The dry season arrives I've complained in previous Ecuador blogs about how bad the weather has been, but on 1st June, almost like clockwork, the clouds cleared, the rain stopped and the sun made its long awaited appearance. The dry season in the mountains is supposed to start in June, but I didn't expect the changeover to be this precise. This was excellent timing as we had chosen that day for our first summit attempt in Ecuador. We found ourselves in the market town of Otavalo, a couple of hundred kilometres north of Quito, and together with Trudy from Australia and [View Full Entry]

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From Vilcabamba to Baños Riobamba should have been our next stop after Cuenca, as we had planned to travel on the famous Devil's Nose train, but other travellers we met in Vilcabamba had recommended against it, and, more importantly, we would have seen very little scenery with all the clouds, so we skipped it and continued north to Baños, one of Ecuador's most popular towns. That's the great thing about Ecuador: it's so small (well, relative to other South American countries) that only a couple of hours separates many of the main attractions. Baños seems to have it [View Full Entry]

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Getting to know the lesser visited parts of Ecuador The old town area of Cuenca is one of only four UNESCO world heritage sites in Ecuador, which might lead you expect to see crowds of tourist and backpackers. But despite the abundance of churches and colonial buildings, we saw very few tourists in Cuenca, and enjoyed a few days break from the usual "Gringo Trail", as we explored the city and the surrounding countryside. Cuenca is Ecuador's third largest city (after Guayaquil & Quito), the largest city in the southern highlands, and is a good place to break the journey be [View Full Entry]

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Vilcabamba A good climate, a fantastic location and a high enough (but not too high) altitude make Vilcabamba a lovely place in which to spend a few days. But however many days you plan to spend here, it just won't be enough. Vilcabamba is often called the Valley of Longevity as people living here supposedly have a higher life expectancy than average, with many living well beyond 100 years. We've heard stories of travellers settling down here permanently, seduced by Vilcabamba's laid back atmosphere and great location. A guy in our hotel mentioned someone he knew had planned to stay fo [View Full Entry]

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Peru's ancient civilisations: More than just the Incas Cloudy skies and desert landscapes are the memories I will take from our time in northern Peru. This region is much less popular with tourists than the south of the country, but, with sights such as the stunning mountains around Huaraz and the pre-Columbian ruins at Trujillo, there are plenty of reasons to visit. We left the mountains of Huaraz behind and descended to Trujillo on the coast via overnight bus. I remember waking up early on the bus and looking out to the contrasting scenes of the Pacific Ocean on one side [View Full Entry]

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Isn't the rainy season supposed to be over? One of the joys of camping is the escape from everyday life: no email, no mobile phone, no TV, no cafe lattes! The luxuries of city life are quickly forgotten and, instead, what occupies your mind is finding shelter, making a home, stopping for the the next break, reaching the next pass or sometimes even just completing the next 20 yards! There are often nice views to divert your attention but in general camping is all about getting back to basics: survival, food, shelter. Nowhere was this more true than on our recent [View Full Entry]

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Back to sea level after two months in the mountains Lima is very different to the rest of Peru. With 8.2 million people it's by far the largest city in the country (next biggest is Arequipa with 760,000), and after spending so long in the lovely city of Cusco, arriving in the capital was a complete culture shock. Two days isn't long enough to fairly judge a city the size of Lima, but in a country with so many other attractions, two days was plenty for us - I think we were both relieved to move on from Lima to the [View Full Entry]

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Choquequirao: Cradle of Gold I'm standing on a ridge, gazing down on the ruins of what was once believed to be the legendary last city of the Incas. The buildings of this ruined Inca city, unknown to the Spanish Conquistadores, and hence not destroyed, lie just below me, while in the distance I can hear the roar of the mighty river as it weaves it's way though lush valleys and under beautiful mountains towards Cusco. This scene might sound familiar to anyone who has been been to Machu Picchu, but I'm in fact at a different Inca site, less visited and [View Full Entry]

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Capital of the Inca Empire In the Popular Arts Museum in Cusco there's an old photo, from 1935, taken by the famous Cusco photographer Martin Chambi, which shows a view of the city from the Inca ruins of Sacsaywaman. It's easy to pick out familiar buildings such as the Cathedral & Plaza de Armas, but the most striking thing about the picture is the size of Cusco. It looks more like a provincial town than the large city it has become today. You can see the edge of the city in Chambi's photo, whereas today, from Sacsaywaman, the suburbs seem to [View Full Entry]

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An important pile of stones As tourist attractions go, Machu Picchu has everything: the location is spectacular, on a ridge high above the Apurimac river, with beautiful mountains in view in all directions; the ruins are incredible with fine examples of famous Inca stonework; there's also the sense of mystery: despite all the excavations and studies, no one still knows for sure the exact purpose of Machu Picchu. Was it a ceremonial site? Or a summer retreat for the Inca Emperor Pachcutec? Or, as Hiram Bingham thought, the legendary lost city of the Incas? And why did it remain unknown [View Full Entry]

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