Hello Everyone
After the Inca trail, we spent a couple of days chilling in Cuzco. We woke late the day after the trek, and were drawn to Plaza de Armas (Main Square) by Sounds of the Andes on Pan Pipes. Not the shit CD; the real thing. There was a traditional dance festival going on, with a live band, and we were very priveleged to see it - it was really cool. There were different troupes from the surrounding villages, each performing their local dance, in traditional costume (some guys had scary balaclavas on). That evening we had a final farewell meal with the guys, and the next day we saw more amazing ruins, towns and scenery in the Sacred Valley.
We didn't want to leave the Sacred Valley, but we'd spent long enough in Cuzco and it was time to move on. Next stop was Puno, on the banks of Lake Titicaca (South America's largest lake, and the highest navigable lake in the world - straight out of the guide book). It was dark when we arrived at the seedy bus station, and it was pissing it down with rain. We had the usual hassle from hotel touts, but one was particularly persistent and kept sidling up to Thomas and whispering in his ear. He then wrote something on his hand and showed it to us - it was TOM. We were both a little freaked out, as we realised that's what he'd been whispering to T all along. It finally transpired that he'd been sent by our Aussie buddies, Luke and Keeley, who were also staying in Puno, to take us to their hostel. What stars. We were not only relieved that we didn't have to piss around finding a room, but also that we didn't have a psychic psychopath on our hands.
That night we had a nice meal of Ceviche and Alpaca with the guys, and the following morning we had a boat trip on Lake Titicaca to pay the Uros people a visit. For centuries they have lived on Floating Islands which they build out of reeds (which they also eat, and build their houses and boats with). Their houses or huts were very basic, and Z, being cynical, was convinced it was all for the tourists, and that they actually lived on the mainland. However, a peek into their living quarters revealed they did actually live there, and had it pretty good with their solar powered satellite TVs! The brightly coloured traditional dress was for the tourists, however, as Keeley saw one lady duck behind her hut as we arrived, to put her dress on over her jeans and T-shirt.
After visiting the Floating Islands, we saw Luke and Keeley off to Bolivia, and then had a wander around Puno. It's not the prettiest city, but has a very high proportion of indigenous Peruvians and most of the older ladies still wear traditional Andean, brightly coloured skirts and Bowler hats, which was lovely.
Next day we got the bus to Arequipa - it was a beautiful ride winding through mountains and canyons, but Z puked and felt really rough by the time we arrived. Spent a day or so checking out Arequipa, which is a beautiful, colonial city surrounded by volcanoes (inc. El Misti) and snow capped mountains. Visited Santa Catalina Monastery, which was like a mini City and very cool. We also saw Juanita, Ice princess - a 500 year old, really well preserved little Incan girl who was sacrificed to the Mountain Gods by Inca priests, to try and stop the volcano erupting. Not sure if it worked, but she was amazing.
As we were short of time, but desperate to see the Colca Canyon (2nd deepest in the world - deeper than the Grand Canyon), we thought we´d go it alone, instead of doing an organised trek. Getting a local bus to the village of Cabanaconde was an experience. It left an hour late and there weren´t nearly enough seats for the number of passengers and animals. The driver seemed to stop every few minutes to let more people on but no-one got off. As you can imagine, it was a bit of a squeeze and there was an odd aroma of chorizo, cow dung and burning things. We traversed tiny, winding mountain passes, then freezing, barren plateaus. As it started to snow, and the sun went down, we had a tyre blow out. The driver locked us all in the bus despite numerous protests, and then took about an hour to change the huge tyre with a decidedly dodgy spare. So, instead of 6 hours, it took about 10 to get to Cabanaconde and the Colca Canyon, and we probably could have done a full guided trek!
It was like stepping back in time arriving in the Colca region. There were many tiny, country villages with basic stone huts, surrounded by farmland, and the women all wore the same traditional dress. Young and old, they all wore beautiful hand embroidered skirts, waistcoats and hats. Unfortunately we only had time to spend half a day in the Colca region before getting the bus back, but it was incredible. We didn´t get to trek down into the Canyon, as hoped, but got up at sunrise to go to Cruz del Condor, a lookout over the canyon where you can spot Andean Condors gliding effortlessly on the thermals. The Incas believed them to be sacred and it´s easy to see why, with 3m wing spans and white neck ruffles they are really impressive. We were lucky enough to spot a few condors, and the Canyon was vast and amazing. We walked back to Cabanaconde, along the edge of the Canyon, and through beautiful countryside and fields of corn. Cows and wild horses roamed freely, and we had a slightly unnerving incident where a large bull took a dislike to T´s red jacket and chased us down the hill. That afternoon we got a bus back to Arequipa (an uneventful, if a little crowded ride) and stayed the night. The following day we got an overnight bus to Nazca, so we could fly over the amazing Nazca lines and figures created in the desert between 900BC to 600AD. No one knows exactly who put them there, or why, so we thought we´d go check them out.
We arrived about 5.00am in Nazca to be greeted by a haggle of touts, all hassling us to use their plane to fly over the lines. We went with a lady who said we could go on the first flight of the morning in a couple of hours (to avoid motion sickness). 6 hours later, we were still waiting to get on the plane (which carried only 3 peple and was a bit scary), but it was well worth it. Sleep deprived and drugged up to the eyeballs with travel sickness pills it was a bit trippy. Especially as one of the theories as to how the lines got there was that shamans created them to illustrate their visions during their hallucinogenic cactus benders. They were spread over about 500 sq km in the desert and were really cool, especially the one that looks like an alien.
After that we went straight to Huacachina, a cool little oasis surrounded by huge sand dunes, literally in the middle of the desert. Z was wiped out after the bus and plane and drugs (travel sickness), so T made some new friends and went sandboarding. He spent 4 hours being hurtled around the dunes at top speed in a sand buggy, by a local who, it seems, had a blatant disregard for human life. Once at the top, they bombed down the dunes, on their bellies, head first, on the boards. Pretty scary, but lots of fun, and well worth it, if only to see the perfect sunset over the dunes.
Our final stop in Peru was the Capital, Lima. We stayed in a cool suburb just outside, close to the waterfront, called Miraflores. Spent a few days soaking it all in; seeing the sights; doing a spot of shopping and eating Ceviche. Saw El Hombre Araña Tres (Spiderman 3 for the uneducated among you) one night which was good fun. And so ended our amazing stay in Peru. Next stop, Buenos Aires, Argentina.
Don´t be strangers..............
