guinea pigs taste good!

We arrived for a bus to Nazca a little unsure of what to expect, all the VIP seats had been booked and we were only able to get on the second floor.  We travelled with Cruz del Sur and they were brilliant.  The seats were wide lots of legroom, footrests and almost fully reclined.  We were served a lovely meal and then they gave out bingo cards and everyone started to play bingo except us as our Spanish isnt quite up to scratch yet.  I thought I knew what the numbers were but wasnt sure and didnt want to shout out bingo and then find I had got them wrong!  We then watched a couple of films and before we knew it the 6 hour journey had flown by and we were in Nazca.

We arrived about 8.30pm and as we left the bus station you get accosted from all sides by people trying to get you to stay at their hotel, book tours etc.  Marc kept saying no but some can be pretty persistent and Marc thought that he would try out some of his newly acquired Spanish by calling them banditos which he had learnt in the jungle.  He thought it was a good humoured term but turns out he was calling them bandits / thiefs and the atmosphere changed to a bit threatening!  Luckily at this point a guy came up to us and said ‘are you Marc?’.  It was Joseph from the hotel we had booked and Marc had used the same phrase banditos in jest on the phone when he spoke to him earlier that day and Joseph heard and rescued us!

We walked across the road to the hotel and checked in and then booked a flight to the Nazca lines the next day at 10am as our bus out of Nazca was leaving at 2.30pm.  We didnt want to stay another night in Nazca as it really wasnt a pleasant place!  The following morning we were transferred to the airport where we watched a bbc video of the Nazca lines explaining possible theories about why they were there.  We sat waiting to be put on a flight, it was such a chaotic airport, we kept being told not to worry we would get our bus!  Eventually at 1.30pm we were led to our plane, a tiny cessna with room for 3 passengers.  It was weird being in such a small plane, we felt very vunerable!  From the air we saw large numbers of lines, parallels and geometrical figures and also designs such as a tree, hummingbird, flamingo, spider, monkey, hands and an astronaut!  It was bizarre and they date back to Nazca times 200BC-AD600.  The theory we most believed is that the lines were made by people walking single file in lines and that is how they came about.  Either that or aliens as some people believe!

We landed at 2.15pm and were rushed to the bus station were we did manage to get our bus with minutes to spare.

Arriving in Paracas again at night we were accosted by people asking us had we booked a tour the next day… Marc said that we hadnt and arranged a lift to our hotel for free in a dune buggy where they could tell us about there tours!  Going there in the dune buggy at breakneck speed I said to Marc that the guidebook recommends never book with people at bus stations and what was he doing.  He replied that it would be fine, he had looked into her eyes and that she seemed trustworthy.  Turns out he had got this one right and she was a lovely woman called Gallina and she booked us on a tour of the Ballestas islands and Paracas bay the following day.

In the morning we went to the Ballestas islands which are eroded into numerous arches and caves.  We saw sea lions, cormorants, penguins, boobies, terns, dolphins and my favourite, pelicans.  On the boat on the way back we saw a Candelabra traced into the hillside 200m tall that had been there since 300BC.

After that we went to Paracas National Reserve.  It wasnt like any national reserve we had ever been to before, there was no greenery at all, it was desert.  We saw a rock formation in the cliffs called La Catedral but it didnt look much like a cathedral as the middle part had fallen in when the earthquake struck last year.  We walked along the cliffs and everywhere there were varying size cracks on the ground from the earthquake.  We stopped for lunch and got enticed into a restaurant offering us a tourist menu for 15sol, about $5!  This was 2 courses and a bottle of coke and we werent expecting great things.  We thought we would try ceviche which is raw white fish marinated in lemon or lime juice, onion and chilli and then fried fish with chips.  Both were absolutely gorgeous!

We then went back to the bus station to catch the bus to Lima.  Gallina had booked our bus tickets for us while we were on the tour and sat waiting with us for the bus.  Marc decided that as she had been so good to us he would nab any tourist that got off the bus and tell them how great she was and that they should book a hotel and tour with her.  I think he managed to convince about 4 tourists to go with her in the dune buggy!  We got on the bus to Lima and watched transformers and were able to play bingo as the numbers were given in english as well but unfortunately didnt win the bottle of pisco that was on offer!

So now we are back in Lima at the Runcu Inn, eating our way round Lima!  It is a very grey city, there is no sun for 6 months of the year and most people arrive and leave straight away but we quite like it.  We are due to meet our new group in a couple of hours time and then on to Huaraz and the Cordillera Huayhuash tomorrow for the start of our trek. 

It was our last day with the group and we all took a city tour to downtown Lima.  We started with a trip to the old post office, which of course Marc was fascinated by.  It was there he saw a model of el chasqui.  The Chasquis were agile and highly-trained runners that delivered messages, royal delicacies and other objects throughout the Inca Empire.  Marc has decided that this will be his new poker name as they were early postmen.

We then went to the Plaza de Armas.  On one side is the palace, another is the cathedral and archbishops house and another is the mayors residence.  We had a brilliant guide who took us on a tour of the cathedral and showed us all the altars and mosaic covered walls.  The archbishops house and many other buildings had superb wooden balconies.  Our guide told us this was where you could met up and gossip and not be seen!

We visted the chuch of San Francisco and saw a great painting spanish style of the last supper which had chillis on the table!  There were wonderful cloisters which had amazing frescoes and we then went down to the Catacombs.  I have never seen so many bones!!

From there we went to the museum of anthropolgy and archaeology.  It was great seeing it with a guide, she picked out all the most important ineresting bits and explained to us the different cultures of the Chimu, Nazca, Moche and Inca people.  It gave an overview of Peruvian cultures through their pottery.  The ceramics were fascinating, it was hard to believe they werent replicas as they were so well preserved, you could see all the engravings on them.  Marc particularly liked all the erotic pottery!  Apparently the erotic pottery was used to drink out of and this was a way of humiliating whoever was drinking from it.  It also had a gold and silver exhibiton on where you could see necklaces and earring that were worn hundreds of years ago.

We then said goodbye to the group and moved to a different hotel, the Runcu Inn.  Compared to where we had been staying this is 10 times better.  It is clean and modern and the staff are all so helpful and lovely.  They helped us to book our bus tickets to Nazca and then when they werent delivered late at night sent someone out in a taxi to collect them for us. 

Next is a few days on our own when we are going to go to Nazca and Paracas before returning to Lima and meeting another group when we will start the Huayhuash Circuit.

We had a long 10hr bus journey from Cuzco to Puno, thank goodness I had my ipod with podcasts from Jonathan Ross and Chris Evans on it – very funny!  We arrived late in Puno and stayed the night there before going to Lake Titicaca the next day.  Lake Titicaca is the highest navigable lake in the world.  First we visited the Uros which are floating islands.  They use the reeds that grow in the lake for everything, boats, houses and the foundation of their island.  The dense roots that the plants develop support the islands.  They are anchored with ropes attached to sticks driven into the bottom of the lake.  The reeds at the bottoms of the islands rot away fairly quickly, so new reeds are added to the top constantly.  The islands last about 30 years.  Marc found the beds of dried reeds on the islands very comfy and lay down while we listened to a talk of how the islands were made.  He also ate the bottom white part of reed which he said was pretty tasteless.

We then went on the boat for 3hrs to Amantani which is another island on the lake.  We stayed here for the night with a local family, we were with Don Toribio and his family.  We had a late lunch and then after a short siesta went to climb one of the islands peaks, Pacha Mama from which there were great views and we watched the sun set.  After dinner all the other members of the group came to Don Toribios house and we had a fiesta.  All our families had dressed us up in local clothes (see the photos on facebook!) and we danced the night away.  I ended up dancing with Don Toribio – Papa Grande most of the night while Marc danced with Mama Grande.  As the island itself is at a high altitude the dancing was exhausting, we thought by dancing with grandparents we would have an easier time…  They had so much energy and spun me around and didnt let me sit down for a minute!  We both went to bed shattered!

When we got up for breakfast the next day our guide Carlos was there eating guinea pig.  Of course we felt we had to try it, we had seen guinea pigs everywhere.  It was quite bizarre when we were at the market in Pisac they had an area where the guinea pigs were living right beside the oven where they would then be cooked!  Dont know if I recommend having it for breakfast but it actually tasted surprisingly good, like the brown meat on a chicken.  I am glad we were able to taste a small amount rather than having to order a whole one for ourselves!

On first seeing Machu Picchu there is a sense of awe.  Nothing beats seeing it for yourself.

We got an early bus from Aguas Calientes at 6.30am to avoid all the tourists who were due to arrive on the train at around 11.  It is a massive ancient citadel sited on top a high mountain (2380m) which has steep terraced slopes leading down to the Urubamba river.  It was built around the year 1450, but abandoned a hundred years later, at the time of the Spanish conquest of the Inca Empire.   Overhead is Wayna Picchu and lots of other peaks covered in green jungle.  Machu Picchu means old mountain and Wayna Picchu means young mountain.  There are so many ruins – staircases, terraces, temples, palaces, towers and fountains.  You could clearly see the residental quarters, where they worked, worshipped, met in the square.  It was absolutely fascinating. 

Marc wasnt feeling great that day so he found a quiet terrace and fell asleep while I climbed Wayna Picchu with another member of the group.  The climb took about 40 minutes up very steep steps, I was very glad we had done the Moonstone trek and not the Inca trail as apparently there are lots of steps on the Inca trail!  We passed lots of tourists who clearly werent trekkers and thought the best way was to go as quickly as possible and then stop when they got out of breath.  We carried on slowly the top and it really wasnt too bad, it looked a lot worse!  There were ruins at the top of here as well and the views from the top were well worth the climb, you got a view of the whole site, it was amazing.  I came back down and spotted Marc with his red hat and we had some lunch.  It is such a large site it didnt feel too toursity at all, there was room for everyone to find their own space and think about the Incas who lived there.  We then went back down to town so missed all the day trippers and then it started to pour with rain!

We flew into Cuzco from Puerto Maldonado and were told to spend the afternoon relaxing.  Cuzco is at an altitude of 3310m which didnt sound like much to us but coming from sea level you really noticed the effects.  The hotel greeted us with a cup of coca tea which is meant to help with the effects of altitude.  Whilst everyone was sipping their tea Marc had got the bowl of coca leaves and was busy stuffing them to the side of his mouth like a hamster and chewing them to see what kind of high they would give!  Apparently if you get drug tested in the next few months and have had coca tea you will give back a positive result for cocaine!  For information his eyes became bloodshot and he had a very large grin that wouldn’t leave his face… he certainly enjoyed it!

We took a walk down to the main square and had a look at the 17th century cathedral and then went for lunch.  We had a huge lunch at the Inka Grill were we tried our first lomo saltado which is stir fried beef with onions, tomatoes and chilli served with chips and rice.  Needless to say we both ate far too much and decided to return back to the hotel for a siesta!  The hotel was up a long steep hill and while Marc bounded on up I lagged behind barely able to catch my breath, Marc found this hilarious and asked me was I putting it on, what was the problem, he felt fine!  We skipped dinner that night due to our rather large lunch and had an early night.

The following day we went for a tour of the Sacred Valley.  We started at Sacsayhuaman which is on a hill in the northern outskirts of Cuzco.  There were massive Inca walls where the rocks weigh up to 130 tons and are fitted together with absolute perfection, not even a millimetre separates them.  It was a sanctuary and temple to the sun.  It is astounding to look at and and to wonder how they got all the rocks lifted and fitted in place.

From here we went to Pisac and saw more Inca walls and lots of terraces where the Incas did their farming.  They really understood how to farm and varied the crops as the terraces got higher as the change in altitude resulted in a change in temperature.  Looking across the valley there was a large area of Inca tombs in holes in the hillside.  These had all been looted as the Incas were buried with their possessions to take with them to their next life.   We had a look round Pisac market where we had to restrain ourselves from buying anything as we have no room in our luggage, and then had a great cheese and onion empanada, which we had become hooked on in our travels in Argentina last year.  We followed the Urubamba river where there is lots of farming of grain and potatoes.  The Peruvians seem to eat even more potatoes than the Irish!

We then reached Ollantaytambo.  It was spectacular.  There were flights of terraces leading up above the town and curving terraces following the contours of the rock overlooking the Urubamba.  There was also a complete irrigation system.  It was built as a fortress and a temple and is was worth climbing all the way to the top ( very slowly because of the altitude! ) to see the massive highly finished granite blocks.  At the top there are many unfinished blocks lying about the site as work was deserted before it was finished due to the Spanish invasion.  You could see the quarry across the valley that the granite had come from and there was a ramp that the stones would have come up.  On the unfinished blocks you could see how they had moved the blocks as there were notches sticking out that would have been filed away later to a smooth surface. 

It was a long day and we got the bus back to Cuzco as we were starting our trek the following day.

After spending a day in Lima we met up with the other 9 members of our group and flew to Puerto Maldonado.  From here we took a 2 hour boat trip to tampopata lodge where we would stay for 3 nights.  Going up the river on the boat we saw a white caiman and also some capybaras.  These are the largest rodents in the world and can weigh up to 65kg. 

We settled into our room and then met up to go for a night walk before dinner.  It is winter here and it gets dark very quickly about 6pm so it was pitch black and we had to bring torches.  It was at this point that I started to question myself as to why I had wanted to come to the Amazon.  I had in my mind green humid rainforests, colourful plants and lots of birds, it suddenly occurred to me that there might be other wildlife too!  I told Marc to stay by my side on the walk as I was petrified something would jump out of the darkness and bite / sting / eat me!  He promised he would…  It was hard to walk without squashing underfoot an ant of some kind, we saw bullet ants and lots of leaf cutter ants.  The leaf cutter ants would form long trails in a single file and carried pieces of leaves many times their size, they looked so busy!  We saw a tree frog and lots of different kinds of spiders mainly funnel spiders.  The guide then pointed out that there was a tarantula up ahead and to be careful, at this point Marc decided to leave me to get a closer look at the tarantula.  I really didnt think I was the kind of person who would be afraid in the jungle but there is a big difference between harmless spiders at home and spiders that can poison you or ants whose bite is like being hit by a bullet.  I started to quietly freak out a bit imagining all the worse case scenarios until Marc was by my side again, though I am not sure what he would have done!  The guide then told us to switch off our torches for a minute and stay quiet ( think that was directed mainly at Marc!! ), it was amazing just how noisy the jungle was.  You could hear birds, insects, things moving in the trees, I am sure there was a lot of wildlife just a few feet away from us that we couldnt see.  We then returned to the lodge for the first of many wonderful meals.

The next day we went on a nature walk through the rainforest and looked at the different types of tree.  The trees were massive and well adapted for the rainforest.  There was a tree called a pregnant palm that had a large bulge 2/3 of the way up its trunk where it stored water and a walking palm tree which is when a space in the canopy opens up on one side of the tree, it puts out extra stilt roots on that side and when they are established lets those on the other side die off, thus physically moving the tree a small amount towards the extra light.  We also saw a strangler fig.  This is when a seed dispersed by a bird or in a monkeys faeces germinates atop other trees.  It then grows its roots downwards, takes nutrients from the soil and gradually the roots wrap around the host tree, widen and slowly form a lattice-work that surround the host’s trunk.  The figs crown grows foliage which soon overshadows the tree and eventually the host tree dies which termites eat, leaving the fig with a hollow trunk.  The guide then told us that there was a tarantulas nest up ahead, I thought he was warning us to take care but instead he had a twig with a leaf at the end that he was feeding down into the nest to try and entice it out so we could get a better look!  We then went for a short trip on the lake and saw turtles resting on logs with butterflies on them and saw macaws flying overhead.

That night we went for a  boat ride along the river to spot caiman.  Our guide Elvis stood at the front of the boat with a powerful torch and motioned to the boat driver when he spotted a caiman and to go closer.  We saw many caiman from very small ones up to adults and got so close.  At one point I was looking out of the side of the boat and we just kept getting closer until it was under a metre away, I was moving to the edge of my seat wondering if caiman could jump into boats!

The following day we went on a longer walk and again went by canoe on the lake.  Thankfully we were not in the boat were the guide had to keep scooping water out with a bucket!  It was an ox bow lake and the first birds we saw were hoatzin.  It is a very clumsy flier and eats only leaves.  It has 3 stomachs and the leaves ferment inside the stomachs giving the bird the local name of ’stinky bird’ , luckily we saw them high up in the trees so didnt get to find out how stinky they were!  The guides then got very excited as they had spotted a black caiman.  Again we got so close it was a bit frightening, I was thinking of all the piranhas in the lake if our boat overturned…  We all got some amazing photos and the caiman didnt seem at all bothered that we were there.

The jungle was a great experience that I wouldn’t have missed but I definitely wont be doing any more night walks!