Week 36 Nazca to Cuzco
Trip Start
Aug 01, 2007
1
48
69
Trip End
Dec 19, 2008
Cusco,
Peru
Friday, April 18, 2008
Well, another day of nursing Surekha and pretending I have a doctors degree from the medical university of Lusaka, Nigeria. The patient seems to be getting better so we have taken the chance and booked the long awaited small plane flight over the Nazca lines for tomorrow morning.
When I say there really is nothing to do here in Nazca please believe me...it is oh so true. So again I just enjoyed some recreation time of swimming, reading, blog writing and watching TV (a lot of things I can't normally do while I'm on the road).
Chatted to some new hostel arrivals and got loads of info on places to see in China (not even sure its on my itinery) and all sorts of other random info.
April 5th
Well, today is the flight day. A serious warning was given not to have any breakfast and just stick to a Coca tea (the small plane pilots tend to go mental and dip, sway and dive the planes so the passengers get a good view).
Arrived at the tiny airport (a hut with a sign of a plane on it just to prove it is what it is...it so filled me with confidence seeing that)
Peru, Nasca lines 1
. After a 2 hour wait due to bad weather (not too bad because we got to watch a video of the history of the Nazca lines and some of it's myths). Some believe it was alien drawings or local tribes drawings seem to be the most likely). Why they were made nobody knows.As is usual with small planes my whole body sweats like I've done 20 rounds with Tyson and then spent an hour in the sauna (I hate them). All went smoothly and after only 5 minutes the first lines came into view. Very impressive but difficult to get any perspective of size from up in the air. I do know they are huge.
It was very difficult to focus on each of the lines because as the pilot announced each one he would dip the plane and dive like he was about to attack the rear of a Luftwaffe squadron. Pretty much from the first lines everyone on the plane made a grab for the complimentary sick bags. Thankfully nobody yacked up because I doubt there would have been enough space in the small cockpit for everyones'.
Saw the usual favourites; monkey, alien, condor, hummingbird, whale and spider but was quite happy to walk (well....sway) on land again.
I would say its worth doing the flight but I did expect something more spectacular...or maybe the constant feeling of being sick distracted from the beauty of the sight.
April 6th
Last day in Nazca and Surekha's feeling a lot better now. Last chance for a swim and a long walk around town (this place is so small we are starting to recognise everyone....Sweet Jesus, another week here and I'll know everyone by name and what their dog's called).
Back at the hostel and for the rest of the afternoon it was packing time in readiness for tonights long bus journey to Cuzco (the Incan capital)
Peru, Nasca lines 2
. Arriving at the bus terminal on time we were told the bus was delayed. An hour later it arrived and it was goodbye Nazca and thanks for the fish.
April 7th
Felt like I didn't get a single minutes sleep on the night bus (but must have otherwise I'd be barking at people with grumpiness). Arrived in Cuzco at around 10am and caught a taxi to the centre of town hoping to get a bed at the infamous Loki hostel (known as the party hostel of Cuzco). It was all fully booked with a waiting list of 14 people (either it is really good or people are more sheeplike than I thought).
Walking around we stumbled across a nice hostel on the Plaza San Francisco and checked in. Most of the afternoon after lunch was siesta time for me (needed some kip after the bus trip). Then went for a walk around town.
Cuzco really is a beautiful city with gorgeous plaza's, churches and cobbled streets. At night it really is accentuated with the street lights illuminating everything including a lovely fountain in the middle of the main plaza.
One thing thats a given but is still a shame is that the place is full...I mean really full of tourists either going to Machupicchu or coming from there.
Being cautious about food at the moment both of us opted for the traditional Peruvian dish passed down through hundreds of generations from mother to daughter...a pizza.
Surekha still being on the antibiotics no beers were to be had tonight so back to the hostel to relax and lounge around with other hostellers
Peru, Nasca lines 3
. Chatted to a friendly English lad called Tom (Tooting) for a while and we all made plans to catch the Champions league games tomorrow night.April 8th
Today the decision was made to book a hiking tour to Machupicchu. So with serious intentions and heads highly motivated we did the tour agency rounds. The motivation soon turned to despair when what we kind of already knew would happen. All proper Inca trails were booked up until August.
So the second best option was a 4 day tour called Salkantay. Apparently a gruelling substitute for the real hike. April 10th was the day of departure.
To celebrate this and also Chelsea's possible victory over Fenerbache in the Champions league we made a beeline to a pub (serving draught ale and curry lunch).
Had a great afternoon of football watching Liverpool beat the Arses and Chelsea beat Fenerbache (...blue is the colour...football is the game). Stayed around for a fair few pints more chatting to Tom and an English fella with his gorgeous Colombian wife. He used to deliver fruit and veg to a stall in Portobella so was nice to chat to him about that and also about my favourite country Colombia.
His wife being the daughter of a police inspector in Medellin she told us what a bad life it was for the family having to hide from Pablo Escubar's drugs cartel with darkened windows and always the worry of a shootout (I felt mighty daft wearing my 'Pablo Escubar' T-shirt and tried to hide it at every moment).
April 9th
This morning was provision, essentials and souvenir shopping day
Peru, Nasca lines 4
. Essentials had to be bought for the gruelling 4 day hike (chocolate by the bucketload, torch (something I surprisingly have only needed once during my 9 months travels...and that was in Costa Rica), a wooly Incan hat, jumper and toilet paper.Souvenirs are something I've never been that fussed about, relying on just photos but I saw some goodies I couldn't resist.
Walking back from the shopping we came across people selling football tickets. If this had been for a standard Peruvian game I wouldn't have been fussed but this was for a cup game between Flamengo (the Brazilian team I sorely wanted to catch way back in Rio) vs the local team Calientes. At $6 a ticket how could I resist.
Kickoff was at 7.45 so heading to the ground which was pretty close to the centre. We arrived just in time for kickoff and boy was it crowded. It took 10 minutes just to find a place to see a small corner of the pitch. At one point I thought I found the perfect spot sitting on the edge of stairs overlooking the pitch...5 seconds later I was pelted with popcorn, bread and God knows what else for obstructiong the view of hundreds of angry fans. We soon scampered off to a place less likely to cause a riot.
The usual Latino flares were lit and tons and tons of toilet paper flung as far onto the pitch as possible (I felt like running on and grabbing some for the hiking tomorrow).
The game itself wasn't brilliant but there was the odd moment of latin flair. The end result was Flamengo 3 Calientes 0...so the locals weren't a happy lot
Peru, Nasca lines 5
. All in all it was a good night and a half decent game to watch.Back at the hostel it was all go and some last ditch packing for the 4.30am...yes, 4 bloody 30 in the morning pickup.
April 10th
Alarm was set to 3.45 but true to my habit I woke up at 4.15. Me and Surekha rushed madly and managed to get everything sorted and waited for the bus. As is also the habit of tours they arrive late, so at 5am a taxi picked us up and took us to a big bus to take us to the hike starting point.
Halfway there the bus stopped and turned the engine off as everyone clambered out to see what the hold up was. Yes, a landslide had block the road up ahead so an hours wait was on the cards.
Eventually our guide led us out, with packs to walk across the landslide to another bus on the other side. I saw a VW beetle try and 4 wheel drive its way in a Herbie style impatiently over the hill of earth and it very nearly slid down into a river below. If not for the brave road workers pushing it back it certainly would have toppled over (ahh, the art of patience).
Breakfast at the starting point was nice only for the fact that it was the chance to chat to all the other fellow hikers in our group; 2 Irish girls (Susan and Sarah), 2 Portogues girls (Mafalda and Neves), a Canadian (Mike), a French fella called Samir who I'd already met at El Misti hostel in Rio....shit, it really is a small world, Liuban his 'girlfriend' and 2 quiet Germans.
The first day of hiking was fairly easy going and everyone was chatting and joking around
Peru, Nasca lines 6
. We were quite lucky to have such a good bunch of people on this hike...makes the whole thing more fun and easier through the tough bits.The landscape was pretty flat with the odd steep hike and we had quite a few breaks in between. Me and Surekha walked along the lines and chatted to everyone.
The camping stop finally came into view and at 5pm we all claimed our tents and headed to a hut for much needed tea and biscuits. Our bottle of rum was produced (yes, brought solely fro medicinal purposes of course) and someone else produced a bottle of Pisco (a local sour whiskey).
The drinking didn't last because in the back of everyones mind we remembered tomorrow was going to be the hardest day of hiking; steep and reaching the dizzy heights of 4,800 metres....sheeeeeet).
Bedtime was 8pm as we were all shattered and a 5.30am start was on the cards. Images of our guide waking us up in a military style sergeant major shout 'drop your cocks and grab your socks you low lives' were in my mind as I drifted into and out of sleep. It was a damned cold night for sleep.
The week ahead will be mostly finishing the 4 day hike with Machupicchu, then back to Cuzco for a day of rest. Then I head south towards Chile and my final 10 days in South America.
