Advertisement
Published: February 9th 2008
Peru has got quite a name for itself amongst travellers with its beautiful mountains and the infamous Machu Pichu, and we were really looking forward to see it for ourselves. It’s also not the safest of South American countries, which we did realize throughout our stay, but thankfully never experienced anything bad ourselves. Being paranoid over ourselves and belongings seemed to deter the would-be thieves.
Peru neve egyet jelent a 6-7 ezer meteres hegyekkel, a Titicaca toval es termeszetesen a Machu Pichuval, igy ertelemszeruen mi is nagyon vartuk, hogy sajat szemunkkel lathassuk. Azonban Peru nemcsak szep, hanem veszelyes is. Alapveto jo tanacs: ne utazz taxival. Na ja, konnyu azt mondani, de ha nem beszelsz egy szot se spanyolul es a buszod este 11-kor indul a varos masik felebol, oldd meg! Azert eleg komolyan vettuk a kockazatot es vigyaztunk magunkra, igy incidens nelkul megusztuk. Our planned fast journey over the border from Ecuador direct to Huaraz was foiled at the first town in Peru, Trujillo, when we discovered the necessary bus (following a long night bus journey) was fully booked. So much for travel plans! Fortunately we were able to make the most of our stay by visiting
the nearby sun and moon temples built in 200-800 AD, prior to the Incas. They were well worth the visit - especially recommended if the bus is fully booked.
Terveink szerint Ecuadorbol egyenesen Huarazba szerettunk volna eljutni, potom 40 oras út, de a szerencse/szerencsetlenseg kozbeszolt es Trujillo varosaban ragadtunk. Ami sokkal jobban alakult, mint azt elso latasra gondoltuk. A teruletet isz 200-800 kozott a mochek laktak, akik szerettek homokbol epitkezni es ma is lathato a „hires” Nap es Hold temploma. Tovabba Chan Chan homokvarosa, ahol Andyt szo szerint elarasztottak a rajongok. Erdemes megnezni, foleg ha a tervezett buszodon nincs szabad hely. As mentioned the next stop was Huaraz, a town high up in the mountains, ideal for hiking expeditions or day trips (as we did). The town was not much to speak of but the countryside in this area is breathtaking. And so many great looking hiking/camping routes it’s hard to choose. This is the kind of place the keen walker comes back to year after year, and with good reason. Having arrived on the night bus, and not having the chance to acclimatise to this high altitude, we accidentally found ourselves on a day tour
to a nearby glacier. It turned out to be a nice day trip with plenty to see on-route, with the funniest part being the 2km walk to see the glacier at 5000m high. Without taking time to get used to being this high its really hard work on your body to do anything at this height, let alone climb. The lazy (not us!) chose the donkey ride followed by the human ride (piggy-back style) to get to the top! Some people were even being sick from the altitude. Thankfully we just felt like 80 year olds climbing with a headache.
Igy nemi piheno utan irany Huaraz. Egy 3100 meteren fekvo varos, ami hires a turazasi lehetosegeirol. Az ejszakai buszut utan reggel hetkor komasan es osszetorve hagytuk magunkat meggyozni es egy turistabuszon talaltuk magunkat, ami mint kb. 1 ora buszozas utan megtudtuk, egy 5000 meteren fekvo gleccsert vett celba. Alapszabaly, 3000 meter folott engedj magadnak 3-4 nap aklimatizaciot. Mi rogton 5000 meterrel kezdtunk. Mondanom se kell, se a koka tea, de meg a koka cukor se segitett. A kb. 2 km-es setauthoz kepest a maraton kutyafule. Kb. 10 m utan azt hittem kikopom a tudom es leszakad a labam. Az 5 lepes-piheno-5 lepes-piheno technika bejott es kb. felora utan mondhatni aklimatizalodtunk. Ez azt jelenti, hogy tovabbra is faraszto volt a seta, de a tudom maradt a helyen. Hozzateszem, volt akinek a gyomra nem maradt a helyen. Es persze volt aki a konnyebb utat valasztotta = csacsihat, majd human transzport (edzett helyiek hata) segitsegevel kuzdotte le csucsot.
After our not-so-gentle first day we decided to take an easy second day by visiting the nearby ruins of Chavin de Huaraz -which are the oldest ruins in Peru built in 1200 BC. It was a nice visit but not so much to see and too much time in the bus.
Az elso nap megprobaltatsai utan egy konnyebb turat, a kozeli Chavin de Huaraz romjait valasztottunk masodiknak. Ez Peru legregebbi romjai koze tartozik, kb ie 1200-bol. Vicces volt latni hogy 2000 eve a hazak kobol, mig ma sarteglabol epultek/nek. Erdekes volt, de nem tul sok latnivalo maradt meg es tul sokat ultunk a buszon. Having rested we set off on a long day hike to Lake 69 (starting with another nice bus ride!). This was the most tiring walk of the trip to date starting at 4000m
with the lake at 4500m. 500m to climb is always going to be hard work, but doing it at altitude was a killer (and Briggi almost killed me!!). But between deep deep breaths we did have some amazing views which made the whole day really worthwhile. I just hope Briggi agrees with me.
Miutan igy kipihentuk magunkat!? a 3. egyben utolso napra Andy kedveert a 69-es tavat vettuk celba. (69 mert olyan sok to van a kornyeken, hogy nem nevezik el oket csak szamozzak.) Ez volt a legfarasztobb turank. 500 m szintkulonbseg 4000 meterrol indulva. Gyilkos. Raadasul a vezetonk ugy be volt sozva, hogy a 6-7 oras turat 4,5 ora alatt lenyomtuk (felora ebedidovel!) De a latvany gyonyoru volt. Es az eso is csak idonkent esett! And then it was time to night bus-it to Nasca, which was sad (for Andy, and a relief for Briggi) as there were so many great walks to be done in Huaraz - I would like to go back. And Nasca was quite a contrast - a town built around some famous line drawings on a huge scale in the desert. We took the expensive option (but definitely worthwhile) and
took a 30 minute flight over these huge mostly animal and triangle drawings. From the ground you would not be able to recognize the shape, just see some white lines in the sand, so flying is the best option. We really enjoyed seeing the Nasca lines, and recommend to anyone visiting to watch the BBC documentary (available with some of the flight companies) about the lines and the various theories of how and who made them. It gives a great overview and leaves you to make your own conclusions.
Ujabb sok-sok oras buszozas utan Nasca, a hires rajzok varosa kovetkezett. (Andy nagy banatara. Tervei szerint meg visszamegy Huarazba, ha talal valakit aki hajlando vele menni!) A vilag egyik legszarazabb sivatagja, 2 evente esik kb felorat az eso. Bevallaltuk a 30 perces gyomorprobalo repuloutat egy 3 szemelyes Cessnaval es nem bantuk meg. A foldrol nem is lehet latni az abrakat olyan hatalmasak. Nekunk nagyon tetszett. Melegen ajanljuk a BBC dokumentum filmjet a Nasca vonalakrol,ami tobb teoriat elemezve ad egy realisnak tuno magyarazatot a rajzok keletkezeserol. After another seemingly endless night bus we were in southern Peru, on a mission to visit Colca Canyon - one of the deepest
canyons in the world (although our guide books claims everything is the deepest, longest, highest XYZ in the world..). All the tour companies seemed to be determined to rip of the tourists so we took the risk to try and organise something ourselves closer to the canyon, and it paid off. We took a taxi for 1/2 a day on our own chuffer driven tour of the canyon, with stop offs all the way along to see the view points, local villages etc. It was still much cheaper than a bus tour! The main view point on the canyon was spectacular, even with condors flying directly in front of us.
Aztan egy ujabb vegtelennek tuno ejszakai buszozas utan elertuk Peru deli reszet, ahol a Colca kanyon - a vilag legmelyebb kanyonja (bar az utikonyvben minden a legnagyobb, legtobb, legmelyebb XYZ a vilagon….). Tanulvan a korabbiakbol, lemondtunk a iroda altal szervezett opciorol es nekivagtunk magunk. Ugyan a busz feluton lerobbant, mert kilyukadt a huto, igy lemaradtunk a felnapos kanyonsetarol, masnap egy magansoforrel fel nap alatt vegigjartuk a kanyon erdekes pontjait. Meg a kondor keselyuk (fo latvanyossag) is „odajottek koszonni”. Es hogy teljes legyen a tura, a delutant Arequipa belvarosaban toltottuk, ahol Andy nagy oromere egy ujabb csodas naplemente tanui lehettunk.
Another night bus later and we were in Cusco, the town where tours to Machu Pichu start. Finally we were here! And completely knackered after so many night buses without sleep. In total we spent 5 nights here (2 before the tour and 3 after) in an attempt to sleep, rest and eat enough to feel human again. It was good trying but only partially worked.
Jo szokasunkhoz hiven ejszaka tettuk meg az Arequipa-Cusco utat, ami erosen nem ajanlott az esetleges busztamadok miatt. (Ezt a buszon ulve olvastam az utikonyben.) Ettol egy kicsit beparaztunk, de aztan reggel otkor gond nelkul elertuk uticelunkat. Kicsit problemas hajnalban hotelt talalni, de a turistaknak mindent. Az elso napot a pihenesnek es a varosnak szenteltuk, a masodikat a Szent Volgynek. (Szent volgy, mert az alacsonyabban fekvo, 2-3000 m, teraszokon termeltek meg a szukseges elemiszert az inkak.) Majd a 3. napon irany Machu Pichu. The famous Inca trail to Machu Pichu was fully booked up (as we expected - you need to book months in advance) so we took an alternative trail (and thankfully cheaper!) that lasted for 4 days.
The first day was a biking day (mostly downhill, thankfully). It was a good experience, just ruined a bit by good bikes that are really badly maintained. My first bike had the gears break off completely and my replacement bike had a pedal come off while I was riding - not really a big confidence booster!
A hires Inkachu-t, az eredeti inka utvonalat a Machu Pichura, kb. 6-12 honappal elore le kell foglalni, igy mi egy 4 napos alternaiv utvonalat valasztottunk. Elso napon par ora buszozas utan jott a biciklitura (szerencsere foleg hegyrol le). Andy elvezte, en kevesbe. Jelentosen rontotta az elmenyt a kerekparok allapota.Pl. Andy valtoja egyszer csak hopp leesett. Semmi gaz van potbicikli. Ez meg a pedaljat hagyta el. Nem problema! A valto nelkuli bicikli pedalja tokeletesen mukodik. De jo fej csapatunk volt es a tura utani sorozes es vacsi mindent helyre tett. The second trail day was the main hiking day which even covered some of the original Inca trail - a thin stone track seemingly carved out of the side of a mountain. The Incas were good engineers! It was a hard walking day (not as hard as Lake 69 though…) but on
a really beautiful, peaceful trail with almost no other tourists. And it ended perfectly at some natural thermal pools to sooth away the day’s aches (and the beer helped too).
A masodik nap, a fo tura napon, egy szakaszon eredeti Inca osvenyen - keskeny koves osveny a hegy oldalaba vajva - is jartunk. A hoseg es a emelkedo megizzasztott, (de azert nem egy 69-es to tura!) de egyben csodalatos latvanyt nyujtott a bekes hegyi osveny. Tokeletes befejezese lett a napnak a termeszetes termal furdo, gyogyir a megfaradt izmoknak. Day three was a bit of a cheating day for me. It was flat which was good but mainly followed the train line to the town of Aquas Calientes - the gateway to Machu Pichu. There were nice parts to the trail before we reached the train track though.
A 3. nap elso szakasza kellemes lapos turat hozott a nap elso feleben, aztan jott a fekete leves, seta a vonatsineken. Aki mar probalta tudja, hogy a keresztlecek sosem a jo lepestavolsagban vannak senkinek!!!, igy vagy kettot ugrasz vagy egyet tipegsz. Kikesziti a hatat. And day four, Machu Pichu… After much debating we decided not to
walk up the hill at 5am (as many people are recommending) but took the bus to conserve our energy. It was absolutely the right choice for us. We arrived to the entrance at the crack of dawn and were rewarded with a clear sky and rays of sunshine coming over the mountain tops, onto the ruins - we could not have dreamt of better weather. And the view was (as anticipated) spectacular, with surprisingly few people to clutter the view. We spent most of the day there, taking in the panoramic views, walking around the ruins, and climbing an adjacent mountain called Wayna Pichu to look down on the ruins. Needless to say we had a great day, and filled the cameras’ memory cards…
4. napon verge elertuk a Machu Pichut. Nemi tanakodas utan ugy dontottunk, hogy az energiatakarekos (= busz) megoldast valasztjuk es nem masszuk meg a hegyet ahogy azt sokan ajanlottak. Nem bantuk meg. Ahogy felertunk a nap mar kibukkant a kornyezo hegyek mogul. Megnyugodhattunk. Jobb idojarast nem is kivanhattunk volna. (Mas turistak elbeszelesei alapjan jellemzo a hajnali kod, ami del korul szall csak fel, raadasul a megelozo 2 nap szakadt az eso a hegyen.) A latvany lenyugozo. Az epuletek egyenkent nem tul sokat mondoak, de az egesz telepules egyutt csodalatos. A vicces, hogy ahany idegenvezetot hallgatsz annyi teoriat hallhatsz arrol, hogy ki, mikor, miert hozta letre es mire hasznalta Machu Pichut. Szerencsenkre meglepoen keves turista osztozott velunk az elmenyen, igy az idegenvezetes utan kenyelmesen megmaszhattuk Wayna Pichut, ahonnan fantasztikus kilatas nyilt lefele a romokra. Mondani sem kell, fantasztikus napunk volt. Marcsak a vonat- es buszut maradt hazafele.
Heading ever south our next stop was on Lake Titicaca, the highest ’navigable’ lake in the world at 3800m. Half of the lake is in Peru and the other half Bolivia, our next stop. We took a boat trip out onto the lake to visit one of the inhabited islands and some amazing floating islands made of mud bricks and reed! And people were living on these little floating islands, kept busy with the never ending job of adding new reeds on top of the island every 15 days… We really liked the fact that neighbourhood disputes are easily settled by simply cutting the island into pieces so the troublemakers float way on their own island!
2 napos kenyszerpihenonk utan (kijarasi tilalom volt nepszamlalas miatt Peruban, igy minket is megszamoltak) folytattuk utunkat del fele, a Titicaca tohoz. Nevezetessege, hogy a vilag legmagasabban fekvo hajozhato tava. 3800 meteren fekszik. Fele Peruhoz, fele Boliviahoz tartozik. A max hal 20-30 centisnel nem no nagyobbra a keves oxygen miatt. Hiaba hoztak nagyobb meretu pisztrangot, az uj generaciok egyre kisebbek es kisebbek lettek,mint a mar ott elo tarsaik. Beneveztunk egy napos hajoturara, hogy megnezzuk az uszo szigeteket es a Titicaca to egy lakott szigetet. Az uszo szigetek alapja sar es nad keverekebol keszult alapra fektetett vastag nadreteg, amit 15 naponta megujitanak. Kulonosen jo, hogy ha a csalad (1 szigeten elok) kozott nezetelteres alakul ki, csak fogjak es kettevagjak a szigetet. A masik, fix sziget hiressege, hogy itt nem a nok, a ferfiak kotnek. Allandoan, meg menet kozben is.
In summary we really enjoyed Peru. It’s a huge country and so much travelling makes it tiring, and its high altitudes makes even walking an exhausting activity at times - but its well worth the effort. Amazing mountains, interesting culture, a huge history and of course some great ruins. It’s a must visit.
Osszefoglalva, mi nagyon elveztuk Perut. Nagy orszag, sokat kell utazni, a nagy tengerszint feletti magassag meg a setat is nehezkes tevekenysegge teszi, de boven megeri az erofeszitest. A lenyugozo hegyek, erdekes kulturak, mozgalmas mult, igy rengeteg rom mindenki szamara kinal megfelelo programot.
Advertisement
Tot: 0.186s; Tpl: 0.013s; cc: 10; qc: 66; dbt: 0.0604s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.2mb
