Mancora - Peru 20th-23rd April

Lovely Mancora beach. Watch out for horse shit.

Mancora

If I have one thing to say it's wear SUNSCREEN!!!

Mancora is a small beach resort in northern Peru. We decided to stay there for three days in total which just so happened to be over Santa Semana (Easter) and was probably one of the busiest times to visit. We had initially booked into a dorm in a hostel however, we had discovered in Huanchaco that a group of six idiots were also staying there...filled with dread that we would end up with them in the 8 bed dorm we decided not to stay there and try and wing finding somewhere when we got there...this could have been a terrible mistake as everywhere was booked.

When we arrived we had no problem finding somewhere... and it was our very own bungalow complete with a hammock and no idiots in sight. Bliss.

Lucy scratching her mosquito bites on the hammock

Lucy shows us how many idiots there are in this photo.

The idea was to do some more surfing, so we relaxed in the sun and also hired a board... I however, had forgotten to put any sunscreen on my legs and managed to burn myself to a ridiculous degree. I'm very ashamed with myself because subsequently today has been a complete right off and I can hardly walk and sitting is extremely painful. What an idiot! Anyway it's easing off now so hopefully the 16 hour bus journey to Quito tomorrow won't be too painful! Next blog we will be in Equador!!

Pre sunburned burned legs...

...and of course afterwards. Ouch!

Boats in Mancora harbour.

Brownie sundae from 'Green Eggs and Ham'. The best place for breakfasts in Mancora.

Huanchaco - Peru, 17th - 19th April 2011

Cigar-shaped totora boats. Also called caballitos (little horses)

Huanchaco

Huanchaco is a small beach town on the outskirts of Trujillo in northern Peru. We stayed in a hostel called 'Chill Out' which didn't really live up to my idea of 'chilling out' but it was a lot of fun. It is owned by a lovely couple who go out of their way to make you feel welcome, it also has a lively bar and is a great place to meet people. We stayed for a couple of days, did some surfing and also went on a fascinating tour to various archeological sights around Trujillo.

The excavation and restoration of Huacas del Luna

Restoring the ancient engravings of Tellytubbies was a long process

The huacas del Sol. Closed when we visited. Typical.

The first sight we visited was the huacas del Sol y la Luna ruins (temples of the sun and moon). They were constructed by the Moche people who pre-dated the Incas. We could only walk around the temple of the moon as the other was going to be excavated later on this year but it was fascinating to see the carvings still intact and in such detail.

Our next site was huaca Esmeralda which was constructed by the Chimu people (also pre-dating the Incas), this also had huge intricate carvings.

Our final ruins were also made by the Chimu people and was a huge archeological sight called Chan Chan, I was told that it was the biggest ruins in Peru. We had a tour around the palace complex and saw where the King lived and where the (human and animal) sacrifices were performed usually as a way of placating the gods during bad weather.

The hairless Inca dogs have a higher body temperature and are used to treat people with arthritis. Fact.

Amazing honeycomb walls at Chan Chan

Some girls arses

Lima - Peru 15th - 17th April

Canta Rana. Great for fishy food in an Argentina obssessed setting.

Lima
We had heard a lot of mixed things about the Peruvian capital so decided to not stay too long... long enough however to meet up with our friends and old partners in crime Craig and Shelley. We stayed in a lovely area of Lima called Barranco which had great views of the sea, no skyscrapers and a great variety of bars and restaurants, it is also a stones throw away from the other popular area Miraflores.

We all went out for lunch and found a great little restaurant called the Canta Rana which specialised in Peruvian seafood dishes. I decided to stick to fluids only and enjoyed the beer and wine whilst the others tucked into Cerviche (raw marinated seafood) and a huge mound of fried seafood. We finished off the evening by visiting a couple of fantastic bars (from the opposite ends of the spectrum) and in our typical style ended up very drunk. Lima has been a short but sweet memory.

Craig's amazing fish dish

Shelley tucking into calamari and stuff

The desert was made from three lots of condensed milk. It needed two spoons just to eat it.

The chill out area at Barranco Backpackers

Rafting on the Urubamba river - 11th April

As we were starting to become completely lazy I managed to talk Rich, Craig and Simon into going white water rafting on the Urubamba river with a company called Peru Aquatrek. This was my first time rafting and I was feeling a little nervous at the prospect going on 3 and 4 grade rapids. Despite this we all met up at the office early in the morning and set off to the starting point two hours out of Cusco. When we got there we got kitted up into wetsuits and helmets and given a 10 minute safety talk. The rafting turned out to be brilliant fun, it wasn't scary at all and I even managed to talk Simon into swapping positions with me so I got to go in the front for a bit. Bring on grade 5!!!!

Birthday Celebrations - Ley Seca (Dry Law) 8th April

Early evening... the Peruvian beer police were right outside

Birthday Celebrations - Ley Seca (Dry Law)

Because we liked Cusco so much and also because our friends Craig and Shelley were there we decided to stay in Cusco until the 14th April. We spent these days meeting for breakfast or lunch and then getting the odd massage in the afternoon. The evenings usually resulted in a few drinks and sometimes a game of darts in a local 'British owned pub'.

Craig and Shelleys friend Simon arrived on the 7th which made our gang even bigger. It was my birthday the next day but we had heard that there was a dry law (Ley Seca) being enforced due to the presidential elections in Peru. QUE?? This meant the between the 8th and 10th no alcohol could be bought from pubs or supermarkets anywhere in Cusco. THE HORROR...NO ALCOHOL! Not to be put off we stocked up on plenty of Vodka the night before but still decided to head out to see what mischief we could find. We managed to find a bar in a part of Cusco called San Blas which was serving, we ordered cocktails and were feeling very smug that we had found somewhere until suddenly the police turned up. We quickly hid our beers but soon realised that the police weren't going anywhere! BLAST! We set off again in search of some alcohol and came across another bar which would only let us in if we climbed through the window! HILARIOUS!

After another hour of drinking and merriment we were again visited by the police and were all ejected. BLAST AGAIN! On the way out we were given wink and a nod by a guy stood outside a closed door and he said that there was a nightclub inside which was serving! HOORAY! We went in and danced to pretty awful music until 5.00am, it was a brilliant and funny evening and a great way to spend my birthday!


As Shelley and Lucy drink, Craig finds the toilet


Shelley makes a swift exit


4am photo...


4.30am photo...


5am photo...Goodnight Lucy

Ollantaytambo to Cusco - 6th April

Salt flats. Would you put this on your food?

Ollantaytambo to Cusco
On the way back to Cusco we stopped at various sites along the way including the very strange salt flats at Maras and then the amazing circular Inca ruins at Moray. These Inca ruins were meant to be agricultural experimental terraces during Inca times. This we found out in the Inca museum in Cusco which claimed the temperatures vary depending on where you are on the terraces. Our final stop was a small but very pretty Inca town called Chincheros, we had a quick wander around but bypassed the ruins as we were all feeling tired.

We got back to Cusco and went straight to our favourite Mexican restaurant which does a bargain menu del dia for only 15 Sols (£3.50).


The Inca's were mad for their terraces


Cheap Mexican food. We never te the cutlery though.

Ollantaytambo - 5th April

Looking down on crazy-named town of Ollantaytambo

Ollantaytambo

Before heading back to Cusco we stopped at a nearby town called Ollantaytambo with our friends Craig and Shelley. It is an old Inca town and archaeological site 60km northwest of Cusco and once served as the royal estate for the Inca Emperor Pachucuti.

We stayed in an amazing hostel owned by a lovely American woman and her Peruvian husband, it was very homely and the beds were huge, handmade and extremely comfortable.

Instead of going to the usual ruins we went and climbed up a hill overlooking them and the town and had fantastic views. The evening was the usual mix of food and beers!


Lucy and Craig don´t even bother waiting for me


Looking down through the ruins

Machu Picchu Trek - 1st April

Llamas get into Machu Picchu for free

Machu Picchu Trek

At 5.30am in the morning we were picked up from our hostel full of excitement and anticipation. We said brief salutations to the other people in our group and settled into the two hour bus journey to the starting point at kilometre 82, at 2380 metres. Rich and me were the only two in our group of 16 who were carrying our own equipment...much to their horror and amusement.

The group set off walking at around 10.00am, this was the reputedly 'easy' day, only 14kms!!. It was sunny and hot and people's spirits were high. The journey took us alongside the Urubamba river past some Inca terraces. Two people in the group had food poisoning so were constantly stopping in order to be sick, but they were determined not to be defeated by it. The Chaski (porters) flew past us each sweating with the huge and heavy load they were carrying. At around 1.00pm we stopped and had an amazing two course lunch and a quick siesta before heading off again. The walk in the afternoon was slightly harder as we began to ascend to 3000 metres to the first campsite at Wayllabamba. We arrived late in the afternoon, some of the group were looking tired and seemed worried about tomorrows walk named the 'gingo killer'!


Happy gringos on day one


Some sort of Inca ruin that we passed. (If i paid any attention to the guides, I´d be able to tell you what this was called)

The following day we had to be up early at around 5.00am to set off for the four hour up hill climb to Dead Womans Pass (the gingo killer). Rich and me due to all of our hikes over the past 8 months found the walk not to be as bad as we had expected. At the top (4216 metres) we had amazing views of the valleys on either side. The walk however was not over and after a quick hour and a half down the other side we stopped for another delicious lunch before setting off again for another 2-3 hours mostly up-hill. During this part we saw some amazing Inca ruins at Runkuracay with fantastic views of the Pacaymayo river.

The food was so good, we could only stare at it

This morning we were allowed a lie until 6.30! The views were amazing, it was like being on top of the world as there were blankets of clouds beneath us. This part of the trek was named 'unforgettable' and it didn't disappoint. We descended through the cloud forest into the jungle and the flora and fauna changed into orchids and butterflies. We got to our campsite around lunchtime and were able to have a much needed hot shower. In late afternoon we visited the nearby Inca site Winaywayna which was mind blowing.


The third night's camp site. Bloody marvellous innit?

Today we had to be up at 4.00am for the final part of our trek to Machu Picchu. It was an easy hour walk to the Temple of the Sun which gave us our first views of Machu Picchu, we were stunned by the sight, it was magnificent. We spent the rest of the morning having a tour of the ruins however it started to rain which spoilt it a bit. After the tour we had a couple of hours to kill, I had been disappointed to not been given the chance to ascend up Wayna Picchu which has great views of the ruins but only allows 400 people to ascend each day. Our guide kindly bribed the guards by giving them some sandwiches and Rich, me and two others were allowed to go up. I was so happy!


The postcard shot. Wayna Picchu is the big hunk of rock on the right

We got back to our hotel in Aguas Calientes for lunch at two. We were tired but happy, our friends Craig and Shelley came and met us at our hotel and we spent the rest of the afternoon in the hot springs drinking cocktails, this carried on into the evening. What fun!!

Cusco - Peru 28th March

The view overlooking Cusco from our hostal

Cusco
Before coming to Cusco we stopped at Puno on the northern edge of Lake Titcaca. It was here that we were talked into buying a bus ticket to Cusco from a local who seemed friendly and trustworthy. Normally we don't do this sort of thing but we ignored our good sense and went ahead. Not only were we overchanged for the bus by a ridiculous amount it also broke down mid way!
This was 4 hours into the journey and in the middle of nowhere. After an hour of watching the bus driver doing a lot of chin rubbing whilst looking at the steaming engine, Rich and me got talking to another passenger (a local from Cusco) who helped us get onto another bus towards Cusco. This bus was a 'locals' bus, slow and really overpacked with people, Rich was sat in the front with the driver (and a whole family) whilst I thankfully got a seat but was then subjected to a barrage of questions in Spanish from other passengers. Thankfully I had a packet of crackers which I handed out and managed to make some friends.


Shelley and Craig are a nightmare if you´re trying to stay sober


Partners in crime

We finally made it to Cusco only an hour later than we should have done, we checked into an amazing hostel with wonderful views and then bumped into some friends (Craig and Shelley) who we had met in Buenos Aires. We spent the evening with them and Craig ordered a Cuy (guinea pig) which is meant to be a speciality of Peru...we couldn't quite see this with it's little teeth and claws, and they had even fashioned a little hat out of a tomato and some herbs.

We had a couple of days before our Macchu Picchu trek to relax in Cusco, we spent this time having fun with Craig and Shelley and exploring the city which was by far one of the most beautiful cities I have ever visited. I can completely see why it is a UNESCO world heritage site. Cusco comes from the Quechua word Qusqu meaning centre of the universe and the city is steeped in history from the Inca times. Some buildings still have the original Inca walls however there is also a lot of colonial buildings from the Spanish conquistion which are equally beautiful. In particular the main Plaza de Almas which is surrounded by the Cathedral and 3 other intricately carved churches.


Plaza De Almas


Cusco cathedral


The huge Inca rocks

Cusco is also the stepping point for the sacred valley and Macchu Picchu which means that it is an extremely touristy place. Despite this it is a wonderful place to stay for a while and we have decided to stay here for at least a week after our trek with our friends, and also for my birthday.