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Published: October 28th 2009
Photo 1a
Llanganuco Lakes on the way to the start of the 4 day Santa Cruz trek.Hola again Amigos and Amigas,
Our travels from Ica to the nation’s capital of Lima only took about 4 or so hours in a pretty ordinary bus. 4 hours on a bus is easy these days. Lima is the biggest city in Peru with a population of close to 8 million. It’s a city with many faces. When I visited in 2006 most of my time was spent in the tourist zone of Miraflores, this time though would be very different. We were fortunate to have met a local girl from Lima during our time in Cusco named Ana. She took on the role of tour guide extraordinaire for a day, a long day.
We were chauffeured through the suburbs of Barranco, Chorrillos, Miraflores, San Isidro and downtown Lima stopping at will, being presented with a local’s view of the city. We went to many non-tourist zones (along with some tourist favourites), a few look outs and even an amazing water fountain park. Sounds corny I know but to put you in the know, it’s kind of like the water fountains that are on show in front of the Bellagio Hotel in Las Vegas. It was really fun. Later
Photo 1
Start of the 4 day Santa Cruz trek. that night we got the local’s tour of the hottest night spots around Barranco. Barranco is the funkiest, smoothest part of Lima that attracts all the local talent to ultra-modern, no-expense-spared bars and nite clubs. We took in a few drinks and called it a night.
Lima for me just disappoints, solely due to the weather. Many months of the year a misty, dreary grey blanket of clouds covers the city. It never seems to rain but without the sun I just can’t totally enjoy the place.
We decided to push further north and inland to The Cordilleras, the second highest mountain range in the world, with only the Himalayas being higher. It is also home to the small town of Huaraz the epicentre of Peru’s most popular trekking destination.
En route, the “gringo trail” surprised us again as we bumped into a Swiss girl named Flavia whom we had met previously in the sand dunes of Huacachina. We teamed up with Flavia and everything mentioned herewith as “us” or “we” includes the Swiss Miss.
With strong recommendations in hand, we booked ourselves on a 4 day trek to Santa Cruz which would see us walk,
Photo 2
Scenic views on day 1 Santa Cruz trek. stumble and crawl (another) 40 odd kilometres by choice through the picturesque mountainside of Peru. So soon we forget the pain of Salkantay! This trek whilst not as long had a higher pass at 4,750masl. Simply crazy.
The day prior to our trek we did a small walk to help acclimatise to the high altitude (professional hey!) but all that did was see me foolishly lose our Casio compact camera (for those who can count, that makes about 5 lost, broken or drowned cameras in the past 3 or so years for me!!). We hopped on a school bus of all things after our walk to return to town. With 25, yep count all 25 of them, passengers on board the Toyota Hiace van, I took a photograph of the inhumane lunacy of the way we and the kids were stuffed in. It was humorous though. After that I don’t really know what happened but I can confirm that the camera didn’t make it back to our hostel. You will see that we have no photos of Lima and sadly you will also miss out on seeing the photo I took of a ute with something like 20 mattresses
Photo 3
Home for night 1 Santa Cruz trek. stacked on it.
The Santa Cruz trek started bright and early with a 6am hostel collection. With our new Panasonic compact camera in hand, we were ready to rock n’ roll! Like the Salkantay trek to Machu Picchu, this trek had scenery, scenery and more scenery. Razor sharp snow capped mountain peaks circled us for most of the 4 days. It was truly an amazing experience. Unlike Salkantay though, the weather was not so nice. We can only imagine how scenic the trek must be in sunny conditions. Unfortunately we had rain, snow, sleet and wind with only dashes of sun light. And the rain became my nemesis but not just because we got a little wet. Descending happily after finally conquering the Punta Union pass of 4,750masl on day 2, I slipped on a wet rock and badly twisted my ankle (see photo). With 20kms behind us and 20kms still to go until we reached civilisation and our ultimate destination of Santa Cruz, there was only one thing to do, limp and whine. And that I did. These kind of treks are hard yakka on 2 good legs let alone one! In the end my right (good) leg
Photo 4
What a setting! Lunch day 2 Santa Cruz trek. ended up in pain also for compensating for my left (bad) leg.
All’s well that ends well though. We made it to Santa Cruz without further harm. We were just an hour or so slower than we had planned. Our guide and other guys in our tour group were very understanding.
We conjured up a crazy travelling idea which would see us go from Huaraz to the north coast of Peru in little under 2 days. Between the 2 locations sits Trujillo, the 2nd or 3rd largest city in Peru (2nd if you are from Trujillo). We took an overnight bus from Huaraz to Trujillo (9 hours), spent the day in Trujillo and then jumped another overnight bus to take us on to the beach town of Mancora (8 hours). It meant that we had 5 nights in a row without a bed, and 4 without a shower. Put simply we were just jack of the cold and the high altitude and needed some sleep firstly and then some sun, sand and surf. Hola Mancora.
Before I make you really jealous and blab on about Mancora we spent a day touring Trujillo. Our spies had suggested a
Photo 5
Punta Union pass between my fingers....still a long way to go on day 2 Santa Cruz trek. short stay in Trujillo would suffice, so we took their advice. In the end we probably should have spent more than just one day as the city was really good - and we were there on a Sunday when most things are closed. We toured the archaeological sites of Chan Chan and Huaca de la Luna. They were 2 very different sites, both fascinating in their own right. We were hesitant not to “waste” a day seeing more Peruvian ruins (ala Machu Picchu, Pisaq etc) but these were so unique and nothing like we have encountered on our travels so far. They are both very worthy stops for anyone travelling the coast of Peru.
So. Mancora. A rustic kind of paradise I suppose you could say. We had booked ahead to ensure we could get our own private beachside bungalow. At only S/.34 each per night ($13.00) it was a steal. No hot water, no windows (only fly screens) and lots of morning light but it certainly did the trick. We were away from the hostel bar which loved late night music and it was peaceful, peaceful, peaceful. Each morning we would walk along the beach and watch the
Photo 6
We made it! Our highest pass yet. Punta Union - 4,750masl. brown pelicans and gammets diving into the water snaring their breakfast. Afternoons were spent watching the sun set. We did manage to catch upon sleep but also have a few late nights. The hostel was homely. Everyone got to know everyone by name and although the travellers came and went frequently it was the kind of place that had a good friendly vibe.
We were tipped into a great Thai restaurant in town too which we loved. Transport was by motorised rickshaw which always reminds you that you are on holidays. We needed some different cuisine and it worked just swell. Chris and Flavia also managed to fit in a lazy hour of horse riding on the beach in between lounging by the pool and sipping cocktails at the bar.
Unfortunately though Mancora left us with a sour taste in our mouths. We were warned that the beach can be a little dangerous in certain areas and the tip turned out to be very true. A Canadian couple that accompanied us on our trek in Hauraz and then decided to follow us up to Mancora, were robbed on the beach (in the area we were all told not
Photo 7
Our trusty steeds. Gotta love 'em! to go to!) by a guy wearing a balaclava and brandishing a gun. They were very shook up and it was their second last day of travelling before heading home. Foolishly they had their camera, wallets including money and credit cards and iPods with them. We have been so much more travel savvy than that but it is a wake-up call that’s for sure!
Mancora brought our month of travel in Peru to an end. Peru to be blunt, is just stunning.
Ecuador and a new and unknown adventure awaits us after yet another 9 hour over-night bus trip. Hopefully the border crossing will be kinder than our last one was.
I'll leave you now with my last instalment of "You know you're in Peru when...."
• You see rain water gutters down the centre of the street and not on the sides.
• Country folk walk down the main streets of cities wearing full traditional dress towing a full size llama on a leash, carrying a baby goat in their arms, piggy-backing a sub-2 year old child in a blanket all accompanied by 2 or 3 other young children all in the hope of
Photo 8
The damage... a twisted ankle and still 20km to go! selling gringos a photo of them or with them for $0.30!
• (in Cusco) turning up to the nite-club area late feels like you are an A-list Hollywood movie star arriving at the Academy Awards. Nite-club spruikers rush at you (of course with zero consideration of the personal space rule) offering free entry and free drinks galore.
• A fresh mango the size of a small football costs less than $0.50.
• You can do your entire week’s groceries shopping on a short bus trip, without even getting off the bus!
• A random street parade starts from nowhere with crazy dancing and seriously repetitive music from a four-piece trumpet, trombone and drum band.
Ciao
Ryan
P.S. Here’s some vital ongoing travel statistics to enlighten you further:
• No. of countries visited since leaving Aus: 7
• Cheapest beer to date (calculated on 100mL conversion): $1.20
• No. of hours spent on public transport (inc. taxis) in SA: 107
• Highest altitude reached: 5,000m
• Distance travelled in SA: 6,469kms
• No. modes on transport used: 19 (foot, jet plane, bicycle, boat, motorcycle taxi, taxi, taxi-bus,
Photo 9
No ice available but a cold river did the job! coach, ute back, car, 4wd, mini-bus, crawling, ferry, truck, motorised rickshaw, dune buggy, sand board, propeller plane)
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Karolina (Mrs V) and Mark Romesh Gooma
non-member comment
OUch
Helloooo...having to catch up on your blogs as Gooma and I have been sucking on big juicy mangoes and sipping non-alcoholic drinks in sunny thailand.... the last babymoon before the little Velay arrives. You guys are very BRONZED and will soon pass as locals. Cliff OUCH ... I empathise with you on your ankle. The same thing nearly happened to me. I say "nearly" as the waiter in the Thai restaurant caught me in half fall and literally lifted me off the ground before disaster struck. How he managed to lift me and my belly I dont know! Much love and onto your next blog... love Karolina and Gooma xo