Hola Gringos!
We have spent the last three weeks catching buses and trekking our way through Peru’s top spots including Lima, Huaraz, Cordillera Blanca, Arequipa, Colca Canyon, Cusco and Machu Picchu.
NO ENTIENDO: Our arrival in Peru also coincided with yet another language, Latin American Spanish, which we had to muster. While sign language will help if all else fails, we have had a few faux pas. Particularly in the early days, ordering food from a menu would take an extremely long time, as we would have to look up each word in the dictionary before ordering with confidence. We did try to shortcut this process by ordering a tortilla, only to find out that ‘tortilla’ in Spanish means omelette and ‘tortillas’ is what we were used to from back home. Similarly, we did end up with a ridiculously fizzy sparkling water when we were trying to order the still variety. The most delicate situation we have found ourselves in was when we were at the Colca Canyon where our slightly out of date Lonely Planet had advised not to buy the ridiculous tourist permit that we were regularly hassled for. Beyond “no, I will not pay” we were a bit lost for words, which became a bit of an issue when one of the officials got two police officers involved. To cut a long story short, we were assisted by a friendly English speaking local who advised us that the law had changed but mere months ago and we were now require to purchase the permit. Woops...
CORDILLERA BLANCA: Waking up to ice all over your tent sound appealing? We spent three days trekking around the Santa Cruz trek, in the Cordillera Blaanca mountain ranges near Huaraz. Despite some cold nights and the odd headache from the altitude, the sights were probably second only to what we saw in Nepal in terms of being picturesque.
COCA TEA: The locals drink copious amounts of coca tea to assist with the altitude, amongst other things. We have both taken a strong liking to the tea which is similar to green tea in taste and were disappointed to discover NZ customs prohibits its import into New Zealand. Apparently it is illegal; something to do with the Class A drug cocaine. So it looks like we will just have to stick to drinking coca tea in South America.
FLIGHT OF THE CONDORS: Colca Canyon is over 1000 metres deep and the world’s second deepest canyon. So, of course we had to see what the bottom looked like ourselves at close range by trekking right down into the oasis and then up to the isolated village of Tapay on the other side. We stayed the night with a lovely local family, who understood after a few language issues that we didn’t have a tent and wanted a bed, that we would like dinner but not breakfast. We had an extremely rewarding swim in the oasis the next day, although could have done with another one on reaching the top again! We are not normally bird watchers but watching the condors flying overhead at the top of the canyon the next morning was definitely not to be missed. For reasons totally unknown, the bus between Cabanaconde and the condor viewing spot was not operating. Rather than giving up, we managed to hitch a ride on the back of a vegetable truck with local women selling their crafts. The ride was well worth it; the condors flew right over our heads and were able to glide and manoeuvre by making simple adjustments with their tails. Very cool.
VIP BUS TRAVELLERS: Peru has got its bus system totally sorted and we think that Asia (and even New Zealand) has a lot to learn. Many of the stations themselves feel like airports (yes, we did manage to sneak into a VIP lounge) and the buses themselves are really comfortable. Having two toilets on a bus is particularly useful after drinking too much water...
INCA JUNGLE TRAIL TO MACHU PICCHU: We passed up the train to Machu Picchu and instead spent a day mountain biking downhill and two days trekking a marathon distance through the jungle to get there. Our day at Machu Picchu itself was no less intense, as we spent 12 hours exploring the place. This started with what ended up being an unofficial race up over 2000 ancient steps for a limited spot to climb Huana Picchu Mountain, overlooking the ruins. Not being the slightest bit competitive, Rodney placed second overall and Kirsty was the first female in and placed within the top ten overall. We really enjoyed exploring the ruins themselves but decided we needed more exercise for the day. In addition to climbing Huana Picchu, we also climbed the taller Machu Picchu Mountain. On returning down we thought that it would be cool to go and see the famous Inca Bridge and in our tired state were a little disappointed to discover that it was essentially a plank of wood. So much for those Inca marketers.
We are now currently just across the border from Peru chilling around Lake Titicaca in Copacabana, Bolivia.
Ciao Amigos!
Love Rodney and Kirsty.
