Peru

Mancora

We arrived to the not so sleepy town of Mancora and eventually settled into a hotel near the beach. With an initial plan of staying three nights, we made of the most of the hot weather- the last of which we would get for a while as it was to get colder and colder heading further south.

On our first day we walked along the beach only to find a dead seal washed up on the shore, getting pecked at by some condors. Apparently Luke thought it was a picture perfect moment and started snapping away- gross.

The beach itself was lovely and it was perfect for windsurfers and learning to surf. So we rented a couple boards one day and hit the waves. Unfortunately we were not the most graceful of surfers and barely managed to catch a wave. And were knackered barely half an hour in!! It’s not as easy as it looks, that’s for sure!! Another sport I do not excel in- what a surprise!!

Maybe it was the daiquiris, maybe the cuba libras, but three nights turned into five, and we were well and truly relaxed and ready to start heading to some more touristy stuff.

We got on a night bus headed to Lima overnight. It was pretty much like an aeroplane, with blankets, pillows and substandard meals in plastic containers.

Guess where??

 

Lima

We arrived early in the morning to Lima, and decided to pass on the public transport as it was just as cheap to take a taxi. That would never work in London!!

After finding a hotel to settle down in, we headed out to explore Lima, with only one day to have a look around. We took a walk to the main plaza and all the beautiful buildings surrounding it, including the presidential palace where we snapped a few pictures of the grumpy guards. We went to a museum which talked about the Spanish inquisition…in Spanish only. Something the lonely planet failed to mentioned. Although Luke, with his bountiful history knowledge and Spanish fluency tried to explain it all to me, I can’t say I absorbed much!!!

Main plaza at Lima

 

After walking around a bit more to explore all the cute colonial streets, we headed back for some food and an early night. We were due to head to Cusco the next day.

We were served a quick breakfast and headed back to the bus station. After getting our pictures and finger prints taken again, we were allowed to board the bus. This was all for safety- to prevent hijackings and muggings, something common not too long along, and luckily a bit rarer these day.

The trendy rucksack seen just about everywhere

 

It was another night bus, this time through the mountains, climbing to 3300 metres, with numerous switchbacks and everyone on the bus feeling a bit nauseous. The driver had a big problem with us trying to spread out over night despite the bus only being a third full. Apparently he wasn’t a fan of musical chairs!

Cusco

Arriving at Cusco at 8am, we headed to a hostel recommended by a couple of Kiwis who we met in Ecuador, translated as The Little Star.

We ended up staying for three nights…mostly because of the food! It was a vegan’s dream. There was even a restaurant called Green Point that served a full 4 course menu for £2.40. It was amazing food, and was full of meat eaters as well, enjoying the change from chicken, chips and rice.

The square was beautiful, probably the prettiest I’d seen, with old colonial buildings, a stunning cathedral and beautiful flowers filling the space. The town was covered in shops selling all types of knitwear- hats, gloves, jumpers, mostly made from alpaca and the softest (and most expensive) being baby alpaca.

Cusco main square. Not gay pride flag but Inca flag...

There were women dressed up in traditional clothing holding lambs and goats for the obvious tourist photo, which we loved – they were so cute. And also women dragging their llamas around town hoping for someone to snap a photo with these softies. It worked a treat! Who can say no to animals that fluffy!!

We eventually picked ourselves up and decided to book our bus to Machu Picchu. There were several options to get there, I’ll explain.

1.       Several varieties of treks – mostly booking in advance or chancing it and being flexible when you arrive in Cusco.

2.       Take a 2 hour train direct from Cusco – upwards of $100 each way (nearer $200 when we asked)

3.       Try and trek from Ollantaytambo yourself– a 30km hike

4.       Take a bus to the hydroelectric station (a 6 hour slightly harrowing journey through the mountains) then make your way to Aguas Calientes, the town closest to the ruins. The cheapest of them all (apart from trekking alone) at a steal of $12.

Not surprisingly, we took option number for. Not only was $400 for the train a ridiculous amount, but word on the street was that a British guy owned Peru rail and was the reason for prices doubling in the last couple of years…so we weren’t terribly keen on lining an already rich man’s pockets. We’d rather the money go towards the locals!!

Share a coke with...a traditional Peruvian!

 

So the next morning, we boarded our minibus and were off nice and early heading into the mountains. The first couple of hours were fine, but as we started to wind around these peaks and climb higher and higher, it was clear our driver was in a rush…and that wasn’t the most comforting experience when we had no seatbelts and two of the passengers had already started to throw up. He had to be there by 2.30pm to then take the minibus back loaded with people who had just done Machu Picchu. The girl in the front had a few words with the driver and every now and then, he slowed down or stopped overtaking on blind bends. But he wouldn’t even stop to let the girls throw out their sick bags! A bit more of a harrowing drive and the girl started yelling at him saying ‘ how many times do I have to ask you to slow down, this is ridiculous.’ To which he said ‘you’re not going to be returning in my minibus.’ She was completely fine with that! She had no seatbelt and no headrest so every time he was braking at corners she would either have her neck snap or nearly go flying through the window. We passed a lot of rocks that had fallen down onto the road the night before- some massive boulders, slate lining the whole road and who knows if it was going to come down on you whilst you were going…there were enough signs to indicate that it was a huge possibility in some sections.

There were massive drops on the side of the road, and it got even worse in the last hour where it turned into a dirt track rather than tarmac, with a good kilometre drop awaiting you…

We had a few cars and trucks coming round the corner too quickly, and no surprise that we were too. Luckily we managed to survive and were dropped off at the hydroelectric station safe and sound, if not a little shook up. I was considering that $200 train on the way back already!

It was a two and a half hour walk from there to Aguas Caliente, but we only had day packs with us so were ready for the walk along the rail tracks. We had been warned that there were these little flies that bit and scarred you, so we came prepared with our 100% deet and didn’t have any trouble. Over the next couple days, it was evident that several people were not as clued up as us and you could do a dot to dot on their arms and legs that would take you a couple of hours. Poor guys – apparently they were pretty itchy too.

Aguas Caliente

We found a place in the town eventually and settled in, amongst a group of 17 year olds on a school trip – far too hyper for these 2 oldies that had just walked in. We found a place to eat, although veggie food here seemed a little difficult to obtain. Rice, chips and salad, hold the meat and chuck a fried banana on it…apparently this took so long for the woman to comprehend that we didn’t know if she had even listened in the end, or had refused to acknowledge us. So we asked again, and about 10 minutes later, got a response and a price. Some things are so difficult in these parts, it’s almost not worth Luke’s time being vegan!!

The next morning we got up reasonably early to start our ascent to Machu Picchu. We decided to not take the bus and instead walked for an hour and a half up numerous steps which had us gasping for breath when we reached the top. We took a quick glance at the ruins before heading up Machu Picchu mountain, something we had bought with our entrance ticket a couple days ago, and had to enter before 11am otherwise we weren’t allowed to climb it. It didn’t look that high, so we thought we would forge on straight away, with not much of a break. Boy were we feeling it half way up. Luke was the most shattered on the ascent. Up, up, up we went for another 2 hours until we finally reached the top…only to be told by the guy at the top that it was closing in 15 minutes.

Made it!!!

 

On the way, pretty much everyone had passed this slightly large lady whose 5 year old daughter had wanted to climb the mountain just to get to reach the flag at the top. Apparently it had taken her 3 hours. Her daughter looked like she had just taken one step, but her mother, well, it was like she had just finished a marathon…she had even asked a lady half way up to take her daughter up instead and bring her back down for her later??? The trust was unbelievable…but she managed in the end.

Oh the greenery...

 

On our way down, I think the altitude got to me, and the strain of a good plus 1000metre climb that morning…I was a little off on the way back down shall we say. We met a lot of people in the following days that had booked that climb on their ticket too but after doing the first bit up to Machu Picchu, had decided against it…smart people!!

Surrounded by beautiful mountains and pestering flies!

 

We eventually wandered around the ruins and bumped into a few llamas along the way. It was beautifully green, and by this point, there were less people around and it was almost like you had the place to yourself. The place was beautiful and the green covered mountains in the backdrop were stunning.

I know what you're thinking...same outfit 9 months ago? Just can't get enough of it!

 

We walked back down to Aguas Caliente before it got dark, and flopped into bed, proud of our 7 hour hike.

It was the next morning when we realised that our legs didn’t function properly that we regretted the hike. We could barely crawl to the toilet and stairs were HELL. Luckily for us there were only 10 steps to the toilet! And we were two floors up!

We got our stuff together with all too much effort and waddled to an early lunch before heading on a delightful stroll back to the hydroelectric station…only two and a half hours (more like 3 this time) of sheer pain!!

The minibuses started to roll in, and we were picked up by a different driver, a better driver than last time! I wasn’t panicked at all…so much so that I slept for the worst of it, rather than watching the sheer drop from the road like last time.

Back in Cusco…

After 6 hours, we were safe and sound back in Cusco, although still sore from our hike. I may have had to cling on to the minibus door so to not topple over! We waddled (no exaggeration here) back home at the speed of a snail. And so it was that we rested up for four days until we could feel our legs again. We had time to spare before our flight to Patagonia, and decided we might as well do it somewhere we felt comfortable.

Come into my shop...

 

After some alpaca knitwear shopping, chocolate museum visits, more vegan delights and lovely sunshine during the days, we were well rested and my right knee had stopped buckling every few steps.

Puno

We headed off on a short bus journey to Lake Titicaca…the highest lake in the world. The city, Puno, was unremarkable, but we were only here for the lake itself and a visit to the floating islands.

Having booked ourselves onto a boat tour that evening, we were picked up at 7am the next day and driven to the port for a half an hour boat ride to the Uros floating villages. It was very touristy, but what I liked about it is that each boat went to different family islands everyday so as to make sure the money paid for visiting the islands was evenly dispersed. We visited a floating island with about 7 huts on it, made for a family of 21.

Cutest kid ever

 

It was interesting to hear about how they lived, with income coming from trinkets they sold, the money from the visits and other little jobs. We were told the children went to a primary school on the floating islands and that for secondary school they went to the mainland, and unfortunately they liked it so much that the island population is shrinking…apparently they prefer sturdy ground!

Boat made especially for tourists

 

The reeds that keep their little island afloat serve a use for practically everything. Firstly they told us about how they layer up the reeds going one way then the other, and how they have to add more once every two weeks (once a week if it is raining). And that they have to peg their island down in several places otherwise they might float all the way to the Bolivian part of the lake! The toilet is a short trip away in a boat…oh the suspense! Our guide told us that a large, slightly rotund German lady once slipped through some thin parts of the reed flooring and straight into the lake...a warning to us all to tread carefully (and lay off the strudels). 

Smiling singers

 

And then they told us how they eat the bottom part of the reed as it has loads of calcium in it, and they use that instead of brushing their teeth. The outside part of it, they use to stick om their heads to cure them from illness and help with the women’s periods and menopause…think I’ll still to paracetamol!

They use it to create their homes, roofs, boats and trinkets. And when they want to split their island in half, they just saw through it…family feud anyone??? They even had a little look out (for pirates??).

Floating islands

 

They cook from these little clay pots, but apparently there are a few islands that now use gas (bit if a fire hazard)! And some of them have solar panels for electricity, some with TVs and radios. They showed us a shotgun that was made mostly of wood and tied together with a bit of reed that they use to shoot birds down for dinner. It looked like something you’d find in a museum!

It's a long walk just for some bread for some

 

We eventually moved on to another island which was over 2 hours away by boat. There, we walked up to the main square, with a beautiful view out over the water. We sat in the square for a while, watching all the locals go by in their traditional dress. After a quick lunch, we walked down the other side of the island and boarded the boat for the journey back.

Pensive local

 

Cute as a button toddler

We decided to leave early the next morning for Bolivia. We jumped on a bus that was to take us to Copacabana. The border was uneventful, for us anyway. Lucky Brits, we don’t have to pay for visas in South America, but places like the States, Canada and Aus have to fork out a fair bit. There was a lot of running back and forth to fill out forms and get photocopies and passport photos for these poor folks. We just got our stamp and got back on the bus! It helps for us to not have tight border controls back home sometimes!

Lake Titicaca