Peru

---

Following a very slick border crossing from Bolivia to Peru we arrived in to Cusco late on the evening of 30 April. Cusco is a colonial-style city featuring beautiful cobbled streets leading away from the numerous Spanish-style plazas. There are plenty of museums and churches scattered around the city which can be explored over a couple of days so along with that we also visited some of the tour agencies that specialise in guiding Inca trails.

After visiting several different operators we decided to book our “Inca trail” with a company called Q’ente travel as the staff there seemed very professional and experienced. After a briefing with the guide and the other trekkers on our trip we set off on Monday 3 May.

We didn’t actually do the “classic” Inka trail as it gets booked up very far in advance (in some cases as much as a year). In order to help preserve the original trail the classic route has a limit of 500 people on it per day and so places are limited and reserved ahead of time. In hindsight we are really pleased that we didn’t do the classic trek as it apparently gets really congested along the route (you can imagine 500 people a day hiking the same trail!) and actually, the one we did was harder and longer than the classic route which gave us more of a challenge!.

The trek we did was called the “Lares Trek” which starts in a place called Lares (surprise, surprise!) and ends up at Aguas Calientes which is the small town 25 minutes bus drive away from the famous Inca site of Machu Picchu.

We started out early on Monday morning as we got picked up at 6.30am by our tour guide. We then drove from Cusco to a place called Calca which is a small community about 2 hours away. We basically stopped there to pick up some supplies from the market and to buy our hiking sticks (locally made bamboo walking sticks) to help us on the trickier parts of the trail.

We then set off again to the town of Lares where we got to use the natural mountain hot springs for a couple of hours before having lunch. We soon started on the first hike to our initial camp site. It was supposed to be an “easy” walk for a couple of hours which turned out to be a quite difficult hike traversing up hill for about 3 hours ascending about 550 metres! Despite the difficulty, the views were amazing so well worth the breathlessness!

Our campsite was situated in the middle of a valley in a place called Huacahuasi. When we got there the horsemen were just setting up our tent which was lucky as it was freeeeezing! I think we arrived there at around 5pm and so we were naturally worried about just how cold it was going to get later that night! The whole valley was encased by a sea of fog from that point on so it gave the campsite a strange eerie feel as we watched the porters set up for the night.

After all of the tents were set up we sat in the “dinner” tent with the other 6 trekkers and our guide and had the most amazing 3 course dinner! We had 2 cooks travelling with us and they were just brilliant. On a serious note, we had some of the nicest meals camping out in the middle of nowhere! All they had was a gas stove but they produced such brilliant dishes such as fresh trout with potatoes and vegetables or marinated chicken with rice and stir fried greens. We always had a homemade soup to start followed by a main meal and then a dessert. We even had some popcorn and steaming cups of tea before dinner to warm us up!

As expected, camping out under the stars at altitude in Peru was a very cold experience! Our sleeping bags were supposed to keep us warm down to temperatures of minus 10 but even still, it was chilly to say the least (even with our full clothes, hats and gloves on in bed!). ! I think we were all typically in our tents by about 8pm as it was just so cold at night and getting in to the sleeping bag was the only way to keep warm!

We were woken up the next morning at 7am by the porter who knocked on our tent door with a cup of steaming coca tea. I say “woken up” loosely as neither of us really slept that night! I think we got officially woken up at around 5am when a rooster decided it was time for breakfast and the local lamas passed by our tent! After a cooked breakfast and some more coca tea we started on the hardest part of our trek. We knew that the second day would be the most challenging and it certainly lived up to expectation!

We left the campsite about 8.30am and walked for 3 hours uphill to the famous “Paso Ipsaycocha”, the highest point of the Lares trek sitting at 4400 metres above sea level. Essentially we ended up climbing around 700 metres in those 3 hours which was hard going as the altitude just physically hits you. Both Deep and I have done more challenging climbs during our trip but with the altitude, the climb up and over the pass was difficult to say the least! We both found ourselves feeling quite sick and even dizzy at some stages because it was so hard to get oxygen in to our lungs at that height whilst climbing!

Difficulty aside, I can’t even begin to describe how beautiful the scenery was. Deep and I have both said that the views were some of the most magnificent of our whole trip. I’m not even going to try to articulate the natural beauty we saw whilst hiking the trek albeit to say it was breathtaking (pictures attached).

We passed through several local communities based up in the mountains during our trek which was a good opportunity for us to give little gifts to the local children. The people there live in such rudimentary conditions that it makes you realise how lucky you are to have some of the most basic things. We saw several of the children playing on the rocky highlands with no shoes on in temperatures that would make you shiver at the very thought. All of the kids we met along the trail had sore looking red, chapped cheeks from the harsh weather conditions up in the mountains and yet they all managed a smile for us when we greeted them along the way.

The women and men work together in the fields farming crops such as corn and potatoes which they exchange for meat and other items with nearby communities. All of the women are expert needle workers and produce beautiful woven scarves, bags and other such handy crafts that they sell on to tourists.

After climbing up and over the pass we were supposed to camp there for the night but as we were at a high altitude the conditions were quite bad and very cold so our guide suggested we walk for another couple of hours to a lower-level camp site. We set off after lunch and walked for another 2.5 hours to our second camp site which was in the community of Patacancha. Whilst the site was about 500 metres lower than the pass it was still freezing cold and even colder than the first night! After another amazing meal we were all worn out and in bed by 8pm!

We were again woken up the next day at 7am with a nice cup of hot coca tea before a lovely breakfast of chocolate pancakes and porridge! We set off on an hour’s downhill walk to Huilloc where we met a minibus to take us on to Ollantaytambo where we would get the train to Aguas Calientes. On the way the bus dropped us off at an archaeological site which involved another hike up hill for an hour or so to see some Inka ruins. After lunch we were taken to Ollantayatabmo where we met our train onwards to Aguas Calientes.

We reached Aguas Calientes at about 6pm and after a quick shower (we were staying in a hostal that night!) we met up for dinner in a local restaurant. It was so nice to have a hot shower and a bed on which to rest our heads before the final big day at Machu Picchu.

We woke the next day at 5am and met our guide at 5.30am so we could get one of the first local buses to take us up to Machu Picchu. As well as exploring the ruins of the main archaeological site you can also climb Huayna Picchu to give you an aerial view of the whole area. In order to protect Huayna Picchu only 400 people are allowed to climb it per day so as soon as we got through the main entrance gate of Machu Picchu we literally ran over to the queue for Huayna Picchu to try and get a place to climb it.

As Machu Picchu is in a rainforest area the whole site is covered in a sea of mist early morning so most people want to climb Huayna Picchu as late as possible in order to let the mist clear. There are two times that people can climb Huayna Picchu, at 7am and 10am. Unfortunately all of the places for the 10am climb had been reserved but luckily we were able to climb at 7am. It was a steep and dangerous climb up hill for about an hour until we reached the peak of Huayna Picchu. As predicted the view of Machu Picchu was initially covered by a sea of mist although after about 30 minutes of waiting we were rewarded with the most amazing aerial view of the famous Inca site.

After the very precarious climb down (there are no safety measures and it’s very slippery!) we met up with our guide who gave us a tour around the main ruins. The views around the ruins were breathtaking and despite the number of tourists later in the day, it still took our breath away.

We were able to spend the whole day at Machu Picchu exploring the ruins before returning back to Cusco tired and full of a cold! (I guess it was the damp, cold camping conditions?!). We spent the next couple of days in Cusco recuperating from our colds before heading further north to Lima, the capital city of Peru.

Lima has been undergoing a steady redevelopment due to many parts being run down and neglected. Most tourists are advised to stay in the “Miraflores” area which is safer than some of the other parts of the city. Miraflores is a modern and developed district and offers tourists plenty of shopping, eating and drinking opportunities. We met up with some friends whilst in Lima and had lunch with them at a seafood restaurant which was delicious. We had the popular “ceviche” dish which is raw white fish marinated in lime juice, onion and hot pepper. Needless to say we both really enjoyed it and have had plenty more ceviche since (in fact every day in Peru ….. sometimes twice a day!!).

Following our short stay in Lima we headed further north to Trujillo which is a colonial city close to the coast. Whilst in town we visited the “Huncas del Sol and de la Luna” (Moche Pyramids) which are the ruins of what used to be the largest man-made structures in the western hemisphere. Archaeologists have been working on the site since the 1990’s and the ruins were impressive to walk around. Some of the intricate work has now been revealed along with the original colours used.

Just a day or so later we moved further north to the popular beach resort of Mancora. We had a couple of days there to relax by the beach which we felt was well deserved after the Inca trail! We met up with our friends again and enjoyed a great couple of days relaxation.

We left Mancora on 18 May on a night bus which crossed over the boarder to Ecuador. We were sad to be leaving Peru but looking forward to new experiences in our final South American country….

After a long and tedious boarder crossing in to Ecuador we finally arrived at our first destination of Banos which is a small town set in a valley near to the centre of the country. We used our time in Banos to relax (well, it’s hard not working!!) and to explore the local area. We took a hike up to the mirador view point and got to see some great views of the town and surrounding valley.

Following our short stay in Banos we got a local bus further north to Quito, the capital city. We stayed in a great hostal there and got to explore the city over the next few days after getting tips from other travellers. The old and new parts of the city are poles apart and so offer visitors a real mix of sights and experiences. On one day we took a steep walk up to one of the many look outs between the old and new city and did a cycle ride around the park there. It was a good way of seeing the city in all its glory.

On our final day in Quito we took a local bus out of the city for an hour or so to the equator line which officially marks the division between the two hemispheres. Unfortunately it was a tad disappointing (very touristy and not much to see) but at least we can now say we stood on both hemispheres in the same day!

Whilst we had four days in Quito time went very quickly and suddenly, it was 26 May and the time had come to leave Quito (and South America) for us to take our penultimate flight of the trip to Central America.

South America has been an incredible and diverse continent to travel around with unrivalled variety from the modern Argentina and Chile to the indigenous Peru and Bolivia. During our time travelling through South America we have seen volcanoes, waterfalls and glaciers which have been bigger than any we have seen previously. The landscape has been diverse across the various counties and as such we have seen snow, ice, tropical forests, lush green valley, sand and sea. Although we have been fortunate enough to spend 3.5 months here we have only just touched the surface and it’s definitely somewhere we will want to return to.

For now, on to Central America, adios for now…

---