Mon 15 Apr
Today, with guide Pablo and driver, we drove past the snow-capped volcanoes of Misti, Chachani and Ampato, and visited some local villages on the way to our overnight stop in the small town of Chivay, near the Colca Canyon. The canyon, twice as deep as the Grand Canyon in the US, is home to the Andean Condors, which we hope to see tomorrow.
During the afternoon we bathed in relaxing thermal baths (heated from underground springs). Dinner was at a local restaurant in the square during which time we chatted with an English traveller and generally exchanged travel tales - as you do! Our hotel, Casa Andina Colca, is quite unique, being built completely of local stone, mud bricks and thatch roofs and set in the midst of ancient farming terraces.
We have been so lucky with the weather to date - two months in and we've had maybe four wet days; two while trekking in Patagonia and two on driving days. The rest of the time has been warm and sunny.
Spoke with Sheri on the phone.
Tue 16 Apr
Early start today along the spectacular Colca Valley to the 'Cruz del Condor' where we are fortunate enough to witness a dozen or so condors soaring high above and then swooping just over our heads as they float on the early morning thermals. The Colca Canyon certainly is incredibly deep - we can bearly see the river at the bottom - after all, it is 3200m from bottom to top at its most steepest.
We then continue through some small villages where we take photos with traditionally dressed local children, returning to Arequipa by late afternoon.
Ironically, the Dragomam group are staying just up the road.
Wed 17 Apr
Today's bus ride from Arequipa to Nasca was unforgettable. The nine hour trip in a luxury coach included around 5-6 hours of winding coastline which would easily rival the Great Oean Road - and we had the "best seats in the house', top deck and in the front so we had a 180 degree view :- it was like being on a rolletcoaster! The scenery was surreal - miles of desert sand on the right (heading north) and crashing waves (of the Pacific Ocean) on the left. The only greenery was in the oases in the valleys where, amazingly, crops were abundant - olive groves, cactus plants, maize, vineyards, etc. Breakfast and lunch were served on board, like in a plane.
We arrived in Nasca - a God-foresaken town in the middle of the desert - around 4.30pm and checked into our Hotel (Casa Andina Classic). We scored a 2-room suite with sitting room and separate bedroom. There is also an outdoor pool at the hotel which we may try tomorrow as it is so hot here. The only reason to come to Nasca is to fly over the UNESCO World Heritage 'Nasca Lines', which we shall be doing tomorrow morning.
Nasca was totally destroyed in a major earthquake in 1996 and completely rebuilt since then, so downtown is relatively new (by Peruvian standards). At night the town 'rocks' with young dudes driving around in their little hotted up cars playing loud music and young women walking around looking like prostitutes in their skin-tight jeans and low cut tops (actually typical dress throughout this continent). The central part of town is full of tour operators, souvenir shops, restaurants and hotels - all surviving off the back of tourism - and there is an air of prosperity about it.
Got one of my shoes repaired for 2Sols (80c).
Dinner was at a restaurant recommended in the Lonely Planet book and we had seafood risotto - delicious.
Thu 18 Apr
Today we flew over the ancient Nasca Lines (now a UNESCO World Heritage Site) in a 6-seater plane. Contrary to expectations we weren't airsick as the plane dived, banked and manouvered to show all passengers the many mysterious. shapes. There is still much debate amongst academics as to the origins of these gigantic lines and shapes hidden in the endless desert and only visible from the air. Some say religious; some say astronomical; some say agricultural - no-one really knows.
Back at our hotel room for a rest after the flight, we watch on CNN the church service for the afterath of the Boston Marathon tragedy. Such a shame that this should happen.
Usual difficulty withdrawing money from ATMs (only in Peru) so change US dollars on the street (outside bank and under supervision of local police!).
Early dinner and early night as we are being collected at 4.30am for a private transfer to Paracas, a small seaside town from where we shall take a boat cruise around the Ballestas Islands.
Fri 19 Apr
Our three hour drive gets us to Paracas in time for an 8.30am cruise which takes us to a collection of craggy islands famous for their birdlife - pelicans, seals, penguins and many other birds. The birds' droppings create a cover of nitrate which is collected every seven years and sold as fertilizer. Apart from the bird life, the islands themselves are quite remarkable with blowholes, sheer cliffs and interesting rock face. The trip took two hours after which we took a long walk along the beach and had lunch at a beach front restaurant (Julie's fish soup was one of the best meals thus far). We then waited for our bus service to Lima which left at 3.15pm.
Arrival into Lima was around 8pm followed by transfer to the Lima Wasi Hotel in the seaside suburb of Miraflores. This is an affluent area with very smart apartments and houses overlooking the clifftop coastline, and is a quiet introduction to what we expect to be a very noisy and congested city.
We go straight to bed as we have been up since 4am!
Sat 20 Apr
At breakfast we chat with a young fellow from NSW visiting Peru with his parents (mother Peruvian, father Czech). He offers us some travel tips as he has been to this city a number of times.
We take a morning clifftop stroll along the esplanade which is very relaxing. There are many surfers in the water and many parks to walk through, including the Parque de Amor (Lovers' Park) which consists of a large sculpture of two lovers embracing and kissing, and a lot of mosaicwork edging beautiful gardens. Needless to say, young lovers hang out here! In fact, throughout South America we've noticed that young couples will kiss and cuddle on just about park bench, every street corner, in the middle of the pavement - everywhere!
Julie had her black leather shoes polished in the park by a shoeshine fellow.
In the evening we walk along the clifftop in the opposite direction, to the neighbouring suburb of Barranca, quite an old bohemian district full of galleries and restaurants. We watch the sun set and enjoy a superb meal.
Sun 21 Apr
After breakfast we transfer to the Hostel Bonbini in downtown Lima where we shall rejoin the Dragoman group for our onward travels through Ecuador and Colombia. Luckily it's Sunday morning so the traffic is unusually quiet.
We check in, dump our stuff, and head off to rediscover this huge, noisy and polluted city which follows much the same format as all other South American small towns and large cities - main square with surrounding cathedral and presidential palace or grand ornate municipal buildings.
Six o'clock meeting with new group members and new driver then off to dinner. We're informed that our tour leader Anna has suddenly left Dragoman so Shaun the driver has had to arrange for a rerplacement, Zoe, whom we believe will be joiningus in the next ay or two.
In the evening tht tain square was seething with even more people than in the morning - in fact all the parks we walked through today were full of family groups enjoying the sunshine and the many festvities on offer.
Back in the room we skyped Allison.
Mon 22 Apr
Full day driving toay and we arrive in Huanchaco, on the coast, around 7.30pm which is excellent timing. Instead of camping we have hotel rooms (at Hotel Naylamp) which face the beach, and fall asleep to the sounds of crashing waves. The truck apparentlly had many breakdowns during the previous sector (while we were doing our own thing) and had an overhaul in Lima. This was obvious because it ran perfectly today at speeds never before attained!
Zoe also arrived as expected, and what a character she is! A Canadian woman, she's done and been just about everything and everywhere. She has such a warm and enthiastic personality - she's a great addition to our trip.
Instead of cooking this evening we all go to a local Mexican restaurant for dinner.
Tue 23 Apr
From Huanchaco we visit local archeological ruins, particularly the enormous pre-columbian complex of Chan Chan, a vast adobe (mud brick) city constructed by the emporer of the Chimu people. We then visited pyramids of the Moche civilisation before going to lunch.
The group stops at a local restaurant for lunch and most of us order cerviche, which is a Peruvian delicacy of raw fish marinated in lemon and lime juicejuice, coriander and chilled fish stock - very nice. Once back at our hotel we take a long beach walk.
We're finally given our cooking roster for this sector of the trip and are driven to the nearby supermarket (part of a huge modern shopping complex) and let loose with our budget!
Peter's group cook a stir fry for dinner tonight and Julie's group will do B,L,D tomorrow (spaghetti).
Wed 24 Apr
This morning we visit an impressive museum - the Lord of Sipan Museum - which is entirely dedicated to the remains and riches discovered during excavations of the tomb of this Moche ruler, and surrounding ruins. The various ornamental decorations uncovered are truly amazing in their intricacy. We then enjoyed a picnic lunch by the truck before visiting more ruins.
We then have a 510km drive to Punta Sal, on the shore of the Pacific Ocean, where we'll stay for three nights/two days, relaxing on the beach.
We arrive fairly late and hop into a seafood buffet in the restaurant at the hostel where we are staying. As there is no availability to upgrade to a room here, we put up our tent on the sand along with the others, and will seek a room elsewhere in the morning. Weather is warm and sunny every day now.
Thu 25 Apr
After French toast for breakfast we take a long walk along the wide sandy beach. Meanwhile Peter has found a comfortable room for us at a guesthouse across the road so we move our things from the tent.
We then take local transport into Mancora, a large town 25km away, for lunch and walk around. Taxi in costs 30 soles (divided by four pax) and a local bus back costs four soles each.
Two-course lunch with beer costs ten soles each (A$4). Julie buys plastic 'crocs' which are handy for walking on sand, etc.
Julie's cook group make risotto with vegs and chicken for dinner.
The young members of our group go back in to Mancora around 10pm to party on the beach while us oldies sit around chatting and soon to bed!
Fri 26 Apr
Julie's group cook breakfast this morning and then it's another long beach walk. Back to the hostel for lunch and an afternoon on the beach. A very slow and relaxing day.
Sat 27 Apr
We pack our bags and enjoy a breakfast of fried garlic bread with guacomole spread (!). After breakfast Julie gets a huge fright, thinking her bags (which she stupidly left outside the hostel by the truck) had been stolen as suddenly they weren't there. Fortunately she soon found out that one of the group had put them on he truck - what a relief, and a timely reminder to not slacken off. Ironically, we were all reeling from the fact that an American girl in our group had lost her bag containing passport, phone and money the other night while at a beach party - and we have a border crossing later today. She now has to return to Lima and go to the embassy to get an emergency passport and hopefully she may get to rejoin us later on the trip. She seemed to take it all in her stride!
Meanwhile, what should have been an hour-long order crossing into Ecuador became a three-hour farce. The brand new multi million dollar immigration centre had a computer failure so passports could not be processed. They sent us back to another border crossing point only to be told we had to go back to the first place and wait. To add to it, we picked up a young penniless Finnish lady, pregnant and with a small child (!) who was also caught up in this entry/exit fiasco so we offered to drive her to where we were going. Apparently her situation was quite complex so we left her at the second place before returning back to the first, by which time the computers were up and running again and were finally able to be stamped out of Peru and into Ecuador.
We're now getting into the tropics with less desert and more forests, and acres and acres of banana plantations. We finally stop for a roaside lunch at around 2pm, which consists of a typical Ecuadorean meal - rice, fried banana, pork and beans cooked in a sauce. A serve of that cost US$3 (dollars are the official currency here).
We arrive at the Gran Hotel in Cuenca around 7.30pm. It's more of an upmarket hostel than a hotel but quite nice.
We found a delightful restaurant (Eucalyptus Restaurant, mentioned in the LP book) - full of local paraphenalia and salsa music. Food was good too.
Sun 28 Apr
Full day touring in Cuenca today. Cuenca is Ecuador's third-largest city with some beautiful 16th and 17th century colonial architecture and a lovely river flowing through. It is also a university town so lots of young people here. Cuenca is also the home of the Panama Hat and we visited the hat museum/workshop and were shown the history and technique of making these very distinctive hats.
Ecuador is quite a clean and orderly country. Cuenca, for exxample, has quite a European feel about it.
