Peru In Depth

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PERU

Travelling on Friday 13th of June, I set out from Sidney airport to Lima, Peru on a 28 hour journey taking three flights with over total of 20 hours of air time - landing at Auckland, and Santiago, where I enjoyed the delights of Chile capital airport for eight hours. When I arrived at Lima, I take a taxi at around mid-night to the Miraflores area, where I book into the Esperanza hotel for four nights before hooking up with my next Intrepid group to encounter the ‘Peru in Depth’ tour.

After my long journey, and fighting jet lag due to time differences, I sleep in to about mid afternoon after which I make my way into the Miraflores town centre to get a feel for the town and a grab meal. I then walk for around a mile and half to the cliff side seafront where I come across the lovers lane gardens where I pass many local couples enjoying a Saturday evening stroll and also a popular seaside leisure complex adjacent to the Sheridan Hotel.

I sat and enjoyed a Starbucks coffee and cake (yes they’re in Peru too!) before making my way back to my hotel via a busy high street which took me past the civic theatre where I planned a number of local cultural shows to attend over the next couple of evenings including a Spanish speaking play (I know…?) and a flamenco music and dance evening.

When I get near my hotel I walk through the Miraflores central park stumbling upon an impromptu music and dance night played out by locals in a circular open air arena where people stepped forward to sing to backing tracks and entertain the local crowd and couples danced the night away to latintino tunes - a facility organised and run by the local authorities for the local community on the weekends.

The next morning I take a half an hour local bus to the downtown Lima city centre where I venture over the river to see local communities and to observe the colourful hillside homes on the mountainside, passing the bull fighting arena and stopping to chat to some solders at a mounted horse army barracks before heading back to the parliament and presidential square where I came across a masked religious festival outside the cities famous San Francis church renowned for its ancient catacombs.

At the square I am approached by local students who question me on my thoughts on president Bush and the Iraq war. Passing through the town centre to the colonial square I enjoy the bustle of the high street along with the colonial buildings built by the Spanish during the 17th & 18th century’s.

I choose to walk out of town in the direction of Miraflores where I come across an attractive and colourful church square before stumbling across a major free Sunday music festival in their municipal park where thousands of people had gathered to enjoy a traditional local music concert in an impressive outdoor stadium. Played out amongst a huge Sunday market offering local foods and gifts.

I did attempt to finish my day with a visit to the National Museum using my free tourist map but having walked for about an hour and taking the advice of a non English speaking policeman who suggest that I ought to take a taxi, I admitted defeat and eventually took a bus back to Miraflores. I spent the evening at a local bar and eatery where I had a pizza and local beer while enjoying the tense atmosphere of the South American football championship where Peru managed a 1 - 1 draw against Colombia. After which I finished the evening at a local karaoke bar where I joined locals in singing both English and Spanish popular songs.

The following day I take a 40 minute taxi ride to the National Museum to get a taste of the Peruvian archaeological history, followed by a visit to the Larco Museum where they had on display thousand of pottery pieces depicting life from the Incas and pre-Colombian periods and a vault of precious metal masks and jewellery, not to mention a whole section of erotic pottery - Peru’s version of the karma sutra.

That evening after dodging the rain I return to the civic theatre to enjoy an evening of Spanish guitar music and flamenco dancing before ending the night at a local jazz club.

The next day I meet up with my new Intrepid group led by an enthusiastic and energetic ex- navy seal and trained lawyer - Alfredo and the other group members - Diane and Gill from North Island NZ; young sisters Krystina 19 and Rachel 16 from Chelsea London; travelling for three months and seeing the world together Simon and Tereca from Canberra Australia; and Darren (30) and finally arriving the following morning Ian (29) both professionals from London.

After a traditional meal out in the square we finished a great bonding evening starting in a small out of town pub near to where Alfredo lives and finishing at a banging trance type night club through to about 2am in the morning.

The following day we take a flight to Puno where at over 3,800 metres above sea level we suffer the affects of high altitude living. Shortness of breath, headaches and sickness are not uncommon and we all head off to a local restaurant for dinner without Diane who spends the evening breathing from an oxygen mask in her room.

This was everyone’s first chance to sample some of the exotic foods famous in Peru where many of the group plumped for the delicacies of guinea pig, but for me an alpaca stew, followed by drinks at a local reggae bar.

The following morning we head off to spend a couple of days on and around Lake Titicaca, the worlds highest navigable lake in the South of Peru being partly shared with and bordering Bolivia. We start the day with a trip to Uros - an area of local tribes people who live on straw floating islands and boats. That evening we take a walk reaching the dizzy heights of 4,000 metres above sea level in order to meet our home stay host families in Llachon community.

On the way I encounter my first bad injury when the intrepid group take on local young men at a game of high altitude football played out on a hard stone surface. At first we struck lucky with an early 3 - 1 lead while I cover the goal for our team, but later the locals have the better of us with a final score of 8 - 5 just before I go into defence and come crashing to the floor cutting up my elbow. Later having watched the sunset over the lake from the top of the hillside, we enjoy a great communal meal where we all dressed up in traditional costumes, followed by music and dance with our host families led by the father of my host family Ejstaquia, before retiring to our simple visitors quarters.

The next day morning we visit another tribe community renowned for their excellent male knitters, where we enjoy a lunch comprising of a potato soup starter and a delicious locally caught trout. Later we ended the day with a three hour return boat trip to Puno, where we are offered more cocoa leaf tea at our hotel, a local secret ingredient to stave off altitude sickness.

Our next destination takes us via Peru’s highest mountain pass at 4,200 metres over the Andeans via a six hour coach trip ending at Cusco - Peru’s premier Inca capital. After a quick orientation tour of the town centre and a traditional meal with a strawberry liquor drink at a locals restaurant. I plump for an early night in preparation for our Inca Trail adventure the following day starting at the mountain village of Ollantaytambo where we buy strong, chest high walking sticks for our hike.

Early the next morning we take our allocated 6lb day packs, leaving the residue of 18lbs to include sleeping bag and ground mat to be carried by our porters. A total of 14 porters, plus a chef and two local guides support a party of 10 tourists over the rigorous four day trek. A total of just 200 people including the support staff are allowed on the Inca trail on anyone day.

With Darren and Ian doing the alternative Laras trek, we are joined by Lee-Anne from the US, and primary school teachers George from NZ and Fallon from Melbourne who prove to be good company and travelling companions during the trek.

After we all receive an Inca trail stamp for our Passports as proof of us reaching the start known as the Km82, a problem with the wrong name on Diane’s entry tickets means we leave her behind with a local intrepid leader to deal with the authorities. In order to get on to the Inca trail you need special permission which normally takes about six months to confirm and organise. Diane fortunately catches up for our first delicious lunch camp having walked for 3 hours up steep stepped pathways reaching the dizzy heights of around 3000 metres. Being the first morning the girlfriend teachers from Melbourne found the altitude very tough but as the day continued they successfully made it to our first base camp for the evening having walked for a total of 6 - 7 hours. A highlight for me was when I chased ahead of the group in pursuit of a couple of Lamas making their way independently up the Inca trek which really underlined the fact that I was in Peru. Again when we arrived we where treated to a delicious five start meal to include the freshest trout I have ever enjoyed in my life, before night fall fell and we retired to an early nights rest in our tents.

The following morning we woke early at 6am for breakfast and after spotting a black bear high up in the mountainside shrubbery we were on our way to endure the treks hardest days trek which would last a total of around 9 - 10 hours of walking. This consisting of three hours of continuous steep pathways to the first in pass at around 3,600 metres above sea level followed by two hours of walking down steep hillsides as we pass through the Andes. This was followed by a repeat performance during the afternoon where after we enjoyed a couple of the Inca site ruins, where a number of us with energy left climbed to enjoy an amazing sunset from an Inca fort before we eventually collapsing to our beds after another amazing meal and a game of cards with some of the porters and leaders. Unfortunately before I retired, I was told of the campsite ghost which didn’t help me with my sleep pattern that evening in my lonely tent!

The following day’s trek lasted for around 5 - 6 hours passing a number of Inca ruins up and down dale but reaching the highest point of the trek at 4,200 metres which offered some amazing views across the Andean mountains reaching high above the clouds. That evening after a celebratory beer and a shower, followed by a birthday meal and cake prepared for Lee-Anne we had an early night in order to rise at 4.30am to race to the start of our final decent to the Inca ruins of Machu Picchu and the famous sun gate, which we reach just after dawn.

When we arrived at Machu Picchu (meaning Old Mountain) we enjoyed a two hour tour before the hoards taking the day trip bus up to see the ruins arrived. Heading down to the Machu Picchu village I enjoyed a long beer and a steak before we all met up to take a Peruvian train ride and then coach back to Cusco.

The following morning I set off on my own to track down some local culture. Starting off at an out of town food festival where I met and had my photo taken with some of the locals. I later walked around the city centre and enjoyed taking in the atmosphere of the local Saturday market. During the evening we all met up for a meal in a good quality Italian restaurant, finishing the evening at the world’s highest Irish Bar….where we said our goodbyes to the girls we had met on the Inca trail.

As if time spent in Peru’s capital Lima; a stay with local families at Lake Titicaca; and the completion of the famous Inca trail wasn’t enough, the following day we once again take a flight to Peru’s eastern quarter where we would spend a couple of nights in the Amazon Jungle! When we arrive we take an hours bus ride followed by an hour and a half boat ride up the Amazon river heading deep into the jungle at Puerto Maldonado staying at Explorer Inn‘s Jungle lodge. On the way we meet up with an American family comprising of three teenage daughters plus mom and dad who proved good fun and company for our days in the jungle.

After a night walk exploration of the jungle on day one where we encountered a large nest of giant black tarantula spiders, a red tree tarantula and some walking trees, what else could we possible look forward to seeing the following day?

In the morning we once again awake early to walk deep into the jungle heading for the ox-bow lake. On the way we enjoy the flora and fauna….much of the trees seemingly offering cures for diarrea. Creatures we encountered included giant butterfly’s, leaf cutting ants, king fishers, hoatzin (a prehistoric chicken like bird), small brown and larger black monkeys to name but a few.

That night we head out in a motorised canoe up the river in pitch blackness in search of caiman (a small crocodile) which we find wallowing around the river banks with the help of a large spotlight positioned at the front of the boat. The highlight however came when our guide gave the instruction to cut the engines and in quite meditation and we sat beneath a clear starlit sky in awe of the beauty of the night sounds of jungle.

The following day we took a flight back to Lima where we met up at an up market restaurant hosted by Alfredo to say our final goodbyes.

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