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Published: August 3rd 2008
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It was a sad goodbye to Cusco when we eventually left and headed to Arequipa, it was a fantastic city and we had had such a great time there and on the Inca Trail. We left in the afternoon for a flight to Arequipa, but in typical Cusco fashion, there was a huge parade going on at the time, all the roads were blocked so the bus had difficulties picking us up and then the bus driver went to the bus station instead of the airport for some reason... so we only just made our flight!
We only stayed overnight in Arequipa, and then headed out to the Colca Canyon, which is the second deepest canyon in the world. It was a long journey, through reserves for wild Vicuna and across high mountain passes where we climbed to 5000 meters again... so needed the coca tea and coca sweets, and we had fantastic views of the volcanoes around the area. The road then weaved its way down the canyon to the village of Chivay, which is the main village in the canyon. We stayed just outside of town in a lovely hostel with great views over the surrounding land. After
admiring the view on the patio we headed out to some nearby thermal springs, before going into town to see a local Peruvian band perform. It was quite touristy but a full of Andean music, with the sounds of pan pipes and local dancing.
One of the main attractions at the Colca Canyon is spotting Andean condors, so we left very early the next morning to travel across to the other side of the canyon to the lookout at a place called Cruz del Condor. There was no guarantee that we would see any and for a while we only saw one or two were flying around in the distance... but a little while later there were something like 20 flying close by, soaring on the thermals above the canyon. The condors are huge birds, with 10ft wing spans, and they were spectacular to see!
After an hour or so we headed off for a hike to a lookout across one of the deepest points of the canyon, before heading back on the long drive to Arequipa. We stayed in Arequipa for a couple of more days and really enjoyed our time here. It is Peru's 2nd largest
city and is nicknamed “the white city” as it is famous for its grand colonial buildings made out of an almost white volcanic rock, which dazzles in the bright sunshine. We spent time wondering around the main square, and also had time to visit the Monastery of Santa Catalina, which was almost a city within a city it was so big, and the Museo Santury. This museum exhibits 'Juanita - The Ice Princess'... a frozen Inca girl, 12 to 14 years old, who was sacrificed to the mountain gods, at the top of one of the mountains above Arequipa hundreds of years ago, and is one of the best preserved mummies found. Most of the museum holds the artifacts found in her tomb and details of the journey up the mountain, but the last room holds the glass case where Juanita's tiny body is kept at below freezing... it was quite creepy to see.
From Arequipa we travelled on by another night bus to Nazca, and the famous Nazca Lines. These are lines and drawings etched into the desert 1000s of years ago, but there is no real explanation as to why they are there. No one knew they
existed until someone flew over them, before then even a road was built through the middle of one because you cannot see them from the ground. They survive because of the lack of rain in the area so they have never washed away. The drawings are huge, with some of the more complex ones being a massive monkey, a spider and an astronaut... or at least something that could look like an astronaut... after all, these were created 1000s of years ago! The only way to really see the Lines is on a light aircraft, but as it is notorious for being a rough flight and banking sharply from left to right, Elaine decided to miss this one out. It was truly memorable, flying over these huge drawings and even though it was rough, no one was sick on our plane which was good!
There wasn't a great deal else to do in Nazca, as it is only a small little town. We did a brief tour of the Nazca Cemetery out in the hot desert, where there are some restored graves with the mummies, bones and skulls thousands of years old... it was a bit freaky when the
face detection on our camera picked up the skulls faces!
Our penultimate stop in Peru was Pisco, but not before visiting the massive sand dunes at Huacachina. We went on a huge sand buggy, tearing up and over the sand dunes, often leaving our stomachs way behind! We then made a quick stop at a pisco distilery and had a quick tour round the various stages of making pisco... then on to the best bit of the pisco tasting! Of the few different varieties that we tasted, it was definitely the pisco cream that went down the best... more than a hint of Baileys about it, which we're sure is why we all liked it!
We eventually made it into the town of Pisco where we were staying the night on the way to Lima and it was immediately obvious that it was badly damaged in the earthquake last August. A lot of people had died here, and it was pretty sad driving through the town seeing all the rubble piled up where there used to be buildings. It will take a long time for the city to be rebuilt, and although it has started they have a
long way to go.
We continued along the Pan American highway to our last stop in Peru, Lima. We had heard mixed reviews about Lima, so we stayed just a couple of nights. We stayed in the area of Miraflores, and really only saw the modern side of the city there and down at the coast. Unfortunately, it was drizzling most of the time we were in Lima so we didn't do too much. The parts we saw were like any other big city, all modern and with the usual suspects of McDonalds, KFC, Pizza Hut, Starbucks etc... we really could have been in almost any western city in the world! We had a couple of good bye dinners and drinks with the people we had travelled with over the past few weeks and as we all slowly left one by one on different flights... it was soon our turn to head off to the airport to our next destination of Quito in Ecuador.
Peru was a spectacular country, not least because of Machu Picchu and the Inca Trail, but because of the people and their culture, so rich in history and the people so colourful and friendly.
The Spanish may have tried to change their culture all those years ago, but the Andean religion is still going strong, just interwoven into Catholic nowadays! We had been travelling with such a good group of people for the past few weeks too, and together with the crowning moment of reaching Machu Picchu, had really made our time in Peru fantastic.
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Sue Lavery
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Travelblog
Just reading your blog I feel I was back there. The condors, the Nazca lines. Pisco was very depressing and I truly felt for the people. Imagine what the people in China went through. I am sure enjoying reliving my time in Peru through your blog. Keep enjoying your year.