ChezMatt

CUZCO - No Gracias...
La tres belle ville de Cuzco contient bien des paradoxes en elle, et c'est certainement ce qui la rend charmante et aussi ce qui donne envie de la fuire...
Tout d'abord si on parle un peu de son histoire, on rentre dans une cacophonie multiculturelle extremement complexe mais tellement interessante.
D'apres les Incas, le premier Inca Manco Capac aurait cree la ville apres avoir ete envoye par le dieu Soleil depuis le Lac Titicaca. Il aurait marche de Titicaca a la vallee de Cuzco ou  une espece de pierre en Or que lui avait donne le Soleil se serait enfonce entierement dans le sol, comme pour lui dire : "C'est ici mon coco!" Alors le coco Manco a commence a rameuter les barbares de la region pour leur dire comment vivre et comment aimer le dieu Soleil. 12 Generations d'Incas plus tard, ses descendants avaient si bien repris en main cet empire Inca qu'il s'etendait du sud de la Colombie a Santiago au Chili. Avec la rayonnante ville de Cuzco comme capitale, remplie de batiments pleins d'or et d'argent a la gloire des rois et des dieux (le soleil, la lune, le puma, le condor ou le serpent...).
Bon ca c'est la legende Inca, mais en vrai on trouve a Cuzco des traces de civilisations pre-Inca comme notamment les Kilkes ce qui prouve bien que la ville existait avant les Incas. Et alors apres les Incas, les conquistadors Espagnols sont arrives et quand ils ont vu tout l'or et l'argent des Incas ils ont literallement tout detruit pour envoyer les richesses du feu-empire Inca en Espagne... Et en quelques annees ils ont reduit a neant un des empire les plus puissants et mene par une des cultures les plus avancees qu'il fut au monde.

CUZCO - No Gracias...
The beautifull city of Cuzco is very paradoxal and that is probably what makes it so charming and what makes you want to go away from it...
First and foremost, Cuzco's History is very twisted and complex, and thus full of paradoxes...
According to Inca legends, the first Inca who was send by the Sun God left Lake Titicaca to search for the place where he would build his empire. He arrived in the valley of Cuzco where the Gold-stone that God had given him went deep down in the ground, It was like a signal for him, and he decided to create the navel (Cosc'o in Quechua, the language of the Incas) of his empire there. He created Cuzco by telling barbarians around to gather in his newly created city and to live like civilized gentlemen, which worked perfectly... Then, 12 generations of Incas later, his sons had done such a good job in expending the Inca Empire that their territory was going fron the South of Colombia to Sanitago in Chile. Cuzco was the amazing capital of this empire, with gold and silver in all its palaces and temples dedicated to the Sun-God or the other god they belived in like the moon, the Puma, the Condor or the Snake.
That is what Inca legends tell us, but there wereother civilizations in Cuzco before the Incas, and some trace are still there to remind us that. What is true is that the city was full of silver and gold at the end of the Inca empire, when the Spaniards arrived to South America. This is actually the readon why they destroyed most of the Inca empire, most of its amazing buildings. They took all the Gold and silver and sent all this to Spain where the royalty was struglling with a lack of money. I don't need to mention that it helped Spain a lot, but destroyed the brilliant Inca culture which is one of the greatest the world ever had.

 Korichanca : l'ancien site Inca du temple du soleil (pierres noires) et d'un temple Kilke (en dessous). Aujourd'hui, c'est Santo Domingo (au dessus)
Korinchanca: The Old Inka Sun Temple (black stones) with under an old Kilke temple and on top the Santo Domingo Church

CUZCO et Matthieu il est content!
CUZCO and Matt is happy!

It's for all those reasons that Cuzco has a huge historical heritage which you can find everywhere in the city, on each square, in each stone... The best exemple is the Santo Domingo church and the Dominicains covent next to it. It was built over the magnificient Inca temple of the Sun which itself had been built over another temple of the Kilke culture some 700 years ago. The 3 different architcture are clearly visible from outside the building, and inside the covent, it is really surprising to find some paintings of Catholic Saints over Inca walls. The archeologues kept some of those paintings to show how the Spaniards tried to remove the Pagan religion of the Incas and how they used the very sacred places of this religion.
The Plaza de Armas, Cuzco's centre is also a good example of this cultural mix. Around the plaza, there is at least 4 places of catholic cult (A huge Cathdral and some wonderfull churchs) and more travel agencies than you can need, whiches are trying to send you to all the Inca or pre-Inca ruins which are around the city, including the great Machu Pichu. And there, with those agencies, there's no more respect for cultures or historical heritage, it's all about having the tourist spend his money in Cuzco... That's where the "No Gracias.." comes into play, and that's why sometimes you feel like running away from Cuzco...

Dessous: La Plus celebre Pierre de Cuzco, avec 12 angles tailles. Comptez!
Below: The most famous stone of Cuzco with its 12 angles. Go ahead, count them!

Indeed, the centre of Cuzco is a place where you can't walk more than 5 minutes without receiving 150 different solicitations to go there and to do this and that... You can go and have a massage after the Inka trail every 10 metters, go to the best pizzeria in town every 5, buy some wonderfull alpaca ponchos or gloves every 2 meters, and visit the Machu Pichu for nothing every meter... The bars have happy hours from 1pm to 11pm (That is insane but true!!!) and all the restaurant have a "cheap-menu-for-you-amigo-only-10-soles".
In this myst of touristic offers, you end up saying "No Gracias." to all of them before even knowing what they are going to tell you. Some places even sell a T-Shirt with writen "No Gracias." on it. Thoseplaces are off course not the usuall tourist shops, but some nice and charming bars or coffee places next to our hotel. We have been staying most of our time in the San Blas area which is a lot nicer than the centre of Cuzco (even though it's part of the centre...). There are lots of art galleries here, lots of artisanal shops that sells some real Andean arts and crafts and not the usual Poncho...
Before running away from this city I might go and get a few present for friends and family in those shops, and then I'll see if you guys are going to welcome me back with a T-Shirt labeled "No Gracias."...

See you soon!

The Marvelous Inca Trail...
Cet article est en francais ici.

Since I booked my flight ticket to south America, which is to say since a long time ago, I had in my mind the Inka Trail, a four days hike walking on the steps of the Incas and finishing it in Machu Pichu. Well today I can say it : "Done!"
Even though we had doubts about the price of this trek ($US 190), and the fact that this trek is kind of "the Highway" of treks in South America with heaps of people walking with you (The limit is 500 persons per day on the trail including trekkers, guides and porters), JB and I decided to go for it last week and today we are pretty happy about this decision. Really thrilled actually!
We left Sunday at 6am from Cuzco, got in a bus where we met our guide (Nico a nice and short guy) and 13 co-trekkers whit wh we were about to spend 4 days in heaven...Or in hell! With a very internationnal group (English, Canadians, Argentinians, Americans, Irish, German, Frenchs...) it was a pretty good start!
We are driven to the starting point of the Trek, "km 82" which happens to be the km 82 on the train line between Cuzco and the bottom of the Machu Pichu. Quiet a sensefull name! The firt day is a small walk, about 4h with a few ruins on the way, and finnally we arrive to Wayllabamba our camp site where tents are already set up, a tea is waiting or us, etc... The Inka Trail is not an especially hard trek regarding the camping part since the porters are more or less doing everything for you. It{s very nice but in my opinion, a bit too much since those guys are underpayed, have to carry at least 2 kg all day long and arrive to the camp sites before us in order to prepare everything for us... Their condition is hard and rather problematic here but I'll talk about it later.

The Inka Trail

Top, left to right: Felix, Matthew, Lawrence, Wesley, Lauren
Bottom: Cecilia, Kate, Rachel, Lawrence, Matt, Emily, Monica, JB, Martine, Michel

JB climbing up to Warmiwañusca Pass

After this short and wet night, we left the camp site at 6am to go for another great day of hiking. We pased some nice ruins on the way, at some point, reached the part of the mountain where the wonderfull Alpine landscapes where replaced by luxurious rain forest... It was a real shock to find those palm treas and bamboos at 3000m of altitude, but the Inkas had an explenations for that. Since they were a rather amazing culture, they decided to bring the type of soil the had in the jungle to the high mountains of he Andes in order to grow more crops there... They are surely an amazing culture, but oh my god they are crazy!!!
Last camp site is reach around 1pm on this 3rd day, and then we're not any more in the wild Andes... Beers, showers, cigaretts can be found at the camp site. We're back on the "Tourist Trail"!
The good point of this last site is that it's 500m from the Winay Wayna ruin which is also the most amazing of all the one we saw on the trail. Situated on a very steep moutain, it countains at least 200m of terrasses, buildings with 1 or 2 floors, and all this surrounded by wild forest and 100m cliffs... Those Inkas were really awesome builders, and I'm saying that even before seeing Machu Pichu!!!

Puyupatamarca Ruins

Tropical Forest 3000m high...

For the last day, we got up even earlier than before... 4pm, everybody is having breakfast in order to be as soon as possible at the gate of the trail. from there, we wait for the guards to open it and then we all rush to what we've all been walking for... MACHU PICHU !
Before reaching the site, there is on the trail the Sun Gate (Intipunkt) where there is supposed to be an awesome view of the Sunrise on MMachu Pichu. Of course, we enjoyed clouds and rain there, and it was the same when we got to Machu Pichu itself... At 7am, it was all under a heavy Londonian Fog...

It seemed like this day was not starting very well! But after an hour or so, the clouds left and we could enjoy a wonderfull sunny morning in Machu Pichu. We enjoyed walking around those awesome buildings, made with the best stones the Inkas could find and polish, built in such a way that its shape is the one of a Condor or of a Puma depending on where from you look at it (Puma and Condor were sacred animals for Inkas). We really enjoyed this amazing place which is definitively a highlight in our Aouth American trip. Machu Pichu is really an awesome place, full of history, of mystical stories, of mysteries... There are still a lot of controversy about what it really was (a city whree important Inkas hid when Spaniards arrived to Cuzco, a religious place which was already abbandonned when they arrived...) It was only discovered in 1911 by an american guy, and since then it became one of the major touristic site of the planet. So much that around 1pm, we had to leave the place because we couldn't handle any more the amount of tourist which had arrived from Cuzco in train... We walked down to Aguas Calientes, the small city nearby where we enjoyed the hot springs during around an hour. It felt so good to relax and strech after 4 days of hiking!!!

Oupss, we took the same T-Shirt...

Machu Pichu from Wayna Pichu mountain.

After those nice time in the hot water of Aguas Calientes, we took the train back to Cuzco where we had a nice dinner in a restaurant with our friends from the hiking group. The English were outnumbering the French so we went for a Curry instead of a fondue... 

The Inka Trail is a Fabulous experience and despite the fact that it is pricy and touristy, I really enjoyed it and would advice everyone who is around Peru to go for it... And if I'm around I could do it again!!!

To finish this article, I wto give you some of the best photos we took during these 4 days... It was such a great Trek that I have top share as much as I can with you!!! (Other pictures are also quiet stunning, and you can find them on the Photo Album of our trip, here)
See You All Very Soon I Hope !!   

Second day, a lovely little river

Second Day, it's rather... Beautifull no?

Third day, circular path

Third day, Sayacmarca Ruins

Third Day, Winay Wayna Ruins

Third Day, Matt, Wesley, Matthew and Lawrence in the Winay Wayna Ruins

Fourth Day, a Lama in Machu Pichu

Fourth Day, another Lama in Machu Pichu

LE LAC TITICACA -  Magique !!!
To read in english about Lake TitiCaca, go to my bro's blog here.

Le Lac Titicaca est un lieu magique...
Pour les Incas d'abord, c'est sur l'Ile du Soleil que serait né le Premier Inca, Manco Capac aidé par le Dieu Soleil avant d'aller créer l'empire Inca et surtout Cuzco sa capitale... C'est aussi sur le Lac que serait né le Soleil et la Lune. C'est pour cela qu'il y a du côté Bolivien deux iles appelées Isla del Sol et Isla de la Luna (Ile du Soleil et de la Lune). C'est également pour eux le centre du pouvoir sur Terre. Certains disent que c'est le centre du pouvoir féminin car c'est le plus grand Lac d'Amerique du sud et que c'est donc de l'eau "horizontale" qui représente le pouvoir féminin... (contrairement aux chutes d'eau qui sont de l'eau "verticale" et représentent le pouvoir masculin...)
Sur ce dernier point je ne sais que croire... C'est une fille qui m'a raconté cette légende et je ne trouve pas de confirmation sur internet...

Enfin bon, il faut de toute facon bien le reconnaitre, quand on passe quelques jours autour du Lac ainsi que sur ses iles, on ne peut que reconnaitre qu'il contient quelque chose de mystique, de magique !!!
Nous (toujours Cat, Mae, JB et moi) sommes partis de La Paz le 7 Mars pour aller a Copacabana, petite ville vivant du tourisme et de la pêche au bord du lac a 2 pas de la frontière avec le Pérou. Ce n'est pas Copacabana la plage la plus célebre du monde a Rio de Janeiro, mais c'est quand meme une ville sacrément charmante qui contient déja pas mal de la magie du Lac... Regardez ci-dessous les couchers de Soleil sur le lac et ma tête devant la truite fourrée aux épinard qu'on m'a servi le soir pour vous en convaincre...

La Truite du Lac, quel régal!

La Magie du Coucher de Soleil a Copacabana.

Sur le chemin au bord du Lac.

Cat et Mae en route vers l'Isla del Sol

Le ciel Magique de l'Isla del Sol... Et JB!

Mystifiées... Ou juste un peu débiles??

Une petite vue de la cordilière...

Une petite plage pour le premier Inca...

Après ces visites fort sympatiques, la dernière chose héroique que j'ai fait en Bolivie c'est d'essayer de me baigner dans le Lac Titicaca... Gros echec! Beaucoup trop froide l'eau! Donc j'ai filé sous la douche a peu près chaude, et puis dernière nuit en Bolivie sur l'Isla del Sol... On a vu pire...

Les Iles flottantes avec un bateau fait en roseau

LEs cochons d'Inde des Iles flottantes

LEs roseaux sèchent avant de faire uen nouvelle ile.

Cat et les maisons de roseaux... Ca flotte !!

Ensuite après les iles flottantes, on reprend le bateau pour aller sur une autre ile, une vraie celle là, l'Ile Amantani où nous sommes acceuillit par la communauté locale, et nous sommes envoyés das des familles où nous allons passer la nuit. JB et moi allons chez Vincente et Enes, un couple agé très gentil. Apres l'Almuerzo (Repas de midi) ous allons faire une petite marche jusqu'au temple de Pachatata, le dieu de l'eau des Incas. Une petite marche sympa qui grimpe bien, mais aidés par la Munia, une herbe locale qui est un peu comme la Coca, on ne sent pas l'altitude, on récupère plus vite, et on arrive en haut facilement.
Le soir, on prend la Cena (Diner) préparée par Enes, et on file a la fête locale. On nous file les habits traditionnels locaux (poncho et bonet pour les hommes, autrement plus chargé pour les femmes, cf photos) et on va danser avec les gens du village. Cést plutot sympa, mais au bout d'un moment la musique monorythmique est toujours la même, et la facon de danser pas três originale non plus, donc on se rentre bien fatigué de la longue journée.
Le lendemain départ pour une autre ie, l'ile Taquile au 1 heure de bateau. On se promène, on nous montre les coutumes locales en terme d'habillement et d'agriculture puis va sur la place du village ou un repas a 12 soles nous attend. Mais 12 soles c'est un peu trop donc avec Mae, Cat, JB, et Cassandre et Auria 2 francaise du tour, on va trouver un autre resto ou on a la même chose (une soupe de quinua, une truite excellente) pour 7 soles... Comme quoi au Perou on apprend vite a marchander. 
Après le repas, on est grave a la bourre donc on cherche le guide qui est déjà parti avec le reste du groupe... On se paume un peu, mais au final on finit dans le bateau avec les autres, et on rentre a Puno.

Ces différentes visites d'iles sur le lac Titicaca ont vraiment été superbe. Dans la partie Bolivienne, on sent beaucoup plus le côté religieux accordé au lac, pourquoi il est a l'origine de la fondation des Incas, et les panoramas sont vraiment exceptionnels. Au Pérou, c'est beaucoup plus touristique mais on a eu la chance de vivre avec des familles locales et ce fut aussi très enrichissant.

Sur lÍle Amantani, on marchouille...

La Munia, herbe miraculeuse de l'Ile Amantani.

Mae et Matt en habit locaux. Il sont pas beaux?.

JB et son Poncho, il est content!!

Aujourd´hui nous sommes encore a Puno mais partons dans quelques heures pour Cuzco, la capitale des Incas, avec des ruines a gogo, et surtout le Machu Pichu que nous comptons visiter après 4 jours de Trek, la fameuse "Marche de Incas".
En attendant, je vous embrasse tous, et je vais esayer d'envoyer un peu plus de mails personnels dans le prochains jours.
A bientot !!