From Lima to Lake Titicaca, a round up

Since Huaraz I have been on a trip across a lot of Peru and through Huanchaco, Lima, Huacachina, Nasca, Cusco, Arequipa & Lake Titicaca. Excluding the Inca Trail and Machu Picchu which I have to talk about seperately, this is what I have been up to...

After leaving Huaraz Marley, Dakota, Wyatt, Ruby and I thought we could really do with getting some sunshine, and where better to go than to head to the coast to a little village called Huanchaco? Huanchaco is a little surf village located near Trujillo on the coast of Peru. It took us 9 hours on an overnight bus and although it broke down we got there in one piece. We stayed at this cool hostal owned by a Scotsman who was very friendly and appears to spend his days chatting, smoking and drinking. We were all very eager to get some sun and surf and were not left dissapointed by what Huanchaco had to offer. On day one we headed down to the beach and got some surf lessons which was really good fun. We rented boards again on the second day but it was A LOT harder to ride the waves without some instructor help. I definately want to try some more surfing on my travels.

Sunset above Huanchaco

We had some lazy days here and enjoying the Peruvian delicacy of Ceviche which is marrinated raw fish. Wyatt, Ruby and I also visited the ruins of Chan Chan which is the largest adobe (mud built) city in the world. It was built by the Chimu people over 1500 years ago and was very impressive to see and hear about how many human sacrifices they made!

Wall deco

Lima was the next stop for New Years. I enjoyed Lima and although it is not an awe inspiring city it is a stark constrast from Huaraz: Small town streets are replaced by wide open large roads, the multiple small house shops on each streets are replaced by the occasional Metro, the numerous hole in the wall restaurants have become McDonald´s and Burger King´s, the architecture has gone from unfinished brick and wire messes to grand stone carved fascias and Huaraz´s Plaza de Armas is now outshone by an inumerable number of plazas.

3D Fountain light show

I was staying in Miraflores which is one of the most westernised and modern areas of Lima. In reality Lima is a sprawling city of over 10 million people and most live very poorly. New Years was spent in the hostel I was staying which was a lovely grand house with a great outdoor area. We had a barbecue and lots of drinks before celebrating New Year there and heading to a party street in Barrancho for some dancing. Also in Lima I visited the Fountain Park which has 13 different fountains in it and shows a really impressive 3D laser projection and music show against the lit up backdrop of the largest fountain. I can´t not mention the erotic pot collection I saw at the Larco museum too!

Very wierd pot!

By the end of my stay in Lima I was travelling by my self for the first time which was kind of liberating and it was on to the delights of Huacachina. Huacachina is a small lagoon and village surrounded by sand dunes. It features on the 50 Soles Peruvian note and is a cool place to stop by in for a couple of nights. On the second day I went sandboarding and dune buggying in the dunes which was good fun.

La Laguna

On top of the dunes

Nasca was the next stop, I had always wanted to see the Nasca lines so I booked myself a flight over them. Although the flight was delayed until the next day and there was an extra cost of $30 it was well worth the trip. The lines were created in the sand by the Nasca people around 1500 years ago for an unknown purpose. There are about 13 lines depicting animals and birds and other shapes and due to the scale of them they can only be appreciated from the air.

The Hummingbird

Next up was an overnight bus to Cusco. I spent four days in Cusco and really enjoyed it. It is a beautiful city 3000m asl and set in a bowl between hills. It´s importance is that it was the Capital of the Inca´s and so the most important and sacred of places in the pre-columbian era (before European invaders).

Cusco´s main Church

After the Spanish conquest it was kept as the capital and the sacred Inca sites were torn down and Catholic churches were built on top using the same stone. The Spanish churches are very impressive in grandeur and the intersting thing is that their architecture and paintings were reated by local people who incorporated parts of the traditional Inca culture in to them. The painting of ´The Last Supper´in the main cathedral shows a guinea pig in the middle of the table and Judas has the face of the first Spanish Conquistador Francis Pizarro! The nighlife if pretty cool in Cusco and I stayed at Loki which is a party hostal and went out a couple of nights.

Puma paw, Sacsayhuaman

The thing about the Inca´s which is impressive is the symbolism and meaning which is attached to everything they do. They have three main symbols they revere: The Condor represents the Heavens, the Puma represents the Earth and the Serpent represents the Underworld. Cusco was built in the shape of the Puma and they built the holy site of Sacsayhuaman as the head. Up to 20,000 people worked to build the site and transporting up to 70 tonne stones to build the 7m high walls. The way they cut and configured the stones also made the site earthquake proof. Arequipa is another atrractive city but is very different from Cusco. Its main centre and buildings are built from a white volcanic stone. The area around Arequipa is very volcanic and a nearby volcano started erupting during the Inca´s perdio of power. To pacify the gods the Inca´s sacrificed five children on the volcano. I vistied the museum to the ice mummies and got to see one of them which was pretty cool!

Also near Arequipa is the worlds deepest canyon ´Colca Canyon´. I went on a three day trek to the canyon which was really fun. Day 1 was a 3am start by bus to the canyon. You get out at a view point near the top to spot for Condors which can have a wingspan of up to 3m. Then the trek down the canyon starts and it is a winding path down to visit and stay in one of the villages further in to the canyon. I was in a group with 4 other people who all got on well and one guide. The guide he told us a lot about the local traditions, plants and life which made it really interesting.

Victory after the final climb

Day two was a really chilled affair as we only had an hour and a half of walking before we made it to the oasis at the bottom of the canyon where we would be staying for the night.It was a blue sunny day and we came in to a lovely palmed area with a beautiful pool shimmering in the sun. It was a great place to stay for a day and very relaxing. Day 3 was the hard part of the trek as it was the climb up to the top of the canyon. We started the climb at 5.30am in the morning without even breakfast in us! I was pretty happy with myself as I was the first person to make it up to the top out of all the groups of people climbing it. Once at the top it was time for rest and breakfast and after that the journey back to Arequipa, it was a very enjoyable trip.

Next up was Puno and Lake Titicaca which would make up the last part of my Peruvian adventure. Lake Titicaca is the worlds highest navigable lake and stands at 3,800m asl. It is famous for its beauty and the floating islands made of reed. I decided to go on a tour to visit the islands on the Peruvian side and spend a night on Amantini with a Peruvian family. As a lot of things are in Peru the islands are very commercialised with eager Peruvian women ready to sell you food, drink and artesanal products. This did not however detract from the experience. We visited the floating islands of Uros first and it was really interesting to see how the islands were first created.

A few from the top of Amantani

We then sailed over to Amantani where we would be staying the night. I was paired with this Dutch guy to stay with one family. We were put up in a small but nice room in there house and few well. We got to speak to them a bit but there was not so much interaction. In the afternoon we walked up to the top of the island to where they have ceremonies to Pacha Mama (Mother Earth). The view across the islands and lake was very beautiful and was the best part of the trip. The evening was funny as a traditional fiesta was organised for the tourists. Our family gave us a traditional hat and poncho that the men wear and took us to the hall. Once there we were treated to a live band and the wife of the family whisked me and Emile for a dance. Everyone looked pretty silly in there costumes.

Traditional dance wear

The next day was a write off as the weather was foul. We visited the other island on the lake and had lunch before heading back. It was then time for the next country of my travels, Bolivia............