Deepest Darkest Peru

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Peru has proved itself to be a very interesting country. I came in search of my old buddy Paddington Bear but it seems he has left for good. I'm not sure why as even though Peru seems to have a reputation for being really dangerous, I really liked it all.

Puno and the islands on Lake Titicaca were the first destination. I stayed with a local family for the night and after eating a very delicious local meal of potato and quinoa, we subjected ourselves to being dressed up like the locals and then went to a local dance where we tried in vain to keep up, not helped by the altitude at all.

I was then off to search for some Inca Ruins and boy did I find lots of them! No trip would be complete without a visit to Machu Picchu so that was first on my list. I climbed to the top of the Lost City of the Incas and it took a while as I was very out of breath from the altitude. There certainly aren't many eucalypts this high in the world. The view was amazing and it was a much bigger place than I had imagined.

I also visited quite a few ruins around the city of Cusco, which used to be the Inca capital. Sacred Valley was very beautiful and I got to be more adventurous and go flying in a paraglider over the top. Oh my goodness, we were flying very near the clouds and I was very scared I was going to fall to my death. Lucky I was tied on pretty well.

Heading north from Cusco I also stopped in Nazca and went for another flight, but this time in a plane over the famous Nazca lines. They were a bit hard to see at first but the pilot was very helpful dipping and weaving the plane to point them out.


So now I have landed in Lima, capital of Peru and home to I think around 8 million people. It certainly has enough smog and exhaust fumes for 8 million people anyway. How I miss the clean air of home.

South America has been absolutely wonderful but I am still searching for Paddington so now I must pack my little bags and move on. Besides it is coming into winter here and I think I may have to go north to find a nice beach and some sun somewhere.

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Photos

Amantani Island
We went to Amantani Island in the middle of Lake Titicaca. It seemed at the time that this alone was good enough reason to dress like the locals and try and keep up with the dancing. Well, we couldn't keep up and basically we just looked like a bunch of nongs! Remind me never to go out with friends dressed like this again!!!!

Paragliding over Sacred Valley
Another attempt at being adventurous will a paraglide over the Sacred Valley. The view was amazing but the landing not very smooth

Machu Picchu
I was a little ou of breath after climbing all the way up here but the view was definitely worth it.

Machu Picchu with Kiwi
And look who I bumped into up here, my old mate Kiwi from Death Road in Bolivia!

Arequipa
This was a strange place, and quite dangerous by all accounts. I was only allowed to catch two types of taxi (out of about 25)and never by myself. I was actually a little glad to leave.

Puerto Inca 2
Definitely the best camping spot out of them all. Something relaxing about listening to the waves all night.

Nazca
Flying over the famous Nazca lines in an extremely small plane! I think if koalas were meant to fly we would have wings- i was very sick.

Huacachina Oasis
Watching yet anoher sunset after sandboarding and hooning around in some dune buggies. Soooo much fun. Also a very surreal landscape, almost like being in a Star Wars movie