The most important thing in Puno (tourist point of view) are the floating islands (Islas flotantes) in Titicaca lake. These
floating islands are the home of the Uros tribe, one which pre-dates the Incan
civilization. According to their legends, they existed before the sun, when the
earth was still dark and cold. You can go by yourself (5 soles) or on a tour (15 soles the cheapest) but the tour is pretty cool cos they explain how the islands are built and you get to see their houses and even try their traditional clothing. And this way you help the villagers directly.
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| Plaza de Armas. Cusco |
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| San Blas |
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| Kalinka near the Moon temple |
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| Finally...A Bulgarian (but again only 50 %) |
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| In Kalina`s friend`s house |
Gonzalo from Argentina,
whom I met in Villa Tunari in Bolivia came the next day and we started to think
how to get to Machu Picchu the cheapest way. If anyone wants to know how to go
to Machu Picchu cheap, I know everything now, just ask. Inca trail was of
course booked till November so no chance there and it is very expensive. The cheapest
option is to take a bus to Ollantaytambo (there are Inca ruins as well) and
then walk along the rail track to Aguas Calientes (30km). Sleep in Aguas
Calientes and 1 h walk to Machu Picchu. The entrance fee is around 45 euros for
foreigners or half price if you have ISIC card. Make sure you get your ISIC
card (real or fake one) before you go to Cusco, everything is half price with
it. I also met some people who managed to get in for free but you have to be
very patient and wary, watch out for the guards and pretend you were in
already. So there are lots of options of course, if you wanna do it cheap,
don’t take the train and don’t go on tours. Other than that there are so many
tours – Inca trail (book 6 months to a year in advance), Salkantay trek (around
200$, I´ve heard of someone doing it for 160), jungle tour, organized transport
to Santa Teresa or Hidroelectrica and then walk the rail track to Aguas
Calientes, another tour including bus to Ollantaytambo and then train to Aguas
Calinetes…But all of this could be done on your own, without paying the extra
money to the travel agency.
At the end we decided to do the Salkantay trek without a guide which implies carrying the tent, sleeping bags and mats, food and basically everything we need. The locals say that it is the best trek to Machu Picchu, more beautiful than the legendary Inca Trail. It is 5 days trekking, pretty tough, if you are not used to long hikes. We rented a tent and sleeping mats (10/s. a day), it is very important to get a good one cos it is freezing cold up there.
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| Gonzalo trying the tent we are about to rent |
The route:
Taxi
at 4,30 am to Mollepata (15 /S., 2h). Then start walking...almost all the way is
uphill to Soraypampa where the first camp site is (4154m) It was freezing cold in
the tent, even though I was wearing all of my clothes, including a hat and
gloves. Both of us didn’t sleep very well, trying to cuddle up to each other and use the heat of our bodies. The camp sites are free and they can make some
food for you, nothing amazing but pretty cheap (5 /S.). Second day is the
hardest one – 3,4 h quite steep hike until you get to Abra de Salkantay 4600m,
pretty amazing views but the hike is quite tough, especially at that altitude.
After that is all downhill, but long……I think we left at 7 am (after all
the groups have left already, they got up really early) and managed to get to
the camp site in Collpapampa around 6pm and set up our tent. The group that was
camping there was quite friendly and we chatted and played games for a bit but
after dinner we all died, so exhausted, went to bed round 9pm. At least it was
much warmer that night (only 2800m). Third day walked to La playa, had lunch there (finally some fish, something different
from a soup or rice with eggs) and we sneaked into one of the group minivans to
Santa Teresa. Once in the camp site, went to las Termas (hot springs) an hour
away walking but 10 /s. return. That was such a treat for our dirty, smelly and
exhausted bodies. Imagine around 200 people in the same condition jumping into
the hot springs! There was a big party at the camp site that night, with a big
bonfire and l loud music till early morning, everyone drinking and dancing.
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| Hitched a ride with some road workers for a pretty good distance all uphill |
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| Unfortunately, not for my pocket |
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| 4600 |
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| Camp site No 2 |
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| A bit crowded but still pretty nice after 3 days of hiking and sweating |
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| Party in the camp |
Next
day took a taxi to Hidroelectrica (5/S. each) or you can walk 3h on a dusty and
rolling road and then 1,5h walk along the rail track to Aguas Calientes. Found
a cheap hostel (25 /S. each but with private bathroom, yeye). The bus going to
Machu Picchu costs 17$ and the other option is to go up walking (1h-1,5h) which
is what we did of course. Got there around 7am and it was already crowded. They
let 2000 people enter the Inca city every day but to me it looked much more
than that. And all the groups and their group photos all the time are a bit
annoying. It still amazing though! We couldn´t go to Huayna Picchu because the
tickets are always sold out 5 days in advance so we had tickets to the other peak, also called Machu Picchu,
which in my opinion is more beautiful but more difficult to get to. It is a
pretty steep hike but doesn’t take more than 2 hours.
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| Never ending rail track from Hidroelectrica to Aguas Calientes |
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| Coffee beans |
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| The famous train |
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| Aguas Calientes |
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| The hot springs in Aguas Calientes. Lots of families and kids |
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| We made it! |
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| Had to wait at least 20 minutes to pose for this photo! So many people |
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| Probably the most touristic place in South America but still impressive |
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| Huayna Piccu at the front and Machu Picchu down there |
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| Massive rock fell on the road and we had to leave the taxi and continue walking |
After
we went back to Cusco, I met up with a few couchsurfers. Went to these hidden
Inca ruins with Guillermo from CS who grew up in Cuzco (but now he lives in
Portland) and knew everything – bus to Ancahuasi and then walk to Killarum and
Tarahuasi ruins. Pretty chevere (cool) and no other tourists around. Most of
the locals didn’t even speak Spanish, just Quechua but they all were very
friendly.
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| Somewhere in San Blas |
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| PIM POM?!? Thats a bit too much. Dont wanna mention the other spelling mistakes |
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| Chicha rosada |
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| Cusco from above |
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| Giant statue of Christ crowning the hill next to Sacsayhuamán ruins |
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| Incaria. An alcoholic local drink (made of 12 different herbs), not bad at all |
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| The bar itself was pretty cool. Glad Guillermo told us about it (tourist don´t know it) |
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| Tarahuasi ruins |
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| Tarahuasi ruins |
Arequipa is another top destination in Peru, surrounded
by canyons and volcanoes….I stayed with Fernando and Lindsey, a
Peruvian-Canadian couple which had a pretty interesting love story. She arrived
in Arequipa at the beginning of her round the world trip and stayed at
Fernando´s couch and she never left. Now they are married I suppose (the
wedding was set for February). Their house was always full of couchsurfers, some
of them staying and others who were invited to theirs legendary meals.
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| Sculpture workshop on the main plaza |
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| "Las fiestas" of Arequipa just started |
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| The whole CS crowd after dinner |
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| One of Fernando/Lindsey´s culinary masterpieces |
Like almost all the backpackers I went to Cañon del Colca – second deepest in the world, the deepest one is just next to it but not as good for trekking.
I
took a bus to Cabanaconde at 8am, got there in the afternoon. You have to pay a
fee which is 10 soles for Peruvians, 40 for latinos and 70 for the rest. I told
the lady I was Brazilian so I only paid 40 (so all these language exchange
classes with Luciano and Cristiano didn´t go in vast (my Portuguese language
exchange in Barcelona)J.
I stayed the night in Cabanaconde so I can go early in the morning to see the
condors, you can only see them in the morning between 8 and 10 am (the bus leaves from Cabanaconde around 6,30 am). After seeing them, I went back
just in time to hike down to Llahuar, took me
4 hours but mostly because I got lost taking the shortcuts or whatever they
were, and then going back. It was one of the three possible ways to get down
the canion, and the most difficult one but the only one with hot springs. Since
the tourist almost don’t come here, I was almost by myself, had my own cabin
for only 15 /S. (5 US$), the thermals and stunning views over the river.
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| Cabanaconde |
ç
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| On the way to Llahuar |
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| In the thermals |
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| My room |
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| My room again but I liked it so much that deserves 2 photos :) |
Next
morning I went 4 hours to Malata, where I had lunch. I learned my lesson tho,
you have to get up very early to avoid the sun, otherwise is way too hot and
makes the walk pretty tough. Two Peruvian guys helped me find the way to Oasis
– they actually took me there, cos due to construction works starting that day,
the regular path was closed. Thanks to
them I learnt a lot about vegetation there cos they were agronomist working for
the government. Slept at the only hotel with electricity and cold beer in Oasis
for 10 soles. I made friends with some of the guys and got promised a bus ride
with the groups to Arequipa for the same price as the public bus (but this way
I get to see some tourist attraction that I would definitely miss on the public
bus). Next morning after all the groups left at 5am, I was waken up at 6am and
at 8,30am I was in Cabanaconde, overtaking all the groups. Stopped at the hot
springs in Cacapi on the way to Chivay (really touristy so we decided to go
down to the river and dip there instead) and in Maca village.
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| Oasis |
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| Maca |
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| I chose the river to the thermals |
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| The hummingbird (not my photo) |
Went
back to Arequipa just to stay one night with Fernando and Lindsey and the
Austrians they were hosting left next day to
Nazca (10 hours, 60 soles). Got
there in the morning and Edgar came to pick me up. In his house I met the other
couchsurfers – Polish couple, French and American guy. Exchanged lots of info with
them, all of them were coming from the north and going to Cusco. The huge images, which include hundreds of
animals and complex mazes in the Nazca desert, can only clearly be seen for the
air giving rise to a number of explanations as to who they were intended for. We
were so lucky to have Edgar as a host because he was a scientist working on
Nazca lines for the past 10 years and he knew everything. He invited us to see
the presentation he was giving in the Planetarium about the Nazca lines every
night and that gave me much more information than any of the flights over the
lines (100 $ each).
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| Nazca style bus stop |
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| Some figures and lines I saw from the View point |
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| Nazca |
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| Part of Edgar´s presentation |
Ica. My host
Berly picked me up from the bus station and I got a whole room for myself in
his house. The Ica Valley is also the biggest wine producer in Peru, well
something a little stronger than wine… Pisco. There are many winery and bodega
tours where you can learn how to make the Pisco Sour and sample, sample, sample
the day away. Berly took me to this weird birthday party where we all sat in a
circle for 2 hours passing a bottle of pisco around, which was being refilled
constantly. Then everyone started dancing in the middle and the end, at around
12pm, we got served proper meal and again eating in circle.
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| Still sitting in circle |
Huacachina is the only oasis in South
America, surrounded by massive waves of sand that stretch to the Pacific. It is
now known as the best place in Peru to get your thrills on a sand-board and a
dune-buggy. You can even fork out the cash to hire your own 4×4 and explore the
mounds by yourself, not my case of course. We rented boards for 5 soles and
took us almost an hour to get to the top of the hill. I was never good at
snowboarding, the few times I´ve tried, but sand boarding could be my new walk
of life haha. After Huachachina we went to one of the place providing a free
pisco tour (Ruta del Pisco) and degustation afterwards.
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| Still not convinced |
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| Getting the hang of it |
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| With Marce and his nieces |
Lima. I didn´t like Lima. Luckily I stayed with my
firend Liz´s family which made up for it. Liz is a good friend of mine I met
when I was Erasmus in Girona in 2005 and since then we´ve been friends. Her
birthday is also on June 14th so we celebrated together various
times. Her mum and brother welcomed me and made everything possible so that I
feel at home in their lovely apartment. It´s a shame I didn’t take any photos with
them L.
Another
good thing was meeting Monica whom I worked with in Barcelona before quitting
my job and apparently she did the same. We met up a few times, had some Pisco Sours
together and went to the Lima´s Parque de Aguas together. It was so nice to
catch up with her and remember the funny and not so funny times at work (so
happy Im not working any more). I met her boyfriend as well, they had lots of
fun stories about their life in Peru (I especially enjoyed how they got on a
bus from Arequipa to Lima thinking it was just a 3 hour ride!).
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| Plaza de armas, Lima |
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| Miraflores, Lima |
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| Made me laugh |
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| Dopec-Cicsa reunion in Lima (over Pisco sour) |
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| Parque de las aguas, Lima |
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| You have to run very quickly before the water spews out |
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| Some people got stuck in the middle for a while |
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| They spell Barca with "Z" in Peru |
Enrique’s
house was pretty modern but I’ve never seen a house so full of stuff. Every
little space in the house covered or full of things (cushions, plates, glasses,
paintings, souvenirs, bottles, anything that could be bought), even the walls –
on each wall there were at least 3 paintings hanging (not particularly the same
style). I basically had the third floor for myself, lovely terrace, my own
bathroom..The good thing was that finally I could have proper food cos was sick
of rice (all the food is with rice) and Enrique loved his barbeques so we had
lots of meat and vegetables. And real coffee, he had a real coffee machine! How
such small things can make us happy!
Enrique
took me to Huaca de la Luna ("Temple/Shrine of the Moon"). Moches
is the civilization after the Incas and Chimú
cultures. It is a large adobe brick structure built mainly by
the Moche people of northern Peru. The guide was really good and I
actually enjoyed the tour (usually I don’t do tours).
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| Another unknown fruit |
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| Lots of chicha to go |
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| We are more humble..just a jug |
Huanchaco draws its fair share of
Peru’s surf tourists and it is just 15 min away from Trujillo. Armies of
surfers in gray wetsuits stomp barefoot along the sidewalk; some are old pros
heading out to the more challenging southern waves, others are new students
sticking to the sheltered waters of Playa la Curva just north of the muelle,
grappling with their boards, leashes dangling awkwardly (that’s how I
probably looked a month later in Lobitos). it’s a great place for both beginner
and intermediate students, and a good jumping-off point for daytrips to more
advanced waves like Chicama (the world’s longest left). We went one afternoon
and I loved it, regretted that I didn’t stay there instead of Trujillo. So much
more my style – sea, waves, cozy little restaurants, surfers…not as noisy and
busy as Trujillo.
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| Last photo in Trujillo and "rumbo" to the jungle |
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