Peru....Reflections

The floating reed islands on Lake Titicaca

A ten hour bus journey south from Cuzco and we arrived at our final destination in Peru, the lakeside town of Puno situated on the banks of the legendary Lake Titicaca, the highest navigable lake in the world at 3800m above sea level.

We had just enough time for one more unique experience in this wonderful country, a boat trip onto the lake to visit the floating reed islands occupied by the Uros people who ingeniously build their own islands, houses and boats out of reeds and have done for centuries. Admittedly its a little like a reed Disneyland but there's nowhere else quite like it and who are we to miss out on the opportunity to see them.

Peru has been a fantastic success and we've loved every minute of it. We've had to race through at times for fear of transport delays over the festive season but this just didn't materialise. A country rich in culture, history, scenery and diversity yet remains very poor. From our experience it appears to be a very tough place for the local people to live but they are incredibly friendly, colourful and proud of their culture.

DAYS SPENT:   15

TRANSPORT:  2 planes, 10 taxis, 6 buses, 2 mini buses, 1 train, 1 boat

NUMBER OF PLACES WE STAYED:  6 (2 B&B’s, 4 hostels)

ITEMS LOST/BROKEN:  Vanessa's silver earrings

FAVOURITE EATERY:  Jack’s Café in Cuzco

WILDLIFE SPOTTED: condors, llamas, alpacas, vicunas, mangy dogs

TOURS TAKEN:  5 (flight over the Nazca Lines, Colca Canyon, The Sacred Valley, Cuzco to Puno, the floating islands of Lake Titicaca)

BEST VALUE FOR MONEY:  the 3 soles (75p) I gave a wonderful old Peruvian lady who posed beautifully after I had the balls to ask if I could take a picture of her

Machu Picchu

Our Christmas Day

No Christmas tree, no presents, no Christmas dinner, so we booked ourselves on a tour of The Sacred Valley on Christmas Day which is just a normal day in Peru as Christmas Eve is their main event.

Along with hundreds of others who had exactly the same idea as us, we visited a few spectacular sites with a superb guide who's every word was absorbed as he showed and explained the marvels of the the extraordinary Inca civilzation who ruled a large part of South America over 500 years ago.

In virtually impossible locations, stones weighing up to 100 tonnes were somehow dragged up mountains, then cut using such advanced techniques that the world's top engineers, archeologists and historians have never been able to replicate it or indeed explain how it was achieved.

After somehow being cut, these gigantic stones were lifted into position using a 'tongue and groove technique' which is still earthquake proof today. They even built an air conditioned grain store in the side of a mountain which a few years ago, experts made an attempt to build a replica one on the same mountain. It never worked. The Inca one still works today.

So baffling were their achievements that the local people actually believe that the Inca's didn't build these at all. It must have been some other being.....aliens!! Raucous laughter followed when we told this story but as we witnessed more and more astonishing things in impossible locations, everyone was just beginning to think.........mmmm???

The sun comes out, revealing an eerie Machu Picchu

The most remarkable thing was not just that we'd actually learned something on Christmas Day but that this civilization who created an empire, their own language, their own religion and thousands of impossible stuctures, weren't around for thousands or even hundreds of years. Just 93 years from start to finish. Then along came the Spaniards who stole, butchered and destroyed everything and the Inca's were gone.

Machu Picchu, 'the Inca's jewel in the crown' awaited us. It survived because its so remote and difficult to get to that the pesky Spaniards never found it. It was never high on our list to see as ignorantly we thought it was just a pile of old rocks but suddenly we were quite excited at the prospect, especially as it costs a small fortune to get there and its not the easiest place to reach.

A taxi ride to the bus station, a one and a half hour mini bus ride to the wonderfully named village of Ollantaytambo, from there a spectacular one and a half hour train journey to Agues Caliente and then check in for the night after buying bus tickets for the final half hour journey up the mountain. It was as simple as that.

Next morning it was a 4.30am breakfast in an attempt to beat the crowds which we did but unfortunately the weather beat us. Rain and cloud prevented us from seeing anything apart from a few sodden alpacas but we persevered. After six hours stood in the pouring rain there was a break in the clouds, revealing the ancient citadel below and the breathtaking location.

We realised just how lucky we were as we caught the train back to Cuzco.

Juanita

Before leaving Arequipa we were lucky enough to meet Juanita, a 12 year old 'ice princess', who's preserved body is on display at the University Museum directly opposite our hotel. She died 500 years ago and was discovered encased in ice in the crater at the top of Mount Amatapo, the massive volcano that looms over the city of Arequipa, Peru. What is more remarkable than the expedition with their crampons, modern day clothing and camping equipment, who actually discovered her and brought her body back down, is how did Juanita get there in the first place.

She was from the ancient Inca civilisation that ruled this area of South America 500 years ago,  who believed that the mountains were gods. When these gods became angry, the Incas would give offerings to appease them, including the sacrificing of Juanita, chosen because of her pureness, beauty and innocence. She was marched 160 miles from the Inca capital, Cuzco, to Mount Amatapo before enduring a torturous climb in freezing conditions, wrapped in nothing more than ornately woven fabric and wearing sandals, to the top of the mountain where she would meet her death in a grand ceremony. Its a fascinating story and a great insight into an ancient culture.

Look and learn!!

Its in Cuzco that we find ourselves for Christmas. A stunning city, steeped in history, with its huge plazas and cathedral, steep cobblestone streets and all in a beautiful valley setting. It's here that we've had to delve deep into our rucksacks to find some warm clothing that has lay undiscovered for nearly four months. Situated at 3400 metres above sea level its pretty cold at night but still quite warm, about 18C during the day.

When we arrived we thought we'd chance it and try and check  in early to our accommodation, Hostel Qorichaska which means gold star. What we were met with as we walked into reception was 40 sets of children’s eyes glaring at us. Every Christmas the hostel invites the very poor children and some of their mothers from the local villages to a Christmas party and suddenly we were invited too. No time to drop the bags off before Vanessa was dancing with kids and I was grabbed by one of the mothers, who must have been four foot nothing with a baby strapped to her back, for a shot at their local dance. All the kids receive sweet bread, hot chocolate and a present each, as were we when they left, apart from the present of course. What a bizarre start to the day, a children’s party in Peru at 8 o’clock in the morning.

Things settled down after that as we spent the day strolling around this wonderful place although climbing the steep cobblestone streets was a bit tough on the lungs at this altitude, but  it does actaully feel a bit Christmassy, so luckily we’ve made the perfect choice.

Talking of Christmas, we’d like to wish everyone a very happy one and thanks for reading our blog.

 

Images of Peru (week 1)

Santa Catalina Convent

Santa Catalina Convent

Santa Catalina Convent

Arequipa

Road crossing the Nazca desert

Paul's birthday, flying over the Nazca Lines

Colourful dancers, Colca Valley

Cheesy, but had to be done

Locals in The Colca Valley

Vanessa at The Colca Canyon

Arequipa Cathedral

The White City

Vanessa in a convent!!

From the scorching desert heat we travelled south to Peru’s second largest city, Arequipa. It’s dubbed ‘the white city’ due to its main cathedral, government buildings and mansions being constructed of ‘sillar’, a local white volcanic rock which glistens in the sunshine.

The central plaza’s buildings are all made of sillar which makes it a wonderful place to stroll around, as is the mesmerising Santa Catalina Monastery.  It’s a huge complex, a citadel within the city occupying 5 acres with its own streets, a central square and has only recently been opened to the public after 500 years of shenanigans which are allegedly so bizarre there’s a film recently been made about it. Stories of slavery, outrageous wealth, pregnancy and even the body of a baby being found buried within its walls. It’s a beautiful and intriguing place to walk around, especially at night when its dimly lit.

Colca Canyon, The Andes

That evening we were collected at 2.30am, yes 2.30am for a day trip to the Colca Canyon in the Andes Mountains, the deepest canyon in the world and twice as deep as the Grand Canyon. Unbelievably there were 12 other idiots on the trip and the first stop was the highest point reached by road, a breathless 5350 metres above sea level, more than half the height of Mount Everest. Breathless not only because of the altitude but at 6am it was bone chillingly cold.

We were lucky to have glorious sunshine for the day as we witnessed condors with their 11 foot wingspan, glide across the canyon, mountain villages with their colourfully dressed woman, Inca  terraces constructed in impossible places and the canyon itself, so deep that you could be barely see the raging river below. Truly spectacular scenery and an amazing day which made it worthwhile getting up at stupid o’clock.

 

Birthday in the Desert

The 100 metre long hummingbird carved into the desert

Quite the bizarre place to spend a birthday, in the middle of the scorching hot Peruvian desert adjacent to the Andes, taking a flight over the Nazca Lines. A mysterious network of huge figures over 100 metres long, including monkeys, lizards and hummingbirds carved into the dry, arid landscape over 1500 years ago. They cover a vast area of over 300 square miles and the mystery remains today as to how they were made and more importantly why, as they are so huge they can only be viewed from the air.  Its remarkable that they haven’t been eroded but such is the climate here with virtually no wind or rain that they’ve remained intact.

The short 30 minute flight was an incredible experience as was the initial safety briefing of ‘’mind your head’’.

Getting here from Colombia has taken four flights in three days so a pleasure flight today was just what the doctor ordered. Considering we were in South America, we had to fly back to Panama in Central America before catching the flight to Peru which was via Miami in North America! It’s a bit like flying from London to New York via Rome and Cape Town.

The Spider in the desert landscape

We were very happy to be met at Lima airport as it was 11.30pm on a Sunday night, by the driver from the superbly named Inkafrog B&B. You’d think it would be easy to spot your name on a placard apart from there must have been a hundred placards to read as we stood there trying to read them all.

We spent just one day in Lima and were a little surprised how modern it was but it was enough time to be suitably impressed. A luxury 7 hour bus ride from Lima brought us through an ever increasing dry landscape to our home for the night in Nazca.

It's going to be a land of contrasts over the next couple of months, from the hot, dry desert here in Nasca to cold, high altitude lakes and from the 'white city' to the steaming Amazon basin. Its going to be a bumpy old ride as it coincides with both holiday season and rainy season.

Images of Colombia

Playa Blanca

Vanessa, Playa Blanca

Cartagena

Cartagena

Cartagena

Our rooftop room in Minca

Sunset in Minca overlooking Santa Marta

Hummingbirds at Minca

Pelicans, Taganga

Tayrona National Park

Colombia....Reflections

From the picturesque Spanish colonial city of Cartagena to tropical rainforests, from stunning Caribbean beaches to cool coffee growing hills, its been a great start to the South America leg of our trip. The food and accommodation have been excellent and the people very friendly. You can feel their frustration at still being tarnished with Colombia’s notorious drugs past but things are changing rapidly as more and more people visit and return home with glowing reports.

Colombia was never part of our original itinerary but we were determined to create the time to visit and its paid off. Memorably its been incredibly hot  with wall to wall sunshine which we’ve lapped up despite us being unable to keep up with washing our disgusting clothes.   

 DAYS SPENT:   11

TRANSPORT:  1 plane, 5 taxis, 1 boat, 2 shuttle buses, 2 chicken buses,

NUMBER OF PLACES WE STAYED:  4 (1 hotel, 3 hostels)

ITEMS LOST/BROKEN:  Paul’s rucksack developed a 6 inch tear but got it repaired at the tailors within in hour for £1.50, Vanessa’s toothbrush (left behind)

FAVOURITE EATERY:  Agave Azul in Santa Marta

WILDLIFE SPOTTED: hummingbirds, mangy dogs

TOURS TAKEN:   1 (Playa Blanca Beach)

BEST VALUE FOR MONEY:  a few hours watching hundreds of tiny hummingbirds feeding for the price of two fresh Colombian coffees (60p each)  

Chocolate Greatness

Colombia is hot, very hot, so its pretty slow going in temperatures reaching 100 degrees.

Vanessa cooling off in Minca

We chicken bussed it from Santa Marta to the small fishing village of Taganga, a horseshoe shaped bay surrounded by scorched brown hills laden with cactii. Sounds picturesque, but its a dump. Its been over run by rubbish, backpackers and with it, a big drugs reputation and police roaming the streets. We  somehow lasted about two hours before heading back.

Our main objective was to visit Tayrona National Park just an hour's chicken bus ride away along the coast. Luckily the temperature dropped slightly with a bit more cloud for the four hike through tropical rainforest where it meets the sea and several wild and tranquil bays. On the way we noticed a small 'bakery' sign so we had to venture in and discovered chocolate greatness. A little old lady in her ramshackle house was churning out these freshly baked, warm chocolate loaves, so good that a pain au chocolat will be never be consumed again.

What should have been a simple chicken bus ride home from Tayrona didn't quite materialise. Along with eight or so others, we jumped on and straight away it just didn't feel right. The bus was really dark with some odd characters looking around at eachother. It just felt weird. It stopped a couple of times without picking up or dropping off any more passengers so when it stopped again, this time at a police checkpoint, we jumped off along with three others who it turned out were actually Colombians on holiday and they'd felt exactly the same.

From then on it worked out really well as they asked the local police to put us on another bus which they kindly did and instructed the driver to take us free of charge a few miles further up the road. The five of us plus a backpack and a tent, then jumped into the smallest taxi in the world back to Santa Marta which these amazingly friendly and generous Colombians insisted on paying for. The taxi driver's face lit up when he first saw us at the thought of a huge fare without realising that we'd all spent hours walking in scorching temperatures and we all stank, just like his taxi must have done for days after.

Hummingbirds by the hundred

The cooler coffee growing hills of Sierra Nevada were beckoning us so we caught a four wheel drive taxi, which some thirty years ago probably had windows, padded seats and suspension,  15km up a rough old road to the small riverside town of Minca. However, the cooler temperatures hadn’t reached down as far as Minca so by the time we’d climbed with our backpacks up steep steps for 15 minutes to our accommodation, there was a familiar smell, a bit like that Colombian taxi.

We had stunning views from our hostel room across the valley below to the shining lights of Santa Marta beyond. Just the perfect place to take it all in and watch the sunset. Our last morning in the hills was spent on the terrace drinking the local fresh Colombian coffee whilst watching hundreds of hovering hummingbirds feeding right in front of us. We’ll miss this place as we now head back to Cartagena for the night and our return flight back to Panama.......unfortunately.

Tough Day In The Office

Tough day in the office on Playa Blanca

We're not really 'sit on the beach all day kind of people' but similarly we weren't going to miss the opportunity to catch the boat from Cartagena to the amazing Playa Blanca. We were a little nervous at first when we saw streams of tourists piling onto a party boat but luckily we were ushered onto a virtually empty one.

An hour later, after avoiding all the hawkers who strangely enough seemed really pleased to see us, we'd found an empty part of the beach which was as good as they come. Brilliantly turquoise and calm warm water with 30C sunshine for good measure. It must have been perfect conditions for Vanessa to keep throwing herself back in the sea and we had to keep pinching ourselves that we were in Colombia.

Nice hat?

It was a glorious alternative for the day because despite the 16th century Spanish city being a beautiful place it does become quite hard continuously fending off the hawkers who some actually thought we'd come off the cruise shop. Surely we looked far too long haired and scruffy for that? Stop on a street corner to take a picture at your peril but a minor inconvenience though.

After four nights taking in the captivating walled city we took a shuttle bus four hours up the coast to Santa Marta. First impressions, we didn't realise that Colombia could do tacky seaside towns as well as we do at home. The only difference was the hot weather but we soon warmed to the place once we found a fantastic Mexican restaurant. Despite the amusement arcades and the Christmas lights, Santa Marta will be our base for a few days whilst we explore Tayrona National Park and the hillside village of Minca.

Cartagena, Colombia

The beatiful plazas of Cartagena

A perfect flight from Panama and we'd arrived in Cartagena, Colombia, located near the northernmost tip of South America. Colombia's notorious past is over which has opened it up to huge investment and tourism and we plan to spend a couple of weeks here on the coast on the start of a new three month leg of our trip.

Strangely we were greeted with the warmest welcome ever by the immigration official which was an unusually good sign and then within an hour we'd checked into our huge hotel room and eaten a superb meal in the wonderfully named Cafe Lunatico which proved that the appalling food in Panama City wasn't just bad luck.

We woke to blue skies and 30C temperatures and spent the day strolling around the 16th century, picture potscard, walled part of the city with its plazas, churches, and colourfully painted houses with their bougainvilla strewn balconies.

A great start to a new country and a new continent.

Images of Panama

Yacht being dwarfed on The Panama Canal locks

The Panama Hat

Starfish Beach, Bocos del Toro

Casco Viejo, Panama City

Sunday in the park, Panama City

Isla Taboga, Panama City

Storm approaching Panama City

Panama.....Reflections

A milestone reached as we end our time in Central America by completing the first third of our nine month journey. The next period is a bit confusing as we fly to South America, back to Central America, up to North America before ending back in South America for Christmas.

Nine weeks spent in Central America and Guatemala was the favourite destination by far. Panama has been a little disappointing particularly as the first week was more or less washed out but Panama City has been a strange place.

Vanessa eating ceviche in Panama City

It may have fantastic shopping plazas, an ultra modern skyline, marinas full of million pound boats but bizarrely it has the most diabolical food and we’ve been searching for something edible for six days. To say it has been shite would be paying it a compliment.  Everywhere we’ve been they’ve either run out, even in fast food joints, served us undercooked food which had to be returned or its been comically bland and tasteless. We even resorted to eating glupe, sorry, I mean Chinese food and to cap it all, on our last night after looking round the recommeneded area for food, we ended up in the Chinese again! Our philosophy...... why pay $15 for crap when we could get it for $3?

The only tasty thing was ceviche at the fish market which is raw fish in lime juice with onions and spices.

The taxis in the city are cheap, comical and challenging. Normally we have to ask where they’re going, negotiate a fare, listen to them  talk to us continously in Spanish after we’ve told them we can’t speak it and the best was when I asked to go to Hostel Mamallena and he told us that it was OK because he spoke English, so I replied, ‘’Hostel Mamallena’’, and suddenly he understood.

The Panama Canal was a huge highlight of our stay but unfortunately we have to return to the city for two nights after our visit to Colombia.

DAYS SPENT:   13

TRANSPORT:  2 buses, 3 boats, 20 taxis.

NUMBER OF PLACES WE STAYED:  3 (1 hotel, 1 tent, 1 hostel )

ITEMS LOST/BROKEN:  none

FAVOURITE EATERY:  Thanksgiving at Palmar Tent Lodge on Red Frog Beach

WILDLIFE SPOTTED:  white faced monkey

TOURS TAKEN:  none

BEST VALUE FOR MONEY:  Thanksgiving (free party with tons of food)