PERU - Lima, Nasca & Arequipa,

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After three relaxing weeks in Colombia we had our batteries charged up, and were ready to go again on our South American leg of our travels. I was not quite feeling that well though, since I had a nasty stomach bug on our last week in Colombia, which left me in bed for two days, and not that energetic (either that, or I just had too much to eat and too much Aguardiente Caucano).
LIMA
Our arrival in Lima was quite smooth, and the flight from Bogota quite quick. Eventhough we arrived at about 11pm, we had booked a hostel and a lift from the airport, so we had our man waiting for us with our names on a board in between the hoardes of arriving tourists and welcoming parties. So by midnight we were settled in our Flying Dog Hostel room.
The next moring after breakfast and some internet business, we decided to do a bit of sightseeing, and headed into the city centre.
Lima is quite a large and messy city, and taxis are definitely the way to go as in most of South America. We were staying in Miraflores, a nice suburb in the south of town.
Our town centre visit started with the Cathedral, which is supposed to be a replica of the Cathedral in Seville, Spain, but this one is build entirely in timber frame construction instead of stone. The Plaza de Armas (central square) was beautiful, surrounded by the Cathedral, the City Hall, the Government Palace and other buildings with incredible timber balconies and bright colours.
We had some good cheap lunch at a restaurant where we had a set menu and started to try some of the great Peruvian food, which is definitely one of the most varied we have tried.
After that we went to the San Francisco church nearby and did a short guided tour through its very interesting courtyards, library, chapels and catacoumbs, definitely worth the visit.
In the afternoon we went back to Miraflores to do some research on our visit to MachuPicchu and other places. Unfortunately during our lazy time in Colombia we did not manage to fully plan our time in Peru, and in Lima we ended up wasting a whole day with travel agencies, trying to find out what the best way was to visit MachuPicchu.
We wanted to do things on our own to save some money, but the travel agencies are not interested in giving you information but on selling you package tours. We had a bit of a change of plans due to a general strike on the dates we initially planned to visit MachuPicchu, so we decided to go around the south first and go to Cusco at the end of our tour. We also booked our return train ticket from Cusco to Aguascalientes (MachuPicchu) for the date we wanted on the internet.
After sorting out the plan for our trip around Peru, we spent the the day walking around Miraflores, we also visited some interesting pre-Inca ruins at Huaca Pucllana nearby, which were made of millions of handmade adobes (mud bricks). At night we had some nice food, trying some Tiraditos and Ceviche which were delicious.
We finally made our way out of Lima, and were heading to Paracas, a small fishing village about 4 hours south of Lima. The main attraction here was to visit the Islas Ballestas, which are full of exotic sealife.
PARACAS
The bus journey from Lima was almost luxurious... it was definitely the best bus company we have ever used, with their own modern bus terminal, check-in desks for the luggage, and even a VIP room with free internet. The bus service even had food provided and really comfortable seats, it was excellent!
We got to Paracas at about 5pm and had booked a room at the Hostal Santa Maria, which turned out to be a really nice place off the central square. Paracas is not more than the square, a few streets, and the sea front, where all the restaurants are, and the Ballestas tours go from.
That night we arranged a tour around the Islands, as well as the Paracas National Park, which we thought was a bit expensive (it would probably be much cheaper to just turn up at the docks in the morning and get on a boat). The next morning we left at 8am sharp on our tourist speed boat, full of about 40 people with lifejackets and coats (it was pretty cold in the morning).
The Islas Ballestas were just incredible, a mass of rocks about 25 minutes from the coast, completely covered in birds and sea life. We saw all kinds of Sea Gulls, Cormorants, Pelicans, Boobies (Piqueros), Sarcillos, and even Humbolt Penguins. There were also hundreds of Sea Lions all over the place, and the other most common sight other than rocks and water, was shit! (Guano) This is actually harvested once every six years, and used as fuel and fertilizer, it is supposed to be the best quality shit you will get anywhere in the world.
On our way back from the Islands we also spotted some Dolphins near the boat which completed the whole trip.
In the afternoon, we visited the Paracas National Park, with our own private taxi driver/ guide. The park is a huge desertic region along the coast, with striking landscape, and also some wildlife, such as Flamingoes and red headed Voltures (Gallinazos). We also had some more nice seafood, more delicious Tiraditos, and seafood Chicharron.
At 5pm on the same day we were ready to get back on our luxurious 'Cruz del Sur' bus to go to Nasca.
NASCA
We arrived in Nasca at about 9pm and we did not have any reservations, but the bus station was full of people offering accommodation, so we got a free lift to the 'Walk on Inn' which we had already heard of. It had a simple double room with bathroom, so we couldn't complain. We also arranged our flight over the Nasca lines early the next morning. The flight was just 30 minutes on a little 5 seater Cessna plus the pilot, so you can imagine all the manouvering, loops and turns the pilot did in order to show us all the lines on the desert. We flew at a height of about 300mt and it was not that easy to see most of the amazing animal shaped lines, since the desert is full of all sorts of other lines all over. But we managed to see the monkey, the pelican, the hummingbird and the dog amongst others. We were lucky not to get dizzy and send back our morning breakfast, since at least one person per flight get to go through that.
In the second part of the morning we managed to fit in a visit to on of the pre-Inca cemeteries in the area, where ancient burials were found with mummies and lots of pottery and textiles as well as rasta-like bodies with massively long dread locks.
We decided to take an early bus that same afternoon at 3pm on the long trip to Arequipa, which meant we were there late that night, ready to keep on going the next morning. There was not much more to see in Nasca, since it is quite a large unattractive town that has mainly grown thanks to the tourism for the Nasca Lines.
AREQUIPA
Our bus journey from Nasca took us through some incredible desert landscape all along the coast. You could see nothing but sand to the left and ocean with amazingly strong waves to the right. We arived in Arequipa at about 11pm that Saturday and went straight to be at our Los Andes B&B which was a decent place right nex to the main square.
On sunday morning we went out after breakfast and there was a whole parade around the main square... apparently this happens every Sunday. The historic centre of Arequipa was beautiful, and the central square was quite impressive... as pointed out by the Catalan friend we made on our trip... probably one of the most beautiful squares in the world, not just because of the cathedral, the fountain, the trees in the square, and the grand double colonnade surrounding the whole plaza, but because of the incredible backdrop of the Chachani and the Misti volcanoes behind. It is definitely something you do not see in any other place.
The rest of the centre of Arequipa has also some charming streets, with beautiful barroque churches and colonial mansions, and probably the most impressive and intersting of all, the Monasterio de Santa Catalina. The monastery is now open to the puplic and has been very tastefully restored from the original Dominic nuns encloistered life, which is now next door. If you are ever in Arequipa you can't miss the brightly coloured courtyards, corridors, gardens and the interesting kitchens and living quarters.
The weather in Arequipa was also a major bonus, after the misty and cloudy days in Lima and Paracas, the sky in Arequipa was completely blue the whole day through. We also started getting a bit high up in the Andes, and although we were only at about 2400mt above sea level, going up the stairs made a dent in our heart rate. We spent two days going around Arequipa. On the third day we went on a 2 day tour around the Colca Canyon, about 5 hours drive from Arequipa.
We left at 3am heading towards Chivay, where we had breakfast, and then went straight to the Cruz del Condor, a dramatic gorge in the Colca river where Condors are known to be seen. We were slightly lucky with the Condors, and we managed to see a few catching the thermal currents at a slight distance. Apparently it was not the best time of the year to see them, but on our way back to Chivay we had one fly just above us about 10 metres away... what an amazing sight to see such a huge animal flying across.
At this point we were at about 3800mt above sea level and walking was definitely an effort. We had a good nap after lunch, and then went to the hotsprings nearby for a relaxing bath. Lorena had a bit of a headache from the altitude and drank copious amounts of mate de Coca, and was advised not to go in the hot water. In the evening we had some dinner and went to bed early.
The next morning we went to the neighbour town of Coporaque for a 2 hour trek to see some ancient mountain tombs and the amazing landscape full of pre-Inca agricultural terraces. We survived the walk with many deserved stops to catch our breath, Lorena was also feeling much better after the night sleep. On our way back from the Colca canyon we stopped at 4800mt above see level to catch the view of the surrounding snow peak volvanoes, we also saw some beautiful Vicuña heards along the Andean pampas. Vicuñas are the wild cousins of the domesticated Llamas and Alpacas.
We got back to Arequipa at about 4pm and met with some Colombian friends, Monica and Miguel, who showed us around and then we went all together with our Spanish fiends for dinner at a Peru/ Chinese restaurant... called Chifa in Peru. Then for some Pisco sours at a bar and off to bed early for our early start to Puno the next morning.

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Comments

[iliana buitrago]

What a sensation!
It is gorgeous of reading such amazing trip. Unfortunatelly i couldn´t see you whiles in Bogota. But how much i would like to hear from you how to do such an envious trip around the world. Thanks for this notes. They are simply fantastic!!