The hustle and bustle of Peru

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If you are looking for a peaceful and tranquil holiday destination, don't go to Peru! From the crazy car drivers honking their horns for absolutely no reason whatsoever, to the bus drivers who all have a death wish, Peru has lots to offer including the majestic Machu Picchu, the intriguing Nazca Lines, the beautiful colonial cities of Arequipa and Cusco, the thrilling Dune Buggy rides in Huacachina, the impressive ruins of Chan Chan and Huaca de Lunar as well as the spectacular mountain region of Cordillera Blanca. However you will need definitely need a vacation on completion!

The border crossing from Bolivia into Peru in the vicinity of Lake Titicaca took longer than expected. However considering that the border officials had most probably never or rarely dealt with an Iranian citizen before, additional obligatory checks with their superiors had to be carried out before they allowed me and my partner Noushin to cross the border into Peru.

As we left the border behind we noticed young boys everywhere flying their kites in the fields, which apparently happens in the months of October, November and December each year and hadn't been evident throughout our entire time in Bolivia. The local people all acknowledged us as we cycled past them.

The traffic started off lightly, but increased as we closed the city of Puno and with it came an increased sense of craziness with overconfident collectivo (shared taxi) drivers passing us at a hair's width as they overtook us at great speeds. As we cycled along the narrow roads we definitely needed to have eyes in the back of our heads.

Another thing that was immediately noticeable and different from Bolivia were the Indian style Tuk-Tuks that were ferrying people around, most likely a result of the extortionate cost of petrol in Peru at approximately the equivalent of £2 per litre.

Arriving in Puno, we quickly made arrangements to catch a bus to Cusco and onwards to Agua Calientes near Machu Picchu as our entry ticket had been reserved 2 months in advance. We left our bikes behind at the hostel in Puno and had a comfortable journey on a VIP Bus to the former Spanish Colonial city of Cusco. Arriving there we were impressed with the architecture and booked ourselves into a hostel, the building of which spanned back 400 years.

In Cusco and in almost all other cities of Peru, Policewomen can be seen controlling the traffic. When I enquired about it, I was told that they are better at resolving disputes with Peruvian drivers than their male counterparts. There were also quite a few Peruvian Policewomen riding motorbikes around the cities. With their white motorcycle helmets, dark sunglasses and jodhpur trousers they reminded me of the 1970s American TV series "Chips"

In Peru, all police carry guns. Not only Police, but also private security personnel guarding banks and other institutions are all armed. It takes a little while to get used to seeing weapons at every street corner, particularly when you live in the UK with unarmed Bobbies.

Our onwards journey from Cusco to the Hydro electric station near Agua Calientes in a Mercedes Sprinter van was more challenging than our bus trip from Puno, taking 6 hours in total and appearing more dangerous to me than the "Death road" in Bolivia with sheer vertical drops at every bend and drivers thinking nothing about overtaking at every opportunity. At the Hydroelectric station we elected to walk the 12 KM journey to Agua Calientes rather than paying the US$ 28 fee for the train journey.

The following morning we walked up the mountain to the entrance of Macchu Picchu arriving there at 6am in order to have the best chance of taking photos without the crowds. You can not fail to be impressed by Machu Picchu, especially when you consider how the Incas built it in the first place. In my personal opinion it equals Angkor Wat in Cambodia and the Taj Mahal in India and will always remain one of the favourite places I have visited.

Two days later we made our way back to Cusco and soon thereafter we arrived back in Puno by Lake Titicaca where we visited the famous Uros floating islands. Unfortunately both Noushin and I came down with a chest infection in Cusco and hence we had to stay in Puno for 10 days before we were able to get back on our bikes and make our way down to Arequipa and the coast line leading up to Lima.

En route through the mountains we stopped off for lunch on one occasion, and were joined by two sheep, two dogs and a Llama. One of the sheep was particulalry friendly and even had the tenacity to steal a packet of pasta from one of my panniers.

Arriving in the old colonial city of Arequipa we were impressed by the Plaza de Armas (Town square) which is one of the nicest ones in the whole of South America and also took the opportunity to visit a museum housing 'Juanita", a girl sacrificed to the Gods by the Incas and which reputedly has the best frozen and preserved body in the World. If you were a good looking girl or boy in times gone by and you were the "chosen one", your fate was decided by the time you reached 3 years of age. By the time you reached 14-15 years old you were given a hallucinogenic concoction before being escorted by the elders to the top of one of the famous volcanoes in Peru at 6000m altitude before being bludgeoned to death by the Inca chiefs as the ultimate sacrifice to the Gods. Apparently, it was an honour to be chosen!

In Arequipa, I also elected to eat Guinea Pig for the first time, which I did in an old Picanteria, a traditional eatery and beverage establishment called El Capitaine. There wasn't much meat on it and it's something I would only do once, but it wasn't too bad and tasted similar to chicken.

Just outside of Arequipa in a small village called Yanahuara, we were also treated to some great traditional Peruvian music with a girl band all dressed in black resembling something like the Chicago Girls who accompanied Robert Palmer in his "Simply irresistible" rendition.

It was also in Arequipa where I tasted my first Pisco Sour, the national drink of Peru as well as Chile, except that the Peruvian one also has egg white in it.

And so we upped sticks to cycle from Arequipa down to the coastline, but before leaving we were kindly informed that we would have our throats slit by bandits as we headed further north of Arequipa. The imagination of people really does run wild at times and if I believed everything that people say, I wouldn't travel anywhere!

As we descended from an original altitude of 3800 m at Puno down to sea level at the Fishing Town of Camana, I opted for the Peruvian national dish of Ceviche, which is raw sea food mixed with lemon juice, chillies and red onions. The Peruvians traditionally eat this only at lunchtime as they didn't have fridges in the old days and always wanted to eat the fish the moment it was landed. I ate it at night time and ended up staying in Camana for an extra 3 days with a case of the "trots".

From Camana we continued north along the coast line to Nazca. The mountainous landscape of Arequipa had in the mean time changed to desert, with sand constantly blowing across the main Pan-American highway. Fortunately there was a hard shoulder along most of the route that provided us with some protection from the lorry and bus drivers who tailgated each other and took every imaginable risk in the book, overtaking on bends and bridges. On our journey we saw two lorries on separate occasions that had overturned when they had sped around a corner too fast. The number of crosses along the road is absolutely staggering. In fact we met an Argentinian Guy in our hostel who had recently survived a bus crash where 8 people had died. I still cannot understand the mentality of the Peruvian drivers. Even the Public Transport Bus drivers in Lima appear to be effigies of Michael Schumacher.

Outside of the main cities, the towns all appear half built. It's only in places such as Cusco, Arequipa and Lima where you can appreciate the architecture and the legacy left behind by the Spanish. In the smaller towns booking into accommodation is hit and miss. Most toilets don't have toilet seats. When we questioned the owners they told us that everything is stolen by the customers. Quiet sad really.

We eventually arrived in Nazca, where we caught a flight in a six seat aeroplane to view the infamous lines and petroglyphs. Being an aviator myself, I was quite nervous taking a flight with an unknown company, particularly after there were several fatalities in 2010 due to bad aviation practices and poor maintenance. We eventually opted for Aero Paracas and whilst the planes seemed clean and appeared to be well looked after, the Captain didn't even put on his seatbelt.

After Nazca, we cycled to Huacachina a small oasis amongst the sand dunes close to the city of Ica, where we stayed for two nights and enjoyed a thrilling ride in a Dune Buggy as well as sand boarding.

We visited Pisco next to sample some Pisco Sours, as well as head to Paracas National Park, to take a boat ride out to the Ballestas Islands with its abundant wildlife and see the famous candlestick petroglyph inscribed in one of the hills. Sealions, flamingoes and many other exotic birds graced us with their presence and it was nice to get away from the normal noise and hustle and bustle of Peru.

It was in Pisco that we decided that the road had simply got too dangerous for our liking and hence we caught a public transport bus to Lima which we thankfully survived before booking into our hostel in the Miraflores area of the city where we based ourselves to sort out visas for Noushin to get to both Columbia and the UK.

Lima I found to be quite disappointing with not much to do and see. We visited both the Barranco and Miraflores area by the sea which was quite pleasant as well as San Francisco Cathedral with its catacombs in the city centre, but unless you're into surfing or paragliding, the city is limited in what it has to offer.

Fortunately the cinema was quite cheap, so we saw the latest episode of Star Wars, but having submitted all our paparwork to the embassies, we couldn't wait to leave Lima and head out to Huaraz, a town situated in the famous Cordillera Blanca mountainous region 8 hours to the north-east of the Capital.

Here we opted to trek to Laguna 69 in the Huascaran National Park. At an altitude of 4600m above sea level, we felt the affects of the altitude, but were overjoyed and amazed by the spectacular colour of the water on arrival at the lake with two snow covered mountain peaks jutting upwards in the background.

A day's rest at the local thermal pools was followed by a further tour to see the Pastoruri Glacier and the Puya Raimondi plant which flowers once in a lifetime, usually in the month of May and at any time up to 100 years. When it flowers, a huge stem is pushed up to 12 m in the air, covered in many thousands of blooming flowers. The plant dies shortly after it blooms.

Following our trip to the glacier we opted to visit the Chavin de Hauntar ruins where a pre-Inca civilisation existed 800 BC. In days gone by the Chavin culture used this base to perform religious ceremonies and sacrifice animals and humans to the Gods.

In between the various trips to the tourist sites, we continued to rest up in our hostel in Huaraz and took time out to visit the local market. For the uninitiated of children in the UK who think that meat comes from cellophane packs in the supermarkets, Huaraz market is a real insight. Walking down the aisles are butchers galore slicing up everything from cows, sheep and pigs to guinea pigs. It's strange seeing sheep or cow heads staring up at you or the live guinea pigs inside a net on the floor waiting to be butchered as a delicacy for the local population.

Our final tour took us to Pitec where we trekked up to Laguna Churup, another beautiful and stunning outing in the Huascaran National Park and a great stress reliever from the constant beeping and horning of the cars in Huaraz city.

And so after 11 days of living in the mountains, we embarked on the next stage of our journey cycling from Huaraz to Trujillo via the Canon del Pato (Duck Canyon). The journey was only 333 Km long and mostly downhill, but the state of the road, some of the worst I have experienced in just under 3 years took it out of us together with the sandflies and the increasing temperature as we headed from over 3000m back down to sea level. That said, the views were absolutely stunning and cycling through the Canon del Pato with its 35 plus tunnels in a stretch of about 10 KMs was great fun.

Arriving in Trujillo, we were both taken aback at how nice the city was, especially around the Plaza de Armas. On arrival, we enjoyed sitting down in the square and eating two Mc Donald's ice creams each. It's amazing when you enter the city from the desert to find yourself suddenly in a metropolis full of modern shops and lots of casinos.

In the square we were approached by a Peruvian gentleman called Benjamin, who told us that he had travelled much around Europe playing the pan pipes and then put on impromptu show for us. He invited us to his brother's restaurant close to the square where we sampled some delicious Peruvian soup and Benjamin told us his past and that he had found God and become a Pastor for an Evangelist church.

Saying our farewells, we rode a short distance to our host Lucho, at the Casa de Cyclistas (house of cyclists) where for the past 30 years he has hosted more than 3000 cyclists.

In Trujillo, we visited both the Chan Chan and the Huaca de Lunar ruins which were both fascinating.

And so we are here waiting confirmation from the UK Embassy for a visa for my Iranian partner. We'll have to return to Lima to pick up her passport and once we receive it we'll be heading directly to Ecuador.

Peru is an amazing country with lots to see and do, but at the same it has been extremely tiring and frustrating. Every time you jump on a bus you really take your life in your hands. Accommodation whether good or bad always seems to be lacking one thing whether it is a toilet seat or hot water. Watching the people in the towns, especially getting on or off the collectives, with the assistant constantly shouting "Baja, baja, baja or sube sube sube (get on, get on, get on, or get off, get off, get off), you get the impression that there is absolutely no time for relaxation. One says that the rules and regulations of a country are made for its citizens and not for the comfort and enjoyment of foreign visitors, however I really feel that Peruvians themselves could do with a bit of luxury (such as a toilet seat!)and relaxation.

Although we are not convinced Ecuador will be any different we are looking forward to a change of scenery. The journey continues.......

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Photos

Indian style Tuk Tuks
Petrol costs in excess of £2 a litre