Perú and Bolivia

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Peru:

Lima - I was able to get a direct flight to Lima from Buenos Aires, where I was to meet my friend, Chum. I got in first and waited around the baggage claim until Chum arrived. To this point I had been traveling solo for about 2 months. Chum and I planned a little over a month to cover Peru, Bolivia, Ecuador, and part of Colombia.

From the airport we took an Uber to the Sheraton in downtown Lima. It only cost us $12 USD. It was late so we went to bed. The next day we walked to the main square and saw the Cathedral and took a tour of that and the Cardinal’s Palace. I have to admit, the Cardinals lived well back in the day. Across from the Cathedral in the same square was the Government Palace. It was gated and there were guards and a band that appeared to be rehearsing for a big welcoming event. The old section of town was filled with vendors and parks. We stopped at another church called San Francisco. The plaza in front was covered with pigeons.

That night we went to a water park that Chum had remembered when he was in Lima a few years before. It reminded me of the Bellagio in Las Vegas, except this one had lasers and projected images into the mist of the fountains. We got some cool pictures and then walked back to the hotel. Lima seemed a bit chaotic at night. There was a concert going on outside and everyone pretty much leans on their horn as they drive. We were pretty exhausted from all of the walking and decided to grab dinner at Chilis.

The next day we caught another Uber to Milaflores. This is the more upscale part of Lima. They have a full modern mall built into the mountainside. We were debating on paragliding in that area, but opted instead to rent bikes. The cliffside reminded me of Santa Monica a bit. We ended up walking up the park on the cliff and then cut into the more central area of Milaflores. In Lima you have to try the ceviche, so we looked up a restaurant on TripAdvisor and ate there.

After lunch we rented the bikes and biked around the Milaflores area. We took a road that went down the hillside to sea level. The only issue was that the sidewalk ended for no apparent reason and getting across the highway was like playing frogger. After waiting for about 10 minutes we were able to run our bikes across the highway, but the bike path didn’t pick up until about 400 yards up the coast. Once we were able to find it we came upon a surf competition, so we watched for a bit. The path looked like it continued on so we followed it until it stopped at an overpass bridge that was closed. We turned around and road all the way back to the surf competition where there was another overpass. After hiking our bikes back up the hill we decided to head back to mall to get a drink. As we were riding through the park Chum noticed that he had missed the right hand turn and stopped suddenly. I slammed on the brakes, or should I say brake. Unfortunately, it was just a front brake and I flew over the handlebars. Luckily I was ok, but the bike fell on my back and the seat went right into my tailbone. Ouch! Now I was really looking forward to those drinks.

After we made it back to the hotel we went to the lounge to get some food. We decided to call it a night, as we were flying to Cusco the next day.

Cusco – Chum and I had done some crash planning in Lima. We had been doing some independent research before meeting up, but confirmed a few things in Lima. Since our schedules were always in flux, we weren’t able to get the traditional 4 day Inca trek. That needs to be booked months in advance. Instead we opted to do the Salkantey trek with Alpaca Expeditions. This is a 5-day trek and is known to be more scenic.

As we landed in Cusco you could almost immediately feel the high altitude. I was concerned about the altitude and if I would be able to acclimate. In Salta, Argentina, I noticed how short of breath I became just walking a flight of stairs. How would I be able to hike at 15,000+ feet for days on end? We stayed two nights in Cusco and checked out the town. We also got some supplies for the trip and met our group.

The morning of the hike the tour company picked us up at 4:30 am. We had to put everything we needed on the trip in a green duffle bag. We also had our day packs, that we carried with us. The bus ride to the base was a little over 3 hours through winding mountains. The views were amazing and I knew the scenes would be incredible once we started hiking. We had 9 people in our group and 8 staff. We were dropped off at the start of the Salkantey trek and had breakfast. Then we got ready and headed up the mountain. We hiked for a few hours and it was obvious from the beginning that there were different levels of hikers. As we waited for everyone to catch up Chum pulled out his drone and we took some cool video and pictures. The first part of the hike is heading straight for the Salkantey mountain. As close as it looks, it is really a long way away. After hiking a few more hours, we broke for lunch. The staff had gone on ahead of us and set up a tent that doubled as a kitchen and dining room. Just as we had started lunch it began to hail. Then, as we finished, it stopped.

Being exhausted and at a higher altitude I was ready to take a nap. But, our day wasn’t even half over. We continued hiking to the Salkantey pass. This was much closer to the mountain. As we got closer you could hear and see avalanches occurring. They sound like gunshots and you could see the snow drop down the mountain. Luckily we were still a good distance away. Just as we got to the top a huge cloud rolled in. This would pretty much be the conditions all the way down to the camp site. The way to the campsite was mostly downhill. However, walking downhill on loose rock was almost as hard as walking up it, as you put a lot of pressure on your legs to maintain stability – along with navigating around alpaca and horse crap. After a few hours of walking in the cold we finally arrived at our campsite. Our tents were ready and all we had to do was pick up our sleeping bags. We had dinner and basically went right to sleep. They also gave us hot water bags to put in our sleeping bags to keep our feet warm. I hadn’t felt this miserable in a long time. All the hiking, altitude, and coldness made me wonder why I opted to do this in the first place, when I knew it was much easier to buy a ticket to Machu Picchu and take the bus there.

Day 2 of the trek was all downhill. However, it was all on uneven rock. The weather also changed from cold high altitude to more of a humid jungle condition. One cool thing was that we came across a small town to have lunch and they had wifi that you could pay for. Not only was there a wifi connection, but it was pretty fast as well. Surprisingly faster than some hotels I had been in that I will leave unmentioned. After lunch we continued down the path. This second half of the day was mostly on dirt roads, rather than loose rock. That night we came into a small town where our tents were waiting for us. I slept slightly better than the freezing night before, but not much.

Day 3 was another uphill battle. We stated out on the road, but it turned up rather quickly. We also stopped at a coffee and avocado farm and got to roast our own coffee. After coffee we continued up the hill until we arrived at some Inca ruins and our camp site. The camp site overlooked Machu Picchu. Our tent faced the backside of Machu Picchu. Chum got some amazing photos of it at night. Meanwhile, I gathered some firewood and we made a campfire for the whole group.

Day 4 was another early morning rise and then we hiked downhill to a town called Hydroelectrica. From there we walked along the train tracks until we arrived at Aguas Calientes. The hike took all day and we got to Agua Calientes around 4:00. It was mostly a straight hike, but it was very humid. Finally, we would be sleeping in a hotel. The trek felt like it took forever, but we had finally made it. We had a final team dinner and thanked our porters and guides.

Day 5 was the day we would see Machu Picchu. We had to get up early for a 6:00 am bus ride. The lines were already formed and it was about a 25 minute ride to the top. Once in the park our guide, Julio Cesar, talked to us about the Incan history and the history of Machu Picchu. After touring for a few hours we said goodbye to our guides and had the rest of the day in the park to explore. I took a good number of pictures. I couldn’t stop thinking about the movie,

Comments

[Catalina]

Nice post!
The story about the German guy, very impressive! I can't wait to see Bolivia, thinking of adding it to my trip... best of luck and enjoy Ecuador!