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Published: June 17th 2006
Desert Storming in Ica
Garry and his desert ratsIt's been a crazy few weeks and we have covered some serious land and seen some mind blowing places.....here's a run down of our latest escapades......
We landed in Lima but decided that we could 'do' Lima on our return leg of the journey so we promtly jumped on a bus to Ica, a beautiful town in the desert. We stayed in the nearby village of Huachina, popular with sand borders. Our hostel was a new resort with a swimming pool, private room with en suite - all for about 8 pound a night.
We took a motortaxi in to Ica to have a look around - the journey was quite hilarious, with the driver actually turning around to talk to us! The traffic here is like nothing we've ever seen before - it's manic, caotic and nobody has any respect for round-a-bouts and as for pedestrians...well, all I am saying is there must be a point system for attempting to knock them down!
After Ica, we caught a bus to Nazca and took a light aircraft flight over the famous Nazca Lines, the drawings carved into the land by the Nazcas who were promient in this area 500-800
Motortaxis
Garry in the drivers seat AD. They are huge and clearly visible from the plane, some of them scanning over a area of 500 km squared. Nobody really knows why they drew them and most intriguing is the drawing of the astronaut as it is called although I think it looks more alien-like.
After the flight, we took another bus, this time an eleven hour epic journey from Nazca to Arequipa, a stunning colonial town in the south. We arrived at 2am in the morning and went staright to bed, only to be woken up 2 hours later by one almighty earth tremor!! We were informed the next day, during our visit to Santa Catalina Monistery, that Arequipa has been destroyed by its frequent earthquakes in the past, not to mention its' active volanco which looms overhead! The monistery was beautiful and we spent an hour wondering around with a guide. Particually interesting was the cell of a nun who cured cancer in a patient as well as various other miracles during her lifetime back in the 17th century. She is now on the Pope's hot list to become a saint, should any more miracles be proved. And to think we were in her
The Plaza de Armas in Arequipa
The stunning plaza in the centre of Arequipa bedroom.......
We loved the little of Arequipa we saw but unfortunantly after a particually cheap menu del dia (55 pence), we both were keeled over with Dehli Belly (or Peru's equivilent) and spent the day in our hostel. The cleaner at the hostel bought us the local remedy of parsley in hot water, bless her, although we are not sure it had any effect.
Garry has taken to calling me Sergant Major due to my strict itinery and timetables, so true to my name, I forced him out of bed (obviously he was a lot sicker than I was), and we took the 6 hour bus to Puno. It was a cracking journey through some of Peru's most desolate Andean landscapes and for miles the only life we saw were llamas. We even crossed a town covered in a blanket of snow so we knew we were climbing high. Just how high only hit home when we reached Puno and felt the first signs of altitude sickness - breathing was shallow and our heads felt under pressure and dizzy. However, after a good nights sleep we soon adjusted and took a tour of the town, only to find
ourselves in the middle of a World Cup parade. All the children were dressed in football kits from all over the world, waving the flags and singing songs cheering on the country they represented.
Then it was off to the floating islands of Uros in the stunning Lake Titikaka. The islands are made of reed roots and the houses are also constructed of reeds. There are about 40 islands still inhabited by the Indian descendents. After two island tours, we took the boat to Armantani, a remote and still unspoilt island where we were to spend the night with a local family. Garry & I were collected by an old chap who lived with his wife, daughter and granddaughter. The house was a very basic 'finca' with no running water, electricity or cooking facilities. The mother, Lucia, cooked on open coals on the floor, turning out dleights such as pasta & potato soup. The grandchildren of the family were fantastic..it was amazing to see children with so little so happy and entertained with just a ball and a piece of rope (we taught them tug-o-war!). Therefore you can imagine their faces when, after dark, we produced the glow sticks!!
Armantani Island
Our family showing off their glow sticks! The whole family were totally blown away and everyone insisted on wearing a glow stick braclet - even the cat sported one as a collar! Later that evening, the grandparents took us to the local 'peña' dressed in traditional clothes and impressed their friends with their new glow stick jewellery. Lucia had a few beers and danced the night away like a trouper - in fact she didn't want to go home! Not bad for a 70 year old. It was an excellent experience and Garry & I both agreed that it was one of the highlights of our trip so far. A living, breathing documentary!
Last stop was Cusco, a beautiful town with a very Spanish look about it. We met up with a couple of Aussies, one of which we had met in San Fransisco and another who had spent the weekend in Armantani with another family. After a few days of eating our way around Cusco with the lads, the day finally arrived for us to go on the (in)famous Inca Trail...a four day, three night hike through the Andean mountains to reach the lost city of Macchupicchu....
We joined our group of 14, everybody looking
Floating Isalnds of Uros
One of the many islands in Lake Titicaca slightly dubious about the feat that laid before us...not to mention that it was 5am when we were collected from our hotels. We had a great group of people who made this trek slightly less painful: Jess & Tim -see you in New Zealand for mussles! Diarmaid ''would you like a piece of chocolate?'' & Aoife. Two sets of newlyweds on their honeymoons - Jon & Lily, Matt & Sophie. The Texan two - Sam & Summer - there was nothing these two didn't have in their backpacks, including a minibar! Jo & Andy ''two stick tricks'' - named for their 'interesting' manouvers with two walking sticks.....!
As we approached the start point for the trail, our bus collided with an on coming van so we had to walk an extra kilometre! Dodgy old start, you might say!
Day 1 was reasonably ok, a pleasant stroll really, stopping for an amazing lunch cooked by our chef in a tent. When we arrived at our camp and found that the porters, who are super fit Peruvian guys, had marched on ahead of us and set everything up. Luxury camping.
Day 2 however, was a different story. It is
The Inca Trail
Half way to Dead Woman's Pass and looking less than lively! renowned as the most challeging day of the trail and once you have got it 'out of the way'. it's all down hill from there on (ish). After a good 3 hours trekking uphill through beautiful forests, climbing up the biggest steps we've ever seen, we finally reached a pleateau for a well-deserved rest before attempting the 'Dead Woman's Pass''. After yet another cup of coca tea, we began the steep ascent which appeared to have no end and no let-up. After about 2 hours of uphill hell, 2 stone lighter and panting like a dirty phone caller, we arrived at the top - some 13,776 ft. As if that wasn't enough, we looked down to discover we had to climbed down to the valley floor via some more huge steps....
We spent the night at a cold camp site, amusing ourselves with stone throwing games and torch light shows (Diarmaid - your torch was cracking!).
Day 3 starting off as a reasonable day, a few more hundred steps uphill, taking in some ruins on the way such as Sayaqmarka, 'The Inaccesible Town''. The majority of the day was spent walking through sub-tropical terrean with sheer drops, forcing you
to hug the mountain as you walked - not good for the vertigo sufferers amoung us! After 7 hours of walking, we discovered that we had to climb down over a 1000 steps, ahrd work when you have been walking solidly for hours!
Day 4 began with a 4am wake up call. The idea was to get to the The Sun Gate for sunrise, so off we trekked torches in hand, through the thick jungle-covered mountains. We arrived at our destination to find the cloud was too low for us to see Machupicchu. Not to be detered, we continued on and at around 7am, we finally arrived at 'the lost city'. The cloud kindly moved for us as we approached, and what laid before us was an acheaologist's dream. Our guide, Marcelo ''my friends...'' gave us an informative tour around the temples of Pachamama (mother earth), of the condor and the water and just about everything else that was sacred to the Incas.
We had finally made it to our destination after four long days of uphill struggles, cold nights and no showers. Therefore you can imagine our thoughts on the tourists turning up on the bus for
The Inca Trail
Garry at Machupicchu (this one's for you Bonesy!!!) day trips around Machupicchu - funny how they gave us a wide-berth too!
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Ian
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Shiver down my spine
Guys you sent a shiver down my spine reading and looking at the pictures and brought back some excellent memories of my time in Peru. Continue having a good time and come on Ingerland!