Peru update (1)

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We thought it was about time for another update now that we have come to the end of our time in Peru. We have been here for about 5 weeks now and have been having an amazing time! Both Patty and I have had a hand in writing the following update.

We've done some fantastic treks. In Peru did three treks which were great fun and quite different. What has been really cool is that most of the tours / treks that we have done have ended up being private tours as there have either been no other tourists booked on the trek, or they pull out at the last minute! The longest one we have done was an 8 day trek through the Hauyhuash mountain range near Hauraz in the north of Peru. It has been by far the most scenic of the treks we have done, but MY GOD was it FREEZING... every night we looked like the Michellin man with our million layers on (without exaggeration I (Patty) wore 9 top layer, 3 pants and 4 pairs of socks)!!! I seriously wore ALL the clothes I took with me every single night and that was not enough to keep us warm. We weren’t helped by the fact that we had bought some Chinese made sleeping bags, which were apparently rated to -18oC, however this definitely wasn’t the case. On top of this, the sleeping mats supplied by the tour company were just a thin bit of rubber, so we felt every stone through them, and had to turn from side to side every 30 minutes to relieve the pain! The painful nights were made up for by the beautiful, warm, sunny days and incredible scenery, with beautiful lakes, snow peaked mountains and some amazing passes (the highest being 5100 mts), and even some hot springs on the fourth day of the trek, where we were able to have a bath!

The second trek was a 5 day one near Cuzco through Vilcabamba and the last day we visited Machu Picchu. It was great since Vilcabamba was where the last Incas lived so it was very interesting. We didn’t do the typical Inca trail since it was all booked out. Machu Picchu was unbelievable and the best part was that one of my cousins, Cami, came from Colombia to join us on the trek so I absolutely loved spending some quality time with her. The only thing is that on that trek we had all sorts of weather from gorgeous sunny days to rainy ones and even SNOW!!! The day we went over the three highest passes (about 4500m) it was completely clouded in with alternating snow and rain the whole 8 hour trek depending on our altitude... snow was definitely NOT what I was expecting for this part of the trip, but still a great experience, even with completely water logged shoes and being soaking wet by the time we hit camp.

The last trek was a 3 day trek through the Colca Canyon, near Arequipa, the second deepest canyon in the world, and thankfully this time we slept in beds in little cabins rather than tents. The most incredible thing was on the second night we slept at the bottom of the canyon where a man made oasis had been created with swimming pools, palm trees, grass and beautiful little cabins, while all around us was desert!!

Outside of the trekking, we spent nearly a week in Lima, the capital of Peru. Lima was a lovely city, although at this time of year it is continuously overcast; grey skies with not a bit of sunshine the whole time we were there. Our host and tour guide there was Tania, who is the daughter of a friend from outrigging, and is currently living there. She showed us many of the historical sites and the local cuisine. It was lovely not to be living out of a hostel and have someone look after us for a while.

We also spent over a week in Arequipa, the second biggest city in Peru. We also loved this city, with the centre being full of beautiful old buildings made from sillar, a type of white granite found in the quarries nearby, and cobble stoned streets. There were plenty of historic sites to see here, including a gorgeous 300 year old operating monastery, and a museum with an Incan mummy, a 13 year old girl sacrificed to the gods by her people over 800 years ago at the top of a volcano. We did a heap of day trips from here including white water rafting, quad biking, going on a massive flying fox (340m long) and watching bull fighting with the locals!

Last, but not least, we visited Lake Titicaca, one of the highest and largest lakes in the world at 3800m above sea level. The most unique part about this lake was the floating islands of Uros. Around 40 floating islands made of reeds where a community of around 2000 people live. Although very touristy (the whole economy of the islands is now generated from tourism), it was incredible to see how these islands were constructed and how the people lived here; as well as walking across the beds of reeds and feeling the motion of the floating island beneath you. Very strange!

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