Peru
Facts:-
Day 150 - Tuesday 6th December 2005 - arriving in Perú
Of course, Peruvian immigration was a further 2km past the border. Given the long bus journey behind us (and another one looming) we decided to walk and ignored literally hundreds of offers of taxi or tuk-tuk rides.
The LP warned of difficulties at this crossing, but we had no problems either in Ecuador or Perú The immigration official was actually very helpful, when we asked the best cost of transport to Tumbes. Consequently we were able to get a collectivo taxi (3 in the front, 3 in the back!) to Tumbes for S/.1.50 (about $0.45) each.
After orientating ourselves whilst resting in the Plaza de Armas, we headed off to find ourselves a night bus south to Trujillo. There was quite a lot of choice, but it was very difficult to decide between a "asiento reclinable" (basically a normal bus seat that reclines a couple of inches - we decided these are not suitable for night journeys!), "semi-cama" (allegedly a seat that reclines into a semi-bed, but we were to learn that this term is used liberally and differently by different companies!), and "bus cama" (something that resembles a business class airline seat, just smaller!), terms we were to become very familiar with during our time in Perú!
We opted for the El Dorado semi-cama leaving at 9pm (we didn't want to arrive too early in the morning!)
We enjoyed a couple of drinks on a terrace in the Plaza de Armas and watched as the army lowered various flags. Then we moved along the plaza and inside for dinenr at Restaurant Sí Señor, before using the very basic bathroom facilities there to wash and brush our teeth in preparation for a long night.
Day 151 - Wednesday 7th December 2005 - Trujillo, Moche and Chan Chan
We were pleased to arrive in Trujillo at 7:45am, rather than the 6am that we had feared. The bus had even been quite comfortable, the roads decent and therefore we had both slept quite a bit.
To relieve our cramped leg muscles a little, we walked the 3km to the centre of town and checked out a couple of tour agencies for tours for today. We had our first Peruvian breakfast - we were to get used to the simple bread roll with butter and jam combo - and booked a 1-day tour of the local sights. We even managed to book our onward night bus (for tonight - 2 night buses in a row!) before the tour departed.
At 10:30am with Evert, our guide, our little minibus set off towards Moche. Here we visited the Moche ruin of Huaca de la Luna (Temple of the Moon). This is a mud (adobe) brick built pyramid. We were able to walk around, through and on to the top of the structure and Evert showed us some of the murals that archeologists have exposed from several of the 6 "layers" of the structure (each layer covers the previous ones). Unfortunately Evert's English was limited and we were pretty much able to understand as much from his Spanish descriptions to the other tourists as he summarised to us in English.
From the top, we could see across the site of Moche itself (currently being excavated) to the Huaca del Sol (Temple of the Sun). Originally a much bigger structure, but severely damaged and looted during the colonial period.
Back in Trujillo, we just had time for a cheap set lunch, before the second half of our tour. This took us to see some of the remains left by the Chimu culture. Predominantly this is Chan Chan (the largest adobe city in the world), but first we stopped at La Huaca Arco Iris (known as the temple of the Dragon), which originally was part of Chan Chan, but is now separated from the excavated Chan Chan site by a few kilometres. Here we could see the (mostly restored) adobe rainbow / "dragon" designs repeatd on most of the walls.
The next stop was the Chan Chan museum, the main "exhibit" of which was a 20-minute recorded description of the rise and fall of Chan Chan / the Chimu, in Spanish! We watched as the light show demonstrated the vast expanse that used to be Chan Chan, but understood little. Evert did summarise some of the description for us later, but as with the rest of his tour, his heart didn't seem to be in it, which was disappointing.
Our next stop was Chan Chan itself (actually only one of the 9 sub-cities - the only one partly restored and open to visitors). Even so, you could experience the vast scale of the place, with the first walls we saw rising to about 10m high. We saw various courtyards, including both restored (mostly) and original wall decorations. These varied from horizontal lines, to wave-like representations with birds and fish. However, probably most striking were the walls that had been constructed in a criss-cross pattern to represent the fishing nets on which the culture was so dependant. Unfortunately, the site has been severly damaged by recent El Niños, being only built for a desert climate. Throughout this tour, we were accompanied by two dogs, one of which was a black Peruvian hairless dog. It looked really odd!
It was back on the minibus for a short trip to Huanchaco, a small fishing village, where the fishermen use unique reed boats. We just had enough time to see some fishermen bringing them back to shore at the end of the day before heading back.
We picked up our backpacks from the tour office and had a pasta dinner in a definitely non-backpacker place. In fact the waiters looked a bit shocked by our appearance (with backpacks and all). We then caught a taxi to the bus station and bumped into Kev again! - he was on the same bus as us to Huaraz. We were delighted how comfortable the bus was - we even got some food and drinks! Although we did have to block out the first few hours of J Lo videos!
Day 152 - Thursday 8th December 2005 - arriving in Huaraz
We arrived in Huaraz later than planned - excellent - it was still only 8am! At the bus station we met Amelia, who, on hearing we were from England, immediately exclaimed to Nikki the words "Margaret Thatcher"! She went on to say that there were a lot of 15 year old girls in the town called Margaret as she was very popular here. Despite this, we checked out her hotel (Hotel Imperio). It was really cold, so we didn't take the first offered room - there was a broken window.
We luxuriated in really hot and powerful showers :-) - our first for ages! and headed out to find breakfast. We ended up in a vegi restaurant, where our banana milkshakes were made with soya milk. Oh well, we won't go back there!
We felt we needed a lie down, we were back at altitude after all. A little later, we headed out to check out the availability of day-hikes. Of course we wanted to enjoy the scenery, but we also wanted to get used to walking at altitude.
We booked a hike for the following day with Max, who had accosted us on the street! (Rather oddly, we first spoke to him in one office on the main street, but when we went back to book the trip, he was using a different office, down the road!). There were so many options, that we booked two other trips (through our hotel) and decided to stay for 3 nights in total. We even booked our night bus out, so had a full 3-day schedule booked up!
In the Plaza de Armas, we bumped into Kev (again - this was getting to be a frequent occurence!). Then Nikki had another sleep, while Ian went and used the internet.
By dinner time, we were really cold and tried to find a warm restaurant, unsucessfully! We ended up in Picollo, where we enjoyed a hot chocolate and some decent Italian food (although Nikki's pizza was very much "girl sized").
Day 153 - Friday 9th December 2005 - Hike to Laguna 69
At 6:15am we met Max (who had assured us he would be our guide for the day). However, with him was Johannes, who actually was our guide! We took a collectivo (in moderate comfort - Ian could only fit in 1 of 2 seats, due to the ridiculously small amount of leg room) and arrived in Yungay about an hour later.
We had a basic breakfast and set out to find another collectivo to take us to the start of the hike. The colectivo on offer, was really full - it even had Kev squeezed in the back - it turned out he was doing the same hike as us. But in addition, a couple of sheep were being bound up and lifted onto the roof!
Once we set off, it was discovered that the road ahead was closed, so we descended to Yungay again and took a different route. The journey was extremely bumpy and cramped. But we survived for the hour or so it took to reach the start of the trek. Johannes set off at a quick pace and almost immediately was way ahead of us (where he stayed for most of the day!). So, we walked at our own pace with Kev! The first hour or so was relatively easy going (despite being at 4,000m) and we enjoyed the fabulous views of the Cordillera Blanca all around (well, above) us. In particular, the views of Huascarán (Perú's highest peak) were great.
A little further on, as we climbed higher, we got great views of various waterfalls cascading into the valley. But by then the altitude was starting to take its toll and Nikki especially needed to take it easy. On several occasions we thought we were climbing the last ridge, only to be disappointed! Eventually, however, we crossed a marshy area and could actually see the final climb. This section was steep and tough going, but, after a total of about 3 hours, we made it to the top where Johannes and Kev were already relaxing.
Johannes was keen for us to only spend 5 minutes here, but given all our efforts, we stayed a little longer. We tucked into our packed lunches and enjoyed the scenic views of the aqua-coloured lagoon and the surrounding mountains, before starting on our way back down.
The return leg was easier and Nikki was pleased to see that we had done better than some other hikers who had had to stop short of the lagoon. But after another 2 hours, when we reached the road again, we were both very tired.
Unfortunately, the description of the available transport we had been promised for the hike was again lacking! There we none of the promised "frequent" buses and so after a few minutes trudging down along the road, we were pleased to see a collectivo approching. Unfortunately it was already over-full and the only spaces were in the luggage rack on the roof. We didn't feel much like accepting this offer (although Kev did!) and as we had been sold "local bus" transport we insisted that Johannes do something about it.
The collectivo left and we continued a litle further down along the road. Fortunately a taxi approached and we got in. However, we waited some while for the other hikers we had seen to arrive back to the road and the taxi to be completely full (8 passengers!) before heading back to Yungay.
There, Nikki's altitude-induced headache became much worse and we were fortunate to get a couple of seats together in a collectivo back to Huaraz.
We enjoyed our hot showers again and headed out for dinner at El Fogon, which served us simple, but nice food in a warm room! :-)
Day 154 - Saturday 10th December 2005 - Visit to Pastoruri Glacier
After all our exertions yesterday, we appreciated a lie-in and also enjoyed a healthy breakfast at Frutti Frutti, across the road from our hotel.
We rushed a little to make our 9am pick-up. We really should learn... Our coach arrived at about 9:40am and we continued picking other passengers up before returning to the coach park (about 100m from our hotel) and eventually leaving Huaraz at 10:15am!
Again we had been sold an english-speaking guide and once again, he didn't. But at least he was very friendly and spoke in very clear Spanish, so we picked up quite a lot of what he said :-) . Almost all of the other passengers were Peruvians, it seemed, mostly from Lima and several of them already seemed to be suffering from altitude sickness. After an hour or so, we stopped at a roadside restaurant, where we were advised to drink some Coca-leaf (Maté de coca) tea to help alleviate altitude sickness - we shared a small cup. Although neither of us drink tea at home, this Maté tea was not too bad with a bit of sugar in (just as well, as we were to drink plenty more of it over the next few weeks!)
Our first stop of real interst was near a forest of Puya Raymondii plants (these large "spiky" plants grow for about 40 years, flower once and then die). We weren't lucky enough to see any in flower, but they were pretty impressive anyway.
The coach then continued to climb, taking us to within reach of the bottom of the Pastoruri glacier. We were at approximately 4,500m when we got off the coach and immediately Nikki felt she needed a woolly hat. Of course, there were some local women on hand to sell her the said hat (a very worthwhile S/.4 investment!)
It was a relatively steady climb up to the glacier, but the cold and the altitude took its toll. We stopped multiple times to rest and snack on the sandwiches we had brought with us. On a few occasions, Nikki wasn't sure whether she would make it, but after about 90 minutes we reached the glacier at 5,050m (just before we needed to head back down to catch the return coach!). Of course we also saw Kev up there - he had been doing some ice wall climbing... Ian wanted to go a bit further, so after a couple of photos, headed up (almost running!). But he was nearly knocked off his feet several times by Peruvians wearing away the glacier quickly by toboganning down it on plastic sacks!
We headed down, which was still tough going, but much easier than going up. When we were back at the coach, we realised that loads of the "locals" were really suffering with the altitude, with several having been sick and one woman fainting, which made us feel better! In addition, a Dutch girl had fallen on her way down and our guide made a meal of cleaning a cut on her forehead.
We stopped back at the roadside restaurant, where most peolpe seemed to have ordered an early dinner, no-one had asked us... When back in Huaraz we went for dinner at Pachamama?s, where once again we were almost the only diners. But at least the food was pretty good - a fruity curry and pasta. Ian also found out how large a "large" personal beer was!:-)
Day 155 - Sunday 11th December 2005 - Hike to Laguna Churup
It seemed that nowhere was open for an early breakfast in Huaraz on a Sunday (the only place we found open didn`t have any breakfast - which we only found out after 20 minutes waiting for our order to arrive!). Eventually we left and bought some day-old empanandas from a bakery just in time for our 7am departure. Despite booking today's trek to Laguna Churup with the travel agency in our hotel, no-one was expecting us and we eventually left, with Francisco, our guide, at 7:45am.
We were getting used to starting a hike with an uncomfortable collectivo ride or two and this was no exception. The very steep "road" ended at Llupa (altitude: 3600m), from where we had a walk for an hour up to Pitec (altitude 3900m), barely a hamlet perched in the high valley. By now it was cloudy and we started the ascent proper. It was slow going but Nikki was finding it a little easier than the previous 2 days (at least she had no headache or nausea as yet). At first we couldn't see how high we were headed and even when we could, there were several "false summits" and "last climbs". Although coping with the altitude better, Nikki's legs began to complain at so much hiking in 3 days and so after a couple of hours her pace began to slow even further. After about 4 hours (of a 3-hour ascent), we arrived at a steep rock scramble and Nikki decided she couldn?t go any further. So she stopped in a sheltered spot and had a snack or two whilst Ian and Fransisco headed on.
Only 15 minutes later, they had arrived at the small laguna. Ian took a few photos, before heading back.
It was a tiring 3-hour descent, but fortunately at least there was a colectivo at Llupa, which was happy to head down to Huaraz straight away.
Back at the hotel, we collected our backpacks and negotiated a discounted use of a basic shower, changing al fresco on the roof (brrr)! We killed a couple of hours using the internet, before having a Chinese meal for dinner. We were very, very tired and struggled to stay awake for our 10pm bus departure to Lima. But what a disappointment the Cruz del Sur "semi-cama" turned out to be - Ian had about 1/2 inch of room in front of his knees (what comfort for a 8-9 hour journey...)
Day 156 - Monday 12th December 2005 - on to Pisco
Of course, no-one seemed to have told the bus driver it was a 8-9 hour journey and he spent the night trying to keep everyone awake with the speed of his cornering and blaring horn.
We actually arrived in Lima at about 5am - a very helpful time to find ourselves in a new city. We checked out the guidebook`s recommendations for buses further south and after a short taxi ride found ourselves on another bus out of Lima before 6am!
The journey south continued to be through extremely arid and rocky terrain, which after the Cordillera Blanca, was not very picturesque. Anyway, by 9am, we were at the Pan American highway turning for Pisco and by 9:30am had checked into Hostal Pisco.
We headed out to look for breakfast and were spotted by Gustavo, who was selling trips to see the Nazca lines. So, after breakfast, we booked a tour to the Islas Ballestas for the following day, a bus to Nazca and then booked a flight over the Nazca lines (and some additional visits) with Gustavo.
We had a S/.5 (about $1.50) set lunch at Restuarante San Fransisco (including good milkshakes). We tried to top up Nikki`s supply of prescription drugs, but failed to get our Visa cards to work, so headed to the internet for a hour or two. After such a bad night on the bus, we needed an afternoon snooze. Nikki also did some LP reading and we decided that we did have time to visit Arequipa and Colca Canyon after all. We tried a mixed ceviche (raw sea food "cooked" in lemon juice), which was good and didn`t even make Nikki ill, accompanied (as we were in Pisco) with our first Pisco sours (a cocktail made with rum, lemon juice and egg whites, typical of Peru).
Day 157 - Tuesday 13th December 2005 - Las Islas Ballestas
We were woken at about 6am by some very noisy Peruvian tourists staying at our hotel. One of them even thought that it was a good time to start playing a guitar!
So we were up in plenty of time for breakfast at 7am and our bus to our Islas Bllestas trip arrived a little after 7:30am. Our guide was Pedro, whose English was good, but he had the strangest mixture of accents we have heard so far.
We were soon at Paracas dock and bording our boat. We were surrounded by Peruvian pelicans, which was a little like being back in the Galápagos, although thee pelicans were more colourful!)
After 20 minutes powering out into the Pacific, we could see the enourmous Candelabra geoglyph. Then it was 20 minutes more to the Islas themselves.
Unlike the Galápagos, we did not have the opportunity to go ashore and instead only sailed around the two main islands. Even before we reached the first island we saw a group of about 10 penguins swimming nearby (more penguins than we had seen in the Galápagos!). Then, as we approached, lots of sea lions swam around us with others perched on the rocks together with red footed cormorants and [terns].
As we sailed on, we saw lots of pelicans (and a few penguins!) perched high above us and as we approached the second island, thousands of cormorants covered the rocks. We saw many more sea lions and even a sea lion "swimming school"!
We headed back after about an hour, which was plenty of time to enjoy ourselves and by now the sun had broken through the clouds so we weren't so cold. We stopped to assist another boat with engine trouble, but still got back to Paracas well before any of the agencies had organised tourists onto our bus (most tourists were continuing on for the afternoon, so the agencies "pooled" their 1/2 day tours.
Back in Pisco, we checked out of the hotel and ate at Restaurante Los Angeles again (the third time in 2 days) befre heading to the bus station. Our 1:30pm bus finally arrived at about 2:30pm and we were on our way to Nazca. The scenery was again noteable for its ruggedness and aridity.
Arriving in Nazca after dark and with our flight over the lines already booked, we booked ourselves on a night bus to Arequipa the following evening, before checking into the Hotel Estrella del Sur (with one of the grumpiest receptionists so far encountered!).
We had another pisco sour at Restauarante Kañada, where Ian also had a very tasty Sopa a la Minuta (a traditional beef and noodle broth).
Day 158 - Wednesday 14th December 2005 - The Nazca Lines
Our inclusive breakfast was small but adequate - we didn?t want too much food as we were worried that we might see it again soon!
By 8:40am as our 8am transfer had not arrived so we headed to the Aero Ica office just a couple of blocks away, where they immediately hailed us a taxi. Our reservation included hospitality at the Hotel Maison Suisse, opposite the hangars, where we prepared ourselves.
We did not have long to wait and by 9:25am we were accelerating down the runway in our 6-seater Cessna 182 with one other couple, maps of the lines and sick bags in hand! After a couple of minutes the pilot noticed one of the passenger doors wasn't shut properly so Ian had to lean over and re-shut it, much to the horror of the woman in front of him!
We were soon banking steeply, first right, then left, so that we could all get a good view of the "whale" - one of the more "child-like" geolyphs. For the next 30 minutes, we continued, flying over most of the lines, including some triangles, a monkey, dog, hummingbird, spider and astronaut - all of which we got really good views of - plus a condor, hands, tree and pelican, which were less clear.
For the last few minutes, Nikki started to feeling a bit dodgy, but we were pleased to land with sickbags unused!
Thanks to Dave Thorn for paying for us to fly over the Nazca Lines.
Back across the road, we met Jose Antonio, our guide for our highlights tour of the rest of the Nazca area. After a short rest, we set off to the Chauchilla Cemetery. Several of the tombs here had been reconstructed recently (in the last 20 years) as grave robbers over the centuries had raided and destroyed most of them. In fact all around us lay debris of this destruction. You could see lots of bits of human bones, hair, fragments of pottery and clothing scattered on the surface of the desert. In fact when Antonio picked a tuft of hair he ended up revealing a braid of hair about a meter long!
Each of the graves had one or more mummies sitting up, facing east, together with other skulls and bones. In some graves, there were also mummified babies and even a mummified parrot.
Ian was starting to suffer from the effects of the desert heat and the motion sickness tablet taken earlier, so snoozed in the car on the way back into town - not that he missed anything other than desert and barren mountains. There we had a couple of quick stops. First at an artisan factory, where Nazca civilisation ceramics were restored and copies made. Then around the corner, we saw how the locals continue to extract gold from the desert hills (the site we visited was where the gold ore was crushed and mixed with mercury to extract the gold).
Our next stop was the Cantalloc Aqueducts, fasmous for the spiral design of their "access" holes. Although over 100 years old, the aqueducts still bring water from the surrounding hills to the desert plains (it hasn?t rained in Nazca for over 4 years).
We were dropped back in town, where we had a typical soup and chicken lunch for just over $1 each before returning to the Hotel Maison Suisse for a quick swim in the pool - it was now a bit cold - and the opportunity to relax under the setting sun, reading and enjoying our inclusive pisco sours.
Bcck in Nazca for dinner, we had a tasty and spicy meal at Restaurante Choza (and were once again the only diners!) We filled some free time accessing the internet before heading to the bus station. Of course the bus was late so we ended up leaving at 11:30pm. However, we had splurged on a "bus-cama", which although nowhere near a flat bed, was much more comfortable than pur previous night buses!
Day 159 - Thursday 15th December 2005 - Arequipa
We had both slept pretty well, despite an interruption for breakfast at 6am! We arrived in Arequipa at about 8am, took a taxi into the centre and managed to find a nice airy room in the friendly Colonial House Inn. We enjoyed the hot shower and were ready to face the day by 10am.
We checked out a few 2-3 day tours to Colca Cañon and made up for our tiny bus breakfast with a soup, garlic bread, pizza combo with beer in a pavement cafe (in the sun at 2,300m!) Over lunch we decided on a 3-day tour combo of sightseeing and trekking.
Then, for a change and a bit of culture, we visited the Monasterio de Santa Catalina (which was actually a convent). It was very big and colourful, with pretty arched courtyards amd lots of flowers. We spent over an hour wandering the warren of little rooms and lanes and, despite our small and basic map, managed not to get lost.
Then it was back to the bus station to book ourselves on another night bus, this time to Cusco for Sunday night. There were no bus-camas available, so it was a big dilemma which semi-cama (and at which price) to go for. In the end we hoped we had played it safe, choosing the most expensive one (even though it was with Cruz del Sur again - this time we travelling with them "first class") - we shall see...
On the way home, we spotted a great deal for dinner and so went back to Café Colibri for a 3-course menu for S/.7.50 (about $2.50) each - not to mention the cheap and nice pisco sours. After dinner we went to use the internet. The administrator didn?t tell us that they were closing at 9pm (until 9:25pm! when we left hurriedly).
Ian had started to feel unnaturally cold and shivery. Not even a hot shower and three blankets on the bed could warm him up - not a good sign ahead of our trip to Colca Cañon in the morning!
Day 160 - Friday 16th December 2005 - Reserva Nacional Salinas Blancas and on to Chivay
After a tasty breakfast on the roof of our hotel, we packed and waited for our pick-up for the Colca Cañon trip - Ian is still not feeling well.
At least our minibus was somewhat of a luxury, with only 6 other tourists (2 Spaniards, 3 Dutch and a Belgian), our driver and our guide - Cecilia. After a while, climbing higher out of the city, we stopped for a maté de coca (coca tea) with some unremembered added green twig that was supposed to be good for the stomach!
Now prepared for the ascent to 4,900m, we set off again, passing through the Reserva Nacional Salinas Blancas. We stopped a couple of times to see vicuñas some distance away and a little later large herds of alpaca grazing near the road in the marshland. We could also see some Andean geese and a couple of flamingoes further away in the distance.
At the highest point, Nikki got out and built a small rock tower - traditionally local peple do this to receive the blessings from the mountain gods (she was just hoping to not get altitude sickness again!).
We had a disappointing (flavour and cost) lunch in Chivay (Ian had alpaca steak), and as Ian was feeling worse, we rested for a short while in the Hospedaje Estrella de David, before heading to the local hot springs. Instead of waiting for the minibus, we decided to try and warm ourselves through with a walk there. It was a pretty pleasant 40-minute downhill walk and we arrived just as everyone else was getting out of the minibus.
After about 90 minutes in the very hot water, Ian finally felt warm - hooray! But we still opted out of the folkloric evening and instead went for an early and simple dinner at Lomo?s, before heading to bed at 8:30pm. Our guid book had mentioned that there was an Irish bar on the plaza (proving that Irish bars really are everywhere) but it had already shut for the evening at 8.30pm so we can only assume it was a fake! However, not all of Chivay was quiet - at least one local place was partying with very loud music not far from our hotel, continuing through until the early hours and making it very difficult to sleep. (Perhaps this was where the Irish bar owners had gone?...)
Day 161 - Saturday 17th December 2005 - Hiking down into Colca Cañon
Up at 5:30am! and just time for a quick breakfast before being driven along the road running along the top of Colca Cañon. We stopped a couple of times to enjoy the views and even bought a small embroidered zip case for our camera from a local woman with a roadside "stall". The next stop was Cruz del Condor, where we spent 45 minutes looking out, unsucessfully, for condors. A little after 9am, we were introduced to Edward, our hiking guide, and left the rest of our tour group behind.
A local bus took us to Cabanaconde. We had expected to start our hike before the town and therefore would have had a much longer and more difficult hike. But Ian was still feeling under the weather, so we were happy just to try and descend the 1,200m to the cañon floor. As Ian was carrying our only backpack, we also left some stuff behind (but not enough!).
It was pretty tough going, with the sun getting hotter all the time. The trail was very dry, rocky and dusty and very steep in places and as we were descending so quickly, the path zig zagged all the time.
Ian really struggled until the energy from the half-banana snack kicked in. Still, the backpack was heavy!
Gradually, the Rio Colca became easier to see (still far below us!) and after a couple of hours we could start to make out a number of inviting-looking swimming pools. The going started to get a little easier, so we were able to increase our slow pace a little (although we also needed more frequent water stops!)
After a little more than 3 hours, we reached the Oasis Bungalows. Ian was absolutely exhausted! We were soon taking a dip in the natural water swimming pool, which was pleasantly cool, then lay in the sun to dry.
Unfortunately, the sun soon disappeared and thunder started echoing around the top of the cañon above us. Edward cooked us a late lunch, which was dry Alpaca steak with rice (not the best meal of the trip!). We opted not to hike anymore that day and, as it was no longer sunny, instead slept in our "rustic" cabin (read stick walls, earth floor ect.). It was cold and we needed to cuddle up to keep warm, waking 3 hours later, just in time for dinner!
We had our own private candle-lit table for 2 on the grass and ate a filling soup and spaghetti meal, together with, of course, more maté de coca.
It was early to bed as it was already dark, there was nothing to do and we had an early start...
Day 162 - Sunday 18th December 2005 - Hiking up out of Colca Cañon and on to Cusco
Now, this was really early. We decided that waking up at 2:50am was definitely still the middle of the night - we would see morning somewhat later on!
We headed off just after 3am. It was already surprisingly warm and bright under an almost full moon - we almost didn?t need our head torches! We knew it was a long hike up, but Ian found it easier than coming down - he was obviously starting to feel better.
We plodded on, almost always being the slowest group on the hike. But we were very pleased when Edward informed us we were already 1/4 and then 1/2 of the way up!
After a while it got significantly steeper and colder. Nikki found it much more effort and started getting very cold (despite still sweating!). Nevertheless, we made it up in just over 3 hours, and 15 minutes later we were hurriedly making our way to the plaza to catch the 7am direct bus to Arequipa.
The bus was packed when we arrived at 6:58am, but Edward obviously knew what he was doing and bought us tickets with seat numbers from the office. Fortunately the tourists in our seats were gracious about moving. It turned out they were stopping at Cruz del Condor anyway, where the bus virtually emptied! But there was nothing but cloud to see, so we stayed put!
A little later, we stopped again briefly in Chivay by which time Nikki was really cold. The journey didn?t improve much, either, as we were subjected to one of the worst movies that even Latin Americans can have made (surely?!)
We arrived back in Arequipa earlier than expected and used the internet for a while before a late lunch back at our "regular" place! Then, returning to collect our other stuff, we also showered before heading to the bus station.
We were pleased to see that "first class" Cruz del Sur was decent - we even received a small dinner and a blanket. Unfortunately, though we were subjected to the directors? cut of "Along Came Polly".
Day 163 - Monday 19th December 2005 - Cusco
We arrived in Cusco at 5:30am, in very cold, dry weather and decided to warm up by walking into the centre. We wondered if it might be too early to find somewhere to stay. It wasn?t, but after looking at a couple (at each end of our price range!) we decided to stop for breakfast - although it was now 7am, this was easier said than done. Eventually we found a place on "Gringo Alley" that was just opening and enjoyed a slow and filling meal.
After looking at a couple more hostels, we found a nice comfy room tucked away in one of the small courtyards of Hostal Familiar. We were looking for somewhere that would be suitable for Christmas and although this room had a shared bathroom, it did have a vaulted beamed ceiling and a secure door lock - which was just fine.
Nikki snoozed a bit (yes the beds were comfy too!) and we sorted out a few chores (laundry, finding cash and stamps). We took a roundabout route through the city to see some original Inca stone walls (including a very exciting 12-sided stone!) and headed to a LP recommended restaurant for traditional food (Quinta Eulalia). Nikki had stuffed peppers - she had been hoping to eat some since Belize, but they had always been unavailable, even when on a menu. Ian had chicharron - deep fried chunks of pig!
We popped into our Inca Trail agent and paid (it was a relief to stop carying all those $$$s!) and phoned the police back in Baños, Ecuador to discover they had made no progress (and may have made no effort!) in finding our stolen stuff - no great surprise really!
We did a bit more of the tourist thing and visited the cathedral. Our entrance fee included a short guided tour, which was a nice change (guides are usually too expensive for our budget!). One of the memorable highlights of the elaborately decorated interior was a painting of the Last Supper with Cuy (guinea pig) as the main course! - there was plenty more Inca iconography too.
After a snooze, we headed out for dinner - everywhere seemed to have "tourist specials". We selected one - almost at random. The food was adequate, but was livened up by some live music - a drum/guitar/pipe combo - presumably playing traditional Andean music. It was so good we even bought a CD, despite having nothing to play it on!
Day 164 - Tuesday 20th December 2005 - Tambo Machay, Puca Pucara, Qenko and Sacsayhuamán
After a late"ish" breakfast in the hostal, we purchased a LP "Bolivia". We then found the bus towards Pisac and took it as far as Tambo Machay. This is a small Inca ruin (some sort of water spring) and the first of four Inca sites we could walk to on the road back to Cusco.
We climbed up above the site for the view and then headed just down and across the road to the small ruin of Puca Pucara.
A hour or so?s gentle walk later, we arrived at Qenko, where we had a pastry lunch which we had bought with us from Cusco, before climbing on to the main stones to see a strange zig-zag carving after which the sight is named.
A little further on we came to Sacsayhuamán (called Sexy Woman by some...), by far the largest of the four sites. Although the site itself had been largely pilfered to build colonial Cusco, many of the largest stones remain and the size of the site and the fortifications there can be appreciated. We walked around the site for a while, enjoying the views down to Cusco (we could even make out the courtyard of our hostal where our room was!) and to a white statue of Christ on a nearby hill.
We walked down a really steep road back to Cusco and, back in the hostal, we just fell asleep again - is this the effect of the altitude?
When looking for a dinner venue, we were inticed into Marcelo?s on "Gringo Alley" by a S/.10 (about $3) set menu. It included free garlic bread, pisco sours, and three courses and turned out to be really good - as was the service (for a change!)
Day 165 - Wednesday 21st December 2005 - Preparing for the Inca Trail
As our next three nights would be camping, we made the most of our comfy beds and had a late"ish" breakfast. After a couple of hours on the internet, we headed to the market to find some traditional warm clothes for the Inca Trail. Ian bought a bright yellow hat and Nikki some gloves and socks. All of this cost us only S/.13 (about $3.50).
After a set lunch near the plaza, we headed to the Museo Inca, which was quite interesting. It certainly contained loads of artefacts, including from several of the pre-Inca civilisations we had previously come across (Moche, Chan Chan, Nazca etc.). Anyway it gave us a bit of background about the Incas (although no-one semms to know all that much!) before starting the Inca Trail.
On the way back to the hostal, Ian managed to find some gloves big enough for him and we spent a little longer updating this diary online.
We had our Inca Trail briefing meeting and met our guides Hilbert and Omar and a few (but not all) of our co-hikers.
After yesterday?s success with dinner, we headed back to "Gringo "alley and were mobbed by four restaurant "touts" - all offering virtually the same menus for the same price!. It was a difficult choice, but we ended up upstairs at T?ipana for another S/.10 meal. It was good again, although yesterday?s was better!
Day 166 - Thursday 22nd December 2005 - Day 1 - Inca Trail
It took us ages to leave our bags at our hostal, but we were just in time to meet our hiking group in the Plaza de Armas at 6am.
We were soon in our bus and on our way. We stopped overlooking Urubamba for a really good breakfast (including some tasty blueberry jam on bread) - we were doing the trail with SAS Travel, and we had heard that their food was good! Then we stopped in Ollantaytambo, for last minute purchases - Nikki bought a bamboo walking stick and some coca leaves.
We were finally at Km 82 - the start of the trail - by 9:30am and after entry formalities, crossed the Rio Ururamba and started the hike.
We followed the river (although from above it) to Llactapata, where we first experienced Hilbert?s archeological experience! - despite the sun, we were pretty cold by the time he had finished telling us about the site!
It was a really bright and clear day and were glad we were only carying a day pack (we had hired a personal porter for all our other stuff). Most of those who were carrying all their stuff were really struggling!
Lunch was another fabulous meal - three courses and we were almost too full to walk afterwards! However, we got into a rhythm and continued on to the first camp site, a little past Huayllabamba (for some peace and quiet), arriving at about 3-4pm. Our tents were already there and erected, as was the dining tent. Not only this, but we soon had "happy hour" where we wolfed down popcorn with our maté de coca. Then all the porters introduced themsleves - as did we (us, Rob and Michelle from the UK, Aussies Ian, Nat & Ben, Bernardo from Mexico, a family (Eric, Carolyn, Tyler and Josh) from Boston and Angie from New York) - rather oddly all to rounds of applause.
This was followed by another three-course meal (so much food!) and some jokes from Hilbert - followed by an early night for all (no reflection on Hilbert?s jokes - honest!)
Day 167 - Friday 23rd December 2005 - Day 2 - Inca Trail
We slept a bit - although there was plenty of noisy snoring, especially from Tyler! that kept everyone awake for at least some of the night.
Our wake up call was at 5am, when we were greeted by a hot cup of maté de coca. This was followed by a warming breakfast including maize porridge and pancakes both with blueberry jam (again!)
We set off at 6:30am full of determination for reputedly the most difficult day of the trail. It was all uphill to Warmiwañusca (Dead Woman?s Pass). Although the skyline didn?t look much like a dead woman, Nikki certainly did as she approached the top! It had taken us about 3 hours to climb up to 4,200m and we were delighted to eat a brunch sheltering from the wind at the top of the pass. We weren?t even last, Rob and Eric took that honour (although Rob waited just a little from the top as Eric - and Omar - caught up).
There were lots of photo ops at the top (and we saw Kev again!). Then we headed down the other side. It was all downhill to the second campsite and as the clouds rolled into the valley, we needed to make use of our woolly hats and gloves.
We reached the camp site at Pacamayo before a late lunch, after which we tried to have a snooze - unsucessfully as it was too cold. Most of the group played a bit of Scrabble before and after dinner.
There were lots of groups camping here and it was pretty noisy, especially from a couple of small streams running near the tents. Some people made use of the cold showers, but we decided not to as it was so cold. We had enough difficulty using the toilet in the night - it was quite a way down a steep path and we even tried to get into the wrong tent on our way back!
Day 168 - Saturady 24th December 2005 - Day 3 - Inca Trail
It was a bitterly cold night and we both slept badly.
Our maté de coca wake up call was at 4:45am and we were soon hiking down then up to the Sayacmarca site. Hilbert again talked at length about this site and we all started to get very cold. After a quick look around, we started onward.
Nikki struggled to get going and warm, but improved when the trail flattened a bit and we even managed to overtake Eric and Rob!
We passed through some Inca tunnels, but couldn?t see pretty much anything else as clouds surrounded us. So we hiked on steadily to lunch at 3,700m.
Whilst eating the weather really closed in - rain was hammering down on the dining tent and water was running through along the ground - but eventually we all decided we had to move on. We stopped briefly at the Phuympatamarca ruins, but the rain was too heavy to look around properly. Then it was another "all" downhill section to the final campsite and, with nothing to look at, we all did it quickly (we managed the "3-hour" hike in 2 hours).
Due to the weather we had to watch our step very carefully - there were lots of steps (Nikki counted 1,942 from Phuympatamarca), and the route we took passed through the Inti Pata ruins - which had some of the steepest steps!
The Wiñay wayna campsite was another big one - virtually everyone spends their last night there. So much so that our tent was very precariously perched near a short drop to the tents below - later in the night, lots of passing hikers exclaimed to each other to be careful - keeping us awake! However, there was the opportunity to have hot showers (for S/.5 each), which we took eagerly.
We even managed to drink a couple of beers - after all it was Christmas Eve! The clouds even cleared for a while, so that we got a good view of the Veronica glacier across the valley. Dinner was a big "feast", although the porters all joined us, so there was not all that much food.
Afterwards, there was a presentation to the porters and then we all headed to bed. We made use of our thermal leggings and we felt warm :-)
Day 169 - Sunday 25th December 2005 - Day 4 - Inca Trail - reaching Machu Picchu
It was a rude awakening at 4am - and there was not even any Maté de coca! We packed and had a quick breakfast. Josh and Tyler received their Christmas stockings - much to their embarrassment! But Nikki and a few others were a bit jealous!
We set off at 5:15am and we standing in the queue for the final check point 5 minutes later.
The checkpoint opened at 5:30am and Omar led us on. As it was Christmas day, we even saw a few partridges (but no pear trees!). Omar?s pace was much more to Nikki?s liking that Hilbert?s and she was right near the front for most of the first hour. However, when we approached the sun gate and there were some steep steps, Nikki needed to stop and take her fleece off to cool off and we were relegated to the back of the line.
We arrived at the Sun Gate at about 6:30am and realised we could see down to Machu Picchu itself. We quickly snapped a couple of photos, just before the clouds rolled in - just as well we had not been a little slower! We saw Kev again and chatted until we headed off down to Machu Picchu itself, arriving about an hour later. We were greeted by some llamas, which offered some photo opportunities, before some group shots.
At the entrance we were able to get a Machu Picchu passport stamp and, after a little snack, headed off for a tour with Hilbert. He gave us lots of background information and showed us the Temples of Pachamamma, the Sun and the Condor as well as the sundial positioned at the highest point (slightly damaged recently during the filming of a beer commercial!).
By now, Ian was not feeling well. The sun was beating down, but he was wrapped in his fleece, hat and gloves! Therefore, he decided not to climb Wayna Picchu (the rock famously behind Machu Picchu itslef in most photos). Rather we chose to walk down to the town of Agua Calientes (everyone else took the bus!) to try and warm Ian up.
The route down - mostly via steps - was OK and we made it in 50 minutes, but then we had a long and tiring climb up to Agua Calientes along the road for 25 more minutes! This was very dis-spiriting :-(
We just had enough time to pick up our swimming costumes etc. and walk (a long way up again) to the hot springs. They were pretty unexciting and certainly not as picturesque as those at La Fortuna (Costa Rica) or Papallacta (Ecuador), but surely the soak was good for our aching muscles!
A buffet lunch was almost ready for us when we got back to Hostal Viajeros. The food was not as good as the camping food, but we did receive our Inca Trail completion certificates!
We were too tired to do anything, except wait. Eventually, we headed to the station for the 3:55pm Orient Express train (!) to Cusco. It was a really long journey, with not enough leg room for anyone. Michelle spent most of the journey being sick - something seemed to be going around our group (Bernardo had been ill the previous night). At one of the stations, just 18km short of Cusco, lots of people got off and onto buses. We soon found out why... these last 18km took well over an hour as the train track went through switchback after switchback to descend into Cusco itself - at least we got to view Cusco from high by night, which was pretty impressive.
We were pleased to see that SAS had even laid on a minibus from the station to the Plaza de Armas for us all (only about a 5 minute walk - but we didn?t want to walk any more!). We returned the day pack we had hired and checked back into Hostal Familiar. Ben & Nat joined us there and we went out for "Christmas Dinner" almost immediately. We selected the closest restaurant and the cheapest menu (only S/.5! - about $1.50 each).
Then exhausted we headed to bed!
Day 170 - Monday 26th December 2005 - back in Cusco
We forced ourselves out of bed just before our inclusive hostal breakfast finished at 10am. We had both slept very well.
We needed to spend some time organising a few things - not least of which our 4-hiking-day old clothes needed to be washed! We spent some time accessing the internet and then for lunch treated ourselves to a burger and chips at Trotamundos - it was actually a bit disappointing, but at least the hot chocolate warmed Ian up.
We only had time for a bit of shopping for necessities before Ian needed to go back to bed as he had a high temperature.
We made an effort to make the Cross Keys Happy Hour for a couple of Pisco Sours (Nikki enjoyed virtually all of both of them!) before deciding to return to Marcelo?s for another tasty S/.10 set dinner.
Day 171 - Tuesday 27th December 2005 - on to Puno
Ian was feeling a little better, so we decided to head to Puno. But we made a slow start and our taxi didn?t drop us at the bus termainal until a little after 10am. We were worried that we might not get to Puno until really late, but were very pleased to find a Power (- great name!) bus leaving at 10:30am.
Unfortunately, bus food sellers were few and far between and nothing looked appetising enough for lunch, so we went hungry. And even worse, not only did we have to endure the "Life of the Blue Backpack" - a quality Spanish language film about a young boy who couldn?t stop singing one particular song, his friend and (occasionally) a blue backpack, but also we were lucky enough to have time for the "Life of the Blue Backpack 2" (this one involved them getting stranded on a desert island where there were lions and hippos, somewhat unbelievable since they had set out from Panama?)!
After this long 7-hour journey we were only too willing to accept the offer of a hotel from a guy who boarded the bus at the last stop before Puno. It was actually a decent hotel (the Ollanta Inn - it is even in the LP) and reputedly cost $25 but we only paid S/.30 ($8.50) :-).
As we went out for dinner, fortunately Nikki went back and fetched our umbrella as it soon started to rain! We had dinner and decided on a half-day tour to the floating island of the Uros people (the alternative was a 1 or 2-day tour, but Ian still wasn?t well, so we decided not to risk it.
Ian enjoyed a very long, very hot shower before crashing out in bed.
Day 172 - Wednesday 28th December 2005 - Uros Floating Islands and on to Bolivia
We had planned to eat breakfast in the hotel, but no-one was around. So we quickly found a place on Calle Lima. It was very good (probably our best breakfast in Perú) especially for only S/.5 (about $1.50).
Back at the hotel, we found out that our 9:30am pick-up had arrived at 9am and gone without us! Fortunately after a phone call by the hotel staff, a minibus arrived to take us to the dock, where we joined the other tourists (and our guide, Irwin).
It was only about a 30-minute journey to the first floating island. There we received a introductory lesson (it really was, we were sitting in a semi-circle and there was a board and pointer and everything!) into how the islands were built and maintained. We were disappointed to hear that the islands are actually anchored to the lake bed, and so they can?t actually float away! The reeds are even edible (Nikki didn?t like them at all, but Ian ate all his!)
We had the opportunity to buy souvenirs and found a couple of cushion covers that we liked - so bought them - we don?t have many souvenirs yet...
We also took a trip in a traditional reed boat to a neighbouring island (the boat comfortably took 20 people). We climbed a really rickety tower on that island for a better view and were back in Puno in time for lunch.
We had a really good sandwich in the Deja Vu Pub (we did have to check they were open as there were only two locals drinking beer - but we couldn?t be sure they hadn?t been there since the night before!).
After posting some postcards and collecting our luggage, we headed to the bus terminal for local buses. We narrowly missed a proper bus (a group of Aussies we had met earlier in the day on the floating island trip had the last seats!). So we caught the next colectivo to Yunguyo for the Bolivian border.
It was an uneventful, if overly cosy journey - several women in traditional dress (i.e. multi, multi layers of dresses and skirts) filled the seats. In Yunguyo, we were offered a rickshaw trip to the border and we though that would be fun. However, we were soon to realise that the rickshaw driver was not offering us a trip to the border but rather a trip around the corner, where we could get a taxi to the border. Needless to say Ian used his best and most angry Spanish to show our displeasure!
The taxi saw us safely to the border, only 1km or so away.
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