Peru

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We arrived in Lima on Friday 13th January, and got a taxi to the suburb of Miraflores, situated on the coast above the cliffs. It is meant to be much safer than central Lima, especially at night, and has a multitude of hotels and restaurants. We spent the first day walking around, checking out the place and looking for a camera shop which might be able to fix the zoom lens which is having some issues. It felt more like Europe than any expectations we had of Peru.
On 15th January, after another day hanging around in Miraflores, walking along the cliffs and shops, we got a bus to Trujillo, then a taxi to Huanchaco, a beach town which is also near some pre Inca ruins, the most famous being Chan Chan, which was the capital of the Chimu Empire. In hindsight it would have been easier travelling from Ecuador to Peru by land, as we now had to decide how far north we would travel as it would be necessary to then double back on ourselves. From the bus we witnessed some of the slums of Lima, and then travelled for hour upon hour through unchanging scenery, desert meeting the sea, which was very picturesque but a bit surprising, as the few impressions I had of Peru in mind were green mountains and Machu Picchu. That is of course one of the main purposes of travelling, to enhance the limited imaginations taken from T.V. and books with first hand experiences and perceptions which are closer to reality. It turns out most of the coast of Peru is desert, the most famous of which of course contains the Nazca lines.
As we had arrived at night it was on the morning of the 16th that we first got to check out Huanchaco. It was pretty disappointing, the sand on the beach was unimpressive, and covered in litter, but it was nice to be out of a city, and the hotel had a nice courtyard where we could relax and read. (One of the problems of travelling now as compared to before is how spoilt we have been, for example the archaeological sites of Egypt, sculptured temples of India, beaches of the Caribbean (and Fiji for Ruth), and various cultures and religions of Asia etc. always make for harsh comparison).
In the end we actually stayed there quite a while, visiting Chan Chan, and thinking about taking surfing lessons (but put off by polluted and the cold waters of 15° C).
On 21st Jan we set off for Chimbote, on the coast, so that we could get the day bus up to Caraz (2270m), a town set in some of the most popular trekking mountain ranges of Peru. (One of which was where Joe Simpson had his harrowing experience described in ‘Touching the Void’). We could have taken the more popular and direct night bus, but though these save you a nights accommodation, you miss out on the scenery of the journey. We actually had a pleasant evening in Chimbote, not a town designated as a tourist destination, but full of life in the evening with all the locals filling the streets and hanging out in the pleasant Plaza de Armas, and being the only gringos in town made it feel all the more ‘genuine’.
Early next morning we set off on the local bus which went up the Canon del Pato, and was really spectacular, though a little scary at times, especially when the bus slowed to a couple of miles an hour to edge around landslides and lurched dangerously close to a steep drop off.
The reason we had gone up to the mountains was to look at the mountain ranges, and also to consider doing a trek, but in Caraz, though it was very pleasant and peaceful, there was little information, so we headed to Huaraz (3091m), the trekking and tourist capital of the region.
We had almost not bothered going up to the mountains, it being completely the wrong season, raining frequently and very cloudy, but it did clear sometimes and we were able to go and check out some mountain lakes, and get the odd sight of a peak, but we didn’t do a trek, thinking there would be better opportunities and conditions later on. We also visited the old town of Yungay, site of ‘the single worst natural disaster in the Andes’, completely buried by an aluvion (rock and ice landslide), which had been triggered by an earthquake in 1970, killing 18,000 people in Yungay alone (about 50,000 in the whole of Peru). It was pretty surreal to realize you were walking over a buried town, now a pleasant park with only the sounds of birds, dotted with memorial stones. The new town of Yungay has been rebuilt not far from the original site.
On 26th Jan we got one of the popular luxurious night buses back to Lima, which was very comfortable, arriving in Lima early in the morning. This time we went into the centre to look at some of the colonial sites: the Cathedral, the Museo de la Nacion, and the monastery and church San Francisco, famous for its catacombs and library, all of which were really interesting. In the Cathedral was the tomb of Francisco Pizarro, whose stabbed body had been reunited with its head and placed in a side chapel of the Cathedral.
Whilst wandering the corridors of San Francisco, we also happened to bump into George and Emma, the couple we had dived with in the Galapagos, and arranged to meet up with them for a very tasty Chinese dinner. As they were going in the same direction as we were, we decided we would all travel together to the South of Peru.
On 29th Jan the four of us got a bus to Ica, and then a taxi to Huacachina, a desert oasis town. Here we experienced sand boarding on the dunes and also did an exhilarating sand buggy trip. The sand buggy was really powerful (over 300hp) and the driver obviously got his thrill scaring the tourists. Unfortunately we were unable to hire one out for ourselves as it is considered to dangerous for the inexperienced. The region is also famous for its pisco (grape) wine and spirits, so we did a tour of some of the vineries. On the 1st of Feb we also went to the Museum of Ica, where we saw some deformed skulls (purposely deformed from birth - a sign of distinction), some mummies and pottery.
On the 2nd Feb we set off for Nazca, arriving about lunch time, where we hopped onto a light aircraft to view the Nazca lines from the air. Whilst interesting they were quite difficult to see and the plane made Ruth feel sick, banking sharply one way then the other so all passengers could get a view. It was also often difficult to distinguish natural markings from the man made ones. In the afternoon we went on another tour to some burial grounds of the Nazcas, which had been excavated so that you could see the mummies and offerings that accompanied them. Unfortunately, as they were all facing east for the rising sun, the light was coming from completely the wrong direction in the evening for photography, but as I often have to remind myself, the experience is more important than the photo! That evening, at the end of a busy day, we got the night bus to Arequipa, arriving there at 6.00 a.m.
A little tired from the night journey on the bus, we managed to visit a museum which had the best preserved ice princess mummies of the Inca. Whilst ‘Juanita’ is the most famous, she is during this time of year resting away from the eyes of tourists, but was replaced by ‘Sarita’, another Inca princess who had been sacrificed at the top of a mountain and preserved in the ice. The video that accompanied the tour of the museum was really fascinating as well, showing where she was found, and trying to convey the ‘honour’ that being such a sacrifice entailed. It was the standard appeasement of angry gods when times were bad. Some died of exposure, others it seems were given a blow to the head to help them on their way. They are called princesses because many of them were apparently noble, and only the most beautiful were sacrificed, as naturally sacrificing some ugly peasant girl would have probably insulted the tempestuous god.
In the afternoon we went to the Monasterio Santa Catalina, a maze of allies and rooms where lots of nuns used to live. When it initially opened, each of the nuns had up to four slaves, and all were rich ladies of Spanish descent. Apparently they had all sorts of parties and it served more as a hedonistic centre than a nunnery, but all this changed in 1871 when a strict Dominican nun arrived, who freed the slaves, and installed a much more chastise set of living conditions. From then until 1970 it existed in isolation from the rest of the world, until the mayor of Arequipa forced it to open up and modernise, including being open to tourists. From the 450 nuns that lived there in its heyday, it now has 30. It was a really mad place, like a small village of its own, with lots of fascinating architecture.
On 4 Feb we got the day bus to Cuzco (3326m), capital of the Incas, and somewhere I’d been looking forward to visiting ever since reading a book ‘Conquest of the Incas’ a few years ago. For the next few days we wandered the cobbled streets lined with the famous Inca stones that remain, the Plaza de Armas where amongst others the last Inca (Inca actually means king but is now generally used for the people) was executed swiftly without any reasonable trial by the Spanish. It was such a bizarre ‘war’, where such two vastly different cultures battled (though of course many Indians helped the Spanish having been subjugated by the Incas themselves), that it is quite difficult to imagine what it must have been like. Unfortunately lots of the Inca stonework was used as free for all quarry sites by the Spanish, apart from those too large to move, and of course all the stupendous quantities of gold and silver artwork (that the Incas worshipped, gold representing the sun (the most important deity), and silver the moon) was quickly looted and melted down by the brutish but arguably brave Conquistadors for material gain, appreciating none of its aesthetic or religious value. Still, much of the Spanish colonial buildings which replaced those of the Incas is now of course old and fascinating in its own right, though coming from a Christian culture I’m naturally inclined not to find Churches as interesting as the temples of more foreign religions. Its also quite funny that throughout the ages earthquakes have destroyed much of the Spanish buildings, to be rebuilt, whilst the Inca stonework (that had not been destroyed by humans) remained intact.
On 7th Feb we went to Ollantayambo, where there is a significant Inca temple/fortress (it’s all pretty much guesswork interpreting Inca ruins as they had no written language and much was destroyed), and from where we got the train to Aguas Calientes, on route to the famous Machu Picchu. It is possible to walk to Machu Picchu up the Inca trail, but not only is this closed in February for restoration and cleaning, but it also costs over $200 dollars now as it is so popular and is being gradually threatened by the mass of tourists (as is Machu Picchu itself). For better and worse we were in the off season, worse for the weather, better for the fewer tourists.
We arrived in Aguas Calientes in the evening of the 7th, and got up at 4.30 a.m on the 8th to be on the first bus up to Machu Picchu, a journey which was as fascinating almost as the ruins, the mountains being truly spectacular, really jagged and steep, covered in jungle, and encompassed by a turbulent, and to the Incas, holy river. It was worth it as we were the first to enter the site as it opened its doors at 6.00 a.m., along with perhaps 20 others, all of whom headed straight for the classic location to take the postcard shot of the ruins before the masses arrived! The rain held out for the morning and though it wasn’t sunny the rolling and quickly shifting clouds all added to the atmosphere of this truly surreal place. Gradually after taking in the view we descended into the ruins themselves, trying to understand what we could from the various interpretations represented in the guide book I’d bought in Cuzco. In the background of the classic shot is the peak of another mountain, Wayna Picchu, which looked incredibly steep but was possible to climb, so we all set off on this trail. It was completely exhausting but we made it to the top, where there are more ruins, and another view of Machu Picchu from the opposite angle. After resting up there for a while, Ruth and I returned back down to the main site, and made more detailed visits of the various ruins that make up the whole site. Particularly impressive were the ‘fountains’ and channels which carried water across and through various ruins, running from a spring and still working today, thanks to the mastery of Inca plumbing. Various parts of the ruins have also been proven to be astronomical in nature, lining up as they do with important cardinal points. Nobody actually knows who out of the Incas lived up here, when exactly it was built, when it was abandoned, and why the Spanish never heard of it, or discovered it, as they were so determined in their search for all Inca wealth and idolatrous sites (to destroy). Thankfully this is one they missed.
By lunch time the place was swarming with tour groups, (who come on day trips from Cuzco) and the rain started pouring down, so we headed out to get some much desired food and drink. We spent another night in Aguas Calientes, and then got the morning train (5.45 a.m.), to make our way back to Cuzco, where we rested pretty exhausted from the early rises.
On Sat 10th Feb we hired out a scrambler motorcycle, along with George and Emm, and went on a drive around part of the ‘Sacred Valley’ that surrounds Cuzco. It was really good to be travelling independently, though a little cold, especially after it rained briefly, but when the sun came out it was really spectacular. We drove down gravel roads, through villages, past mountains glistening with snow, and visited another Inca site known as Moray, where the Incas had terraces used to experiment with different crops. Occasionally I had to pinch myself to remember I was motor biking through the mountainsides of Peru - it’s easy to get pretty blasé about such experiences now that we have been away for over a few months. In the evening we had to ride the motorcycles through the hotel lobby, up some pretty big steps, something George seemed much more confident about, having experience on scramblers, but I had visions of myself crashing or falling off the thing on the street which would have been embarrassing, but which was fortunately avoided. The suspension on these things was quite astounding.
Unfortunately that night I started to feel really quite ill however, and Ruth and I spent the next day chilling (literally Cuzco is cold and the rooms had no heating), with me having the odd unpleasant visit to the toilet.
On 13th Feb I was staring to feel a lot better, and we managed to go and visit Saqsaywaman, (often inevitably mispronounced Sexy Woman), an Inca site right at the edge of Cuzco, and scene of the most decisive battle between the Conquistadors and the Incas. Unfortunately (?), though it was apparently very close and the Conquistadors often thought themselves doomed, they eventually retook this strategic site above Cuzco, with the help of many Indians, and established a much firmer control on the region. Again only the largest rocks remain, the greatest weighing in at over 300 tons! In the afternoon we also went to ‘La Merced’, a church and monastery, rebuilt after the 1650 earthquake, and containing a famous exhibit, a Catholic icon made of solid gold and containing 1500 diamonds (making Ruths eyes bulge substantially!), and 1600 pearls, one of which is the second largest in the world. Boy were those Catholics rich! It also had a strange room, where a priest lived in isolation for 26 years, as a student priest explained to us! The walls were beautifully decorated by his own hands depicting various scenes of heaven and hell. Unfortunately we weren’t allowed to take any photos of the icon or the inside of the room.
On 14th Feb, Ruth and I took the bus to Puno, splitting up temporarily with George and Emm, who wanted to take the train the next day. The bus journey was really spectacular, through mountains, and across plains covered with flowers, something which we got a great view of from the front seats on the top level of the bus. After a significant part of the journey the bus however broke down, and the driver ran off to re-emerge a short while later with a hack saw. Somehow he got it going again, and we slowly made our way to the nearest town, where a more substantial repair job was carried out on the side of the road. After all this we made it to Puno, a town on the side of Lake Titicaca, at 6.00 in the evening, several hours late. Ruth was disappointed in the town, it pretty much being your average urban polluted concrete monstrosity, rather than a picturesque lakeside village we had been hoping for. Still I was happy enough because my appetite had returned and we went out for a very nice dinner. The streets were also surprisingly busy, with many bands and processions making their way down the streets, celebrating as we soon found out a local miracle performed by the Virgin Mary many years before.
After meeting up with George and Emma again, and another Canadian couple called Rein and Char, we organised to do a tour on Lake Titicaca. We left on 17th Feb, and went to the famous floating reed islands, where quite a few people still live, originally making their homes on these islands of reeds to give them a level of security from the Incas. Nowadays many of them live in Puno and the islands have become floating souvenir stalls, but it was really fascinating and great to get out on the lake, and see how some of these people still live.
After this we got back on the boat and went to an island on the lake called Amantani, where we were introduced to a local lady in whose house we were going to stay the night. The home was pretty rustic, but had beds for us (those locals who participated with the tour groups had to meet a certain standard for tourists), and we were given lunch and dinner there, cooked on an open fire (there was no electricity etc on the island). It was a great opportunity to see inside a local house and get a better idea of how they lived. In the afternoon we walked to the top of a hill on the island where there was a basic temple to the Father Earth (Pachatata). In the evening, after another basic meal with the mother and two daughters (the other children and husband had moved to Lima to make money), we were dressed up in the local costume and then went to the village hall where we all did a traditional dance together. It was a bit tacky in some respect but was good fun as well.
The next day we went to the island Taquile, where we spent a few hours walking around and had lunch, and our guide told us about many of the local traditions, such as how most of the weaving and knitting on the island was done by the men. Apparently if you can’t knit in this community then you aren’t a real man! After this we got the boat back to Puno, arriving there about 4.30pm. Unfortunately, clouds had by this time moved in, and it was so cold we even noticed a few snow flakes!
The 19th Feb we spent in Puno, also getting a taxi to some funerary towers on a hill nearby, made by the Colla people (pre Inca). This was our last day in Peru, the next day, 20th February, we got a bus to La Paz Bolivia.
(Thanks George and Em for letting us use some of your photos)xxx

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