Peru in Two Weeks!

11:16am Tuesday 5th August 2008

Comments (0)   Have your say »

We had a bad start in Lima in Peru as we desperately searched for accommodation at 12am. We thought we had booked into a youth hostel but on arrivel they said that there was no room so luckily with the help of a friendly taxi driver we finally found a bed in a nice hotel for £10 a night. It was refreshing to have a nice room to ourselves and moer imoprtantly a hot shower!

On our first day we had more stress and strife as we realised what a big country Peru is and how we cannot just nip from one town to the other. We had to re consider our plan and cut out the Nazca lines. Once decided, we took to exploring Lima.

Lima, where Paddington Bear is apparently from, has a lovely main square called Plaza de Armes where most tourist seem to gather. We saw the changing of the guard at the presidential palace which seemed to go on forever and every member of staff in the palace seemed to get dressed up to just change two guards. It certainly oozed pomp and circumstance.

We also wandered to the rather unusual Church of St Frances. Underlying the main church are the catacombs which is where normal, every day people were buried fr years on three seperate floors. In recent years archeologists discovered the bones and oddly, have seperated the bones into piles, and even more oddly have made patterns in the wells out of the bones. It was a little bit eerie and I was pleased to escape.

Penny, Daisy and I left Lima on a rather nice coach which took 22 hours to get to Cusco. Although it sounds a long time it went quite quickly as they played so many films for us and fed us at meal times, which always keeps me happy!

Once in Cusco we went to our accommodation which was up the steepest hill in the town and which was a mighty struggle to get up with our over stuffed back packs. Cusco lies at 3326m above sea level so we took it easy so we could adjust to the altitude.

Cusco is a fantastic town to relax and enjoy. Strolling over cobbled streets down to the main square the walls just ooze culture and history. We were lucky enough to experience a festival while we were there which went on for five days. The locals dress up in wonderful, colourful clothes and sing, dance and parade the square.

I just stood and watched for ages mesmerised as it was so vibrant and exciting. The whole of Cusco came alive with the party atmosphere.

We had great time there and took our time to view the sights. We went to nearby Inca sites with a tour. We also sampled Pisco sour and grilled alpaca, which is similar to llama.

On the 24th of June we started our Lares Valley Trek which took us over mountains, through passes and past villages of the indigenous Quechua people. The Inca Trail was fully booked months ago so we could did this alternative and it was fantastic. There was 14 in our walking group and we had two guides called Isacc and Dalmiro, two horsemen and two chefs.

On our first day we started walking at 10.30am straight up the side of the mountain by Quiswarani. We walked until lunch time whre we stopped next to a beautiful lagoon. The food really was impressive as they cooked so much for us and it was so tasty! We walked up through a pass after lunch and arrived at camp around 5pm. That night we went to bed as soon as supper was over and we slept in a tent, which was very cold!

We were up early for the next two days to start trekking but it was worth it as the scenery was so beautiful. We stopped at the Cuncai community where native Quechua people live. Our guide, Isacc, was actualy a Quechua man and he told us all about how they live.

He said that tourists help the locals to live as they sell their products to us. They keep llamas, mainly to carry things, and they live off the land by eating fish and potatoes. WE took crayons and books for the children but I do not think they were too excited as they obviously get the same every day!

One morning I poked my head out of the tent and I saw a girl, no older than 6 years old, herding a group of llamas all by herself and making a very good job of it too.

On the third day we arrived at Ollantaytambo and caught a train to Aguas Calientes village where we stayed in a hostel. On the fourth day we caught a bus up to Machu Picchu, along with all the other tourists.

Machu Picchu is an amazing place and what makes it even more interesting is the mystery surrounding it. No one really knows why it was built there. It is so in tact and sits just above the Amazonian rainforest. We walked up the huge karst next to it called Huayna Picchu which was a strenuous climb but which gave great views of the ancient town. The Incas stored their food on the top, which seemed a long way to go for breakfast!

We walked back down and we had a tour of the town. It was amazing what the Inca achieved, such as a clean water system, which ran down through the town. They created terraces to grow their crops and had different areas for different classes of people. They think 2000 people lived ther altogether.

Afterwards we went back down to Agua Calientes and discovered that our tour company had not been able to get train tickets for every one. 9 of us out of the 14 people had to stay and as a result we missed our bus to Puno the next morning.

The tour company promised us they would provide a bus tomorrow afternoon but they put us on a local bus which which was a third of what we paid originally. Needless to say we were glad to get off in Puno and leave the bumpy, smelly bus.

We spent our last few nights in Peru in Puno which is on the banks of Lake Titicaca and we visited the reed islands, which are floating islands made of reeds. The people who live there use reeds for every thing you can think of, even to eat!

On the 30th of June we left Peru and headed to its poorer neighbour, Bolivia.