Yo yo yo,
Ok - so I lied. Despite the plan of exiting Peru quick-style and heading for Bolivian territory which I stated in my last blog entry, due to another vicious attack of The Stomach Bug on Ruth, we actually spent a couple of days in Peru´s most famous Lake Titicaca-bordering town, Puno. And a very nice couple of days they were too (well, except for Ruth). The Lake itself was perfect. The 3820m altitude renders the air almost magically pure, creating a crystaline atmosphere and excellent light by which to admire the sparkling waters and experience stunning sunsets. The town itself was rather quirky, featuring a quaint little church by which we witnessed yet another ad-hoc band featuring many unexpected instruments. The highlight, however, was our trip to the floating reed islands of the Uros people. Bobbing merrily in the middle of the lake, these man made islands have been there for centuries, and many of the people are still living to the traditions of their ancestors. Matt and Pete managed to get a ride in a reed boat, while I managed to put my right foot through the island and sumberge myself knee deep in the lake. Fun.
Next stop was, as promised and (I´m sure) highly anticipated by my lovely readers, Copacabana. I won´t sing the song at you, but I will wax lyrical about the place. The views were fantastic, the food was divine, Matt, Pete and I conquered a near-by mountain with a shrine on the top, we visited the rather Aegean feeling Isla del Sol, an island on which the Incas believed the sun was born, and had a lovely little trip on a pedalow. All good. Check out the photos (link below). Copa, copacabana...
After Copacabana, we went straight to the world´s highest capital city, La Paz (I say straight, but we actually had to re-enter Peru and then enter Bolivia for a second time as Copacabana is a little pokey bit of land which is technically Bolivia, but is disconnected from the mainland. We had to go by boat. The bus went on a boat too :-) ) The first sights of La Paz were breathtaking - quite literally, given the 3660m altitude - and displayed a sprawling city in a basin formed by towering mountains. Even once in the city itself, La Paz was still breathtaking, although in the less idyllic sense that the pollution was suffocatingly bad! Still, the waterfalls of cars, heaving traffic, comically horizontal traffic lights, busy, buzzy, bustling streets and masses of people were a welcome change from sleepy Lake Titicaca. The highlight of the trip, however, has to be mountain biking down the World´s Most Dangerous Road. According to the Inter-American Development Bank, this road from La Paz to Coroico is officially the most perilous the world has ever seen. In places it is a mere 3m wide, in the average year 26 vehicles fatally plummet over its sheer-600m-cliff-drop rough-hewn edges, and the worst accident in recent times was in 1983 when a bus and its 100 passengers slipped off the precipice into the abyss below. And I biked down it. I have a t-shirt to prove it. (And don´t worry, I am alive.) It was one of the best things I have ever done and was exhilirating for every metre of the 64km ride. Even though seeing the crosses by the roadside had a slightly macarbre feel, it didn´t detract from the excitement one bit :-) We spent that evening in pretty Coroico to eat cheap food and drink cheap drink, and headed back to La Paz the following day to soak up the sights, marvel at the Bolivian ladies wearing comical over-tall bowler hats, drink PG Tips in Oliver´s (English!!!!!!!!!!!!) Bar, meet up with some friends from Machu Picchu, and plan the next leg of our trip. The only thing I didn´t enjoy about La Paz was seeing the poverty. Some people were literally searching through rubbish to find food, while others had clearly been homeless for years. I found myself compelled to give money to several people I met - that some in the world have no choice but to live like this is deeply saddening. Bolivia is definitely the poorest place financially that we have visited. Conversely, I think it is one of the richest culturally. It is the only so far country which I definitely want to come back to. Due to it not being quite so set up for tourists as Peru or Ecuador, I feel that there is a wealth of culture and tradition beneath the surface which isn´t being dislayed. Additionally, the scanty amount of time we have here means that some places like beautiful judicial and symblic capital Sucre and the silver mines of Potosi will go unvisited on this trip. I´ll definitely be back some day.
Anyway - this is not quite it for Bolivia. We spent a few days in warm (!), low-altitude Cochabamba, where we discovered that Pete had stowed away a selection of Egg Shampoos from the previous hostel, and got all our clothes washed. Which would have been wonderful (because we all smelt terrible), except that we ended up booking a jungle tour for a couple of days, sans clothes, and possibly sans sanity. Armed with just one pair of trousers (all over which Pete kindly spilt Coke Zero), a bikini, a top, and a pair of tights over which I wore a pair of Pete´s boxers to protect (haha!!) my dignity, we sped off to Villa Tunari. Here we white water rafted in the Rio Spiritu Sanctu (Sacred Spirit River), went trekking, canyoning, waterfall jumping and rappelling, and saw animals in a sanctuary. The animals there had all been saved from adverse conditions - we saw parrots, a puma, a bear, and were attacked by a theiving pack of monkey who ate the seeds from then stole Ruth´s necklace, tried to groom Matt for fleas and peed on Pete. Lovely. The trip was generally quite fun, although it had the down side of me hurting my knee by jumping into a waterfall, spending the 4 hour journey back literally crying in pain, and testing out the Bolivian health service. I got some very exciting x-rays, had a chat with a lovely nurse, discovered nothing was broken and was instructed to rest in bed for 2 weeks. So I stayed in bed for a day. And have been taking a lot of heavy painkillers. I think I´ll pull through.
The knee-diversion was also problematic in that it meant we came to Oruro a day late, then missed 2 buses, and are still stranded here (it´s a horrible, Gringo-hating hole where everyone is mean, tries to rip us off, and is generally horrible) until this evening when we can get a night bus to Uyuni and the Salt Flats. I won´t ruin your eager anticipation of the next entry by telling you anything about the Salt Flats...but I am really looking forward to them!
If anyone would like to see photos of the trip so far, here are a load of links for your perusal:
Pisco, Ica, Nazca: http://cambridge.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2155964&l=6ff20&id=36900740
Cusco and Machu Picchu: http://cambridge.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2155966&l=d7370&id=36900740
Machu Picchu continued: http://cambridge.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2156104&l=36f54&id=36900740
Arequipa and Colca Canyon: http://cambridge.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2156104&l=36f54&id=36900740
Puno: http://cambridge.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2156111&l=8502d&id=36900740
Copacabana: http://cambridge.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2156112&l=edf13&id=36900740
I´ll try to get links to Ruth´s photos of Ecuador up on the next blog.
Also - please email me. Full marks go to the Standfields (and a small selection of friends), who have emailed me lots of lovely news. But the rest of you (extended family especially!) are rubbish. Send me news. Please. Now. :-) Thank you. (helensie@hotmail.com)
Lots of love for now xxxx
Saturday, 25 August 2007
Sunday, 12 August 2007
Cusco, Machu Picchu and Goodbye Peru
Dear all,
After the whirlwind tour of Lima, Pisco, Ica and Nazca we travelled on to Cusco, ancient capital of the Inca empire. With cobbled streets lined with alpaca-wool clothing selling Peruanas (Peruvian ladies), inca walls, colonial architecture and cosy restaurants, Cusco is the perfect place to spend few days acclimatising to the altitude before setting off on various treks to Machu Picchu, lost city of the incas. Despite there being more tourists than you can shake a stick at and it being freezing cold at night, I really loved Cusco as a city. Unfortunately, however, we contracted some kind of violent stomach bug there and Ruth, Pete and I spent two of the four days before our trek in bed. Matt was sadly so ill that we had to call a doctor out and he couldn´t join us for Machu Picchu. Such a shame, particularly as we had been organised enough to book our 4 day classic Inca trail in January!
Nonetheless, Ruth, Pete and I set out for Machu Picchu, rucksacks on our backs, cameras in hand, and still languishing from the illness. The first day was a designated ´training day´ - supposedly easy and reasonably flat, serving to whip us into shape for the following days´ hiking. And although it was easier than the following days, 8 hours of walking in high altitude with backpacks proved challenging to say the least! Still, in comparison with our porters, who carried towering packs of our stuff, tents, cooking equipment and goodness knows what else, and who ran ahead of us at super-quick speed to set up camp for us, the difficulty of our task seemed pretty laughable. The spectacular mountain scenery we witnessed and the company of a great group soon made our woes almost pale into insignificance. Over the four days we trekked through four ecosystems, including cloud forests, jungles and mountains, seeing snow-capped peaks and awesome river valleys. I got to see some rare orchids and was even lucky enough to have a humming bird hover by a flower just 6 inches from my face. Along the way we also met numerous llamas and alpacas, encountered some of the most ´interesting´ (read revolting) toilet facilities I have come across, and saw several inca remains. Some were simple lookouts, a few were shrines, and many included inca terraces. These rather splendid step-like constructions built into the mountain sides were used for agriculture. The incas used to plant seeds on different levels of the steps, experimenting with what could be grown at different altitudes. They would then transfer crops from site to site across the mountains as the plants adapted to different climates, altitudes and ecosystems - basically an early form of genetic engineering! Incredible! Once such terrace site was Wiñay Wayna, which also included a few inca houses and a collectiong of 16 ceremonial baths built down the mountain side. The water flowing through has been doing so since the baths´construction over five hundred years ago. Another highlight on the third day was taking part in a traditional ceremony to Pachamama (mother earth). We fanned out three sacred coca leaves, blew on them in the direction of each point of the compass to sk protection from the mountain spirits, and collected rocks and placed them in a pyramid form on a high mountain pass. It was nice to experience a snippet of the significance the trail had for the incas, and understanding something of their religion was enlightening.
On the fourth day we reached Machu Picchu. After three freeeeeeeeeeeezing nights (even investing in an alplaca sweater, llama wool hat and gloves and a sheep named Juan didn´t keep me warm!), several excellent meals (the cook deserves a medal, or at least the cordon bleu), Pete being attacked once again by the illness and forming ´Team Slow´ who ambled at a leisurely pace some 2 hours behind the rest of us, and being coerced into getting up at 3.45 so as to hit Machu Picchu before the crowds did, we finally got there. Even though I was knackered, sleep-deprived, cold, my knees hurt, my legs ached and I had caught a cold, it was well worth it. We arrived at the sun gate at around 7am, and walked down to the lost city, watching as the sun rose behind the mountains and illuminated the ancient buildings and streets. Inside the city were houses, temples, a factory area, a plaza, and much of it was constructed according to astrological and orientational significance. One temple has windows in it through which the sun shines directly at summer and winter solstices, another has a sundial carved with an eye, which is lit up at certain points of the year. I am still utterly awestruck by the sophistication of the inca culture, and the intensity of their faith in their religion, a faith which drew them not only to walk so far to reach the city, but to build it in its remote mountain location in the first place.
Anway, after a brief stop in Aguas Calientes we returned to Cusco to meet a more recovered but rather lonely Matt, to meet up again with Klaus and Patrick, say farewell to Hannah and mooch around the city for a day. I managed to find a ring with an Andean cross on it (a cross which signifies the upper, middle and lower worlds and the father, mother and spirits in incan religion) and treated myself to a massage for my legs (which felt as though they had been tenderised, repeatedly pummeled with a mallet and were ready for roasting). I also got some thermal trousers as my aplaca clothing fetish simply isn´t sufficient to withstand the night-time temperatures. The next stop was Arequipa, where I visited a rather eerie ice mummy called Juanita who was sacrificed to the gods some 500 years ago, nosed around a few churches and soaked up the white-stone architecture and splendourous main plaza. I also enjoyed seeing yet more Peruvian flags marking Independence Day, flags which are mandatorily dislayed on every building in the country. We also went on a 2 day tour to the Cañon del Colca, which is supposedly the world´s deepest canyon. It really was rather grand, particularly with the condors swooping majestically up and down it. Photos to follow soon. Other highlights of the tour included seeing some traditional dancing and relaxing in some hot spring baths in Chevay. Very nice.
And that, really, is it for Peru. Tonight we head to Puno by Lake Titicaca, where we will stay just for the night before bussing it to the other side of the lake in Copacobana, Bolivia. Peru, so far, is my favourite country - varied, beautiful, steeped in history and culture, and friendly. I am sure Bolivia will be great too though - I am already looking forward to being able to sing Barry Manalow´s ´Copacabana´ when arriving there!
The tantalising tales of your intrepid traveller continue next time....
xxx
After the whirlwind tour of Lima, Pisco, Ica and Nazca we travelled on to Cusco, ancient capital of the Inca empire. With cobbled streets lined with alpaca-wool clothing selling Peruanas (Peruvian ladies), inca walls, colonial architecture and cosy restaurants, Cusco is the perfect place to spend few days acclimatising to the altitude before setting off on various treks to Machu Picchu, lost city of the incas. Despite there being more tourists than you can shake a stick at and it being freezing cold at night, I really loved Cusco as a city. Unfortunately, however, we contracted some kind of violent stomach bug there and Ruth, Pete and I spent two of the four days before our trek in bed. Matt was sadly so ill that we had to call a doctor out and he couldn´t join us for Machu Picchu. Such a shame, particularly as we had been organised enough to book our 4 day classic Inca trail in January!
Nonetheless, Ruth, Pete and I set out for Machu Picchu, rucksacks on our backs, cameras in hand, and still languishing from the illness. The first day was a designated ´training day´ - supposedly easy and reasonably flat, serving to whip us into shape for the following days´ hiking. And although it was easier than the following days, 8 hours of walking in high altitude with backpacks proved challenging to say the least! Still, in comparison with our porters, who carried towering packs of our stuff, tents, cooking equipment and goodness knows what else, and who ran ahead of us at super-quick speed to set up camp for us, the difficulty of our task seemed pretty laughable. The spectacular mountain scenery we witnessed and the company of a great group soon made our woes almost pale into insignificance. Over the four days we trekked through four ecosystems, including cloud forests, jungles and mountains, seeing snow-capped peaks and awesome river valleys. I got to see some rare orchids and was even lucky enough to have a humming bird hover by a flower just 6 inches from my face. Along the way we also met numerous llamas and alpacas, encountered some of the most ´interesting´ (read revolting) toilet facilities I have come across, and saw several inca remains. Some were simple lookouts, a few were shrines, and many included inca terraces. These rather splendid step-like constructions built into the mountain sides were used for agriculture. The incas used to plant seeds on different levels of the steps, experimenting with what could be grown at different altitudes. They would then transfer crops from site to site across the mountains as the plants adapted to different climates, altitudes and ecosystems - basically an early form of genetic engineering! Incredible! Once such terrace site was Wiñay Wayna, which also included a few inca houses and a collectiong of 16 ceremonial baths built down the mountain side. The water flowing through has been doing so since the baths´construction over five hundred years ago. Another highlight on the third day was taking part in a traditional ceremony to Pachamama (mother earth). We fanned out three sacred coca leaves, blew on them in the direction of each point of the compass to sk protection from the mountain spirits, and collected rocks and placed them in a pyramid form on a high mountain pass. It was nice to experience a snippet of the significance the trail had for the incas, and understanding something of their religion was enlightening.
On the fourth day we reached Machu Picchu. After three freeeeeeeeeeeezing nights (even investing in an alplaca sweater, llama wool hat and gloves and a sheep named Juan didn´t keep me warm!), several excellent meals (the cook deserves a medal, or at least the cordon bleu), Pete being attacked once again by the illness and forming ´Team Slow´ who ambled at a leisurely pace some 2 hours behind the rest of us, and being coerced into getting up at 3.45 so as to hit Machu Picchu before the crowds did, we finally got there. Even though I was knackered, sleep-deprived, cold, my knees hurt, my legs ached and I had caught a cold, it was well worth it. We arrived at the sun gate at around 7am, and walked down to the lost city, watching as the sun rose behind the mountains and illuminated the ancient buildings and streets. Inside the city were houses, temples, a factory area, a plaza, and much of it was constructed according to astrological and orientational significance. One temple has windows in it through which the sun shines directly at summer and winter solstices, another has a sundial carved with an eye, which is lit up at certain points of the year. I am still utterly awestruck by the sophistication of the inca culture, and the intensity of their faith in their religion, a faith which drew them not only to walk so far to reach the city, but to build it in its remote mountain location in the first place.
Anway, after a brief stop in Aguas Calientes we returned to Cusco to meet a more recovered but rather lonely Matt, to meet up again with Klaus and Patrick, say farewell to Hannah and mooch around the city for a day. I managed to find a ring with an Andean cross on it (a cross which signifies the upper, middle and lower worlds and the father, mother and spirits in incan religion) and treated myself to a massage for my legs (which felt as though they had been tenderised, repeatedly pummeled with a mallet and were ready for roasting). I also got some thermal trousers as my aplaca clothing fetish simply isn´t sufficient to withstand the night-time temperatures. The next stop was Arequipa, where I visited a rather eerie ice mummy called Juanita who was sacrificed to the gods some 500 years ago, nosed around a few churches and soaked up the white-stone architecture and splendourous main plaza. I also enjoyed seeing yet more Peruvian flags marking Independence Day, flags which are mandatorily dislayed on every building in the country. We also went on a 2 day tour to the Cañon del Colca, which is supposedly the world´s deepest canyon. It really was rather grand, particularly with the condors swooping majestically up and down it. Photos to follow soon. Other highlights of the tour included seeing some traditional dancing and relaxing in some hot spring baths in Chevay. Very nice.
And that, really, is it for Peru. Tonight we head to Puno by Lake Titicaca, where we will stay just for the night before bussing it to the other side of the lake in Copacobana, Bolivia. Peru, so far, is my favourite country - varied, beautiful, steeped in history and culture, and friendly. I am sure Bolivia will be great too though - I am already looking forward to being able to sing Barry Manalow´s ´Copacabana´ when arriving there!
The tantalising tales of your intrepid traveller continue next time....
xxx
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