Peru (Part 1) - Deserts, Moutains and the Inca Trail

---

It was time for me to cross the border into Peru and to be honest I wasn´t really that excited about it. Despite having always wanted to hike the Inca trail I had for some reason decided that I wouldn´t like the rest of Peru. I wish I understood where this anti-Peru feeling came from, I hadn´t heard anything negative about Peru. Luckily I was completely wrong, the scenary is so diverse it is impossible to not fall in love with Peru. One second I would be driving through a desert and then suddenly in front of you would appear the sensational Andes moutains.

I arrived at the border crossing about 2am in the morning, which despite being a ridiculous early time in the morning was perfect as we were the only people waiting to cross into Peru. In fact the border officials looked pretty surprised to see us. With it being so quiet it should have been an easy border crossing unfortunately there was a German guy on the bus who had had his passport stolen in Quito and so despite having a new passport the Peruvian systems did not show him arriving into Peru (not surprisingly as he hadn´t arrived into Peru on that passport number). It took quite a long time to rectify, as he was first in line the rest of the bus just had to stand and wait. At one point about 45mins after we had arrived and not a single member of the bus had yet made it into Peru, there was a mini revolt at the Immigration office. It was possibly the most uneffective thing I have ever seen, the official got annoyed so headed off to make a cup of coffee for about 10minutes. Funnily enough he got a lot more respect when he came back. Eventually 2.5 hours after we arrived at the border the entrie bus made it into Peru.

My first destinatination was a little village about 12 hours bus ride away from the border and the journey itself was a big surprise. After a few months of local buses where about 10 people squash onto a seat designed for 2 people, the Peruvian bus was so comfy there was a waitress handing out blankets, food and drinks (in fact when the bus went over a speed bump and i spilt coffee on my jumper she tried to take it away to clean it), the seat reclined right back into a bed and we had the front seats on the top deck of the bus so we got the best view in the house. The bus ticket cost the equivalent of about $5. On top of that we were driving through a desert, having not read my Lonely Planet before Ia rrived into Peru I didn´t even know there was a desert, in any pictures of Peru it is always Macchu Piccu or a green mountain range. To my right was just sand stretching flat out to the horizon and on my left you could catch glimpses of the sea. It was beautiful.

When we finally arrived in Huanchaco I could quite happily have stayed on the bus for another 5 hours which I didn´t think I would ever say normally I am the first person off. Huanachaco is a seaside village that a lot of wealthy Peruvians from Lima visit as a weekend destination. I stayed there about 5 days and a lot of the time was spent relaxing, attempting more Salsa dancing and eating Ceviche (its a Peruvian speciality made of raw fish marinated in Lime and Coriander) and I did sample the disgusting Inca Cola (the Peruvians love this drink, its bright yellow and tastes a bit like bubble gum. Between 2 of us we couldn´t even half drink one small bottle of it).

The one day trip that I did venture to was a pre-Inca ruin called Chan Chan. Its in the desert and there are currently 12 palaces standing oin the desert. Of these 12 they have half escavated one palace, the other 11 are still standing under mounds of sand waiting to be uncovered. Apparently everytime one of the kings died it was traditionally for the new king to build a new palace next door. With the civilisation having only 12 kings the maths adds up! It was good to visit although in my opinion the site had been turned more into a replicate of what archeaologists imagined it might look like. It was to pristine and the carvings looked like they had been done only the year before (which they had been). Still our guide was passionate and it was really interesting to hear about civilisations other than just the Inca´s.

On my return from Chan Chan it appeared that I had forgotten to apply much suncream, which is a problem when you spend the day in the desert. My nose was so sunburnt that it hurt to talk, smile, eat and drink. It also appeared to be everyones favourite pastime to ask me if I realised I had burnt it. It was so red that I could genuinely see the glare without looking in a mirror. It was my own stupid fault but even now 2 months later it is still a bit red and peeling which is not really a great look.

I spent 5 days in Huanchaco relaxing and enjoying not constantly re-packing my backpack until I had to move to ensure i made it to Maccu Picchu in time for my trek. So reluctantly I packed my bag and headed in Trujillo (where the nearest bus station was) and jumped on a bus to the Andes and a town called Huaraz. It was a bizarre trip, in the evening leaving from essentially desert temperatures and then next morning getting off the bus in this freezing moutain town. I actually didn{t realise how high the altitude was there (around 4000m) and just picking up my bag made me almost collapse with lack of oxygen. Having been on the bus though I was pretty grumpy and we met this tout at the bus station. Basically he was willing to sell us anything and insisted on taking us to a variety of really disgusting hostals (one had no bed frames just mattresses on the floor, the next had 1 bathroom for about 50 beds and it was disgusting) and I couldn{t understand why my friend insisted on following the man. We walked and walked with my backpack weighing me down and I was struggling to get enough oxygen to breathe. They say that you have to take it easy for the first couple of days and I would not consider carrying 14kg of backpack for close to 1.5 hours as taking it easy. Finally when he took us to his living room and offered to let us pay 15 soles (about 4 pounds) to sleep there I snapped. I stormed off round the corner and right in front of me was this nice hotel that had the best hot showers, on-suite rooms and a TV. I checked in!

Later on that afternoon we went and arranged a days rock climbing for the following day and two days later we booked to go on a two day ice climbing. I was really excited partly about the rock climbing but mainly as I have always wanted to do a high altitude hike. No reason I just wanted to know if I could. The rock climbing itself was fun but frankly I am rubbish at it. My favourite part was when I managed to fall off after getting only 1m up the rock and mentioning to the guide that I did not have much upper body strength, he said to me "To rock climb you dont need upper body strength if you have technique. Unfortunately you have neither" To be honest I couldnt relaly argue with him so laughed, but secretly I was a tiny bit upset.

The next morning we woke up excited about the hike, the weather was perfect for walking and we both seemed to be getting used to the altitude. With all our things packed we stuffed ourselves, bags, hiking equipment, tents and of course our guide into the most impractical car I have ever seen. The boot was tiny (and it was closed with a piece of rope) and it was some kind of pimped up, boy racer car it was only about 2cm from the ground when there was nothing in the boot. It practically scrapped the ground once we were in it. The drive up to the start of the hike was up a unpathed road that had huge boulders and pot holes in it. I spent more time walking beside the car than actually in it as with all the weight (no comments please!) it couldn{t get up the road. The guide was furious about it as the morning got later and later.

We finally reached the bottom of the hike, hoisted our backpacks on and started walking. I got 10 seconds in and suddenly couldnt breathe. It was the first time that I really understood just how severe altitde sickness can be. I certainly never knew it can kill someone who does not look for the signs (I found that out later). However I ams tubborn and there is no way I was not climbing so I just put one foot in front of the other and pretended that I was fine. The bizarre thing thing is that once I had been walking for a couple of minutes it stopped, this actually happened on every high altitude hike that I did. It stopped bothering me and it was more like a reminder that I was at high altiude and to slow down.

The hike was hard; it was straight up the ridge at the side of the valley and with the altiude, multiple false summits and really heavy backpacks it quickly became disheartening. It was too tough to talk but with a really steady pace and lots of breaks we eventually made it to the 5000m altitude which was where we would be making our base camp. With just a mere 10mins walking until we stopped for the day I started looking around at the amazing scenary when suddenly I slipped over and fell down the hill (not very far but enough). I was so embarrassed that I jumped up and pretended that my knee was fine fine which at that point I didn{t imagine that it was anything more serious than a bruise. Unfortunately I woke up that night to find my knee 4 times the size it should be and I was unable to fully bend or straighten it. Next to our tent was a little stream and I found it impossible to cross that stream as I was unable to put my weight fully on my leg to either land on the other side or balance on this side. My guide refused to let me hike telling me that I was a liability on the mountain. It was fair but I was so annoyed. So at 3am in the morning off went the other 2 to hike the mountain and all I could do was take picture of the sunset. About lunchtime that day they retruned and we made our way slowly down the hill (it took me hours as I had to slide on my bum all the way down). On getting to the bottom my knee was strapped up and I was told not to move it, great news!

So here I am in Peru, unable to walk I decided the best thign to do would be to jump on the bus and get to Cusco (this journey consisted of a 8hour bus trip to Lima and then a 25 hour bus trip to Cusco). If I had to sit down I might as well be sitting on the bus as sitting on a hotel bed feeling sorry for myself. So that night I got taken to the bus station and I was deposited on the bus to Lima. After 8 hours of sitting next to the largest woman I have seen in South America (she was practically sitting on me) I arrived in Lima and decided to wait and take the most comfortable and luxiourious bus I could find. The company name is Cruz del Sur and anyone coming to Peru should definately take at least one of these buses. Not only were there films, there was a waitress serving food and the seats fully reclined. When they found I coudnt walk they carried me to my seat. It was the best money I have spent in this country I think. After 31 hours ona bus and a further 6 hours waiting in Lima I had arrived in Lima, with slightly more movement to my knee I was hoping to still be able to do the Inca trail.

Of everything in South America the Inca trail is the one thing that I knew I wanted to do before I got here. I do not massively plan ahead when I am backpacking, mainly as things change as you talk to people and hear the things they have loved. The Inca trail is the only thing I booked more than a day or two ahead. Mainly due to its popularity but also because I would have been gutted not to do it. After a few days of resting (the furthest I walked was to the nearest coffee shop about 4 seconds away) I felt confident that with strapping up my knee it would manage the Inca trail. It was time to go!

Everyone I have met has done some form of the Inca trail (there are a variety you can do) so it never occurred ot me that actually I would find it hard. The Inca trail is only 46km long and I have run further than that in one morning before. however the whole of the second day was hard. It was a relentless non-stop up hill that took close to 5 hours to get to the top off. Once this was completed then the "Gringo Killer steps" started for a further 3 hours. These are non-stop steps down that most people look forward to but actually more people injure themselves (or their knees) here than at any other point of the trek. Whilst I found this hard we were able to walk at our own pace and with my headphones on I was second on our group to reach the top and then the night camp. I was proud of myself and really lookign forwrad to the next day.

It was the morning of Day 3 that I could quite easily have just stopped (if it was possible). There was another 3 hour hill and due to my speedy walk the day before I appeared to have knackered myself out. It was such a struggle to keep on walking and I didnt talk to anyone as I was in such a foul mood and my knee had swollen again. The worst part was it was torrential rain so none of us got to see any of the views on the way. It was just relentless uphill hiking. Finally the top was in sight and I managed to drag my weary body there when out of no where the clouds cleared and in front of me was the most sensational view. Its amazing what the sun can do for your mood and suddenly my camera was out and I was taking 100s of photos and my bad mood had passed.

The final day was Maccu Picchu, I cant decsribe how beautiful it was. We left at 4am and walked over the Sun Gate (one of the highest points above Maccu Picchu) and there it was with the sun rising above it. There were wispy clouds in the moutain top and it felt like we were discovering Macchu Picchu all over again. Its not for me to describe it in detail, all I can say is get yourself over and see for yourself. I can guarantee that you wont be disappointed. As a taster I have put up some photos as well. Anyway after a quick lunch and a visit to the nearby Hotsprings to drink cocktails and revitalise our weary muscles it was time to head back to Cusco and say goodbye to my group.

Finally it was time for me to head towards Bolivia with just one final stop on the way to a town called Puno. Puno is famous for one thing and that is it is the entry point to visit the Floating Islands on Lake Titcaca (apparently the highest navigatable lake in the world). The Floating Islands are apparently in the top 300 things to see before you die, so as I was passing it seemed rude not to take a look. It was without doubt the cheesiest tourist thing that I have ever done, at the point the local people who live on the islands started singing "Row, row, row your boat" to me I was mentally cringing. There were staged performances and forced banter between the guide and the local people. You know what? I loved it, it reminded me of TV shows like The Office. When you internally cringing but at the same time it is hilarious.

Finally it was time for the next stop.........Bolivia!

---

Photos

Chan Chan
Random statues that had just been carved!

The Inca Tunnel
Me standing in an actual Inca Tunnel!

Finally
Macchu Picchu from the Sun Gate!

Llama
Well there were 100s of them!

Inca Trail Part Group
Another Inca Ruin!

The final night
Sangria and Popcorn...well go on then!

My Group at Macchu Picchu
No More Stairs!