Nazca to Cusco - Peru
Trip Start
Aug 07, 2008
1
3
22
Trip End
??? ??, 2009
Cusco,
Peru
Thursday, September 11, 2008
So, we left Nazca without seeing the lines, partly due to bad weather, but mostly it turns out, because the operators put up the prices depending on what people are prepared to pay, so, even though we agreed to pay $75 US each, we got bumped down the line because someone else was prepared to pay $150! Never mind, so much more to see!
From Nazca we, jumped back into our truck and continued through the desert. This, at the time, was the scariest journey to date. The road was cut into the cliffs running along the coast and we were roughly 50 metres up with no barriers between us and the drop
a. Puerta Inca beach
. The regular crosses along the side of the road, a constant and grim reminder of what could happen. Having said that, as you can tell, we made it and it was the first time our driver showed us what a good driver he is. So, where were you heading we here you cry, well, we were on our way to Puerto Inca. The majority of the group camped, but we upgraded to a room with a fantastic view of the ocean. Ok, the view you got was just as good if you camped, but when an upgrade is available for a small price and it gets cold at night we're taking it, plus we are well under budget! Bit of history for you on Puerto Inca, it was where the Inca's caught fish and then had lots of runners run a relay to get it back fresh to Cusco for the King. The relay was 240 km, initially across the desert and then up into the Andes and to Cusco, which sits at 3600 metres above sea level. Each runner ran 7k in the relay (not sure how they knew it was 7k, as I'm pretty sure the kilometre wasn't around 500 years ago!!?) and they completed it in 24 hours, thereby keeping the fish fresh for the King. So, that night we ate and drank around a fire on the beach, with the raw of the ocean as our music. It was an idyllic place and did I mention we were the only ones there? Shame we didn't stay for longer as we left the next morning for Arequipa. Arequipa is a much wealthier town and actually wants autonomy because they contribute so much tax and general wealth to the country
b. Puerta Inca BBQ being prepared
! It may be a bit selfish, but, as we've found out throughout our trip, they love an excuse to have a protest, just as much as they love an excuse to have a street parade/fiesta. The hotel we stayed in was an old colonial building and was quite quirky. For the first nights meal, most people had Alpaca meat, which is similar to a Llama but cuter, no one braved the local favourite of guinea pig, or, Coy as they call it here, but I caught a glimpse of one on another table, with the feet and head sticking off the end of the plate! Yuk! The town was typically South American, with a colonial feel to the Centre, lots of grand buildings around a Plaza. Away from the Plaza in Arequipa, the rest of the Town was nice, due to wealth, but generally in other Towns, as you move out from the square, they become derelict and sometimes squalid, due to the lack of wealth. Generally speaking though, despite most Peruvians lacking in basics, that you and I would take for granted, they are extremely friendly people.
Arequipa was the start of what seems to have become a trend wherever we've been, in that it was super busy as they had a festival going on. They were celebrating their, not Peru's, independence from the Spanish and where at the start of four days of celebrations
c. View of desert and farmland from coastal road
. The next day we spent the day exploring the Town and visiting a couple of "Museo". The pick of which was Juanita, the frozen mummy, no pictures available unfortunately, as you're not allowed to take photos, but pretty fascinating stuff though. It is thought she was chosen from a young age to be sacrificed to mother earth by the Inca's and when she was a teenager, walked with Shaman and Inca leaders from Cusco, for approx 3 months to be sacrificed at the top of the mountain. She has been so well preserved as she has been frozen in the Glaciers for a approx 500 years and was only found 15 years ago, when one of Arequipa's' volcano's erupted and melted the glacier. Even then she was found only by accident, as some scientists went up the mountain she was found on to get a better view of the erupting volcano and literally stumbled across her burial site. She had fallen out as the ice melted, but by rolling rocks down the mountain to predict where any corpse may have gone, they found her 150 metres below. The next day, we had to set of for the Colca Canyon and 2.30 AM!!!! and our first day at altitude, 3500 metres above sea level. Why!!! I here you cry, well, Condor nest in the Canyon and if you get there for 9 o'clockish, you can see them climbing up the Canyon on the early morning thermals, before they head off to find food. We found out today, that it gets flipping freezing at night at 3500 metres
d. View from our hotel room in Arequipa
. How? Well on our winding road up to the Colca Canyon, we were advised to get our sleeping bags out, as it would get cold, but it was only when the condensation in our breath froze on the inside of the truck!!! that we realised how cold. It was just about worth it once we got there though, as the Condors are so majestic, although even when they are only 30 or so metres away, it is still difficult to appreciate their 3 metre wingspan. After viewing the Condors, which we nearly missed, due to a small electrical fire under the truck cab, which again our driver excelled himself with, in that he'd extinguished and replaced the offending wire within half an hour, we headed off to our small town for the night, Chivay. It was here that we first found out, that at altitude, just lying in bed reading a book, you can be short of breath. Weird! Chivay is a market town for all the local farmers and despite being small, we still had a couple of optional activities to keep us busy in the afternoon. One was watching a Bull Fight and the other was hot springs. We went to the hot springs and watched the sun set over the Andes, nice! In the evening, we went to the small square in town, where, yes you guessed it, they where having a Fiesta, where they drank and danced for hours. As we where about 12 hours' behind the locals on the drinking side of things, we just watched them dancing.
e. Main Plaza in Arequipa
Next morning, we set off again for an all day drive to Cusco, which was the capital of the Inca Empire and is now a big tourist Town and the jump off point for Machu Pichu. It was an amazing drive up and over some of the Andes. The highest point reached today was 4500 ish metres and then it was down into Cusco, which as I've mentioned, sits at 3600 metres.
Well, that's a good point to stop for now, so we'll sign off, take care everyone
Xx
Comments
Hi Toby and Suzanna
Your adventure just continues to look and sound amazing. Thank you for keeping us all updated. I look forward to more witty updates soon. Toby look after Suzanna. Keep in touch Colleen xxx