every evening somehow), and there were festivities going on (again!). Today all the saints were going back to their own cathedrals. I got a place to stand on a wooden platform right in front of the cathedral door. So I got a front seat view of all the saints being taken out of the cathedral and the procession taking them back to their own parish churches. And when I walked back to my hotel, I passed by many of these processions, still on their way back. And as usual, there was music and dancing all evening, everywhere.


Shopping in Cusco

Cusco is a shopping paradise. The streets were all lined with shops, with all kinds of things being sold - art, souvenirs, spices and sauces, warm clothes, sweaters, pillow cases, blankets, bedcovers - the list was endless. And it was all very reasonably priced. We spent a lot of time shopping here. Surprisingly, there wasn't a lot of bargaining going on, just a little bit.

There were lots of vendors selling handicrafts in the streets, not just the shops. Most of the women selling stuff would be wearing their traditional dress, and there was just so much colour on them - I loved them. A lot of them also had small baby alpaca with them. They charged for taking photos with them and their alpacas, which felt a bit too commercial for me.

Textiles were the biggest sellers - warm clothes made of alpaca wool being the most common product. The local weaves and designs are quite intricate, and they look gorgeous. The colours of the clothes were so bright, red being the most popular in the stuff being sold. Also the alpaca wool is really really soft. It was tough to see those things and not buy them! We all shopped so much - I bought a red poncho with Inca weaving, two red alpaca sweaters with traditional designs, two alpaca shawls (which turned out to be Made in China!), and an alpaca throw. There was a clear domination of warm alpaca products in our buying preferences 😆. I generally don’t shop. But in Peru I did, and this was after already buying flip-flops, a headband, a tshirt, a hydra bag and a backpack already.


Eating

We had dinner at the Plaza most often. Restaurants there were our favourites, as they all were on the first floor, with balconies overlooking the Plaza and cathedral. The first day we ate at Morena. The food was good. I had a bout of mountain sickness though and had to lie down on the seat for a while for the nausea to go away. The waiter put some alcohol on my hand to smell, as apparently that helps with the mountain sickness.

One day we had lunch at a local eating place, called the 3 crosses (quite cute) near our hotel, one Indian dinner at Taste of India (we were really craving spice that day), and dinners near the Plaza in Ceviche and Don Pancho. It was always great to have a view of the Plaza festivities. Dinner for me was always the same for me I think - ceviche, I loved it. The food generally was good, though for vegetarians the options were quite limited.


Weather

The weather in Cusco was interesting. It was 20+ degrees C and sunny during the day, and would drop to single-digit temperatures at night. And it was the same every day, with very little variation. We enjoyed the warmth during the days, but always had to carry our jackets along for the cold evenings. The weather was perfect for enjoying though and was welcome after the freezing days in the Amazon.


It is very difficult to capture all that we saw in Cusco. A city so old, so steeped in a mixture of the old Incan culture and newer Spanish influences. A city that has existed for more than a thousand years at such a height, stood the ravages of Spanish rule, and managed to still hold its own identity, its unique charm. It felt like we had landed in a very different Peru than the last one week.

I fell in love with the city within the first few hours, and the love lasted. It was so tough to say goodbye as I felt I had barely touched its history, its deep culture, its deep mountain ethos. It was like I had only begun to uncover a deep reservoir of culture, history and life, but left without truly doing it justice.

I loved staying in Cusco and hope to be back there some time. To explore more, but also to explore the Sacred Valley, Ollantaytambo, the Pisac, Maras and Moray terraces, Chinchero, and so many other places, which I couldn't visit because of lack of time. I will be back, Cusco!

Postcards from Peru: The Amazon (3)

Peru: Itinerary (1)
Peru: Lima and coastal Peru (2)

To explore the Amazon, the best way is to fly to one of the towns there and stay at one of the nearby ecolodges in the jungle. We flew to Puerto Maldonado (PM), which was quite a small town, located at the intersection of two rivers, the Madre de Dios and the Tambopata. These rivers go deeper into the forest and are lined with hotels and ecolodges. If you stay at one of these places, you basically need a boat to leave your accommodation. So any exploration either in the forest or the city has to be booked with the lodge itself.

PM from above

We stayed at one such place, the Hacienda Herrera Tambopata, an ecolodge on the Madre de Dios river, close to town and did a few excursions from there. We went to a nearby lake, for a sunset cruise on the river, as well as to a Macaw Clay Lick deep in the forest. I liked these explorations and all the animals and plants we saw, but somehow did not get the feeling that we were really in the Amazon, as most of the activities we did were quite near town. So the whole experience did not feel as wild as I expected. I think if we had stayed at one of the lodges deeper in the forest, the experience would have been different.

Also, for the entire 4 days we were there, there were winds blowing from Patagonia (called the friajes). So it was cloudy, windy, humid with no sun the entire time, and the temperatures had dropped sharply. What is generally hot and humid 30+ degrees weather turned out to be extremely cold weather and we felt like we were freezing all the time. So the experience was not as great as it could have been, but it was still very different from anything else I have seen before.


Getting there

Our flight was delayed by an hour as the LATAM airlines we were flying were missing a passenger but they did not know who. So they kept counting and recounting the passengers for more than an hour! And not one of the service staff spoke English, so we couldn't ask them much about what they were doing either 😃. The flight to PM was uneventful, all we saw were clouds over the Amazon.

We were received by a person from the Hacienda who first drove us by car through town to the boat jetty. The town looked big enough, though most of the houses were simple, with just one to two floors. And there were some good restaurants to eat too. (We never got to come back to the city as we realised later we would be living in a lodge on the river and the only way to get out is to take a boat to the city!)

At the boat jetty

From the boat jetty, we got onto a wooden boat which took us on the Madre de Dios river to our lodge. By the time we had got onto the boat, it had already become dark and was raining intermittently too. As we moved along the river, the city lights were left behind and there was no light around other than one small bulb on the boat. And that was it! All around was darkness, with a rapidly gushing river under us, rain above and no sign of any civilisation anywhere close by. We did have a few moments when we were wondering what we had gotten ourselves into! 


Hacienda Herrera Tambopata

When we got off at the lodge, all we could see was the jetty. The person asked us to get off and walk towards the reception while he got our luggage. We had to jump off in the dark, and had no clue how he would get our suitcases. Anyways, as we went up the wooden stairs using our phone light, we ended up in a forest with no lights to guide us! And it was still raining!

We tried looking for a path towards the lodge reception but got lost. So we just came back to where we had got off from the boat and waited, as it felt scary to walk into the forest in the rain, not knowing where you were going, with just your phone light to guide you!

Then we finally saw the person come with our luggage on a small wagon, and we walked with him to the reception to check in. That night, we were the only 2 guests in the lodge. And so the owner, the only one who spoke some English, had decided not to come in from town. So there were a total of 2 people other than us staying in this huge lodge and farm in the Amazon, one was the cook and the other was the attendant, both of whom did not speak English.

Anyways we checked in to our “luxury huts”. But when we went to look at our room, it felt like it was not the same we had booked. This one had open bathrooms with no doors, looking out onto the tropical forest, in the wind, cold and rain! We had a few more tense minutes figuring out where we had turned up, and why?! We asked the attendant to shift us to another accommodation, the bungalows. Which at least had closed bathrooms.

We had dinner at the reception and then walked to our bungalows. Since the weather had been cloudy for a while, the solar lights were not fully charged, so the lights around the lodge were not working properly that night. Our bungalow was cute, made of wood, surrounded by vegetation all around. It had a balcony with a hammock, overlooking huge tropical trees. And the bathroom was inside, with no open access to the wild.

All around on the top, there was a metal net. My guess is this would be great in the humid heat to encourage cross-ventilation inside the bungalow. Except that it was freezing cold. And we had a tough time sleeping. First, it was super cold. Second, it took us time to get used to sleeping with the sounds of birds and animals moving (probably monkeys), twigs breaking and the rustling of the wind all night. But finally we slept, as we had been tired during the day.

The next day we asked for 3 blankets instead of the one we had, as it was so cold and that was the only way we could sleep in an open bungalow. It turned out that the lodge did not have a lot of blankets as it was rarely cold there. At that time we were wondering if it was better to stay at a hotel rather than an ecolodge, as a hotel has more modern amenities. And even heaters.

Our bungalow

In the morning, when we woke up and saw the ecolodge in daylight, kuch saans main saans aayee. It felt a lot better in the morning. We woke up with natural sunlight and it felt amazing. The lodge was a beautiful setup with a few spread out bungalows, all encompassed with dense tropical vegetation. There were loads of different kinds of trees and shrubs all around, and even swamps and farms. There were so many varieties of plants, many of them were laden with exotic flowers. Especially red and orange ones. And birds and bird sounds. There were so many natural sounds around, but it was still so quiet. We could easily spend time exploring the lodge itself.

Once we walked around the place, we were able to better figure out how to get from one place to another. The main reception was a two floor wooden building with an open terrace with a few hammocks to chill in the afternoon heat. Which is where I spent most of my time (even though it was freezing). It was also so relaxing there, as if I was only surrounded by nature. And the ground floor was where we ate all our meals. They had an in-house cook who cooked local food for us daily. It was always fun to chat with him. He showed us some local food stuff too. Including a snake in a jar which was a local delicacy. Needless to say, I never tried it.

Our balcony

And there were thousands of birds in the lodge itself, who would keep coo-ing the whole day. We even started identifying some of them, though it was always tough to spot them. There was a typical sound which we kept hearing regularly, like a water drop sound - and that was the sounds of an Oropendula. I never saw one, but heard it regularly - it was my favourite of the bird sounds here. 

The next day a few more people came to stay in the lodge, so things felt more normal as we had company. And it was fun to chat with people around and learn about their experiences. Overall the lodge was fine, even though the first day felt a bit scary. Maybe because its a family run farm turned lodge, the service is not professional enough. We should have realised that as when we were trying to book activities through the lodge earlier, it had been a mess. The people we were communicating with did not know much english. But given how professional the website looked, we had expected the service to be better. Anyways overall our experience was fine afterwards, after the first night of shock.

For the last two days we even moved into the “luxury huts” we had checked out initially, with the open bathrooms. The bathrooms were definitely scary to use, as there were always sounds of the trees and monkeys jumping on the trees next door. Still we managed to live through it, though it was definitely a different experience.

Over the next few days we spent some time going out for activities, and the rest was either relaxing on the reception terrace or exploring the surrounding farms. Right behind reception were the lodge’s cocoa, banana and orange farms. We walked around them a bit, spotting some agoutis and possums too. And of course, a lot of birds were there.

The reception

The rest of my time at the lodge felt very idyllic, lounging on the hammocks. There was no internet at the lodge except at the reception, which was great. There were no roads around our lodge, and we couldn't walk or drive to get anywhere. Across the river, there was a road and a few hotels. But our side of the river felt totally remote. And so the entire stay we felt we were far away from the outside world.

But the weather definitely made the experience very tough for me. It was cloudy, windy, cold and humid the entire time. And it would rain anytime, randomly. In fact I was wearing the same clothes I had brought along for the Salkantay trail (where temperatures drop to -5 degrees at night) in the Amazon!! At least I had the clothes for this weather. Some of the clothes the locals were wearing felt so thin, I wasn't sure how they were dealing with the cold.


The activities

Over the next four days, we left the lodge only for the activities we did around. They were organised mostly by the Somos Selva guides, and somehow always started extremely early morning or after sunset. I think it made sense given how hot the Amazon usually is, but for now, it felt a bit of an overkill as it was cold the entire time.

I went out for 4 different activities, all of which were different: Night walk (1 hour) Sandoval lake tour (6 hours) Tambopata sunset cruise (3 hours) and Chuncho Macaw Clay Lick tour (8 hours).

Night walk

Pink toe tarantula

This was organised by a guide at the lodge itself, who took us out for a walk around the lodge for an hour, to show us the (mostly) insect life that came out of hiding after sunset. Most of these were spiders, and some of them were interesting too. We spotted a praying mantis; a possum on the trees looking for eggs to eat; a small spider who adds trash to its body length, to make it look longer; a chicken spider coming out from its hole (its the second largest spider in the world); a golden orb spider cocooning a moth and a few pink toe tarantula on trees which were scary but also fun to observe under the light. Overall it was fine for an activity to do close by but nothing major to write home about.

Sandoval lake tour

Madre De Dios river

This was a half day tour (almost 6 hours from when we left the lodge) to one of the nearby lakes, the Sandoval lake. We first had a 30 mins boat ride to reach the entry point to the lake, the Tambopata National Reserve. Then we walked on a boardwalk through the forest for 2 kms, and the guide showed us some interesting Amazonian trees. He pointed out some medicinal plants which gave out chilli or avocado or garlic smells when we rubbed the leaves between our hands.  

We saw the parasitic strangler figs which first start wrapping itself around a tree and then slowly over the next 50-60 years eat and finish off the old tree taking its place. We saw some younger ficus creepers growing around the trees, and then one new tree growing around the remains of the old tree, with a hollow centre where the old tree was. Apparently, birds defecate the seeds on top of the trees. They slowly grow roots, reaching all the way to the soil and then surround the tree, killing it slowly. It was interesting to see, but more scary at the same time.

Path to Sandoval

We saw some farmer ants, many different kinds of mushrooms, various flowers and creepers going up trees, and of course many many birds like kingfishers, parrots, blue and yellow macaws, the mother-in-law bird (called so because of her loud birdsong), the tiger heron, a few ibises, many hoatzins (a huge weird looking yellow bird), cormorants and the Great Ani. And then we could hear two groups of howler monkeys screaming at each other from afar. They can really howl!

 

Sandoval lake

Then we reached the Sandoval, a huge lake in the middle of dense forests. We took a small wooden boat, and a local guide took us all around the lake along the forested shoreline. The guides were able to spot some animals on the banks, the rest of the time telling us their stories from this part of the world. We saw the two groups of howler monkeys (with binoculars) we had heard earlier. Given how cold it was, they were sitting on top of the trees, completely huddled up, wishing for some sun. We spotted some yellow spotted-neck river turtles and two black caimans around the lake.

The sightings were less than usual given the cold. But it was so refreshing to be out in the wild like this, and hearing all the stories from the guide. Apparently, there are only four families who still live inside this regulated area and are allowed to engage in tourism activities. They run a shop to sell snacks etc., close to where we got onto our boat. For our lunch also, we stopped at the farm house of one such family. There were a few hammocks and benches there, plus we could buy some snacks from them.

The Puerto Maldonado area has only about 10% local Amazonian people living here. The others have all come from other parts of Peru. The population of the town has grown from 50k to 100k people in the last 15 years. And more and more people are moving in regularly. One of the reasons is the older road from PM to Cusco used to take 2 weeks to traverse while the new road which was completed recently has reduced that time to only 10 hours now.

Earlier logging used to be a major employment provider, but that is not allowed anymore. Of course, tourism is huge here. But the largest employer is gold mining from the sand in the rivers, which is very popular and lucrative, though illegal. It's a tough job as the workers work 24 hour shifts. But they still do it as the profits are high.

The guide also told us about all the illegal poachers and miners in the forests who kill anyone going into the jungle to stop them. From what he told us, a lot of illegal activities are still going on in the Amazon as it's so tough to control.

On the walk back, we saw groups of capuchin monkeys jumping around and making a ruckus on the trees. And then of course took the boat back to our lodge. Overall, I liked this experience a lot as we actually got out into the deeper forest, though not deep enough for me.

Tambopata sunset tour

This was a 3 hour cruise along the Madre de Dios river first and then along the Tambopata river. We mostly cruised along the riverbank, trying to spot animals, with the naked eye initially and later using a spotlight after the sun had set. The river was quite muddy and red, probably because of all the minerals flowing down it.

We first spotted a few sloths with patterned skin, lazing on the trees. They were hanging from the trees, and so slow to move. Next we saw two capybara families chilling in the grass next to the river. But when we went close, they turned ‘statue’. As if that will prevent us from spotting them😁. We saw many groups of hoatzins, which are prehistoric-looking birds. They were beautiful and such a pleasure to observe. Then some Yellow Flycatchers. And lastly a baby caiman. Of course, we didn't see much of the sunset as there were clouds the whole time so there are no sunset photos from the cruise.

Collpa Chuncho Macaw clay lick

This was my favourite of all the excursions we went for in the Amazon. We had to wake up at an ungodly 3 am for the tour. We first went by boat to the city of PM. Then we were driven in a car on the east west highway to Brazil. Once we entered the Tambopata national reserve, we drove to the boat jetty, got onto another boat on the Tambopata and were off to Chuncho. The boat ride was quite adventurous as the pilots swerved the boats very dangerously while trying to avoid all the driftwood floating in the river. We got off onto a small sandy island in the river, and plonked ourselves there for the next few hours. There were a few groups already there, all taking up spots along the island to be able to see the clay lick clearly.

Around the island

From this island, we can get a clear (though far) view of the clay lick, a sand cliff with many kinds of minerals in it which is apparently healthy for the macaws. So daily, 100s of macaws come there and take their time to get down to the cliffs to lick the clay. It's almost a dance that happens daily. There are three types of macaws who turn up here - blue and yellow ones, the scarlet ones, and the red and green macaws - plus some types of parrots also join them for the feasting.

The macaws mostly fly in pairs as they are monogamous, and mate for life. As the macaws fly in, in groups or couples, they first sit on top of the tree canopy. They stay there for hours, chatting to each other and scouring the surroundings for any potential predators. Step by step, they slowly shift down the forest canopy layers, to get closer to the clay lick. The entire group keeps doing this almost in tandem, slowly, step by step.

Finally one macaw who is brave enough, volunteers to fly down to the clay lick and start pecking. And then if no predator jumps on it, one by one more macaws fly down and start pecking. And suddenly there is a riot of colours and sounds as all of them try to lick as much clay as possible, in a short span of time before they all fly away for the day. Or at any moment because of a sound or any perceived danger, they can all just fly away, leaving the tens of tourists with nothing to see in spite of all their efforts in getting there.

What happened with us of course was very interesting, and shows how wildlife safaris work, at their own whim and fancy. When we got off the boat at the small sandy beach next to the river, our guide set up his telescope and then we waited. For 4 hours. We saw the macaws come in, and observed them on the canopies using our binoculars. For a long time. They kept talking to each other but refused to fly down to the clay lick.

Macaws waiting

We kept observing them on the trees, counting them too. I could count only about 25 macaws and parrots among all the trees, but my guide said there were at least 70-100. And then we would count again and keep re-counting to keep us busy. We ate breakfast, tea, lunch (trying out the local guardia fruit) to keep us busy. We walked around the sandbank, putting our feet in the water (it was warmer than the ambient temperatures) to keep us busy. We spotted some Orinoco goose on the island. And some capybara footprints, again to keep ourselves busy.

Then one macaw flew down to the click but within minutes it panicked and then all the macaws flew away, leaving the clay lick empty. Our guide told us to give up and leave. But we didn't. We stayed, just a bit more. And then a stunning scene unfolded.

One by one, the macaws flew back. And then they slowly went down some levels. And then the volunteer macaw flew down to the clay lick. And then the rest of them descended. The blue and yellow macaws. The scarlet macaws. The red and green macaws. All of them. Hundreds of them. And some parrots too. A few blue-headed parrots. Making noises and pecking.

Macaws at clay lick

What a magnificent sight it was. I loved it, enjoying every moment of it. Observing them through the binoculars, how they behaved. It was just so much fun and exciting. It was such an incredible experience, a mesmerising natural spectacle, watching 100s of these stunning birds congregate at one location to eat minerals from the clay cliffs. I absolutely loved it. Such a simple scene, but completely enthralling. The macaws were there for some 20-30 minutes and then they all flew away. And we all felt satiated, having witnessed such a beautiful spectacle of nature.

Capybaras

While coming back, the boat took us around the riverbanks, trying to spot some more animals around. We saw some capybara families, two speckled caimans and capuchin monkeys on the trees. We also saw some people floating on a wooden barge, mining gold from the river sand, of course illegally. Other than that, it was such a pleasant ride back home as the weather had warmed up a bit by then. We reached our lodge by 11am, after spending a whole day out. It felt like the day was so long, we had already seen and experienced so much already by 11am!


Overall, I enjoyed our experience in the Amazon forest. We spotted so many animals and bird sounds and so many unique trees, it was definitely a new experience for me. Also this trip made me realise what is the best way to explore the Amazon. Our experience this time was too sanitised, so for next time I would definitely like to go deeper, into the real Amazon. Maybe even go for a week or two at least (as well as pray that there are no Patagonian winds at that time 😂).

And just like that, our trip was over. While leaving, we again drove through town to the airport. It felt quite small and simple. And then we were off on our next adventure, to the Andes.