Well, we have now finished our Peru tour, and are spending our last few days in Lima, which is a bit of an anticlimax as an end to Peru. Lima seems to be a city which is trying to lose it´s national identity, by becoming too western, with fast food joints, supermarkets and department stores on every corner. Peru is full of so much history, culture and beautiful scenery that it seems a shame that it´s capital has ignored this.
We have been to so many interesting places it is hard to fit it all in, but we shall try.
Our first leg of Peru was the desert. Amazing! We went for a dune buggy ride, and we could have easily have been the only people for miles, we were surrounded by sand dunes for as far as the eye could see. It was incredible, probably the most dramatic landscape we have seen so far.
We went sand boarding, and James was a natural, as you can see in the pictures. I was not so good. Our tour leader Colby assured us that no one had ever fallen off the boards before. Well, theres always a first time! I did a spectacular roll down half of a very high and steep sand dune. Unfortunately no one took a picture! I was safe as sand is quite soft, but if you look at the picture of me with the sand board, you can see my face is covered in sand!
We have also seen lots of wildlife while travelling around Peru. From penguins and sealions on the Ballestas islands, to monkeys and kamans in the rainforest. I even had a monkey come and fall asleep on me while I was swinging on a hammock in our jungle lodge!
The rainforest was incredible. We sailed along the river, with the jungle either side, looking at monkeys, toucans and many other types of birds. We even went to a farm which grew many different exotic fruits, and it was interesting to see how the 80 year old farmer and his wife had to continually battle with the jungle to keep their farm afloat. We went for a night boat ride along the river, and just listening to the different sounds was fantastic, even if you couldn´t see the animals you could definitely hear them. We even tried to catch pirana fish, but they are far too quick and crafty for the likes of us!
We have seen many interesting and dubious sights around Peru. One of them being the Nazca lines. They are a load of lines in a large barren expanse of the desert, which make up pictures. You can only see the lines from an aeroplane, so James had the pleasure of going up in a tiny plane. This is the picture of him before the flight, lucky for James there is no after picture! Lets just say he was a little green at the end. This was our second full day of the tour, so James did not make a good first impression to his fellow group members!
Back to the lines... they are a little bit of a mystery to historians, as they cannot really explain what they are for. They think the Nazca people created them, who were around before the Incas, over 1500 years ago. Now, these lines were only discovered 50 or so years ago. Nazca, the town, is a poor town with little water and money. The only thing that keeps it going are the lines as many tourists visit here. So, some lines which have no purpose turn up in a poor town. The only way to see them is from the air, in a plane. Call me cynical, but does this not all sound a little bit far fetched? People 1500years ago made these lines, but couldn´t actually tell what they were doing because it is impossible to see from the ground. The lines are perfectly organised and straight and it is not just a coincidence that they resemble animals. I think it is just one big con for the tourists, impressive, but a little unbelievable. An art attack on an enormous scale!
We have had so many great opportunities that we would never have had if we travelled independently around Peru. We have met many locals, and been allowed to experience their way of life and get a snap shot of Peruvian culture and lifestyle. It has certainly opened our eyes, and depite their very basic way of living, it is clear to see that they are happy, and not stuck in any sort of rat race, they are happy to work hard for the essentials, which generally means working on the land and providing for their families. Both husband and wife have equal responsibility for providing this. We stopped with a Peruvian family for a night on one of Lake Titicaca´s Islands, it was interesting, especially playing football at 4000m above sea level! The family had very basic amenities. No electricity, and out door toilet, luckily it was more than a hole in the ground! Their kitchen consisted of a fire and table, the walls were made of mud bricks and we ate by candlelight. It was amazing to be allowed to see this and to dress up in their native dress. The picture of me dressed up with the family, are the clothes that these people wear everyday, they are beautiful clothes and we were privileged to wear them too. James looks rather dashing in a poncho!
We also went to dance with the family and danced the night away in our new clothes with our new family!
Lake Titicaca was enormous, we only saw a fraction of it, about a quarter of the entire lake. It took us three hours to sail to the island we stopped at for the night, this should give you an indication of the size! We went to the reed islands and they are strange. People live on these small islands made of reeds and every few weeks, they have to lay more reeds down as the ones underneath rot away. This means they have to move the houses so that they can put them underneath. The houses are also made out of reeds! As you walk around the islands you squelch underfoot, but stay dry - very strange! I will have to try and put our pictures of the reed island on the blog, because they are a beautiful sight!
Our final leg of Peru was the Inca trail. The one thing we came to Peru for. We had not prepared ourselves for the dramatic effect the altitude would have on us. At the beginning of the tour we were warned about altitude sickness and how to reduce the effects. We were both very lucky and had very few side effects. But at 3500m, you notice the lack of air. It is very difficult to take a deep breath as there is not enough air! We were so high up that water boils at only 85 degrees, as the air is not so dense, so that water can boil at a lower temperature - amazing! It is incredible how a simple task like climbing a flight of stairs can knock you for six! We did do the rise in altitude gradually, so by the time we got to the inca trail, we were accustomed. The trek was the most difficult thing we have ever done. Four days of intense trekking at high altitude, a lot of up hill, but the scenery was breathtaking (literally!). Walking up mountains, where you can touch the clouds and walk through them, hidden inca ruins, seeing the sun set over snow capped mountains. Walking through forests, beneath waterfalls. It was definitely something worth doing. But the most incredible part was the porters who carried our things. The whole group lived like kings (well camping kings!) for the 4 days of the treks. Some of the nicest food we have eaten was on the trek. There were 11 of us in the group and 2 guides. There were 15 porters and 2 chefs. These porters carried everthing and more, on their backs, on the same route that we did, in a shorter time as they had to pack up camp after we left and set up camp at the new location and have food ready before we got there. It is impossible to describe how amazing these men were. They are the same size as me, and probable carried their own body weight on their backs, up the mountainsides! Amazing! If you look carefully at the picture of James and me at the top of the mountain, you can see a porter in the background carrying a huge bundle on his back. We are smiling so much, because we have spent 3 hours climbing constantly up hill to the highest pass we reached of 4300m. We found it exhausting. These porters trot and run past you effortlessly!
Macchu Picchu was well worth the trek, it has a magical air about it and you could spend hours just sitting and thinking, it is very strange! We were there on christmas day, definitely the earliest christmas ever 3:30am start! But it was also the best christmas present ever! The group wore santa hats for the occasion, we were the only festive thing on the whole of Macchu Picchu. Certainly a sight to remember!
Well we spent New Year with two Australian girls we met on the tour, Charlotte and Debbie. The group was a mixed bunch, but we met some great people. New Year in Cusco was extra ordinary. There were fireworks going off everywhere, small children selling them to anyone! Very safe! But a new year to remember, with two new friends who we will hopefully catch up with when we go to Sydney! Hope everyone had a great christmas and new Year!
Next stop Brazil! Just as we get used to Spanish we have to try out Portuguese....
