The Sacred Valley

We finally got a lie in today (6th August); our alarm didn't go until 7.15am!

Our first visit of the day was to the Ollyantambo ruins.  This is the only Incan fortress that defeated Spanish soldiers, creating the first and only Incan victory. Unfortunately a few weeks later the Spanish returned with four times as many soldiers and conquered Ollyantambo.

Just as we got back to the hostel I noticed that a woolly hat had got caught on the velcro of my bag. Worried that we may have accidentally stolen it we returned to the stalls we had visited earlier but didn't see any similar hats.  We asked one of the stallholders who then asked the others in the area but none claimed the hat. We therefore gave the hat to the helpful stall-holder as it didn't suit either of us. She could barely believe her luck.  Contented we hadn't stolen anything we went back to our hostel to make our way to Cusco.

Our taxi took us back to Cusco via two of the Sacred Valley sites. However, within 30 mins of leaving we had to stop.  One of engine drive belts had snapped.  Our driver had to take a bus to the next town to get a replacement leaving us in the car. Half an hour later, belt in hand and friend in tow our driver returned. 15 mins later we were back on the road at full speed.

The next stop was Moray. It's terraces are thought to be an Incan agricultural laboratory with each layer changing in altitude and thus climate. The size of the construct is breathtaking as is the climb back up!

Next we continued on to the Salanaris near Maras. One again the extent is amazing and a photo can't do it justice.

This site is active for salt production with several people working in the buckets when we visited (can you spot them on the photo?).

About halfway along the top we got caught up in a "crowd" (5 people) and had to stop. Without me noticing two of the local children were finding my gorilla pod tripod (bendy tripod) fascinating and gently poking it.

When Stu told me I took it off my bag to show them. They loved it and more than 30 mins later they were still occupied and fighting over who was going to play with it next.  Melanie and Estardo are 4 and 5 years old and were being looked after by their sister, Astra, who was working in one of the salt buckets. She was just 10 years old. 

Whilst I was sitting with the children, Stu went back to the car to get some sweets, pens and pencils to give to them (a breathless ascent and descent). Just as he arrived back a large coach tour came along and we decided it was time to go.  We gave each of them some sweets and a pen and pencil, retrieved my gorilla pod and said our goodbyes then made our way back to the car to continue our journey onto Cusco.

After another hour of driving we arrived at our hotel in Cusco. For dinner we went to a local restaurant and each enjoyed a Pisco sour, a local cocktail containing Pisco, lemon juice, sugar and egg - delicious!    

The Mysterious Incan City

Today (5th August) was our earliest start yet with the alarm going at 4.15am.

We arrived at the bus stop just under an hour later having rushed some breakfast to find the queue was already several blocks long. With 20 mins until the first bus was scheduled to depart the queue grew longer and longer, but so did the queue of buses waiting to take us all up the mountain. We counted 24 buses, each holding 25 people and there was enough people to fill them all.

Oddly the buses had to line up in ascending numerical order. Bus 13 was a little late and had to parallel park between the already waiting buses 12 and 14. Unlucky for some but this was our bus!

By 6.15 we were at the entrance gate. As we approached the desk we had our fingers crossed that our tickets would be accepted. They were scanned, an error popped up on screen. The error was ignored. Our tickets were stamped and in we went!

You can't appreciate just how big and magnificent Machu Picchu is from the photos but it was amazing.

The forecast was for rain (we got drenched yesterday as the heavens opened just after we started walking back to our hotel, and to add to the scene there were large claps of thunder), but as the sun rose the clouds cleared and slowly the golden light shone on the amazing brickwork of the sacred plaza.

Finally satisfied I'd taken enough photos we started to explore the city.

Although 600 people had arrived around the same time as us it didn't feel too full and the deeper we explored the less people we saw until we had the place to ourselves. This shows just how large Machu Picchu is.

The stones for each of the walls were all cut carefully to size with the more important buildings having perfectly square bricks.

The triangular end of the houses have been designed to resemble the shape of the mountains in the distance with one side slightly lower than the other.

After around 3 hours of exploring and still no rain we set off back to the bus stop. On arrival a large buzzy thing flew straight up Stu's t-shirt sleeve and stung him! His arm came up bright red with a large bump in the middle where the sting was. Over the next 30 minutes the redness spread to be the size of a beer mat! :-(

Fortunately the anti sting ointment and an antihistamine tablet brought the swelling down and now there's just a raised bump the size of a penny.

We're now sitting having lunch whilst we wait for our train and it's just started raining again. It seems the weather forecast (luckily) was 6 hours out!

Off to Machu Picchu

Slightly later than expected we arrived in Cusco this morning (4th August). With a little over an hour to spare we took a taxi to the rail station to continue our journey to Machu Picchu.

The taxi was a little suspect with the car alarm going for most of the journey. About halfway through he pulled over on a deserted street and took out a knife.

Fortunately it was just to pry open his car remote to change the battery so he could turn off the alarm. Silence at last (!) and off we went to the train station arriving with time for breakfast.

We were lucky on the train, having a set of 4 seats to ourselves. The train had large panoramic windows plus some more in the ceiling so we could admire the mountains towering above us.

About an hour into the journey the attendants started coming round with mini tablecloths and cutlery giving them out in silver service style. It felt quite uncomfortable looking out the window at the shanty towns whilst we relaxed in our air conditioned train in 1st class comfort.

As the train drove through the villages the driver pumped the horn and you could see everyone outside putting their hands over their ears or those of their children. It quite detracted from the excitement of the journey somewhat. At times it felt like we were intruding too much into the lives of the local people! :-(

Around 2 hours into the journey the scenery started to change. The landscape became green as far as the eye could see and the river flowed faster, a significant change from the canyon territory we had just come from (empty rivers and cactus filled deserts).

The scenery was reminiscent of Borneo although the rainforest trees were somewhat smaller.

Just after lunch we arrived in Aguas Calientes, which can only be reached by train.

Aguas Calientes is a tourist haven for anyone visiting Machu Picchu. We were greeted by stall upon stall off tourist niknacks, a distinct change from the wonderful calm we have experienced so far.

Our hotel was a short walk from the train station and our room was remarkably different to anywhere we have stayed so far. King size bed, hot water, heating, sofas, fridge, wardrobe and a safe.

Next we needed to buy our entrance and bus tickets to Machu Picchu. These aren't easily available online and given that the number of visitors is limited to 2500 per day there was a risk none would be left.

On attempt 3 at getting our tickets having found out they only took cash and then that they needed our passports we finally were in a position to buy them. Fortunately the guy at the counter seemed quite happy to sell us a pair of tickets at 128 soles each (£45!) plus the bus fare. However when I looked at the date on our tickets it said 9th August - they were sold out for tomorrow :-(

When I queried this the guy said not to worry just use the ticket for tomorrow anyway. With not much else we could do other than hope he was right we went back to our hotel and made good use of the comfortable surroundings. This was our first chance to truly relax since arriving in Peru.

Fingers crossed for tomorrow as we'll be having our earliest morning yet so we can catch the first bus up to ensure we see the sunrise - assuming they let us in!

Chinchillas, Condors & Cuy

Today (3rd August) is our final day in canyon territory as tomorrow we leave for Cusco.

As had become usual for us we got up at 4.30am and the drove part way to the condor crossing point in Colca canyon. We stopped a few kilometers early so we could walk in the dawn light towards the condors.

I made the mistake of not putting my over trousers on not realising it was going to be below 0 C so had a very cold first half an hour whilst I power walked along trying to get warm.

I was not they only one waiting for the sun to warm me up. On a rock, waiting for the morning sun was a family of 3 chinchillas.

A bit further along we heard lots of chirping. Our guide Maria said they were parrots. A little further ahead we saw around 10 bright green parrots warning themselves in the morning sun. Sitting on the next rock was a woodpecker shouting warnings for us to move away from her nest. We also saw lots of humming birds flying around and hovering. Off into the distance we caught our first glimpse of the day of the condors doing test flights.

The condors continued their test flights in pairs (condors pair up for life) for about another hour until the winds were just right and they all decided to come out. All in all we saw about 20 condors in a little over an hour. Given the total population of condors in this area is 35 this was a very good day!

By 9am there were just a few condors left. Our guide said these were just flying for fun and would not be going hunting. They kept sweeping over our heads - I think they just liked all the attention they were getting! It was then that two of the remaining condors started fighting.

After the last few condors left we ate our breakfast looking back at where we had walked earlier that morning. In the distance we saw lots of dust rising; it was another rock slide, this time not far from where we had been walking just a few hours before!

This region is right on a plate boundary with the nearest village suffering minor earthquakes almost daily. The most recent damage consists of a land slip of several meters completely destroying the road, now a track between tarmaced road sections over the landslide.

Just before 12.00 we arrived back in Chivay for lunch. Once again we stuffed ourselves with llama.

After lunch we started our journey back to Arequipa. On our way we reached our highest point yet, 3950m. It was during this party of the journey that our guide started to suffer from altitude sickness. Fortunately we had both acclimatised and this was the first day that neither of us had a headache!

Just after the highest point we saw a mum winding llama wool with her two daughters sitting by the side of the road in traditional dress. They had spent the morning tending to their llamas and were now relaxing in the sun for a rest so we stopped to say hello. We have gave our remaining goodies to the two children Jude and Abigail, who were both really sweet :-)

Finally at 6ish we arrived in Arequipa. We spent the remainder of the evening relaxing and watching the sunset. For dinner I tried another Peruvian specialty cuy, more commonly known as guinea pig. I requested mine without the head but still has its little paws attached. It tasted remarkably like chicken, although nowhere near as much meat so quite a meagre meal, but tasty none-the-less!

At 8.30 we boarded our overnight bus to Cusco where once again they videoed everyone on the bus - I assume this its in case of an accident or hijacking they have a record as to who actually boarded the bus. We then settled down for our 10 hour overnight journey.

The Long Drive

Yet again we were up early today (2nd August) as we have a 9 hour drive ahead of us.

Once again we got to see the beautiful sunrise over the mountains and the llamas had not yet been let out off their overnight pens. At a farm we stopped for a closer look. Having made friends with a llama yesterday, with it enjoying its fuss so much it rolled over so I could tickle his belly I've taken quite a liking to llamas!

This particular farm was owned by a man fast approaching 80 years old. He lives on his own and looks after around 30 llamas. Each one will bring him around 10 nuevos soles (£3.30) per llama per year. His family have moved to the city and only check in on him a few times a year. We made up a goody bag and he seemed extremely happy with the few slices of bread and fruit we gave to him.

This man's family are not the only ones to leave for the city. Over the past few days we have seen abandoned houses everywhere we have driven.

A little further along the road we stopped at a lake and low and behold there were flamingos! Six pink flamingos at 3500m altitude on a freezing cold dawn morning.

By around 10am we reached a small pocket of civilization, stopping for a quick snack and look at the two churches which were destroyed by earthquakes. Mining once again is an integral part of this village. The mining company has built an astroturf football pitch and other new facilities are also under construction. The companies buy off the farmers to stop any protests by giving them cows which seems to be keeping them happy.

The minimum wage in Peru is 750 nuevos soles (US$288) per month. However someone working in a gold mine on average finds 3g per day at US$60/g making it a lucrative career for Peruvians.

Further along the way we met some more children. Although education is compulsory in Peru most children in the mountainous regions don't go to school as it's too far away and instead stay and help on the farm.

Just outside of our final destination for the day we saw a band playing on the edge of the canyon, then a little further along were lots of children all in traditional dress dancing in the road. It was the final day of the celebration after the cleaning of the aqueducts. 

Finally at around 3pm we arrived in Chivay, our final stop before we headed back to Arequipa. For lunch there were lots of choice traditional Peruvian dishes including llama. Obviously we had to try the llama and were not disappointed. It tasted like a cross between pork and beef - delicious :-D We liked it so much we had it again for dinner.

After lunch we went for a short walk up a hill overlooking Chivay. At the top were Wari military buildings still in remarkably good condition given that they were around 800 years old. It seems that the Wari civilisation was perhaps more impressive than the Incas and certainly longer lasting.

Llamas, Volcanoes & Condors

It was an early start today (1st August), leaving Verlinga at 5.30 am to get to the canyon edge before dawn to make the descent back to the car. The grass looked particularly golden as the sun rose over the mountain top giving us a great excuse to stop for a few minutes to take some photographs as walking, even down hill, at 2500m is hard work, although nowhere near as hard as the upwards ascent during the hottest part of the day yesterday!

We drove back along the same road as the previous day but with the morning light the red in the rocks was even more pronounced.

By 8 am we had finally arrived back in Cotahausi town and had breakfast with a local family. Their baby Lucia took a particular liking to us and they insisted on taking a photo with us and giving us extra food: some strange looking orange fruits which were rather tasty :-)

After breakfast we continued on along the winding dirt track roads gradually climbing higher and higher reaching around 3500m. We stopped frequently as there were children by the side of the road waiting for food from the occasional passer-by. We had fortunately stocked up on sweets and fruit!

Farming llamas is the main way of life in this area of Arequipa and we saw lots and lots of them along with the occasional pack of wild alpaca (vi cuna).

For lunch we arrived in a small town where school had just finished. Mining keeps most of the locals in this town in work. The company buys clothes for the children and has built schools and play areas.

After lunch we checked into our hostel in Andagua. This was going to be our coldest night yet. There was no heating and at 3700m it's quite cold!

After dinner we went for a walk up one of the 8 volcanoes in the area which is part of El Valle de los Volcanes. At the base of the volcano was the remains of an ancient Wari city estimated to be around 1000 years old.

From the ground it looked like a few abandoned huts with cacti growing in them. From above its full extent could be admired, stretching out into the distance, the edge marked by the change from black to gold.

On our ascent up the volcano, now both more acclimatised to the altitude, we became a local tourist attraction with a holidaying Peruvian family wanting to take their picture with us.

When we finally reached the top, having discovered an ancient tomb complete with skulls and broken pottery scattered across the path we settled down to watch the sun set. To our surprise two condors flew directly overhead making their way home. Not many condors live in that area so this was quite a treat!

We then made our way down the volcano in the half light, seeing night flowering cacti as we went down, returning to our icy cold room ready to start another day.