Mountains, Coast, Jungle

Back in the mountains again!  Another overnight bus and we arrived in the trekking/alpining capital of Peru.  Hauraz is  surrounded by two mountain ranges, the Cordillera Blanca and the Cordillera Negra.  The Cordillera Blanca is the westerns hemisphere's answer to the Himalayas with about 40 peaks over 6000 meters high.   The town is not aesthetically impressive but all of the buildings seem to have terraces with breathtaking panoramas of the mountains.  The trekking opportunities in the area are endless.  We visited Lago 69, Lago Churup, and ice climbed on a glacier at Lago Llaca.   This area is spectacularly beautiful with gigantic glacial mountains hovering over blue-green lakes in every direction.  There is a neighboring town that has randomly placed boulders right in the middle of town that are great for climbing.  They are pretty substantial boulders on a soft pasture.  It also happens to be home to four cows (two mothers and two calves).  Although its public land, we heard the owner of these cows "mad dogs" visitors and pesters them until she receives a little bit of money so we went prepared.  Fortunately, the cows were there but their owner was MIA for the afternoon.

Lago 69

Lago 69 MOOOOOOO!

Lago Churup

Sunset in Hauraz

Rock Climbing in Huanchac

Ice Climbing

Lago Llaca

Ice Climbing!!

It seems many ex-pats decide to settle down here.  We met a an english/Indian couple that make a delicious spicy curry! And a New England native who stayed and started micro brewery called Sierra Andina.  The first we've found in Peru!  Andy was in heaven....he said it was the first hops he has tasted in over 6 months.  Peruvians prefer light lagers and you're hard pressed to find much else.There aren't many places in the world where you can be ice climbing on a glacier one day and surfing the next.  Peru happens to be one of those places!  We made it to the beach to a place called Huanchaco.  It's known for it's surf and incredibly long lefts.  Its actually just south of Chicama where you will find the longest left wave in the world. We hung out with and English guy who works in the mountains during the week and surfs on the weekends.  Basically, Andy's hero :) Since he is a regular to the area he showed us around the town. In Haunchaco, there is always at least one bar open where everyone congregates for the night.  The tricky part is finding it.  According to our new friend, there are the 5 usual places and they somehow have an agreement that the bar with the most patrons will be "the bar" for the night.  The other bars close and join in the festivities of the other.  

Brewskis on the beach

Boards to choose from at our hostel

Before leaving and starting the long journey to the jungle, we caught the Euro Cup final right before another night bus. Twenty or so people packed into the small living room of the hostel to watch Spain beat Italy. Good vibes!

From the beach, we started our long journey via bus and boat to the jungle stopping in a place called Chachapoyas.  It's in the high jungle and located on the cloud forests of the Amazon and called "the eyebrow of the Amazon".  The first day we visited Kuelap, the fortress ruins that are the most well known attraction the area are much older than the Inca Empire and Machu Picchu.  Inside there are 450 houses/structures decorated with the mountain spirits.  The second day we hiked to a the waterfall of Gocta.  The falls drop a total of 2,531 feet in two leaps.  Although the falls have been known to the natives, it wasn't known to the outside world until 2005 when a German engineer hiked in the area and surveyed the waterfall.  The locals did not go to the waterfall because they were fearful of it and believed you would get enchanted and die of you went there.  The waterfall and the hike there are indeed enchanting. It takes you through some of the jungle where you can see toucans, cocks of the rock (a very interesting looking orange bird), and more brilliantly colored butterflies.  Contrary to local legend, we made it out alive.

Kuelap ruins main entrance

How do you like my hat?

Rock snake designs on the houses of Kuelap

Each circle was a house

Gocta Waterfall

Our first moto ride...definitely not our last!

 I think our moto driver could use a more aerodynamic jacket...

Forever my name is princess

We could have come from the depths of the far south in Arequipa to the soaring shores of Lima. But that would have been a 20 hour bus, so instead we decided to break it up a bit and hit a midway point called Nazca. Home of the infamous Nazca Lines. This worked out perfectly as we had taken an overnight bus and and the morning had us in Nazca. The best way to see the lines is by air so we headed to the small city airport where there were at least 10 different companies badgering us for our patronage. The lines are a World mystery. No one knows for sure the purpose of them but there are many different shapes of sacred objects cut into the earth that only make sense when seen from above. Some attribute them to the existence of extraterrestrials who interacted with the natives, and would obviously be able to see them from above.

We hopped on a small singe engine Cessna and were off. The lines were hard to see and the ride was pretty rough and by the time we were done I wasn't enjoying it too much but we got a couple of pictures anyhow. 

Zoom in

Right after the flight we hopped on another bus and headed to Lima where a friend we met on our salt flats tour lives and works for the Spanish Embassy. We had an open invitation to stay in his amazing apartment in Miraflores, the nicest part of town and right on the water. Our buddy Lucas has it made. Check out the view. 

Apartment view

Our buddy and host Lucas

He obviously had to work during the week but is so prepared for guests that he had a ten page itinerary with activities and directions all prepped for our disposal. Awesome guy. Day one had us meet him for the best civiche ever and the beginning of our culinary delights in Lima. We also had causa rellena which includes fish, sweet potato and avocado, another fantastic choice. From here we visited the city center by means of combi which is a madhouse of a minibus. Let me paint you a picture....Everywhere you go in South America people honk alot. There are flashing lights and loud music coming from every corner and there are always people milling around trying to get you into their restaurant, store, tour company, whatever. But in Lima you also have thousand of these mini-buses that fly around the roads with no rules governing traffic whatsoever. Absolute shitshow.

Parque de la Amor (Love Park)

The next morning we decided to head into the water for a surf. My first surf in 5 months. I was very excited. We rented some boards and wetsuits and got in for a sunrise session before Lucas had work. The surf wasn't great but we still all had fun. The real excitement though came after we got out and the guys who rented us the gear pointed us to some official looking people in blue milling around the beach 30 yards away. Me-"Whats going on there?" Dude- "Dead body just washed up." Me- "Haha." Dude-"Serio."

So yeah, we walked over and there was the body o  middle aged man in a suit coat with ripped pants who was bleached white. They said he was probably in the water for about a week based on his appearance. No one seemed to be too bothered by it and they didn't stop us from taking a pretty good long look. 

Cat Park. Seriously. Infested.

Because of the awesome location of the apartment we took every opportunity to run or surf and try to let our bodies know what exercise is again. On one of our runs we happened to catch the excitement  of a seal being captured. They don't want them around the beach area so whenever one pops up they send a crew in to remove it. Very strange and poorly executed over all. 

We were sitting on a bluff overlooking a nice section of the beach on one of our peaceful afternoons when suddenly the ground began to rumble and shake a bit and there was in fact an earthquake of about 4.6.

One really popular food of Peru is anticucho. We hadn't tried it yet but Lucas made it a point to get us out for some. It is thinly sliced pieces of beef heart marinated and grilled to perfection. Might not sound good, but wait.....it is amazing.   

After our delicious dish we headed out for some nightlife and found ourselves at a nice bar with the final game of the NBA finals on so I was stoked. We got to see Lebron finally win and got a small taste of home. After the game was over the place started filling up and a band was setting up. Before they came on a guy with a microphone came to our table and asked if we wanted to be in a promo video for a radio station. So of course we said yes. We were with a crew of 5 friends who are all Spanish expats. They handed me the mike and we made movie magic. 

The group of Spaniards were fun people and we kept on meeting up with others around town. We met 20 of them at a great beach house to watch the Spain v. France Euro cup match and would have had it any other way. These guys were a kick. Huge sports fans and very knowledgeable. 

Later that night we went to a club below a grocery store and caught a great Cumbia/reggae band called Bareto that is according to Lucas the most popular Peruvian band right now. Cool setting and alot of fun. 

On our last night we headed out again, this time for one of the most prevalent dishes in Peru, Chicken Broasters. These places are EVERYWHERE. It is a rotisserie chicken cooked perfectly and delicious. Of course as everything around comes with fries we got a big helping of them too. Ufortunatley there was a pretty good looking salad served too but it is always a bit risky for salad because they wash the veggies and the water is always a bad addition. From chicken broasters we went to a night club for some really bad cover songs, but cheap beers just to hang out. But as Lima never lets us down we were joined by two VERY drunk local guys who wanted to practice thier English. they seemed nice enough and pretty harmelss beacuse they could barely stay upright in chairs so we were at ease. As time went on one of the would talk to Kelly and I and try to say something in English then stop and break into tears. This went on for some time and finally he decided that the only thing he needed to communicate was how beatiful he thought Kelly was. So his plan was to tell her that to him she is always a princess. In Spanish it made sense. But when he tried in English he just kept repeating, "Forever my name is princess...Forever my name is princess."

Arequipa Arequipa Arequipa!!!!

After Cuzco Kelly and I took a day bus for 10hrs to Arequipa in the south of Peru. We stayed in an amazing hostel totally by accident and really lucked out. This place had a full kitchen so we could finally cook for ourselves although it is soooo cheap to buy food out that cooking really doesnt make any sense. Seriously it could be 4 soles for a meal for one which is less than $2. Or we could buy our own food to cook and it costs about 40 soles. This hostel also had a pool table, ping pong, patio to tan, movie room, foosball, and its own covered indoor soccer field! Just amazing. We met with our friends from the hotel and spent some time in a very old monestary that was fabulously painted and quite ancient.

The main draw on the backpackers trail for Arequipa is a place called the Colca Canyon. We had had this place hyped up quite a bit by many people we had met along the way and were very excited to check it out. So we booked a 2 day tour. One day down the canyon and staying at an oasis at the bottom, and then up early the next morning to walk back out. This is reportedly the deepest canyon in the world but once you see why, it doesnt have that grandeur you would expect. There is one really deep section but otherwise it is not the deepest. It isnt formed anything like the Grand Canyon.  It has sloped sides instead of abrupted sides.  Our guide was on the phone the whole time because they recently got cell service in the canyon so the experience was not what we had hoped for. The oasis at he bottom was beautiful though.

 One benefit was meeting three middle aged Spanish guys who take all of their vacation time to travel around the wolrd together and climb mountains. They had several days before climed one near town called Mt. Misti. It is a semi-extinct volcano that overshadows the town at 5880 meters or so.
With their stories my interest was peaked and I realized that we need to take this opportunity to get some big mountain experience. We decided to climb another close mountain called Mt. Chachani. This one has more ice on the top and gave us the opportunity to get in crampons and use ice axes. Plus, this peak is 6075 meters and is very very near 20,000 feet!
We took off early in the morning equiped with rental gear and ready to summit a huge peak. We had a group of ten and two guides and drove to a spot at about 5100meters above sea level. From there with our overnight gear and everything we needed to take on this challenge we walked about an hour and a half to base camp at 5300 meters. We had a brief opportunity for some free walking around in order to help acclaimate to the extreme altitude.

We walked around this moonscape for a while and saw many little viscahcas running around. Theyre alot like chinchillas. We returned in time for dinner of noodles, tuna, and spaghetti sauce. Then as the sun went down and the temperatures followed we quickly got into our tents and bundled up. It was 6 pm. There was no possibility of sleep. Not only was is freezing cold, about -6c, but the altitude makes it really hard to breathe and everyone had headaches. We were roused at midnight to get some tea and white bread before taking on the mountain. The whole group with headlamps, bundled in all of the clothes we had, and sleep deprived we headed up behind well paced guides. Slowy but surely the hours rolled on. This was the longest night we could imagine. The cold was to the bone and no one could feel thier toes. The pace dragged on and it never seemed like we were getting anywhere as the scene in the dark never changed. But eventually the light began to come and our mountainous beast finally showed itself.

We were treated to a beautiful sunrise on top of the world. The cold not abating with the early sun we continued on step by agonizing step until finally we had reached the summit and conquered Mount Chachani at 6075meters! That was an amazing day.

The Lost City

Puno and the Floating Islands of Uros
We finally made it to Peru, where our first stop was Lake Titicaca.  After being in the Bolivia for a few weeks, one becomes used to visiting the highest or largest or most dangerous  _____ (you fill in the blank) in the world.  In the past few weeks we have been to the highest city in the world (Potosi at 13,420 ft), the largest salt deposit in the world (Uyuni Salt Flat), the most dangerous road in the world, and most importantly, the highest Irish pub in the world.  And now we can add Lake Titicaca to the list.  It is shared by both Bolivia and Peru and is the highest navigable lake in the world.  Instead of taking a trip to one of the real islands of the lake we opted to visit the floating islands of Uros.  It's a short boat ride through the shallows close to the city of Puno.  There are about 40 islands and all of them made entirely of reeds which form a squishy floor that you sink into with every step.  The reeds extend about 12 feet into the water and are used to build every structure on the islands, even the boats that are used to go from island to island.  The islands sole income is tourist visits so we were constantly put into awkward situations to buy the local crafts.  Long story short...very interesting and informative, incredibly touristy, and slightly awkward.  For those looking for a place to explore and relax, I would recommend Isla del Sol.

Reed Boat

Huts of Uros Island

Me with our travel buddy Elliot

Cusco
We found a great hostel overlooking the Plaza de Armas of Cusco.  It took a little while to find but worth it.  We had a balcony with a view of the plaza, and our room came with a TV and all of the pirated DVDs you can imagine!  We took a few days to get to know Cusco and visiting the must-sees of the city before heading out on a trek to Machu Picchu.  The city had an exciting vibe from the celebrations de Los 15 Santos.  Every morning we were woken up by fireworks going off in the streets.  At first I thought people were being murdered outside our hostel but after a few days we realized it was part of the celebration. To accompany the explosives, thousands of people crowded the streets to join in the parade. The plazas filled with music, local cousine (mostly cuy or what we would call guinea pig), and traditional dance.

View from our hostel

Making chocolate at the chocolate museum. Yum!

Dying wool from plants/insects

Salinas de Mara (Salt Mines).  Many pools are carved down the side of the hill and fed by narrow channels from the river above that supplies them with highly saline water needed to form salt crystals.

Moray ruins used for agriculture

Andy in the center of Moray feeling the positive energy.  Look at those spirit fingers!

Local Cusine

Celebrating los dias de Los 15 Santos

Trekking to Machu Picchu

The Salkantay trail leads to the ruins of Machu Picchu but is not the Inca Trail. It's a longer trek, with less people and higher altitude so naturally we choose this route.  You also have to book the Inca Trail months in advance. The highest pass is at 4600m which is over 15,000ft so higher than Mt. Whitney.  It's the highest Andy and I had ever been. We spent five days hiking through the mountains and the high jungle with another great group of people from Germany, England, Brazil, Argentina, Canada, Austria, and Vermont.  The trek is a great lead up to the last day to see one of the wonders of the world.........Machu Picchu!!!!!  We woke up at 4:00am to hike up to the gates of Machu Picchu by 6:00am.  We were the first in line after kicking some serious butt up the first section of the trail to the secondary gates that guard the area itself. We even beat the buses. And our prize was the first to see an undisturbed Machu Picchu.  The ruins lie on the top of a mountain and the structures are perfectly constructed from laying stone onto stone.  With every vista you discover something new and sometimes within arms distance of a llama!  Machu Picchu was built in the 1450s during the height of the Incan empire and was abandoned about 100 years later with the Spanish conquest.  Hiram Bingham discovered the lost city in 1911.  There is a lot of debate but most believe it was a sacred religious site and estate for the Incan emperor Pachacuti.  The ruins have been restored/reconstructed so that tourist can appreciate how the lost city would have looked like in it's hay day. It's an enchanted place and to think how it was constructed is unreal.

Salkantay pass

wasssup?!

One of the stone structures of Machu Picchu

MACHU PICCHU

Our trekking group

View of Machu Picchu and other couple making out from Huana Picchu

Walking down Huana Picchu

En route from Cusco to Arequipa
The Cusco bus Terminal was no different from all of the bus terminals we've experienced in Bolivia.  Usually one side of the terminal is lined with numerous little food shops all selling the same thing: fresh or fried bread in a big basket outside the store, and inside water, soda (Inka Kola), crackers, bananas, and chocolate that most travelers indulge in before boarding the bus for a long journey.  The other side of the terminal has bus company kiosks armed with a loud baritone voiced women screaming the name of cities like, "Oruro, Oruro, Oruro", with a little "Cusco, Cusco, Cusco", and "Puno, Puno, Puno" all at the same time from different people.  We come to rely on our ears instead of eyes when entering bus stations these days.  After many cold, sleepless nights on buses, we opted for an early morning bus to Arequipa from Cusco.  It was by far the most entertaining bus we've taken but might also sway us back to taking to night buses.  Basically, the buses of South America are a salesman's dream.  If you want to sell anything, hop on a bus  where people are trapped and begin spouting off the amazing healing powers of eucalyptus balm or give a 45 min speech about a video that will help every aspect of your life from marital troubles to diabetes or how this travel toothbrush will make your teeth whiter, etc.  The buses are also havens for people selling food.  Most buses don't include meals so the meal is brought to you by your local shepherd. On this particular ride, a woman and her assistant boarded the bus.  She was wearing a large colorful ruck sac on her back.  These packs are made by strategically tying a colorful blanket so nothing falls out.  I'm still amazed  every time I see one tied.  She opened the bag and pulled out a meat clever and started hacking away.  Then, her assistant started yelling, "Cordero a 10 soles!!". This means, "Lamb for $3!".  We are used to the empanada ladies on the buses but the lamb lady was way more entertaining.  Nothing like meat from a ruck sac served in a plastic bag for lunch!