If our already massive blog posts haven’t crashed your computer, this one will. Lots of people we know have done the Inca Trail or at least have been to Machu Picchu, so hopefully this post brings back some find memories. On Saturday March 24th at 4:00am we were met outside our hotel by our assistant guide Manuel to start our Inca Trail 4 day hike to Machu Picchu. We began driving around Cusco picking up other people from their hotels. At one of the pick up points a guy got on the bus from the Wild Rover hostel and we continued to Peru Treks to pick up our sleeping bags, mats, and our potters. Our second guide asked our sleepy-eyed group who had reserved a sleeping bag and 8 people put up their hands. Then the guy from the Wild Rover hostel told the guide he needed one and didn’t understand why he wasn’t previously informed that sleeping bags were a requirement. This guy wasn’t happy when our guide told him he was going to have to pay an extra $45 to rent a sleeping bag. So they jumped off the bus and began discussing the sleeping bag issue with other Peru Treks employees. No one could hear what they were talking about and assumed he just hadn’t read the 8 page debriefing sheet they provide when you go the day before to pay. After much deliberation between the disgruntled gringo and the Peruvians everyone got on the bus and we were on our way! But the bus turned back up a familiar street and pulled over at Wild Rover hostel AGAIN. The disgruntled gringo hopped off and was quickly replaced with a similar looking gringo; it turns out they had the same first name and so we picked up the wrong person. Apparently they only care about your first name! After some good laughs we were finally ready to start the drive to Ollantaytambo, a small town in the scared valley, where we ate a delicious omelet breakfast. Andrew and I had brought all of our bags and left the majority of our crap in Ollantaytambo to return there on the last night so we could spend another night in the scared valley before returning to Cusco. After breakfast we drove for another 30 mins down a bumpy dirt road and unloaded our gear, packed the last few things into our day packs and walked towards the beginning of the Inca Trail. The trail begins at a government check point where everyone has to show their passports and tickets and has to get fingerprints and retina scans… ok well the last two aren’t true it seemed like extreme overkill for a hike in the bush. We were excited to receive an Inca Trail stamp on our passports! The trail crossed a bridge and then followed the train tracks on the opposite side of the river. We were instructed that the first day hike was approximately 4 hours of ‘up flat, up flat’. We were surprised at how commercial the trail was, we walked alongside electricity poles, small villages selling goodies (a liter of rum for 25 soles), lots of pack animals, and at one point a young man riding a motorcycle. Our guide mentioned that the first day on the trail wasn’t going to be authentic but the next 3 days would be. Even though it was quite touristy, the trail was still very beautiful. The scared valley is stunning! We walked up and into our first ruins where our guide (Saul, or Coca Man as he preferred) told us a little bit about their importance however we found it somewhat difficult to understand his English. He would bounce his eyebrows up and down and end every sentence with “What, do you have any questions amigas?” followed immediately by, “ok good” and he would continue with his next speel. We laughed about it for the next 4 days! We were so impressed by the porters! They carry huge sacks full of our equipment and speed down the trail awaiting our arrival at camp. People behind yell “porter!” so you can move to the side and let them wiz past you. It’s remarkable how fast they can walk especially on the steep inclines and declines which we experienced several times throughout the 4 days. If you think you can hike relatively quickly, think again! At one of the small villages along the way we stopped for a Chicha break. Coca Man explained that the ladies along the side of the path sell Chicha, a fermented fruit drink with a taste similar to beer, used to give the potters energy, like they need any more. When we arrived in Camp our first day we were greeted by cheering and clapping porters who would pass us glasses filled with delicious juices. The porters were so much quicker than us that when we would arrive our tents would be set up, along with our dining tent and there would be snacks waiting for us! Treats like popcorn, cookies and hot chocolate were some of the goodies waiting for us in camp when we arrived. Dinner in camp consisted of a 4 course meal starting with a small appetizer, then a bowl of soup, a main (something different everyday) and dessert with Coca Tea. On our second day we were woken by Manuel shaking our tent saying, “Buenos Dias! Coca Tea?” To which we would respond yes! We sat sipping our coca tea half in our sleeping bags with the tent door open so that we could enjoy the views of the sacred valley before having to bust our asses for the next few hours. We had to climb up dead woman’s pass (4200m) and it rained pretty much the entire way. We were soaked getting into camp at the end of the day but we were hopeful that the weather would be a bit clearer the next day. All of my (Andrew) dry clothes got soaked in my bag so I wore them after we hiked to dry them. It wasn’t very pleasant. Day three was beautiful but wet again. We were able to stay mostly dry throughout the day (our rain gear decided to perform) but when we rolled into camp our guide was praying for sunny weather at Machu Picchu the next day. Our departure from our last camp was at about 4:30 so that we could arrive at the Sun Gate at just the right time for the sun to shine down onto Machu Picchu. It was a really amazing feeling to watch the clouds part to reveal the Lost City of the Incas. An older woman (actually she claimed to be the oldest on the trail) who struggled with the difficult terrain was crying at the site a Machu Picchu from the Sun Gate saying, “I guess this is what it feels like to be in shape!” We continued down the final stretch of the Inca Trail to reach Machu Picchu within an hour. When we arrived we took a small break before entering the city and Coca Man asked us to spend 3 minutes in silence to just appreciate our surroundings. Its hard to explain in words, but we had a There's a lot that we learned about Machu Picchu but rather than try to regurgitate it you're better off reading the Wikipedia page. Here are a few more pictures...enjoy!
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Cusco Peru is a beautiful city set in amongst the large rolling hills of the Andes. The city is very tourist friendly offering a huge selection of restaurants, places to stay, and tour agencies. Cusco also has a beautiful main plaza (Plaza Del Armas) with lots of shops selling anything from cameras to alpaca clothing. In addition to the many shops there are also lots of people on the streets offering hand made goods, massages, and self run tours. Our favourite are the women dressed in indigenous attire carrying baby lamas in their front sashes offering Gringo pictures with them for a sol. Our first days in Cusco were spent walking around the city looking for a hostel and trying out some of the delicious restaurants the city has to offer. We were given restaurant recommendations from other travellers and were pleasantly impressed by each place. One of our favourites was Prasada, a small vegetarian restaurant that serves menu del dia, an inexpensive (8 soles = $3.00 CAD) delicious 3 course set menu. We ate at the main restaurant twice and twice at the “snack shop” where you can get veggie burgers, salads, and treats - all so yummy! Here is a list for other restaurants we’ve enjoyed in Cusco. Kukuly – Pizzeria in the San Blas area, serves inexpensive delicious pizzas and soups Mana’s Grill - Homemade pasta and set 3 course menu – 10 soles Los Perro’s – more expensive (24 soles) but classier couch style and delicious; famous for their burgers. We had a fancy sandwich and salad El encuentro – Another set vegetarian menu with delicious burgers Jacks Café – Semi pricy (24 soles) but a large selection of breakfasts The Indian restaurant- off Ave El Sol offers a delicious Indian buffet and the owner is really nice Paddies Irish Pub - had an awesome meal there for 14 soles and their Happy Hour (b/w 8-9:30 and 10-11) was pretty good for some cheap pisco sours. Also if you grab a booth near the windows you get a cool view of the Plaza de Armas. One of the days we visited Sacsayhuaman (pronounced Sexy Woman), a large Inca fortress overlooking the city of cusco. Cusco's elevation is around 3400m, so climbing up the hill to this site was literally breath taking but worth it once we arrived at the top and saw the view. On one of our relaxing days before the Inca trail we participated in a “From Bean to Bar” workshop at the Choco Museo (Chocolate museum). It was a two hour workshop where we learned how chocolate is processed from the bean off a tree to the yummy brown goo we all love! The workshop was very interesting and entertaining; we were given great information and were shown the many steps it takes to process chocolate. The museum is lovely and the smell alone made us all salivate like begging dogs. Our first step was roasting beans in a ceramic pot, just as the Incas did, then removing the husks by hand. The next step was a race to see who could make the smoothest coco paste by mashing the beans with a mortar and pestle. Jenny (an Australian traveler who we ended up hiking the Inca trail with) and I (Courtney) tied and were rewarded by of course chocolate! Throughout the class we made three types of chocolate drinks. The first we made was an authentic Mayan drink which was slightly bitter and made from pure cacao paste, chilli pepper, cinnamon water and a small amount of sugar. The second was a delicious tea made from the roasted coco bean husks. I really enjoyed the tea; it tasted exactly like hot chocolate without the calories! They should really sell it in Canada, I bought a bag to enjoy throughout South America. The third drink was similar to regular hot chocolate made from coco paste, milk, and sweetened with sugar; everyone enjoyed the last drink. Our instructor walked us through the rest of the steps and then surprised us by bringing out over 12 different flavours we could use to flavour our chocolates we were about to make. We got to choose between 70% and milk chocolate and then create any flavour we wanted. Some of the flavours were, M&M’s, Oreo, Quinoa (for an added crunch), mint, chilli, salt, peanuts, almonds, coffee beans, marshmallow, ginger, cinnamon etc… too many to remember. Andrew chose milk chocolate and mixed a bunch of flavours mixed into two bars while I chose 70% and made 6 different bars. We were very excited to try our creations and have enjoyed nibbling on our treats these last few days! The rest of the time in Cusco was spent relaxing enjoying the city and preparing for the Inca trail. Stories soon to come.
We sat waiting anxiously for the 4x4 vehicle that would bring us to 3400m. Full bellies of coca tea helped to settle our nerves a bit but we were still a bit tense. Who wouldn’t be when you were about to climb to almost 6000m above sea level for the first time. El Misti is an active stratovolcano of ultra prominence classification (meaning that its topographical prominence is greater than 5000ft) and it is located near the city of Arequipa in Southern Peru. El Misti stands at a total height of 5822m (19,101ft) above sea level. Gino, Mike and I decided that we wanted to tackle it after we were told by our Colca Canyon guide Luis, that we stood a pretty good chance of making it to the top (based on his observations) provided that we could handle the altitude. Courtney toyed with the idea of climbing Misti too, but the thought of the bitter cold night we would have to spend on the side of the mountain turned her off of it. Her decision turned out to be a good one. When our 4x4 showed up almost an hour and a half late, our guide Alberto hopped out and was really apologetic but that didn’t soothe our nerves. We sorted out what gear we needed to borrow from the trekking agency in the street in front of our hostel and we were on our way! When we arrived at the trailhead we packed up our gear and our 5 liters of water (each) into our packs and started our 5 hour hike up towards basecamp. We arrived at basecamp (4500m) a little after 4 PM and immediately set up camp. We were all pretty tired so we set up our tents and tried to relax a bit for the evening. That was definitely easier said than done as sore legs and lack of oxygen made relaxing difficult. Alberto cooked us up a delicious dinner starting with some homemade soup, a main of spaghetti with meat(tuna)sauce and a dessert of coca tea. After dinner I started to get a bit of a headache so I took my first Sorochji (altitude sickness pill) of the climb. Alberto sat us down for a peptalk before we went to sleep to prepare us for our summit attempt early the next morning. It went something like this, “If you are dizzy or have a headache, your altitude sickness is getting bad. You must be honest to me if you are feeling ill, but most of all you must be honest with yourself. The only cure for altitude sickness is to stop climbing and go down. I will bring my sleeping bag with me in case anyone is too tired to continue to the summit at some point. We can find a warm place in the sun for them to relax while we climb. Don’t worry, if you do get sick you won’t die but you must go down. Breakfast will be at 1:30am and we’ll have white bread and coca tea, nothing more. We’ll start to climb at 2am, no later. Oh and if you feel sick, it’s better that you throw up. Goodnight.” I crawled into my cold tent at around 7:30pm with temperatures dipping below freezing; luckily the wind was as quiet as a shadow. I was able to sleep in all my clothes in my sleeping bag for about 2 hours at a time, at which point nature would call and I had to hall myself out of my tent to pee off into the darkness of night off the side of the mountain (note: there were no other climbing parties camped below us). At one point I woke up to some seriously heavy bass that sounded like it was coming straight from the front doors of a club, and it turns out that when the wind is calm you can hear the gentle urban sounds of nearby Arequipa, more than 2 kilometers below us. I also heard several loud explosions which I thought were the volcano telling us to vamos, but Alberto later told me that they were blasts coming from a distant gold and copper mine. The sound of Alberto’s stove pulled me from my slumber (if you could even call it that) at about 1:15am. “Well,” I thought, “he’s getting breakfast ready, so I might as well get my act together rather than lie on an angle with my eyes closed for 15 minutes.” I had already stuffed my summit pack the night before with Alberto’s advice: Crampons, lots of snacks, lots of water, camera and don’t forget your crampons…PLEASE.” We scarfed down our slice of white bread and chugged our coca tea and we were on our way, headlamps ablazin! Alberto set the pace; if all goes well we will arrive on the summit between 8 and 9am. The pace was slow but intentional so that we wouldn’t burn ourselves out and so that we would slowly acclimatize as we ascended. After some steep and rocky sections with a bit of scrambling (in the dark) we found ourselves at the snow slope. We took a break to get our crampons on (everyone remembered them) and watched the sunrise on the side of the mountain. El Misti has a near perfect conical shape that casts a triangular shadow over the valley below for several hours as the sun rises. As we went higher the air grew thinner. One step alone was a big chore, but still our group lumbered along like a big frozen caterpillar. We were greeted with cold winds at the first (or false) crater at about 8:30am. We had a quick break before leaving our packs to head to the true summit. It felt like forever, but it only took us about thirty minutes to ascend the last snow slope to the true summit of El Misti at 5822m (19,101ft). Cheers and congratulations went out between us (or least what we could muster the strength to do) when we arrived on top. Suddenly the air didn’t seem so thin and our legs didn’t seem so tired. After about 20 minutes on the summit our delusions had passed and we realized that we had a full day of descending ahead of us. The air was thin again and our legs were really sore. But before we would go down there was one more thing to see. El Misti is an active volcano so Alberto took me to the crater edge to look down into bubbling pits of yellowish-green sulphuric acid. In 1998 a team of Archaeologists discovered several Inca mummies buried in the crater, not far from where we stood. Alberto explained that the Incas would sacrifice princesses to El Misti so that it would stop erupting. The descent down the mountain took about 4 painful hours of sliding down snow slopes and volcanic ash. But we made it. Courtney – I ended up regretting not going; however, when I found out how cold and unpleasant it really was I felt a bit better. I excitedly awaited their return and was shocked at how tired and worn down they all looked. I was expecting Andrew to return with a new found love for mountaineering and was shocked when they all said how amazing the view was but the two days surrounding it was almost not worth it. They were all pretty quiet except for small whimpering noises from sore muscles and ankles. After getting food in their bellies they started to pep up and were excited to tell me all about it. I still want to try a climb but will wait for down-filled clothing!
While waiting in the Ica bus terminal we met two other Canadians (Mike and Gino) who had a similar itinerary as us. After the 12 hr bus we arrived in Arequipa and all decided to stay at Arequipay Backpackers downtown hostal (great place, comfy beds, full kitchen, huge TVs, game areas and a nice movie selection but chilly showers). After going and talking to the tour agency we booked a two day Colca Canyon trek with Peru Schweiz www.peruschweiz.com.pe. What is the Colca Canyon you ask? Well, its only the second deepest canyon in the world and more than twice as deep as USA's Grand Canyon. The next morning we got picked up at the hostel at 3:00am and had a three hour drive into the Colca Valley. We were amazed at how beautiful the area was; massive lush green mountains fill the sky and our toes tingled as we looked deep, deep down to the narrow Colca River that has carved this wonder of nature over thousands of years. We continued driving until we reached a small town called Chivay where we ate a really nice bread, cheese and cold cut breakfast and washed it all down with some coca tea. There was also a warm quinoa drink that was very delicious and filling and we wished we had more of it. We then continued to our first sight-seeing spot called Cruz Del Condor. After taking in the scenery everyone in the area started to point and snap photos as huge Andean Condors flew overhead. The Andean Condor is the second largest bird in the world measuring approximately 2.8 m across and 1 m tall. It was neat seeing them pick up a warm air current and cruise on by. We then got back on the bus for another 1 hour drive through the park to Cabanaconde where our hike into the depths of the Canyon began. We totally lucked out as our group ended up being just us four Canadians and our awesome guide Luis Orlando. Luis debriefed us about what we would see and do for the next two days. He was very organized and informative. Every time he wanted us to go he would say "ok Chicos vamos" which means lets go but to Luis it meant you should have already been going so we were always trailing behind; it became a pretty funny joke for our group. The hike began down a steep mountain side with amazing views of the canyon. The land throughout the canyon is primarily agricultural. It was unreal to see the villages on the other side especially after we were told that they are not accessible by road. It was hard to imagine only using donkeys and mules to transport all the supplies a community would need to thrive. Sharing the small path with groups of donkeys and mules was fun but were instructed to stay on the mountain side as they passed or we’d be pushed off and left for Condor food. The hike continued down one side of the Canyon for about 3 hours, at the bottom we crossed a bridge surprisingly made from concrete all transported by mule. We then traversed up to the first village and had a well-deserved Alpaca lunch. After lunch we hiked up and through two more villages for about 2 more hours. Luis explained to us that his Grandparents still live in one of the villages and they farm 6 days a week. Every day they walk 1.5 hr down the canyon to the river to farm fruits and vegetables. They live totally off the land. He then surprised us by saying they are 98 and 93 years old…and we think retiring at 65 is old. Later in the day Luis stopped reached into a plant and pulled out small grey insects. He explained that the villagers pop these bugs and use their blood as dye for cosmetics. One of the exports the villagers use to make a living. He then made us all into Inca warriors by rubbing the blood red dye on our faces! Later, we passed through a third village which, 400 years ago used to sacrifice beautiful women for Pachamama (mother earth) to ensure fertile soils for years to come. He said I shouldn’t worry as they stopped that ritual and now only sacrifice goats or donkeys. After another hour we descended into the Oasis. The small gringo trap at the bottom of the canyon. There were a couple of tourist hostels that had basic cabin facilities and spring fed pools. It was amazing jumping into the pool after a full day hike. We then all sat around joking and taking in the scenery before Luis made us a delicious dinner. After dinner, Luis asked if we wanted to hear a story about the Sangalle village and we all happily agreed. To get the full feel you must imagine us sitting around a candle lit table, drinking coca tea, deep in the heart of the world's second deepest canyon, all tired from the 7 hr hike, excited for the well needed sleep, and knowing we’d have to climb out tomorrow at 5:00am. He begins his story with the tale of how Sangalle village collapsed almost instantaneously. Approximately 100 years ago there was an epidemic and everyone in Sangalle died. Men, women, children and even the donkeys too. So Luis told us that we shouldn’t be too alarmed when we hear small children screaming at night. An important piece of advice he gave was to make sure our door was locked at night and not to let anyone in of they knock. We will also likely hear church bells ring from the old church that burned down in the area. He then said if you leave your room after 11:00pm expect to see headless donkeys. Oh and lastly there are scorpions that crawl on the beds at night. So we were to say the least… scared shitless! The next morning after a not so deep sleep, due to the hauntings, we were woken up at 4:30am to begin the steady hike up the canyon. The first 30 minutes was dark but it was really neat hiking by head lamp and listening to the birds chirp. The hike up was very steep and about 5 km straight up. We had a little dog guiding us up the majority of the way. Andrew and I really wanted to take him with us but he looked pretty happy where he was. We impressed Luis and ourselves by making it up the mountain in just over 2 hours (most people take 3). We used Luis's strategy walk 15 minutes and then break for 2 minutes. I suggest this strategy for other hikers as it really works if you’re trying to boot up a mountain. We wanted Luis to determine if we were fit enough to make the climb up El Misti, a large mountain close to Arequipa. After the climb Luis said we were all fit enough to give the climb a shot. After the morning hike we were fed breakfast at another great spot in the town of Cabanaconde and then continued to a natural hot springs to soak our sore muscles. After the soak we had a huge buffet lunch and then were driven to the highest point in the park. At 4900m we could feel the elevation in our heads; it was also snowing EW! If you are wondering we are not missing the cold Canadian winters. On the way back through the park we saw a few Alpaca and llama herds then a pack of wild vicuña crossing the road. We had a fabulous time and would recommend it and the company (great guide and great value) to all other travellers.
I wonder how much gas this thing guzzles? Do we get glasses? Why are the seat belts so loose? These questions no longer mattered as we sped across the sprawling dunes in our V8 buggy. We flew through the town then up the dune and were chased by a pack of wild dogs. Luckily the buggy was extremely fast so they didn't have a chance. The buggy zipped up, down, and around the dunes. We would zoom up the dune then fly over the other edge, while getting air we would all yell and scream with excitement. Our driver then parked on the top of a high dune and we all hopped out. We were given heavy sand boards with make shift bindings made from vinyl straps. He asked if we had ever boarded and I (Courtney) said oh yah lots back home. So he said great an expert you can show us all how its done. After he waxed the bottom of the board I strapped my feet in and just went for it. It was pretty awesome! We were able to stand and ride down but turning was more or less impossible with the boards we were on. It's very different then snowboarding, much hotter, much sandier and without snow. We rode to the bottom then climbed back up which was very hard as you slide in the sand. The other people in our group didn't want to stand so he showed us how to toboggan down the dune on our bellies. Lying on the boards elbows tucked and back arched we were given one instruction: "When you want to slow down drag your feet." Pretty simple, right? With a little push we were flying down the dune face first. It was incredible! Exactly like tobogganing but on sand and not cold!!! After a few runs we were picked up and taken to three other dunes each increasing in size. The last hill was HUGE and hilarious. There was a first descent was small then the hill just dropped off so we would fly over the edge out of sight. A couple of times we were going so fast we even got some air! After the boarding we loaded up and continued to fly over hills while the sun set...it was magical. We couldn't help laugh but at one point the engine stalled and wouldn't re-start. The driver got out sipened gas with a hose out of a tank in the back and poured it into the engine in the front. So funny and typical for Peru lol lol. After the exellerating trip through the dunes we went back to our hostel, showered (luckily the shower was like a power washer) ate, and headed out for the pisco wine festival we had signed up for earlier in the day. Oh wow wine festival ... not so much... more like a Gringo tourist trap. We were told there would be a tour, grape stomping, music, dancing and the real seller: all you can drink. We were really excited to experience a real local festival. Arriving at the "festival" we were given a 5 min tour through the winery, then taken to another building where we stomped grapes for about a hour. By the lack of locals we quickly realized this was not a festival and we were paying to work. At least they did provide all the wine (Pisco wine tastes like sherry) and Pisco (grape brandy, really really strong) we could drink. After the stomping we moved to the music and dance area and had a dance party. It ended up being a really funny and an entertaining experience all thanks to Rahul's light up whiteboard shirt (I heart Pisco and Hola Chicas).
From the desert coast of Huanchaco to...well... more desert along the Pacific Coast of Peru3/16/2012 Maria knows how to hail a cab. She knows that they will charge you too much and she knows how to bargain em' down. We departed our homestay in Huanchaco after a small but fun farewell with Maria, Jessica and Doggy. Maria came out to the main street with us to make sure we got a safe cab to take us into Trujillo to catch out night bus to Lima. The 9 hour bus ride from Trujillo to Lima was loads better than our last experience on a bus in Peru. We departed on time and there were no flaming cars on the road to slow us down! As it was a night bus we slept most of the way to Lima and woke only as we were on the outskirts of the city. The Panamerican Highway North into Lima winds its way high around massive sand dunes until it spits you out just before the city onto relatively level terrain. At first sight Lima looked pretty awful. The outer extents of the city are plagued with poverty and crime and the physical appearance did not give us the warm fuzzies. However, as we rolled deeper into the city in our colossal coach we were pleasantly surprised at how neat and tidy the downtown area was. And the best was yet to come! We hopped off our night bus in the morning sun and promptly bought two tickets to Huacachina for the following day to keep ourselves on track to hit Cusco for the 20th of March. We grabbed a cab and whistled towards our hostel in the bright (and fancy) neighborhood of Miraflores. We were absolutely shocked at how nice Miraflores was. Modern, safe and clean...oh soooo clean! We think that our western cities need to take some lessons on cleanliness from these Peruvians and that's not a joke. The streets of Miraflores are so clean that you could actually eat off of them. If a shred of paper hits the ground, it will be scooped up by one of the many (thousands probably) street janitors within 5 hours. Yeah its that clean. Ok enough about the shiny streets! "We only have a day in Lima!" I shouted to Courtney. "I know," she replied. And so off we went to explore they city! We started by grabbing a bite to eat on the bluffs that look over the ocean and were treated to the site of a pod of killer whales making their way along the coastline. Bellies full, we retreated to the hostel to check in and shower before zipping out again in search of a camping supply store in hopes of finding some camping cups and maybe even a cheap little stove. After finding each camping store to be closed we decided that we had been defeated and should probably go and get a burger to eat for lunch. Mas tardes, we found ourselves back on the malecon to watch the sunset and ... paragliders? Yes! Lima has a huge paragliding scene! We watched several fliers take off from the cliffs that separate Miraflores from the Pacific Ocean. It was cool to watch and tempting to go for a tandem flight but the s/ 150 price tag for a 10 minute flight turned us off the idea. We took some cool pictures anyway! From Lima we caught an early bus southbound to the desert oasis of Huacachina where the sand dunes are big and the pisco is plentiful! More to come on that soon...so stay tuned!
Our second week in Huanchaco proved to be almost as exciting as the first. We continued to surf every day and take Spanish classes (although those went from daily to once every couple of days). We spent a Saturday afternoon visiting the ruins of Chan Chan, which is in between Trujillo and Huanchaco. Chan Chan is the largest pre-columbian city in South America at around 20 square kilometers in size. It was built in AD 850 by the Chimor civilization and lasted until its conquest by the Incas in AD 1470. Because of the harsh pacific coastal weather patterns in the region, Chan Chan is at a high risk for erosion and so much of the city has been protected with carefully placed awnings and shelters. You can read a little more about Chan Chan here. We returned from Chan Chan via a 'combi' which is basically a beat up old van that races between Trujillo and Huanchaco that serves to get people to and from work or the beach. Buses and combis are so frequent that you will wait no longer than 30 seconds before either drives by. They don't typically have designated stops so you can catch them anywhere. They are by far the most convenient form of public transit we've experienced so far and they cost basically nothing. For a 30 minute ride from Huanchaco to Trujillo the combi will set you back s/1.50 (Peruvian soles) which is about $0.60 (CAD). We had a hard time understanding why the people in Peru work on Peruvian time (usually at least 15 minutes late) but combis and buses are so frequent and convenient! Maria, our homestay mom, prepared a huge delicious meal of Ceviche (fresh raw fish that is marinated in lime juice, the citrus acids cook the fish a little) for 11 people and we enjoyed a sunset dinner atop her terrace to end the day. Throughout the week we had Maria prepare us an assortment of Peruvian dishes. We've now had fish, chicken, baby lamb, fried plantain (Courtney's favorite), yuka, salads, beans, and maiz moraldo which is a black corn fruit dessert. Everything has been so delicious! We've also had some good laughs around the table, mostly Maria and Jessica laughing at our terrible Spanish pronunciation. Our Spanish is getting a bit better; we went to a Spanish conversation class in Trujillo, it was somewhat difficult but all good fun as everyone is learning the language. We've really enjoyed our stay in Huanchaco and would recommend a homestay to any other travelers. If you're in Huanchaco contact David (fun Spanish teacher) at http://www.espaanglisch.com/spanish_classes and see if Maria's house is available. We're on our way to Lima for a night then continuing the journey South en route to Cuzco with a couple of stops along the way. I thought that we should probably explain the significance of our blog titles that are written in spanish so here it goes. Last night we were sitting around with Maria and Jessica and I (Andrew) was trying to explain what I ate for dinner the night before. I ate a calzone but in spanish the literal translation for that is panties. So I pretty much said last night I ate panties for dinner. They got quite the kick out of that little bit of castellano. Also, our previous blog post was titled gato con botas. The literal translation for that is cat with boots, but its actually used to describe the lovable kitty from the shrek series puss in boots! Check out the pics below and enjoy!!
We’ve been in Huanchaco for the last week taking Spanish and surf lessons and living at a homestay with an older lady, Maria and her daughter Jessica. We were excited for the homestay as we liked the idea of getting to know a family, eating meals at home and getting to practice our Spanish as Maria and Jessica don’t speak English. We’ve been having a great time except for the fact there is some kind of water problem here (at least at Maria’s) so we’ve been without running water for 4 days with little hope it’ll get turned on. We've been joking that we are going to go protesting (in typical Peruvian fashion) and shout quiero aqua! quiero agua! (I want water)! It's been very frustrating, and we've realized you don't appreciate clean running water until you don't have it for a couple of days or have to carry buckets and manually flush the toilet. Marie’s has been a good experience; we’ve enjoyed spending time with them trying to communicate through broken Spanish and hand gestures. The best part of the homestay has been that Maria has 2 small cats and a little cute dog named Doggy! She’s calls it a circus! Whenever we leave Doggy runs up onto the terrace and pops his little head over to watch us go…super cute! On Saturday after our Spanish lesson we stayed at the school and had a BBQ with our teachers and his friends. Later in the evening we watched a parade. We were pretty impressed at the size of the parade for such a small town. They even had fireworks! Sunday we went to the market with Maria then had an amazing almuerzo (lunch) all together. At night we go to the beach and watch the waves glow from bioluminescence (light created from the emission of energy from tiny living ocean organisms). It’s as if LED lights were strung inside the waves. It’s amazing to watch the wave light up and rip along the shoreline. Marie’s house is on the upper edge of town making it easy to watch sunsets and star gaze over the ocean. We had to adjust to the early mornings. Maria's son who is works on a cruise ship raises cocks (roosters for those who were thinking something else) for fighting, a popular sport here. She also has several laying hens, a few swans, and some parrots so we get woken up every morning at sunrise Ah! Finally some running water! The water started working again yesterday, but the last Canadian couple that stayed here flushed their toilet paper so the drains are plugged and the bedroom upstairs has flooded twice. Luckily we're not staying up there. So the water can only stay on to shower and flush the toilets. We try and help but Maria is so proud she doesn't want us to. We did eventually convince her to let us scoop water and carry the buckets to dump out when they were bailing out the bedroom... for the second time. Anyway, water issues aside, we had another surf lesson and have rented boards for this next week so we can practice by ourselves. It's so much fun to wake up early go for a run along the beach, eat fresh mangoes, then surf!! Needless toi say it didn't take long for us to adapt to this lifestyle :) Here are a few more pics to keep you occupied at work for the rest of the day. Its Friday though, right?! We had the pleasure of attending the Carnivale festivities on Isla San Cristobal the day before we left the Galapagos. There was a parade, lots of live bands, some delicious street food and the President of Ecuador was even there!! We were sad to leave the Galapagos because it was such a great experience but the rest of the world is calling and we still have a long way to go. After departing the Galapagos we returned to the Guayaquil on Ecuador's mainland. We had a full day to kill between arriving in Guayaquil and leaving for Peru on a long distance bus, so we decided to take in a few sights. We walked a solid 40 minutes from our hostel to the Malecon and spent a good part of the day strolling along Guayaquil's massive boardwalk along the Rio Guayas. An absolutely beautiful area, the Malecon has something for everyone. There are hundreds of small shops selling everything you can imagine from knick-knacks and trinkets to doo-dads and whats-its. The views across the Rio Guayas are also very stunning and for a small price one can hop on a river boat gambling trip for a couple hours to see the city. However, we prefer to keep those types of events in international waters where anything goes and the sky is the limit. The next day we jumped on our international Cruz Del Sur bus at 2:00pm to arrive in Huanchaco, Peru the next morning at 7:00am. We were really excited as the Cruz Del Sur bus was the top of the line with huge reclining leather chairs, food on board, and a bathroom all the makings for a comfy ride! We were a bit nervous for the Tumbes border crossing as we had heard stories about robberies; however, we were completely safe and sound and back on the bus in no time heading towards Huanchaco. After about 40 minutes from the border the bus backed into a compound in Tumbes, Peru where we saw two other Cruz Del Sur buses. The bus driver then came on over the loud speaker and told the bus in Spanish (so we didn't have a clue what was going on) that due to fishermen protesting and blockading the main highway we were spending the night in the bus compound until the next morning when they thought the road blockage would be over. Luckily we met some really nice people on the bus who translated for us. Unfortunately the next morning the road wasn't open so their next idea was to drive the bus we were on to the protest, where we'd all get out and walk across the protest lines then on the other side we'd be picked up by another Cruz Del sur bus. Their grand idea was to leave here at 11AM the NEXT morning (at this point we realized we would be spending more than an entire day in the bus terminal) and to walk across the picket lines. When we first agreed to this "plan" we were told the walk was approximately 200m, then a couple of hours later we heard it was 2 km, then 5km, and finally right before we were going to bed 12km. We thought it was nuts (and somewhat dangerous as 3 people were robbed walking it the day before) that everyone had agreed to a 12km walk carrying our large bags. What really blew our minds, was that everyone from South America was OK with it! They obviously haven't done any long distance wilderness hiking before, otherwise they would have thought twice about agreeing to walk 12km in blistering heat carrying large bags. Unfortunately we were more or less stuck. We were told by many people that Tumbes is very dangerous (being a border town) and we shouldn't walk around so going to find a hotel was not really an option unless we could walk with a local. As you can imagine sleeping is the bus for 2 nights was was difficult... we had no air conditioning (the driver left with the keys), people were snoring and knowing we would have to walk 12 km in that area scared us. When we were woken up at 5:00am by the bus being turned on (AH! finally some air) we were told the road had been cleared and we were finally leaving the compound, we were very relived. After spending two nights in the Tumbes bus compound we were very excited for the 10 hours of actual driving to arrive in Trujillo where we met our Spanish teacher and were taken to our homestay in Huanchaco. All in all our 17 hour bus ride turned into 53 hours. It wasn't too bad as we met some really nice people and will always remember our time in the Tumbes bus compound :) Here's a few more pictures to keep you entertained...
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