(Again... I wrote most of this entry on the Bolivian bus still.) So...
Peru seems to have become our most intense time travelling so far - seeing and doing so much in 2 and a half weeks. We spent our first night (and the only one) in Lima - I must say it wasnt a particularly appealing place, but then i only saw a small part of it, and i had just said goodbye to Viv... ( hooray the bus is fixed! Last entry, i told you how the bus had broken down).
We then bused for about 2 hours south, down to a place called Huacachina, famous for and frequented by travellers because it is a town in masses and massive sanddunes. So we went sandboarding! It was so much fun. We got driven around the dunes by a guy who owned our hostel - we´d board down a slope then he´d come pick us up at the bottom and drive us to another one. We stayed there until almost dark, so we could see the sunset which looked incredible with the dunes.
Then i spent a day in Nazca to see the world famous Nazca lines (lines made in the massive desert plains, in various shapes e.g. spider, waving man, hummingbird... They date back to the ancient Nazca civilisation, are only visible from the air, and are quite a mystery. You´ve probably seen them on ´The Extraordinary´). They were amazing, except we went up in a 4 person plane, and the pilot used the tip of the wings as a reference point (e.g. "see that one on the right?" plane then tips almost vertical...). Halfway through the flight i was feeling preeeetty queasy...but hoorah! Did not throw up.
Then that afternoon i did some tour, where we went to a graveyard with all mummies and stuff. Pretty gross actually. Was an interesting tour... There was me who could speak English and a little Spanish, the tour guy who could speak Spanish and a tiny tiny bit of English (who loved "discotec". He really liked to talk about the "discotec"...very happening word over there...). There was a Japanese girl who spoke no Spanish and only a little English, and an Argentine who spoke Spanish and a little English. So we all had to work together to explain things to each other...lost in translation!
That night i got a bus to Arequipa, where we spent 2 days on a tour of the Colca Canyon. Pretty much some of the most amazing Peruvian countryside, complete with Andean women and children in traditional dress and living on the land, and selling countless but each identical alpaca jumpers, beanies, socks, gloves etc... ("pure alpaca, miss! For you, special price."). We saw loads of alpacas, llamas (and we tried both of them...very tasty), also saw condors. We went to a thermal bath, and unfortunately were subjected to the terrible, terrible thing that is Peruvian music, in our restaurant for dinner (think lots of whistle-pipe things, being blown on intensely and out of tune by a bunch of blokes...painful, painful experience. And to add insult to ear injury, not only were we each dragged up and made dance with the restaurant dancer entertainment - people doing odd dances in their traditional dress - we also had to donate money at the end!)
And it was on this tour that we first tried coca leaves - they are leaves from the coca plant, that is also used to make cocaine. It is tradition in Peru to chew coca leaves (yup, munching on greens like a cow), apparently they help with altitude sickness, as most of southern Peru is at high altitude. Chewing coca leaves is really really disgusting...the only interesting part is that it makes your mouth go a bit numb and tingly. Coca leaf tea is really nice though, and does the same trick.
In our hostel back in Arequipa, we also met an awesome English girl named Sarah, who we arranged to travel with through Bolivia and Ecuador a few weeks later.
And then it was my birthday! Quietly celebrated because i was actually really sick, the night before in Arequipa hostel with Claire, Sarah and other hostel folk - had a glass of vino tinto. Claire also surprised me with a plate of aljahores biscuits (Susan and Jenna - conceptually pleasing biscuits only with dulce de leche caramel in the middle...amazing), and a candle, and everyone sang me happy birthday.
Then on my actual birthday we got on a bus to Puno - the town housing the Peruvian side of Lake Titicaca (biggest lake in South America - apparently the shape of the river looks like a Puma - i think the Peruvian people are nuts with their ability to see pumas and people in shapes of rocks, rivers etc. I think they believe too much...), and spent the night there (unfortunately i was still sick, and all I wanted was to go to bed!) The following day we had a 2 day tour on the lake, visiting the famous floating islands(made solely of reeds and dirt stuff, about a metre deep... incredible). We then had an overnight family stay with a local family on one of the islands (real, not a reed one) on the lake. That was a lovely and humbling experience - there were about 8 people in their family with no electricity, and they spent over an hour each time cooking us meals on their fire stove (the 13 year old daughter did most of the cooking). That night we went to a "discotec" - we all had to dress up in traditional Andean dress (yes, we were tied into a blouse, skirt, belt and headscarf thing). Not a great look, and a little different to what you"d wear out in Sydney or somewhere... And oh my god it was cold there! I slept in all the clothes i brought, beanie, scarf, and about 5 blankets on me. A really cool tour.
Next was an overnight bus to Cusco, and funnily enough, one of Viv"s friends was on the bus! Popular gringo trail... And he was staying at the same hostel as us too. That is, Loki Hostel, which houses about 180 gringos, all there to party.
Our first night in Loki, we met a guy at the bar who could do the most amazing card tricks i had ever seen. He apparently could also hypnotise people, which i was sceptical of until one of the nights we watched him hypnotise this poor guy, who was doing all sorts of funny things (e.g. chatting up a broom, being the worlds best break dancer...)
Cusco was an alright city - great for the nightlife, but very touristy otherwise - but everyone goes there to see Machu Picchu, the ancient city of the Incas. We were no exception, and were booked to do the classic Inca Trail trek, the famous 4 day hike to Machu Picchu. After a few days relaxing in Cusco, we set off. Our trek group, oddly enough, consisted of only Claire and I, so for the 2 of us, we had our lovely guide Christian, our cook and 4 porters! So we got looked after rather well.
And the trek was just unbelievable. Its difficult to actually describe, but the scenery was absolutely breathtaking. And the food they served us! Truly amazing. The porters would set off with all our stuff for the entire trek (Claire and I only needed to carry little day packs with water and copious snacks including Snickers) - each porter could carry a maximum of 20kg each - theyd virtually run the whole way. We"d arrive at the lunch point, where our 2 course lunch would be cooked for us (starting with soup, then a yummy main of fish or chicken), we"d have a bucket of warm water and a towel to wash our hands and faces with, and we didnt have to do a thing! We"d eat, then set off walking for another few hours to our dinner and overnight camping spot. The porters would wash and pack up from lunch, pass us on the way, then have our campsite set up, including our tent and sleeping bags rolled out, for our arrival. Then it would be afternoon tea and biscuits, an Inca history lesson from Christian, followed by a 3 course dinner of soup, main and dessert (best dessert was chocolate pudding). Ooh and best brekky was pancakes and dulce de leche. And every morning the porters would wake us up, and outside our tent there would be a cup of coca tea each, and a bucket of hot water and a towel to wash with.
The first day was pretty easy going, but the second day was TOUGH. Four hours of walking uphill, until you reach the highest point of the trail, at 4000 metres above sea level (bloody freezing! Especially after sweating and puffing the whole way up, then to reach antartica at the summit.) It was such a relief to make it! And then it was just another 2 hours of downhill. Easy... so I thought. But walking down steps for 2 hours is bloody hard as well! By the time we arrived at the campsite I was just a little grumpy. Snickers and the fact that I didnt have to walk for another 12 hours brightened my mood though.
Day 3 was probably the best - just a really beautiful walk, and stopping off at lots of Inca Ruins. Actually... just remembered that we walked for 8 hours that day... a bloody long day. It was beautiful up until the last few hours, when i turned tired and stroppy with Christian because he kept saying, for about 2 hours, that our campsite wasnt far away. Then we finally made it to Day 3 campsite! This place actually had a restaurant and a bar where you could buy drinks (unfortunately beer, which i dont like, but Christian shouted us one each. Rusty, rusty nails...). The place even had a shower, but given our tent was about a 10 min walk uphill from the bar-rest area, we figured, whats one more day?
More stroppiness with Christian when, after our arrival at the bar, he wanted us to walk another 10-15 mins to more Inca Ruins. So petulantly (me), we went. They were really beautiful, however i did refuse to walk further down into the main set of ruins, and admire them from afar.
That night we had our final meal cooked by our porters, and we had a hilarious time with them getting group photos. (Especially sweet when Christian had to explain to one of them how to use a digital camera). Then it was off to bed because the next morning we were due to get up at 5am. Or so we thought... At 4am, the porters were knocking on our tent- "senoritas, time to get up!". I figured they got the time wrong, so tried ignoring them. But they didnt go away, so we got up (and good that we did, because all the other groups were well under way). Day 4 is quite competitive - people trying to get to Machu Picchu first to see the sun rise.
After a hearty breakfast of dulce de leche pancakes, it was about an hour"s walk until we reached the sun gate - the spot where you get the first view of the staggering Machu Picchu ruins. We"d finally made it! We made the final, 20 minute descent, and we were at Machu Picchu. It was incredible. Unfortunately our 3 day stint of beautiful weather didnt continue, and it was overcast, so we didnt get to see the sunrise.
We got loads of photos (except my camera, on cue, ran out of batteries upon arrival. No problem, because I had been super cautious and brought 2 new packets of batteries. Yes, 2 packets of batteries that DID NOT WORK. Rage was diffused though, because Claire"s old batteries still had some juice left in them.) After spending a couple of hours at the ruins, getting an incredible Inca history lesson, we caught the train back to Cusco, with the surreal experience of "did we just do the Inca Trail?"
Arrived in Cusco about 10pm that night, showered and straight to the hostel bar for celebratory drinks. Met an awesome bunch of people who we went out in Cusco with - lots of drunkenness, complete with dancing on the bar (me, and an American guy we were with).
Claire and i also tried guinea pig before we left Peru. Apparently its a delicacy there, but um... We shared a roasted one, and it arrived, cut in half (half on Claires plate, half on mine), complete with skin, toenails and teeth. Just turn it over, avoid the brain, and pick out the scrawny bits of meat with your fingers. Really isnt a lot of meat on a guinea pig (who knew?), so best not to eat when you"re actually hungry.
Finally, our 2 and a half week stint in Peru was over, and time to board an overnight bus to Bolivia...
