Peru

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Our route back to city life from the Amazon involved taking a fast (12 hours) boat from Leticia border town via an island in Brazil to Iquitos in Peru, the only town in the world that cannot be reached by road; and then a flight on to Lima.

You are told to get our immigration stamp into Peru on the Brazilian island before we our boat leaves. Upon arrival for our boat, at 4am, the immigration hut is closed so a group of us agreed there must be an office at the port in Peru. As the boat is about to leave, the captain comes around to check we all have our Peruvian entry stamps - which if course we do not. He sends us off up a muddy hill towards a few lights in a distant village and tells us to be quick. We get to the top of the hill and another local tells us to follow a path into the black of blackness. About 20 minutes later(!), having worked up a sweat and no nearer it seems to finding this immigration office, a policeman with his growling dog approaches us and guides us back down the path we've just come! Surely we didn't just walk past it?! Well, we had just walked past it but understandably so. It's just an unlit wooden hut. The policeman bangs hard on the door and shouts for attention. We wait a few minutes and he bangs on the door again. Finally the door is unbolted and opened by a sleepy immigration office in his Pjs with a candle for light. He disappears out the back to put a coat on as we complete the necessary forms and get our immigration stamp, by candlelight.

In Lima we opted for the more polished Miraflores area. We spent a couple of nights here eating well and enjoying the electricity, hot water and escape the mosquitos, much to my relief after our few days in the Amazon! Ben treated to us an extremely lovely meal at Astrid and Gaston, with a kitchen headed by award winning chef Gaston Acurio. We sampled a couple of superb pisco fruit cocktails and had our first taste of Alpaca and loved it. The meat just fell of the bone and melted in my mouth. The closest meal I can describe it to is a very good lamb shank with the texture of steak. Delicious.

South of Lima we visited Nazca and took a flight over the Nazca Lines. There are various theories as to how and why the Nazca's removed sun darkened stones to reveal the light earth below and create the lines and animal, plant and geometric images. The main theory seems to be the the Nazca Lines are ritual walkways that connected to waterways and would flow with water if chosen Incas walked across the desert along the pathways, as an offering and prayer to the Gods for rain.

In Nazca we also took advantage of the natural desert and sand dunes and made our first attempt at sand buggying and sandboarding. It was utterly brilliant. Take a look at the videos!

Our next stop via an extremely long, dusty and bumpy bus ride was Cusco. Cusco is a very pretty town, with women wearing the traditional dress and a few posing for photos with their pet llamas. There are plenty of shops and markets selling llama and alpaca sweaters, hats, socks .... along with people continuously offering massages and tours.

We were keen to do the Jungle Tour as it also included a one day down-hill biking trail, which sounded a lot of fun, but the trek itself was fairly easy and we wanted to do a trek that was a little more demanding. So we did a one day biking in the Cusco'n countryside visiting a couple of the main sites - Moray and the Salt Pools. We followed this with the 5 day Salkantay trek tour passing over at 4850m, before the final day at Machu Picchu.

The biking was somewhat harder than we'd imagined it might be. The first half the day had it's fair share of uphill, leaving me gasping for air trying to get up the hills and adjust to the 3500m altitude. Meanwhile Ben raced off at high and seemingly effortless speed! Hurrumph! Our guide was great at motivating me to the top of most of the hills, and still in my saddle :-). He had an infectious energy and a genuine love for the countryside and a dream of owning his own farm one day when he'd got enough money together from his mountain and bike guiding. He was also incredibly informative about the Inca sites and only stopped telling us more so it didn't take away from our Salkantay and Machu Picchu adventures.

Moray is one of the largest amphitheatre style sites that the Inca's built. It was built with a couple purposes in mind 1) to be farmed, trialling different soils and food-types at various heights, wind, water and sun influences until they perfected their farming skills, and were entirely self sufficient and able to grow food-types that could normally only be obtained in other regions 2) to be used for festival celebrations in the months that were too cold to grow crops.

Having collapsed in a heap at Moray I was very pleased to learn that it would be all downhill biking from here. It was great fun speeding down the narrow paths, and controlling the bike over the rocks and gravel whilst hanging over the back of the saddle to keep us from going over the handle bars!

On the way down we stopped at our second site, the Salt Pools, which are 100s of shallow pools with a mud/stone base, each filled with a small amount water from the mountain streams and then left for days or weeks to evaporate - leaving a layer of salt on top that is gathered and bagged ready to be sold. It's quite a sight. The pools are man-made yet located at the bottom of a natural spring, in a large crevace between red rock cliffs .

The biking was a really fun and interesting day to precede our Salkantary Trek. It was tough at times due to some particularly steep, rocky parts at the higher altitudes but it all added to the challenge and we enjoyed it immensely! The first night we camped at a height of 3900m so it was a cold night, not least because our extra warm sleeping bag did not make it up with our tent! After a bit of pressure from the group the guide gave up his sleeping bag and slept in his tent with a blanket ... a local dog for a bit of extra warmth!

We had a really fun group on our trek and spent our evenings playing cards and drinking a little rum with our hot drinks to stay off the mountain chill.

At 5am the next morning, we were woken with a cup of hot char' being handed to us in our tents to encourage us out of our now warm tents into the freezing cold wind and open air bathroom, ready to continue up to the peak and beyond. The hot drink even worked in getting Ben and I up!

I would tell you more about the history of the Salkantay mountains and it's relevance to the Incas if it wasn't for the fact we had the most lazy guide in the world. Not only did he tell us nothing in the whole five days of our trek (apart from which plants get you stoned, which he seemed to be!), he also kept trying to put us on a bus wherever it was possible because he was too tired to walk!! We sometimes didn't see him for hours and then he'd appear with the cooks, and the horses!

The scenery on the Salkantay trek is ever changing. We passed through tree lined fields and farmland initially, then moved up into more barren rocky landscapes on the way up to the peak. At the peak we joined a former Inca trail that cut through a glacier that used to exist here. There were 100s of piles of prayer stones, that the Inca's used to build to pray for their safety when crossing the glacier. It was very bleak, windy and a little misty at the peak so we had our photos taken with the sign at the top and pressed on back down the other side of the mountain through various rock formations that must previously have sat beneath the glacier. After a few hours we were walking through the forest and had a much more comfortable and warm night's camp. Ben and I even braved an icy cold river water shower ... helped by the knowledge we would then be collecting wood to build our camp fire.

Day three was all downhill, toes bashing the end of our shoes and knees taking the strain. There was now a lot of vivid plant and bird life, but best of all it ended mid afternoon at the Santa Teresa hot springs (read spa resort!). There were 5 pools, one was the size of a swimming pool and really comfortable temperature, one was cold with a cold natural waterfall (we gave that a miss) and the other three were hot - bath hot and totally refreshing for our muscles. We arrived when the sun was still up so also got to bask and sleep(!) in the sunshine on the pool side loungers.

Day 4 we got a little bit of a lay in, with breakfast as late as 7.30am. I woke up early with the sun. We were camping right next to hot springs so I went for a morning dip and watched the sun rise. Bliss. Ben emerged a little later and joined me for a soak one of the hot pools. Oh for 6 days in our trek, with one whole day here. After packing up camp, we walked along the train track from Hydro-Electrica to Aguas Caliente. The track followed the fruit plantation and tree lined river and also gave us an excellent view of the towering mountains of Machu Picchu, Huanapichu, Puticusi etc.

On our trip we had two extremely fit guys not showing a bead of sweat for the entire 5 days (one of whom ran marathons in 2h45!). As our guide had put us on a bus for a couple of short distances they felt we hadn't done the fair share of walking that our trek was meant to entail. The other 6 of us were happy with our lot, although we still had energy and the hot springs had mended our aching muscles, so we were keen to do a little more. Our guide suggested we climb Puticusi mountain based in Aquas Caliente, to give us an excellent view over Machu Picchu. And then the next, final day we would be able to walk up to Machu Picchu and could also climb both Machu Picchu mountain and Haunapichu mountain. (Machu Picchu was named so because it is located part way up Machu Picchu Mountain).

So we check into our hostel, shower and meet up a hour later for our climb up Puticusi mountain. Having showered and laid down, the thought of climbing another mountain seems like an odd decision. Why are we doing this when we could just lay here, have wander around the market or a coffee by the river, listening to one of the local bands?!

Puticusi Mountain: Like most mountains, it started off with a few steps and a winding path through the forest. Unlike most mountains, this one had a series of step ladders to climb, up about 300metres of almost upright mountain face. Being a bit scared of heights (ladders) I wasn't relishing this climb. Everybody else was up for it though, so I pushed it out of mind, refusing to chicken out. Coming down was something else. I froze, legs shaking and unable to move - and cried! Grr, such a girl, I thought, now pull yourself together! Thankfully, after a little coaxing, I arrived into Ben's faithful, calming bear hug at the bottom. :-)

The view from the top of Puticusi was brilliant. We could see Machu Picchu below, and had a great view across the whole area, including the path we'd walked along the river and railway line from the hot springs to Aquas Calientes.

Machu Picchu Day was another early start at 4.30am. There are two options 1) get the bus at 5.30am but queue from 4.30am or 2) walk. The Puticusi climb had finished me off so the bus seemed like a tempting option, but the thought of standing in the cold queueing seemed nuts so we walked. Oh my god, I barely made it. I couldn't have walked any slower up those steep, big steps if I'd tried. Why oh why didn't I wrap up warm and get the bus with the others!? Ben was still able to go up at good speed, and thankfully he kept me going. He does less exercise than me and has no problems at all - how can that be! The unfairness of it!! At the point where I started talking about flagging down the next vehicle where our steps crossed the road, which Ben and I both knew I'd kick myself for later, he sped off and left me so I couldn't drop out. I eventually made it to the top ... to announce “I've got absolutely no energy and I never want to see another ****ing step again!”

The doors into Machu Picchu opened as the sun was rising. What an amazing site. The Inca town looks so alive/real and we got to see it before the crowds arrived. We couldn't help but we wowed! Most of the buildings have not been restored at all and still stand strong despite erosion, and earthquakes! It is amazing that the Incan's had such knowledge back in the 1200s. The location for Macchu Picchu, one of the largest Incan's towns that have been discovered, was selected because there was a mountain stream providing, running water and farmable land, plus the ability to keep a look out for invaders. The Incas were unaware that both iron and the wheel had been invented, so it really was quite a feat to move such sizeable rocks to build this vast town that still stands today.

In 1535, when the Inca's reign was significantly weakened, the Spanish invaded and apparently tried to destroy the Inca villages, their traditions and history. To this day the Peruvians are very proud of their Incan history and still pray and give offerings (such as a drop of alcohol on the floor before drinking) to Pacha Mama.

After our tour of Machu Picchu we had the opportunity to climb Huanapichu for another fantastic view over Machu Picchu itself. This time I joined the bus group and left Ben with Levi and Xavier (Mr 2h45 marathon runner). They set off on their recording time 'march' to the top of Huanapichu, down again to an Inca cave, up the other side of Huanapichu and then down the see a cow skin Inca bridge. Ben must have been thanking his lucky stars when the heavens opened and prevented them 'running' to the Sun Gate too, so the Three Muskateers merely sped down the steps from Machu Picchu to the town of Aquas Calientes, where the rest of us were enjoying lunch in the square! I was very proud of Ben taking on this final mountain with these two incredibly fit chaps and was expecting a rather shabbier version of Ben to return but, oh dear, he really was not in a good way! Under his somewhat sweaty brow, he was white as a sheet, famished and wearing a wringing wet t-shirt. He literally collapsed in a chair at our table and wolfed a hamburger and a coke in split seconds!

Not satisified with our 1 day biking, 100km walking and 4 mountains, we arrived back in Cusco seeking some adrenalin sports and booked ourselves onto a 3 day rafting trip down the Apimurac River with grade 4 and 5 rapids. So much fun!

We spent our final days in Cusco enjoying a lovely, comfortable bed, and city luxuries with our Salkantay and rafting buddies. We even got to meet up for dinner with Andy and Liz, pals from home, and Ben took the opportunity to sample the local delicacy, guinea pig!!

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