Lake Titicaca, Llama foetuses and how to make life very difficult for yourself

Lake titicaca viewed from isla del sol



Floating village Uros

 I finally got out of Cusco, but it still wasn’t straight forward! Only one bus company was running on the now day 3 of the 2 day strike so i had to pay extra to switch my bus ticket.

We left Cusco without any problems, but a couple of hours in we reached the blockade between Cusco and Puno. We all had to get off the bus, collect our bags, and walk across the blockade to catch a bus that would meet us on the other side.

The blockade consisted of a lot of large rocks put across the road, with the remains of several bonfires still smouldering. I thought the atmosphere was ok, but a couple of australian guys spotted a couple of anti-american banners, and a few protestors asked them if they were American so not sure if they were looking for an excuse to start a ruckus!

We eventualy set off from the other side, but after a few minutes the bus in front stopped. A few of us got off, and in front 3 lorries facing in the opposite dirrection had pulled across blocking the road. After an hour they moved, but the same happened again a few minutes later, and again they moved but i couldn’t help getting visions of being stuck there indefinitely, as very little traffic was moving that day and they obviously objected to us moving around.

Lake Titicaca is a huge fresh water lake that sits at 3700m above sea level, slightly higher than Cusco, and is shared between Peru and Bolivia. The Incas believed that the creators of the Incan empire came from the lake.

Puno sites on the edge of the lake near the Bolivian border, and is a bustling little town. The following day i took a trip to the floating village of Uros. This is a large community that live on islands made from reeds. The decendents moved there in the 11^th Century to escape persecution by pre Incan civilisations.

It was highly geared for tourism, but still very interesting. If there are disputes in the community, the islands are cut and seperated until they are reconciled.

The next day i got the bus over the border to Copacabana in Bolivia that also sits on Lake Titicaca. This is smaller but a lot more attractive.

When i got there i discovered there was no ATM, i only had about 20 soles (4GBP) but remembered i had 500USD in travellers cheques for similar pickles. So i went to dig them out, to find they were missing! Great.

I thought about cancelling them, and remembered my receipt and only copy of the serial numbers were in the wallet i lost in Colca Canyon.  

Thankfully i remembered i had some Argentinian currency left over, and found somewhere to change it to Bolivianos at a pretty poor rate but i was still fairly relieved despite the problem with the missing travellers cheques.

I took a boat ride to Isla Del Sol about 2 hours away. I met a great couple from London, Gareth and Lizzie, and a Canadian guy Rene and spent the day with them.

Isla del Sol is beautiful, we did a walk from the North to the South side, in the process i discovered Gareths music taste was freakishly close to mine including being a fellow Neil Young obsessive, we had read similar books, Lizzie was listening to an audio version of Tipping Point that i am currently reading, and she also went to York University and lived on the same street there!

I didn’t want to stay in Copacabana another night as it is small and not ideal for the solo traveller due to the lack of things to do, so i booked a bus ticket that night to leave with them for La Paz.

What followed was so typical of South America.

I was given seat number 1, got on the bus, to find someone else had seat number 1. The conductor gave me seat 27, so i moved to the back to find a Brazilian guy Markus had been given 27, so i sat next to him in 28.

The bus was full, we pulled away but stopped a minute later. Who should get on, but Gareth, Lizzie and a very pissed off Rene. They had been given seat numbers that didn’t exist, so had to stand. After an hour we had to get off to cross the lake. The bus got on a little barge and sailed away into the dark with all our belongings, while we got on a speedboad and crossed the lake with an alarming lack of lighting to the other side!

Llama foetuses at the witches market. Roll up roll up!

We got to La Paz at 10pm, and went and found a hostal. I skyped Emma first thing in the morning, and being the amazing human being she is contacted Thomson and got copies of my traveller cheque numbers, so i was able then to contact American Express and cancel them thank god!!!

My conversation with AMEX was great........"can i have a contact number......no i lost my phone" "are you employed or self employed.......errr neither i quit my job to travel....congratulations sir, i wish i was brave enough!" "can i have your driving licence number....no i lost it aswell" "is there a reference number on your receipt.....errr not sure i lost the receipt" "did you lose your phone in the same incident?.......no i was in a canyon in the middle of nowhere with 3 other people and it vanished" "were the cheques stolen......no i think i put them in with my laundry when i got a service wash because i am a moron........"

I really need Emma out here ASAP to stop me getting in situations like this to start with! 4 weeks and counting......

We spent today looking around the city. The highlight of the day was the witchcraft market, with all kinds of delightful objects to make spells with.
If anyone has run out of Llama foetuses they are only about 2GBP for a small one (8GBP for large) so let me know. Your ex won’t have a clue whats happened to him/her when all their teeth fall out.













Choquequirao and the strike

Merry gang smiling pre 60km trek

I Finally managed to do Choquequirao, 10 days after i was supposed to start the trek. I had been fascinated with it for quite a while, a remote Incan complex that served as the last bastion of the Incas that sits 1500m above the Apurimac river and over 3000m above sea level.
I was aware that the trek was tough, only from the footprint guide and from talking to a few locals in the hostal. The agency said it was a little tough after i pressed them on it. Anyway......!



Day one before the descent



I had a 5am pick up from the hostal. So i got up at 4.30am, got ready and i wasn´t at all surprised when they rolled up at 6.30am. We drove for 3 hours to a rural village called Cachora, a small place where nearly every building was made up of bricks made from red mud and straw, with corrugated iron roofs.



I am in danger of using words like beautiful and stunning a bit too often in this blog, but what can i do with my limited language skills?! We hiked for 3 hours along a beautiful valley, with huge snow capped mountains on the opposite side and dotted around. We then descended for 3 more hours to a campsite near the Apurimac river in the bottom of the valley. We had mules carrying our bags and the tents that went up ahead, and they set up camp while we followed well behind.

The campsite was interesting. No electricity or gas, sheep, chickens and guinea pigs running around, mules tied to trees, and mosquitos and sandflys biting everybody who had even an inch of skin not covered in deet! We had a chef travelling with us who made the most amazing food using 2x gas stoves and a headtorch so it didn´t feel like we were roughing it too much!



Main complex behind me



The second day was really tough.  We woke up at 4.30am, ate birthday cake the chef had somehow conjured up for a girl on the trek(!) and spent 4 hours trekking 1.5km vertically, then another 2 hours  of “peruvian flat” to the campsite at the base of Choquequirao. 



On the way we got our first site of Choquequirao, we could see huge terraces cut into the jungle in the valley ahead, in the shape of a giant pig.

We were all really tired, but after a nap had 2 hours to explore part of the site with our brilliant guide Marco.  After another great meal and some birthday wine we had another early night, and were up again at 4.30am. This time we had several hours to explore the site.



Pig shaped terraces

Machu Picchu gets all the plaudits as being the perfect incan site, but Choquequirao is stunning in a different way despite being only 40% uncovered. Machu Picchu is fairly compact, with many more buildings concentrated in a smaller area. Choquequirao is spread out, and set in even more spectacular scenery. It is surrounded by huge mountains, and straddles a hill top far higher than machu picchu. The buildings  on the top near the plaza were a little disappointing as they were the victim of some clumsy restoration work.  The terraces though were astonishing. As well as the terraces seen on the way across the valley, there was another set in perfect condition that sat higher up. They were huge, each  12 feet high, very wide and hundreds of metres long.  On the other side of the hill top is the llama sector. There are far more terraces, cascading down the valley and decorated with Llamas. Further down you can make out many more terraces not yet cleared of Jungle.  Only 50% are uncovered lengthways, so you could walk along the terraces, and they would disappear into Jungle which gave the site a very mysterious, undiscovered feel.



Llama terraces, uncovered portion nearside



In late morning the group split in two. Half the group were on an 8 day trek that finished in Machu Picchu.  Our group that comprised me,  trainee guide John, and Carine and Yann set off at 10am back towards the campsite in the bottom of the valley. The temperature became unbearable in parts despite the fact that it was nearly all downhill. We reached the lunchspot at 4pm(!) had lunch, then tea at 6.30pm. More than likely Chicken from the yard.



The final day was probably the hardest due to the culmulative effect of the early mornings and hard trekking. It took 4 hours again to trudge out of the valley, then another 2.5hours to get back to Cachora. By the time we had taken a public bus back to Cusco it was teatime, and i was pretty exhausted!



Llama terraces, uncovered portions at left and bottom

I was supposed to go to Puno near the Bolivian border the following morning, but there are strikes for 48 hours so no buses. Grrrr! So yet more time in Cusco, and less time in Bolivia which is a little frustrating. So…….i aim to leave on Thursday but i´ve been here so long i´ve covered most activities here. I think the strike is over gas and water prices, they have been marching around the plaza and surrounding streets all day, thousands of people.



 I was sitting in a café having lunch and the owner but the boards up and locked the door while they marched past. It had all seemed good natured to me, but he said they occasionaly get carried away and start throwing stones around so probably for the best………

Giant terraces 12 feet tall

Illness

Pisac, shortly before i threw up

Well, it had to happen at some point. The day before Choquequirao i took a tour around sacred valley near Cusco (valley that follows the river Urumbamba, sacred as it was considered to be very fertile) that contains a few Incan sites. I felt pretty ropey when i got up, by the time we reached the first site i was really ill, and threw up on a site called Pisac (series of temples with large agricultural terraces), much to my embarrassment. Actualy i wasn´t that embarrassed, i was just relieved that i felt a lot better afterwards.
The guide was great, she took me to a nurse on the site who checked my blood pressure, then to a doctor at the entrance of the site who said it was just a tummy bug and dehydration. She gave me antibiotics and rehydration drink so i spent the day drinking that.


Salt pan channels



 After Pisac we went to a site called Ollantaytambo, an Incan royal estate that was again a series of terraces and ruined buildings. My interest had returned a little by this point, but when i got back to Cusco i went and postponed Choquequirao for 3 days to recover a bit.
I blame the upset tummy on a restaurant Julian the Austrian made me go to the day before, it cost 5soles (1.20GBP!) for soup and a chicken leg with rice and vegetables. Funnily enough i was wondering at the time if it would make me ill.



Incan salt pans still used



So the day after i felt a bit better and ate a bit, then the following day i was back to normal. I took another tour, to visit the sites of Moray and the Salt pans. The salt pans looked magnificant, dozens of original Incan Pans that spread out all down the side of a steep valley. The surrounding hills used to be a sea bed so contain huge concentrations of salt. Water is channeled from a stream into the pans. The water supply is blocked off, and the salt dries in the sun and is dug out.

We then visitied Moray, 3 seperate sites of large concentric terraces that sit in a large depression in the ground. They were probably used to grow vegetables and for experiments on growing in different temperatures as there is a 15c temperature range between top and bottom.



Moray



To celebrate my bodily functions returning to normal, last night i went to the only Indian restaurant in Cusco. An all you can eat buffet was 3.50GBP, fairly nice food but a bit salty. The owner was great, he moved there 4 years ago from the UK to service homesick (and foodsick!) brits like myself.



He was excited to learn i live near bradford, and said i could go to the restaurant to watch England v Pakistan on friday, but i should be on the Choquequirao trek then. Well hopefully! Might pop back tonight though for another taste of home.......

Macchu Picchu

Well, it deserves a separate entry doesn`t it?! It was amazing quite simply, really amazing. One of those experiences that words really don`t do justice to it, and I will remember seeing it for the first time forever.

We woke at 3.30am, set off at 4am and had a trek in the dark for about 20 minutes to the foot of the steps. The gates opened at 4.45am, and it took 45 minutes to climb the 2000+ steps to the entrance to Macchu Picchu as the sun came up. We had a brief guided tour (too brief!) then spent a couple of hours looking around the site, including taking the slightly famous classic shot. The site is incredible, the buidings and walls are in very good condition. There are several ingenius structures including a series of water canals and fountains. Huge terraces stick to the hills, including some that are so steep it maks you wonder how and why they bothered with them, they looked dangerous to work on let alone build.

Terraces used for growing vegetables and coca

Simon, Gil, Ed and Me

There was an incan bridge about 10 minutes walk out of the site, along the edge of a very steep valley. It’s at the end of a path that clings to the valley edge, the bridge is now closed as it is too dangerous and a tourist died on there last year. Still the path was stunning and was a further reminder as to what amazing engineers the Incans were, building paths along seemingly impossible route.

Insane incan path on way to bridge

I then climbed Wannu Picchu, the large hill in the background of the classic shot. Access is limited to 400 per day due to slippage, and was a hard climb under a very hot sun. This was a religious centre, and also had a lot of complete buildings and amazing terraces and paths that hung precariously to the hillside with sheer drops below. Steps led down steep hillsides and then appeared to drop suddenly into the canyon below.

On Wannu Picchu with Macchu Picchu behind

I left the site at 2pm and went to get food with Gil, before waiting for the train back to Ollyantambo and then the bus to Cusco. It was the usual chaos. We picked the train tickets up, mine was a faxed copy. Gils had a girls name on with his passport number. Julians was hand written(!!!) until he kicked up a stink and got a faxed copy. They all had different prices on. The train stopped at one point and there was a great pre recored announcement about not throwing anything out of the window for the safety of any children outside!

We arrived at Ollyantambo and the coach that collected us had no real passenger list, so they didn`t know who they were collecting but read a out a few names with mis spellings to hilarious effect. We arrived back at midnight exhausted but exhilarated.

I got back to the hostal and was reminded that its not all great people and amazing scenery in Peru, a girl had had her handbag snatched by someone driving back and the police were talking to her about it.

The trip to Macchu picchu

On the way down the valley be bike

Ok so scratch what i said about going to choquequirao. I went into the agency at 7pm the day before the trek to find out exactly what was going on, to be told it had been cancelled. So instead i got a place on the Macchu Picchu cycle / jungle tour leaving the following morning instead.
I have had bigger disappointments in my life!

Day 2, along the high level path

The next morning i got picked up in a car at the hostal, dropped off a few minutes later, picked up by a minibus, dropped off 5 minutes later at another site, and got onto another minibus which turned out to be correct bus. We then drove for a couple of hours to a fairly remote road about 4300m above sea level, and spend a really enjoyable few hours cycling through really stunning mountain roads, initaily shrouded in cloud, gradualy (sometimes steeply) descending from cold pampas to semi tropical jungle before arriving at the first hostal by the side of a road, next to a petrol station that stunk of petrol fumes(!)

There was no water all the time we were there, so no showers. Having said that the showers had a live wire leading from a fusebox to the shower head so i wasn`t too disappointed.

Day 2, coca farm (legal!)

Day 2 we set off early and trekked along an inca trail that wound through the jungle, past a coca farm, and followed a high level ridge through a steep canyon before dropping back to ground level. Lunch was in a nice lodge and we spend a couple of hours in hammocks relaxing through the hottest part of the day, before continuing along fairly low level paths to the a small town where were to stay the second night. The second night was an experience so bad it great!

Day 2

I shared a room with 2 guys from Bristol, Ed and Simon, and the room was full of insects flying around – there was also an ants nest in the corner so Ed swapped ends so his head wasn`t near it. I went for a shower, there was no hot water this time but the shower was the same sytem as the previous night and i got electrocuted twice, once on the shower head and again when i touched the pipe trying to turn the water off. We then went for dinner in a restaurant, several of us had beef including me that was inedible, i couldn`t even cut through it! I was amazed, it was the worst meal i`ve ever eaten. We then went out for a few cocktails afterwards so at least i was able to sleep and not notice insects crawling on my face, apart from when i first got into bed!

Crossing the river Peru style

Day 3 along the railway

Day 3 started off disappointingly as there was a large hydroelectric building project near the hostal that we had to trek through for 2 hours in unbearable heat. It improved after lunch, as we followed the macchu picchu railway line through jungle and along the river Urumbamba for several hours, through huge canyons. Along the way were boulders larger than I`ve ever seen, some were 4-5 storey’s high lying in the valley that had fallen from the steep canyon edges. The highlight was getting a sort of cable car across the river, we went across 2 at a time initialy propelled by somebody and then pulled from the other side. It didn`t seem the safest way! The cable was wedged into rocks at either side and was very high tension, but it was alot of fun. We spent the final night before macchu picchu in another terrible hostal. No insects this time, but the walls were all peeling and the glass panel next to our room was smashed so no security, great! I removed my valuables and we went out for another atrocious all inclusive meal, accompanied by the ever present rice and chips. We then went for an early night as we had to be up the next morning for Macchu Picchu.

Although it sounds like I am complaining a little about the 3 days, the experience was very enjoyable because as with all trips it’s the people that ultimately make it. It was so ridiculous in parts, and there was small group that had formed with similar sense of humour, with Austrian Julian and Israeli Gil along with the English guys all making it a very funny experience.

Cusco

Plaza de arms, Cusco

For the bus from Arequipa to Cusco i decided to experiment with a public bus instead of using the night time gringo bus. The gringo buses cost 110soles (30GBP) but i found a daytime public bus for 25soles! It was interesting, i was the only pasty faced gringo on there and it appeared that i was also the only person not carrying huge bundles of wool or rugs.

saqsayhuama, how did they build that?!

The only slight drawbacks were that there was no air conditioning so it reached a ridiculous temperature, it stopped at every little hamlet in the middle of nowhere and took about 3 hours longer to get to Cusco! Also i was sat at the front on the top deck and the windscreen was pretty much smashed to pieces, it looked like the only thing keeping it together was the giant sticker bearing the companys name. From what i`ve seen of the roads and landscape so far i would guess falling rocks did the damage.

On several occasions while in chile and peru i`ve seen piles of rocks in the road blocking one lane of traffic that have come from landslides.

pukapukara, start of the original inka trek

I really like Cusco. The plaza is beautiful, an interesting mix of Incan and Spanish architecture. The Spanish is very ornate and pretty, the Incan very solid. The craftsmanship of the Incas is amazing, they specialised in building Granite walls, often using giant blocks, that fitted perfectly
I took a city tour yesterday, we visited several sites but the most impressive was Saqsayhuaman a large fortress above cusco that used huge blocks of granite up to 130 tonnes, that fitted so well it makes you wonder how its possible. It can´t be!

The tour was interesting also visiting pukapukara which was a resting place and start of the original Inca trail from Cusco to Macchu Picchu some 2 weeks trekking away, and Tambomachay a storage place complete with water supply.

Tambomachay

It also took in the Cathedral and church on the plaza, both interesting especially the cathedral as it was so overblown and spectacular. It holds 350 oil paintings up to 500 years old, as well as numerous giant gold and silver things(!)

I`ve let myself in for a punishing 4 day trek starting early tomorrow, to the remote incan city of Choquequirao. Then I have 2 days to recover, and do the far less tough Macchu Picchu. Hopefully i will have fully aclimatised by then. Not had a problem so far although i get a bit out of breath sometimes, usualy when i´m not doing anything! Cusco sits at 3500m above sea level, but i became partly aclimatised by staying in San Pedro and Arequipa, both over 2100m.

Actualy don´t quote me on that.........!

Cusco at dusk and me

Lost in the desert, Arequipa and Colca Canyon

     Pre Incan remains Pukara de Quitor

Before I took a night bus to the Peru border, i hired a bike and cycled out to the desert to look for some Inkan and pre inkan remains. I found Pukara de Quitor (pre incan, built by the Atacamenians) ok but then ended up getting lost trying to find an Inkan outpost.
Due to the lack of decent signposts i ended up cycling high up into the bright red hills to a huge tunnel in the middle of nowhere and using up most of my water. I eventualy found the ruins and they were terrible!! A few pebbles on top of a hill, although i did manage to sleep ok on the bus because i was exhausted.

San Pedro de Atacama

The border crossing was interesting, i arrived in Arica on the border, and got ripped off a bit by a company that arranged the border crossing and bus on the other side that went to Arequipa. I ended up paying 18GBP for the "service", the driver then took us (3 gullible tourists) to the bus station and bought us the bus ticket for about 4.50GBP!! Well i´ll know for next time.........

Arequipa has a lovely square, insane traffic and a great range of restaurants. Its also way cheaper than San Pedro, 5GBP a night for a room in a really nice hostal. On the first day i met an English girl and an American guy (Leonie and Calvin) at the hostal and we had a look around the town, and went to an interesting museum about the discovery of a sacrificed Incan princess Juanita found in one of the volcanoes near Arequipa. The body was very well preserved, along with all the clothes and relics left with the body. Fascinating if a little macarbe, she was fed maize beer and struck over the head with a club before being left to die at 18000ft from exposure and her injury.

Condors above Colca Canyon

I booked a 3 day trip to Colca Canyon which was very enjoyable, despite losing my phone and wallet somewhere on the trip. Typical, i take loads of precautions in towns and cities and then lose my stuff in the middle of nowhere.
The first day started at 3am (!!!!!) first we visited Condors at the top of the canyon before driving to the village of Cabanaconde and making the decent into the Canyon. The descent was pretty spectacular. Colca is twice as deep as the Grand Canyon in places, we descended for 4 hours to a depth of 1.5km. We stayed in a 9 house village that was very basic, the accomodation had dirt floors and there was no hot water.

Day 1 Colca Canyon 

The second day we did a short trek along the bottom edge of the valley, passing through two small traditional villages and passing by Incan paths and terraces before arriving at a really bizarre set of Oasises at the bottom of the valley. These looked great, swimming pools, palm trees and giant boulders it looked like the flintstones! There was no electricity either. It would have been great except it was cloudy and cool so there was very little to do apart from read. We had dinner by candlelight and went to bed at 8.30pm.
For the final day day we set off at 5.30am for the very steep climb out of the canyon. I think doing 3 peaks and 7 Munros recently paid off as i was out in 2 hours!

Bottom of Colca, knackered!

Pre Incan terrace no longer used due to global warming

The rest of the group went to some thermal baths, i got dropped off in Chivay to try and find an internet cafe with Skype so i could try and sort out my lost phone problem. No skype so i sat in the plaza reading waiting for the bus to come back for me. I little girl carrying a tiny lamb sat next to me on the bench, then put the lamb down and walked out of the plaza!! The lamb stood there for 5 minutes bleating at me! Very surreal, not sure if i was babysitting it so i waited for her to come back then scarperred!

Colca Oasis, Flintstones out of site having dinner

I was originaly going to go and get a bus to Cuzco tonight but really wanted another decent nights sleep in the Hostel so instead will get the early morning one.
Today is Laundry, email and blog day!

Oasis pool, too cold to use sadly!

<><><><>

<>

<><><><>

Day 1 Colca Canyon