I reckon i'mma dot point this bad boy because I'm really feeling the island vibe and there's no point doing something the hard way when you can do it the easy way.
When last I blogged we had just finished an epic 5 weeks in Bolivia and were en route to Arequipa in the south of Peru.
- Arequipa is a beautiful town, with stunning churches, a lively main square and a really nice local market. We stayed here for a day before heading to Colca Canyon and then three days after we got back. The Monastery in town is the biggest tourist attraction and it was undoubtedly lovely but unfortunately overpriced. Story of my life. We drank some great coffee in Arequipa and visited the craft beer bar almost every night. It really was a delightful town where you could easily imagine spending a lot of time. If I hadn't already taken Spanish classes in Buenos Aires this is the spot I would have wanted to settle for two weeks and take them. Prices were reasonably backpacker friendly too, with private rooms for great rates and really cheap food - you could get a three course lunch for only 7 soles (less than $3)!
- Outside of Arequipa is the Colca Canyon, which is apparently the second deepest canyon in the world. There's some argument over whether it is actually the deepest but we learned that there's another canyon not too far away that's a little deeper. At any rate it's twice as deep as the Grand Canyon and very pretty. We booked a three day guided hike so we could really see it properly, beginning with the ungodly pickup time of 3am. Fortunately the first day more than made up for our lack of sleep after we had the chance to watch two condors in full flight from a very close distance. Condor viewings have been so disappointing for us on this trip, with our only sightings being from a long way away. These birds however, were right above our heads and we could really appreciate their gliding abilities. Condors are cool AF.
- The hike itself was pretty amazing and we were so lucky to get three full days of sunshine in Peru in the wet season. The recent rains had ensured that there were lots of flowers blooming on the plants and everything was looking very green. To get into the canyon you basically have to walk straight down so that's what we did on our first day. They've thrown a whole bunch of switchbacks into the trail so you're not walking straight down the side of the cliff but it's still pretty steep and tough to walk as the terrain is just small shale-like rocks. The trek includes basic accommodation in the local towns and it was interesting to see the communities that exist at the bottom of a canyon and the way they live. People down here are reasonably self sufficient and everything at the shops is way more expensive than anywhere else in the area because of the logistics of getting it all down there.
- The second day hike was much easier in comparison, we only had to walk across the canyon to get to the promised land of Oasis Sangalle. Along the way our guide Nelson (hands down the best guide we've ever had for anything, anywhere) explained all about the medicinal plants and different fruit trees growing in the canyon and the history of the native people of the area, which involved graphic descriptions of skull drilling and deforming. Charming. What was charming though was the oasis, which included a swimming pool and a bar with two for one cocktails. The drinking started early and also finished very early as our walk the following day was scheduled to begin at 5am. That puts a dampener on any party. One of our best drinking companions this night was a border collie who had tacked himself onto our group at the very start of the hike on the first day, then come all the way with us on both days hiking and slept at our accommodations. He even managed to beat us to the oasis and was patiently waiting by the pool when we arrived. Crazy bugger must do this hike all the time, finding a group at the beginning of the three days and just enjoying the company and food scraps until it's time for them to go, then he chooses a new group. Border Collies are such a stupid, endearing, beautiful breed of dog.
- Nelson had made it pretty clear that the last days hiking was the toughest and we had to start so early to give ourselves enough time to beat the heat of the day. Once the sun started to rise we saw the most beautiful colours reflected off the mountains and in the sky which made the early start so worthwhile. We were essentially walking straight up out of the canyon so this was definitely a tougher hike, especially at altitude. Dave and I powered up though, keeping a steady pace and only stopping to take in the views, drink some water and for me to do a poo. We hit the top just after 7am and were rewarded with a lady selling bananas and sublimes (chocolate covered peanut bars, probably my favourite chocolate bar of all time) and the 60 year old French man in our group telling me I was 'a very strong girl'. Thanks mate, I'll take that.
- We had to wait up the top for all of our group to finish and because of the altitude and the fact the sun wasn't providing any heat yet it was really cold. I was wearing all the clothes I had in my bag until Nelson finally arrived at the back of the group with his iPhone blaring out 'We Are The Champions' and a round of high fives for everybody. A great moment while we were waiting was when three French girls from our group who'd been nothing but rude to all of us the whole three days rolled up to the top on their mules (these were available at a price if you didn't think you could make the walk) and then proceeded to roll and light up a fat joint. Fucking French.
- We had a few more nights in Arequipa once we'd returned from Colca Canyon and we were keen to make the most of them. Unfortunately we had very little opportunity to do this, as both of us were struck down with some sort of food poisoning or a virus. This was super debilitating 'I don't know which end to put above the toilet' kind of stuff. Luckily we had our own room with a TV and private bathroom but it was a really rough couple of nights and then an even tougher final day in Arequipa waiting for our night bus to Cusco that didn't leave until 8pm and we had to be out of our room at 11am. We were willing to pay for an extra night just to use the bed for the day but the bloody hostel was fully booked so we had to sit in the common area which was like a rooftop patio, on plastic chairs in the cold and rain. We couldn't even kill the afternoon at a warm, dry cafe because both of us were too sick to even stomach coffee. Sometimes travelling sucks. On the bright side, the guy sitting next to us on the bus was a doctor and not only did he offer us whatever medicinals we wanted from his bag (!) he also asked the stewardess to bring us chamomile tea as that would be helpful for our stomachs. What a guy.
- Cusco gave us a great chance to recuperate a bit in our charming hostel with hot showers and crepes for breakfast. This is our idea of luxury these days. We also had the chance to eat great vegetarian food from a few nice local restaurants. Our favourites were a four course vegan meal for only 12 soles and a place doing ripper veggie burgers for only 10. If anything was ever going to turn me vegetarian it would be the sight of the whole roasted Guinea pigs on skewers with a little pepper in their mouths which were commonplace at every market we went to in Peru. I had no desire to try them, and after spending so much time looking at the way meat is stored and sold at the markets all over South America I have really lost my appetite for it. I can't remember the last time I bought and cooked a piece of meat and I will only order it when I'm out if the restaurant seems super hygienic.
- Cusco itself was such a beautiful city with really breathtaking architecture and history, but a little too crawling with tourists for my liking (yes, I say this as a tourist in the city - I understand the irony). There were spruikers on every corner trying to sell you tours to the sacred valley, treks to Machu Picchu, massages, photos with guys dressed up as Incas and the like. As annoying as this was it really worked in our favour as we were able to book the Salkantay Trek for the crazy cheap price of $185 per person including sleeping bag rental. We had assumed that our budget wouldn't allow us to do a trek at all and that we'd be seeing MP as part of a day trip by car. It did mean that our entire budget for Cusco was going towards Salkantay and we wouldn't be able to buy a tourist ticket to visit the other sites around town but that was a small price to pay. Mach Picchu really is THE drawcard.
- So, the hike. It was great. Really great. However, I think the saying 'you get what you pay for' is true because we had a few issues due to booking with a cheap company. Our 5am pickup was half an hour late and they didn't have our names listed nor the fact that we are vegetarian (ahem). Add to that the fact that our guide may or may not have had a drinking problem and you could tell you were on the budget tour. But still, the scenery is just as amazing as if you paid more for a better company and we were so freaking grateful to have the opportunity that nothing was going to bring us down.
- The first two days walking were probably the more difficult days, needing to go up quite a lot in elevation to pass Abra Salkantay. These were our favourite days. On the first day after lunch we walked up to Humantay lake which is at the base of a glacial mountain which runs off into the lake. It is such a beautiful colour, almost turquoise green. It's also really fucking cold (that would be the glacial waters). I was not game to go in but, as ever, Dave ran in headfirst and took a very quick dip. You can't keep that kid out of the water. A few of us did a bit of extra walking up to the top of a hill where the views of the lake were even better. It was here that we made our first apacheta (rock stack) and said a prayer to Pacha Mama that we would have a good day for hiking tomorrow.
- Our guides woke us up at 5am on day two with hot coca tea delivered straight to our tents. That's the kind of wake up call I could get used to. They were clearly buttering us up for the morning where the hiking was going to be tough! Getting up to Salkantay Pass required walking pretty steadily uphill for three hours until we reached our highest point of 4,600 metres. Phew. We were so lucky that we had spent so much time at altitude prior to doing this hike and didn't struggle with the altitude the way that others in our group who had flown into Cusco the day before the hike did. It never gets easy to breathe at altitude but somehow your body just eventually gets used to it. At the peak we sat and listened to our guide explain some customs of the Quechua people and we made apachetas. This time we each stacked enough rocks for members of our families and prayed for their health and wellbeing. I'm not one for religion in any way but this is a nice ritual and I enjoyed doing it. I stacked 10 rocks so if you're wondering whether I prayed for you, that will probably help you to figure it out. Your continued health is entirely because of me, and you're welcome. The next few hours of hiking saw our landscape completely change from glaciers and mountains into lush jungle. Peru is a country of such contrasts.
- On day three we had cake for breakfast because it was the birthday of one of the girls in our group. Birthday goals for the rest of my life - cake for breakfast. This day our walk was mostly along roads through the jungle and it got really hot, really early. By lunchtime we were all exhausted so it was good that the afternoon involved a car ride to our next camping spot and a trip to the hot springs. Hot springs in South America have been largely disappointing, it's something they tack onto a lot of tours but often they are really average and uninviting. These hot springs though, these were amazing. Really well made and they felt natural but also super clean and hygienic. There was even a bar at this place so you could have a beer once you felt that you were sufficiently rejuvenated. The relaxed atmosphere continued back to our campsite where the pisco was flowing, the music pumping and the birthday celebrations kicking off. Dave and I probably put away a few too many beers and definitely not enough water and also stayed up way past our bedtime.
- The morning of day four was a complete clusterfuck. It seems we weren't the only ones who had drunk too much the night before, with no wake up call from our guides and a disorganised mess of orders being shouted and nobody knowing what was going on. Most people were going zip lining this morning but we opted out because it was an extra expense and we could not afford that. So we walked with shocking hangovers in the beating sun along a track that had no shade whatsoever. Not our finest moment. At lunch we met the rest of the group and then walked along the train tracks to Aguas Calientes, our final destination and the closest town to Machu Picchu. Our hostel was way nicer than we anticipated and we very much enjoyed a hot shower and sleeping in an actual bed.
- Our 4am wake up to climb up to Machu Picchu greeted us with torrential rain. We had been so lucky on this hike, in wet season, to have only copped about 45 minutes of rain in the late stages of our hike on day two. But this rain was not going anywhere anytime soon so with our ponchos on we headed out into the dark to make our final trek. The walk up was not easy, requiring you to climb these giant stone steps up and up. I had a duffel bag on my back and my daypack on my front as we had to carry all our own stuff on the final day. My daypack is the worst backpack of all time, not only is it falling apart, it's also far too big to wear on my front and consequently my thighs were pushing it upwards with every single step I went up. Add to this the rain and the dark and I was convinced I would never make it to the top. Luckily one of our guides saw me struggling and said 'give me your bag'. I practically cried with relief when he took it from me and then I ran up those motherfucking steps like I was Mohammed Ali. Okay that's not really how it went but it did make the world of difference.
- Entering the site of Machu Picchu for the first time not long after daybreak was a pretty surreal experience. It's something you've seen so many pictures of but still manages to take your breath away at first sight. The heavy clouds and mist hanging over the site this morning definitely added to the aura of mystery around it. Our guide gave us a brief tour of Machu Picchu but unfortunately he didn't give us much interesting information or actually seem to know that much about it. I eavesdropped on other guides and they were much better so it was a little disappointing, as without context you're really just staring at a bunch of old rock houses. Once the guides left and we were free to look around ourselves we hightailed it to the Sun Gate and patiently waited for the clouds to clear so we could get the full view of Machu Picchu. Sure enough, they did and we could really see the scale of it and also the location of it, on a mountain surrounded by other mountains. It's a crazy place to build a city and makes the feat of constructing it even more impressive. It's definitely one of the most special man made things I've ever seen, for sheer engineering alone and the fact that the Incas completely abandoned it and it was hidden from the world for centuries.
- Our trip back to Cusco was less than glamorous. As we were unable to afford the faster, more expensive option of the train we had to walk back along the train tracks to Hidroelectrica where we just had time to scoff a couple of egg sandwiches and a Sublime ice cream (I wish we'd eaten these together Amy, they are exactly as amazing as you would expect) before the 7 hour mini bus ride from hell. Getting back to the comfort of our hostel where there were fresh crepes and craft beer waiting for us was a pretty sweet moment.
- 23 hours on a bus got us to Lima, a gigantic city that unfortunately didn't seem to have a whole lot to set itself apart from other gigantic cities, in my opinion. It definitely didn't help that we were in a shitty, overpriced hostel, all the local places to eat and drink were overpriced (25 soles for a burrito!) and we had a heap of flights, accommodation and buses to book in anticipation of leaving South America within the week. Not a great combination to make any city endearing. Lima does have a couple of cool craft beer joints and we checked those out along with the bloody shopping mall as we had to pick up a few essentials. I hate malls. We were back at sea level for the first time in about 6 weeks and it was such a nice change to climb stairs and not feel out of breath. The feeling wouldn't last long though, as we were heading to Huaraz, a lazy 3,000 metres above sea level.
- The town of Huaraz was our very last stop in South America. Our plan was to come here for a few days and squeeze in a few hikes in what we had heard were beautiful national parks. We probably didn't do enough research (what else is new) and we assumed that the trail heads were all close to town and easily accessible. Incorrect. They were all a few hours away by bus and you had to pay not only to enter the parks but for the transport as well. Oy. We chose to prioritise the hike to Laguna 69 as by all accounts it was breathtaking. The bus ride took three hours including a pointless stop for breakfast and it was at this moment that we realised that not only were we two of a very small number of gringos on the bus, we were also among only a handful of people who were appropriately dressed for a hike. I'm talking a hike with a reasonably steep ascent, finishing at 4,600 metres. Yet most of the locals were wearing jeans and skate shoes. Not ideal. Our hostel had organised the bus for us and it was definitely not the kind of hiking day trip we had in mind. This was a tourist bus, not a bus for hikers. We made it to the lake (which was stunning, by the way) in about 2 hours. We then sat and ate our lunch and enjoyed the view for an hour. Then we practically meandered back down, knowing that there were some very slow walkers in our group. We still had to sit and wait by the bus for an hour and a freaking half while the rest of the group casually strolled back in their jeans looking like they were about to die. I'm not being judgemental about anybody else's fitness levels here, but the whole day was a shambles and it certainly put the kibosh on any plans to do another hike the following day. Give me self paced, easily accessible trails any day.
- So with that, it was back to Lima and then off to Panama via Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Inter country flights in South and Central America can be hideously expensive and for us it was cheaper to fly to the states and then to Panama. Crazy.
And that's a wrap for South America. We have been here for 6 months and although we didn't make it all the way to Ecuador and Colombia (next time...) I am so happy with everything that we did and the experiences we've had. The people have been incredibly friendly and for the most part so patient with me and my fledgling Spanish. I've never had any rational reason to fear for my safety and the one time that I was a victim of theft was inside a hostel, possibly by a fellow backpacker. A lot of blanket statements are thrown around by people about this continent or the specific countries within it (complete fucking flog from Brisbane who we met in Valparaiso: 'I've never met anybody who wasn't robbed in Bolivia') but seeing the way things really are is very different to the stories you hear. There is however, a huge disparity between the rich and the poor, and progress and infrastructure varies wildly from country to country or even between regions within a country. Everybody speaks the same language (except the Brazilians, obvs) but they all speak different dialects and with completely different accents. The people in Argentina are tall, thin and European looking due to their multicultural heritage, while the people in Peru are short and dark owing to their Quechuan roots. There is so much to see, so much to do and so much to learn. I can guarantee that I will return to this continent as now that I have scratched the surface I really want to keep exploring and see what else lies beneath. 6 months has been great but it's far too short a time to devote to a continent as rich and diverse as this one. I would encourage everybody to visit, with the caveat that it's not as easy as travelling Europe but for me it offered a far more rewarding experience. I'm certainly a far less anxious, more patient, less judgemental and more accepting human being than I was 6 months ago and I have my challenges and triumphs - and the amazing people I've met and learned from - in South America to thank for that.
And for now, it's a few weeks rest and relaxation in Central America (God do we need it) and then on to the next adventure - Asia! x
