Today we hit up two Incan sites which were a little out of the ordinary. After the tours we had to do over the last two days we were hanging out to do some exploring without guided tours. The first place we went to was Aramu Muru, an unfinished Incan ruin in the middle of nowhere which consists of no more than a doorway carved into some dramatic rocks and pretty difficult to find. Most people believe that the doorway carved into the rock at Aramu Muru is a portal to another universe and people have reported paranormal activity in the area such as glowing lights and giant figures. However for me the dramatic rock formations surrounding Aramu Muru were the real highlight of the area.
The second ruin was a temple of fertility located in a small town near Puno which consisted of multiple bell ends, it was funny, but not really worth the trip.
In this post I would also like to talk about CHANGE, the money kind. One of the very inconvenient things about travelling in a developing country such as Peru is the constant hunt for change. When you manage to get a handful of change it is the best feeling in the world. The ATM’s here distribute nothing smaller than 100’s and 50’s usually, which is only good to pay for restaurants and your accommodation, so if you plan on doing some independent travel you have to constantly be aware of how many coins you have in your pocket. Paying for public transport and attractions with notes is out of the question and trying to pay for a Taxi with anything except to exact change will always result in the Taxi driver conveniently not having any change, even when you are well ware that he has some.
Today for example we were forced to hit up convenience stores 3 times to buy snacks which we didn’t need, and stop for a beer just to split notes to be able to get the bus back to town. This change issue is made even more of a hassle when you are in a country where tipping is expected like Peru. Several times we have not been able to leave the expected minimum tip because of lack of change in our pockets and we feel pretty bad about it when it happens, and similarly giving a few coins to people who are homeless, poor or busking is usually out of the question for the same reason which totally sucks.
