Our next destination was Lima where Beadle´s trip ended and he flew back to London. We weren´t expecting much from Lima and so only stayed one night before a massive bus journey from Lima through Ecuador and on to Colombia. The whole journey was very grueling but as we had not planned to go to Colombia originally, we hadn´t enough notice to buy a cheap flight ticket.
We spent the next week on a bus staying in random little towns and crossing the most remote and needlesly complicated border crossing going from Peru in to Ecuador. From Lima we had to travel to Chiclayo, Jaen, San Ignacio, get a 3 hour taxi to some little town I forget the name of (which I can´t find on google map either it´s that remote) to get another 3 hour taxi to the border town of La Balsa in Colombia. I can´t find La Balsa on google map either or a recognised road although these were dirt roads through the mountains which may explain it. From here we then had to get a truck to Zumba which was delayed due to a land slide that put 10ft of dirt in our way. Then when we did arrive in Zumba we had to wait for 8 hours to get a bus to Vilcabamba. Vilcabamba also does not appear to be on google map but Loja is which was 1 hour north of Vilcabamba. From here it was on to Cuenca, Riobamba, Quito, the border town of Tulcan over to Ipiales in Colombia and on to Popayan where we did finally spend a day looking around the very scenic city.
Monday, 11 May 2009
Machu Picchu and the Inca Trail.
The treck we chose to do was the classic inca trail and the most expensive trail at 450 us dollars. There were alternative routes which were cheaper and there was also an option of getting the train up but this was still expensive with park fees. It was expensive butwe had picked one of the better companies offering the treck, who treat their staff well and the food was excellent. Like many tours it was another 4 days and 3 nights to Machu Picchu camping en route.
The first day as advised was very easy with around 5 hours walking, one Inca site, and over a hour listening to our very good but a little over talkative guide. The porters or Chatskis we already had huge respect for as they were running past us with masive loads on their backs to set up camp before we arrived for every meal and camp site.
The second day we had been warned was the hard day ascending from something like 2400 meters to 4200 meters in 5 hours continualy up hill. This was the day we realised how many people were on the Inca Trail as 500 people were all walking the same path, some faster than others. At the top of the ascent we also had the first real rain that then didn`t really stop for the remaining 2 and a half days.
The 3rd day was mostly downhill (not easy in the rain) and we started to come accros larger and more impressive Inca sites. By this point it really was raining which meant the tent at lunch was much appreciated, and we picked the pace up a little to get to the next camp quicker.
We spent our last night at a camp only 1 hours walk away from Machu Picchu. To beat the other groups we were away from camp at 5am and walked fast to be the first group there. When we arrived at Machu Picchu the weather was how it had been for the previous couple of days, which was rain and very poor visibility due to the rain clouds. The first point of entry was called the Sun Gate where on a clear day you get a great view of the whole site. We on the other hand could see only a matter of metres in front and so walked on down to the main site and took some bad photo´s and begun to question whether it had been worth it. As the guided tour began at around 8am our luck changed and we saw the first bit of blue sky since we started the treck. From then on it just got better and better until the whole sky was blue and we could see the whole site from every view point and the trip was suddenly well worth it.
The first day as advised was very easy with around 5 hours walking, one Inca site, and over a hour listening to our very good but a little over talkative guide. The porters or Chatskis we already had huge respect for as they were running past us with masive loads on their backs to set up camp before we arrived for every meal and camp site.
The second day we had been warned was the hard day ascending from something like 2400 meters to 4200 meters in 5 hours continualy up hill. This was the day we realised how many people were on the Inca Trail as 500 people were all walking the same path, some faster than others. At the top of the ascent we also had the first real rain that then didn`t really stop for the remaining 2 and a half days.
The 3rd day was mostly downhill (not easy in the rain) and we started to come accros larger and more impressive Inca sites. By this point it really was raining which meant the tent at lunch was much appreciated, and we picked the pace up a little to get to the next camp quicker.
We spent our last night at a camp only 1 hours walk away from Machu Picchu. To beat the other groups we were away from camp at 5am and walked fast to be the first group there. When we arrived at Machu Picchu the weather was how it had been for the previous couple of days, which was rain and very poor visibility due to the rain clouds. The first point of entry was called the Sun Gate where on a clear day you get a great view of the whole site. We on the other hand could see only a matter of metres in front and so walked on down to the main site and took some bad photo´s and begun to question whether it had been worth it. As the guided tour began at around 8am our luck changed and we saw the first bit of blue sky since we started the treck. From then on it just got better and better until the whole sky was blue and we could see the whole site from every view point and the trip was suddenly well worth it.
Arequipa and Cuzco.
Above pic: Arequipa central plaza.
Above pic: Volcano Misty the backdrop to our river rafting.
Above pic: It wasnt possible to get pictures whilst rafting so this is it.
Above pic: Cuzco central square.
Above pic: The hill overlooking Cuzco.
Arequipa to Cuzco, Peru.
Now firmly in Peru we had about a week before our Inca Treck on the 8th April so caught yet another bus to Arequipa, Peru`s second largest city, partly to kill time. It turned out that the city was full of spanish colonial arcitechture, white walls and a very nice central square. After a day of walking the streets we arranged to go rafting the day after at 15 pounds for 3 hours, bargain. The scenery for the rafting had volcano Misti in the background as we were taken down grade 2, 3 and 4 rapids.
We got to Cusco 5 days early which was not a problem as the city is very scenic and was nice to walk around. It was extremely touristy but like many South American cities had a great central square with cathedrals and other impresive buildings surounding. We spent the 5 days before the treck taking things easy, only thing of note was meeting up with Liñe a Danish girl we had previously met in Santa Cruz and Sucre for a few drinks. That and watching the football in Nicks Sports Bar which had Samuel Smith beers amazingly.
We got to Cusco 5 days early which was not a problem as the city is very scenic and was nice to walk around. It was extremely touristy but like many South American cities had a great central square with cathedrals and other impresive buildings surounding. We spent the 5 days before the treck taking things easy, only thing of note was meeting up with Liñe a Danish girl we had previously met in Santa Cruz and Sucre for a few drinks. That and watching the football in Nicks Sports Bar which had Samuel Smith beers amazingly.
Lake Titticaca, Bolivia and Peru.
Above pic: Cathedral in Copocabana, Bolivia.
Above pic: Sunset over Lake Titticaca, Bolivia.
Above pic: One of the floating islands off Puno, Peru.
Above pic: An example of some handcrafts for sale on the floating islands.
Lake Titticaca
Travelling only 3 hours from La Paz we reached Lake Titticaca which we would travel around into Peru. We stayed in Copacabana (not quite as nice as Rio`s) and took a boat to the Isla Del Sol (island of the sun) for a walk around the island, a visit to some inca ruins and to eat Trout which the lake is full of. The other island that we decided was worth a visit was on Peru´s side of the lake just off Puno. The islands are known as the Floating Islands as they literally are being man made from straw and cubes of dirt tied together. Luckily the tour was only short as the novelty did wear off quite soon.
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