Peru

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As our bus left Copacabana in Bolivia behind we were sad to leave, but to our surprise we were barely 10 minutes into our journey and the Peruvian border was already upon us. So there we were in a new country trying to figure out how many Peruvian Soles there were to the Pound! Geographically nothing had changed and we continued by bus along the shores of Lake Titicaca traveling northwestwards towards the ancient Inca capital of Cusco. The city of Cusco is 12,000 ft above sea level, and the oldest continually inhabited city in South America. The nearer we got to Cusco the greener it got, but the people and the general feel didn't change all that much.

Central Cusco is very affluent by South American standards. Most tourists land in Lima and transfer by air directly to Cusco before heading off on the so called “Inca Trail” to Machupicchu. In fact there are thousands of Inca trails, but only this particular one is famous. Cusco itself is set in the mountains and has a mix of small boutique hotels and hostels catering for all budgets. Our hostel had walls over a metre thick and was hundreds of years old. It also had free WIFI Internet which is always handy for people like us with sexy little netbook computers!

At the time we were there, there were more tourist guides and touts than tourists themselves! The recent floods and landslides have forced the closure of the railway line to Machupicchu and have decimated tourist numbers. More importantly and without getting too political, it would seem as though the government should be doing a bit more to help the entire villages that were washed away, but most efforts and money are being spent getting Machupicchu and the railway open again. Suffice to say that the rural community is not happy and we saw central Cusco closed down one day for anti-government protests and memorial services for the dead.

That said the tourist operation is incredibly slick and although not cheap it is excellent value for money. The way it works is you buy a pass valid for all of the most important archaeological sites and then you can either make your own way out to them independently or on organised tours. We did two tours, the 'Sacred Valley of the Incas' and the 'Cusco City Tour'. Both were excellent with English speaking guides. One of the sites, Ollantaytambo, was so beautiful that we decided to go back again the following day, independently so we could spend several hours there on our own.

Visiting the Inca ruins leaves you in no doubt that these people were incredibly civilised. The quality of construction is the reason why so many of the buildings are in superb condition 800 years on. The high terraces and agricultural techniques adapted for life in the high Andes also show a deep understanding of crop science and respect for the land. Today most of the farming takes place in the more convenient flatter areas close to the river banks, but it was these areas rather than the mountain terraces that were devastated by the recent floods.

We also learned of their fascinating burial rituals. People were usually buried in a fetal position facing east, often in caves on the side of mountains. Facing east towards the daily sunrise means the person's spirit can be reborn. As an act of punishment, criminals were often buried facing west so that their spirit would never see a new dawn and they would remain “dead” for all eternity!

On our last day we flew to Lima in preparation for our flight the following day to Argentina. Lima is a huge sprawling low rise city with over 11 million people and choking traffic. We decided to stay in the relatively safe suburb of Miraflores which has some beautiful homes, most of which are protected by electric fences and high walls. We walked past casinos, cinema complexes and deluxe supermarkets. It was pretty clear that we were in the nicest area of town, and it would have been nice to have spent an extra day so as to form a more balanced opinion of the city.

Peru is certainly one of the most beautiful countries we've been to in terms of the countryside and the size and scale of the Andes mountains. It is green and lush and pleasantly cool at altitude. Other than seeing the Inca ruins around Cusco, we didn't have time to explore the country properly. However the people that we did meet were friendly, and the food and shopping was great. There is so much to do that we could easily come back to the Cusco area again for 2 weeks and not even cover the same ground twice. As for the rest of Peru, there's always next time....!

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Comments

[Bear]

You still around Cusco?
I got back yesterday, so if your about lets meet up! Drop me a mail to wanderingbear (at) mac (dot) com Bear