Travelling With The Big Group

We headed out for dinner that night and I finally got my lasagna which I was happy about but unfortunatley most of the new group had plans so only 2 new people joined us and 3 never made it to the meeting. After dinner we were quite tired (or lazy) from the day so we got a taxi back with two others while the others went in search of a bar. The following morning the alarm never woke us up for breakfast but thankfully I did wake up in time to watch the end of the Tri-Nations final and all of Man Utd beating Spurs on TV (with South American commentary - absolutely gas when there's a goal - GGGGGGGOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAALLLLLLLLLLLLL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!). We got up and did a bit of sightseeing around the centre of Lima starting at Plaza Mayor which was only up the street from our hotel. We took some photos before heading to San Francisco Cathedral where we did a (poorly) guided tour, first of the grounds and then of the catacombs beneath the Cathedral which were fascinating. One of the noteable things of the tour of the grounds was the depiction of the last supper which was slightly different to European versions I have seen: they were all sat around a round table and in the middle was Cuy, which is Guinea Pig - a delicacy here in Peru.

We strolled around the city a bit more seeing many churches and some more big squares. We headed back to the hotel via the supermarket and a restaurant where we got more roast chicken and chips which is so good here - they roast the chicken on spits over charcoal fires and it's incredibly cheap! We met back at the hotel for our evening meeting, packed and then met down in the bar where there was a cheese and wine night with the new and old crew which was a bit of banter and a great oppoortunity to meet the new faces. We chatted but didn't partake in the drinking and headed off to bed as things winded down.

Which was probably for the best as the following day we were up at 6am for breakfast and travelling. Taxis to the train station for the bus to Ica and then taxis again for a few kilometres to a small desert oasis called Huacachino. It was one of the most picturesque little villages which had one road in and out, a lagoon and was surrounded by incredibly high sand dunes all around. This time we got to the hotel and we were unable to check-in as the rooms were ready which was no problem - we put our bags in storage and went to the restaurant for lunch. The hotel was lovely - we were sitting poolside and the whole place was only recently completed and out the back gate was a massive sand dune to climb. After lunch we checked into our roomes which were equally beautiful and chilled out for the afternoon, messing with the hotels parrots and relaxing poolside.

At 4 we all (at least those of us doing it, 3 declined) met up at the hotels entrance to head off sandboarding. As I came out I found Emer chatting to a group of Irish people - one who she knew from Badminton and one who lived 5 miles outside of Nenagh and knew my Mama well. It's a small world. When ready we all hopped into the vehicles to bring us out sandboarding which were mental - a massive V8, a chassis, roll cage and 10 bucket seats with seat belts. We all got in, buckled up and jumped as the engines roared into life. We headed through the village to the entrance to the dunes leaving a trail of car alarms in our wake. At the entrance we paid our sand tax (laughable, I know) and then headed off on a mental journey not one of us expected.

The drivers were absolutely mental and we tore off up, over, down and around the various sand dunes in the area. It was like a rollercoaster except it wasn't on tracks - we all hung on for dear life, screams of terror and joy barely audible over the roar of the big V8 engine working hard up front. We stopped at 4 different locations to do some sandboarding which was good fun too - a couple of people (foolishly) tried to stand up to do down the dune wheras we lay down on the board and picked up much more speed as a result. After the various boarding locations were done with we went west and from a high vantage point watched the sunset over the dunes in the distance which allowed some stunning photos to be taken. We all came back buzzing after the ride, had showers and headed out for BBQ dinner as a group before heading to bed ahead of the early start the following morning.

Our alarm had us up at early o'clock and after a quick breakfast we were in our bus to bring us to the dock to visit Las Islas Ballestras - islands about 8km off the Peruvian coast which are a haven for sea birds. Upon arrival at the dock we were brought to our boat, donned lifejackets and set off. Before we reached the main islands we were shown a massive symbol carved into the side of a hill and only visible from the water. It resembled a cactus and there are various theories relating to it's existence and why it was made. After taking photos etc we headed on towards the islands. At this stage we were warned to stay sitting down and to hold onto any hats we were wearing and it became obvious why soon after. The captain put the pedal to the metal so to speak and the two massive Yamaha 250 engines kicked into life and we flew out to the islands.

Here we were brought around in the boat (as nobody is allowed on the islands) and saw the multitude of sea birds flying around and nesting on the cliffs of the island. We also saw some sea lions and penguins which was nice but we really weren't as amazed as alot of people on the boat due to our time spent on the Galapagos Islands. We also saw the amount of guana on the island and we were informed that the Peruvian government collect it and sell it as a fertiliser. As a result, there are two people allowed on the island at any one time and these people work as guards to make sure the bird poo isn't robbed!!! After sailing around a bit and going through a couple of natural arches we headed back to shore, recing with various colonies of sea birds who were also heading back too. At the shore we had a bit of free time so we looked at the various stalls but they were nothing special.

After a while we hopped back on our bus and headed back to the hotel where we had another beautiful lunch poolside and stayed there for the afternoon. We played with the parrots, had a few drinks and some people climbed the massive sand dune behind the hotel. I went up a bit but gave up halfway and came back down to continue the banter with the others. We had a game of mafia before heading out for dinner and then to a bar where there were due to be salsa lessons. I ended up having a bit too much to drink so headed home before the salsa teacher turned up (which to be fair was well after midnight) and we had our laat sleep in the oasis village of Huacachino. We got up for a quick (poor) breakfast and packed our bags before meeting outside to hit the road to our next destination - Nazca.

All of us expected to be getting a bus as usual but what greeted us were 5 60's muscle cars which were going to bring us straight to our hotel for the day in Nazca. I slept most of the way and when we arrived we went for lunch before the optional excursion of a flight over the famous Nazca lines which everyone chose to do. The Nazca lines are various lines, shapes and depictions which were "drawn" on the desert floor hundreds of years ago and are only visible from the air. I say drawn but they were formed by removing the top layer of stones from the desert floor to expose the lighter soil below and due to the climactic conditions in the area, the lines still remain visible to this day. We got a bus transfer from our hotel to the airstrip where we paid the tax and waited for our plane to be ready.

A short while later we were greeted by our captain, went through "security" and then walked out on the runway to our 12 seater Cessna plane which was to take us over the desert to view the lines. Everyone had a window seat and the pilot did a figure of 8 flight over each of the lines and shapes we viewed so that people on both sides could see them. Some were quite difficult to see due to the angle of the sun and it was quite a bumby ride so alot of us were concentrating to ensure we didn't get sick. It was well worth the money to see the shapes like the monkey, the dog, the astronaut, the hummingbird and many others which were incredibly big and must have been quite an undertaking to construct. It was something both of us were looking forward to see ever since booking the tour and we were both delighted to have seen them. The pictures had quite a cartooney feel to them with the monkey having a really long curly tail for example. Back on terra firma we all got our stomachs to settle before lunch back at the hotel and then we headed off on our second archaeological trip of the day - Cauchilla Cemetary.

Cauchilla Cemetary is an Incan cemetary and the most important in the area, measuring 3km long and 1km wide. Unfortunately looters discovered the graves before archaeologists so alot of the mummies were just left out and damaged by the desert conditions. They have done a good job restoring the graves and we went around with our guide and looked at the various restorations. All the people were buried in the foetal position facing east where the sun rises so that they could go on to their next life after being buried. Alot of them were buried with ornaments and pottery which is what the looters took when they discovered the graves which were not hard to find as they were marked so distinctly. One mummy was discovered intact by archaeologists and this was on display inside a glass case indoors which was good to see - the skin, hair and findernails were still intact. After this tour we headed back to the hotel and relaxed for the rest of the afternoon before getting another night bus on towards Arequipa.

A Very Different Peru

Thankfully there were no snorers on this night bus but there was a rattling TV which was quite loud and kept all of us at the front of the bus awake for most of the journey. Nonetheless, we arrived safe and sound and got taxis to the hotel where we could check in. We did this, had an hours nap and then met up for breakfast. We were all starving and wanted cooked breakfasts which they didn't expect but they made them for us anyway - even going to the shops to get fresh ingredients as they had run out which was a really nice touch. Our tour leader explained to us that they are mountain folk and are alot more timid than the city people we had met and dealt with so far and it really seemed to be the case - they are incredibly friendly and humble but they seem somewhat uncomfortable in our presence. It's hard to describe but they are certainly different to the locals we have met so far on our trip.

With food in our bellies we met the outdoor tour operator for the area and were told about the hike Heidi recommended to us as preperation for the Inca Trail. All but one of us chose to do this the following day and we were told to be ready for 6.30 in the morning so we all took it easy for the day. We went for a walk as a group to the Plaza de Armas, around the local markets and the quite mental downtown. Here we split and did our individual things - we did a small bit of shopping, had a bit of a look around and headed back in the early afternoon to relax before dinner. We all went to an Italian place and once again they had no Lasagna even though it was on the menu - 2 strikes for me. We had a reasonable dinner and headed back to the hotel for an early night in preperation for the big day ahead.

Alarms went off at 6 and we met downstairs for breakfast before being collected in a minibus and heading off on a 2 and a half hour drive to the start of the hike. The start of the hike was in a National Park so we had to pay an entrance fee which we were told about yesterday and the scenery on the drive from there to the start of the hike was worth the price alone. We drove throught the base of a U-shaped valley carved by a moving galcier however number of years ago. On the floor were the most pristine blue lakes surrounded by cliffs and green vegetation which gave us a taster of the views we were to have on the hike and at "Laguna 69" which is where we were aiming to hike to today.

The start of the hike was on the same U-shaped valley floor and was quite gentle and allowed plenty of opportunity to take in the sights. We followed the path of a river upstream and crossed it after a while which is when the hike started to get a little challenging. We headed up towards a waterfall and then the grade increased quite dramatically. Some of the group struggled and even the assistance of cocoa tea didn't make it any easier for them. The group split in two with myself, Emer and Nathan up with the guide (well, Emer and Nathan anyway - I periodically fell behind taking photos as I do) and the other 4 falling behind. The trail was really obvious and we started to climb up and up so there was no fear of them getting lost. After climbing for a couple of hours we came out at a plateau at about 4,500 m altitude (having started at 3,100m) and saw lots of wild cows grazing on grass - a sight none of us expected us to see.

Now I have always heard about altitude and the effects it has on the body (less oxygen so harder to breathe etc.) but until you actually experience it you never really truly understand it. It can cause world beaters like Brazil to lose games to lowly Peru (similar to Spain losing to Cyprus) and has been used by athletes alot to increase their red blood cells. We had done similar hikes in America and not struggled to breathe or climb nearly as much as we were today and tougher parts were still to come. For the time being we got to walk across the flat terrain past some stunning lakes and we took a break for lunch and to allow the others to catch up. We sat down on some sharp grass (yes, seriously) and rehydrated while the guide prepared lunch. He carried a little gas stove to brew more cocoa tea, cups, plates, cutlery and food for all 8 of us up the trail we were struggling with while barely breaking a sweat. The others caught up and we all tucked in while the wild cows came closer and closer eyeing up our plates.

With food eaten and settled we headed off again on the final leg up to "Laguna 69". Fairly quickly we split into our two groups again and we took on the climb up and over 4,700m which was very tough. Everyone had their moments where they thought that they couldn't go on but after short breaks we all edged closer and what greeted us was nothing short of spectacular. We arrived at a glacial lake surrounded by glaciers on 3 sides and with a 200m high waterfall falling into it. The water was crystal clear and dazzingly blue and as we sat there taking it in we could hear the glaciers cracking all around it as loud as thunder. The three of us took photos and group shots fearing the others wouldn't make it but as we were packing up to descend we saw them come over the hill muchto our delight. We all chilled out (literally) for a bit before descending and heading back to the bus to bring us to the hotel.

Everyone pretty much stayed together for the 2 hour descent and with absolutely shattered bodies we settled into our seats for the drive back as the sun set over the mountains. Back at the hotel we had showers and chicken and chips dinners before getting the same bus to the train station to get another night bus on to our new home for the next couple of days - Lima. Here the second leg of the trip was due to start and we were to get 8 new travel mates to increase the size of the group to 16. The night bus was quite comfortable and with no snorers or rattling TV's, shattered minds and bodies we both had a relatively good sleep as we journeyed towards Lima, the capital of Peru.

It was bright upon our arrival at the bus station where we got taxis and it was pretty obvious that this was unlike any other city we had been to in South America so far. First of all it was massive - really big main streets with multiple lanes of traffic. Secondly, they drove like lunatics - even by South American standards. The taxis brought us to the door of the hotel where the security guard let us in and once again we were able to check in early so we went up and had a nap before breakfast. After an average breakfast we went back to bed and didn't wake up until 2pm which was a welcome sleep in.

We (read I) had a few things I wanted to send home - namely wooden objects as the Aussies on the trip said we would have great difficulty importing them into Australia so we set out towards the Post Office which was conveniently marked on a map supplied by reception. We headed there wondering how we were going to pack all the objects so that they would safely make it to Ireland. Outside the post office was a market with nearly every stall selling envelopes - I walked up to the one nearest the main doors and mentioned a few choice Spanish words while holding the goods up and it all sort of happened after that. The goods were shown to the man behind the desk to verify them, they were wrapped in bubble wrap and then the market woman started sewing some fabric together and around the various items and soon enough I was back at the desk filling out a customs form, signing it with my fingerprint and sticking a copy of my passport on the package before bidding it farewell with some Peruvian Soles. With that done we grabbed some food, walked around the markets a little, headed to the supermarket before heading back to the hotel to meet our new group for the next leg of the trip.

The Puruvian Coast

We were due to be collected on the Peruvian side of the border and this bus was to bring us to our new destination. Being the only white people and the fact that we were all carrying massive rucksacks and were looking around like proper tourists the driver spotted us straight away. We loaded our bags onto the roof and got into the bus as he tied them down. We drove through the no mans land city on the Peruvian side of the river and stopped at immigration to get our passports stamped and fill in the immigarion slips. With all the paperwork sorted we headed on again towards Punta Sal, just outside the surfers paradise of Mancora, which is to be our destination for the next two nights. We made a short stop along the way to go to an ATM to get some Peruvian currency - Soles - and then settled in for the remaining hours to Punta Sal.

We checked in when we arrived and went to get some food. We got our first experience of Peruvian service when we went to a restaurant on the beach and were told that they aren't open for another hour or so. Our tour leader told us that it was because they didn't want to work. We ate in our hotel and had a couple of drinks while playing an assortment of games like pool/table football/cards before heading to bed for the night. The following day we had planned to have surf lessons but the weather was not playing it's part (there were no waves) so we just took it easy for the day. We went down to the beach, threw the disc, went for a stroll and pretty much just had a lazy afternoon. There was another group staying by the beach doing the same trip the other way so we got chatting to them and played some beach volleyball after lunch. During this time we saw some Humpback Whales breaching on the horizon which was nice.

Ruth, one of the girls in our group, was celebrating her birthday so we all met poolside in the afternoon and had some beers and banter. We had reservations at a steak restaurant in Mancora at 8 that evening but our taxi didn't show up for ages and we ended up being an hour and a half late. This kind of thing seems to be normal in Peru and the restaurant didn't bat an eyelid when we eventually did turn up. I had a 16 oz. steak which was absolutely massive and I only barely managed to finish. It was absolutely delicious though. Afterwards we went to a couple of bars and a beach niteclub and had a great old night. Peru is full of modified motorbikes which are used as taxis: a 125 with a covered seat welded on the back - very similar to a tuc-tuc. The remaining ones of us took a couple of these back to Punta Sal which took about an hour and was quite an experience. We stopped for petrol on the way out of Mancora but not at a petrol station - we pulled into some subarbs and the drivers gor a coke bottle of petrol each from some chap. After this we hit the road again and settled in for the long journey home. While going through a police checkpoint the chain on our "tuc-tuc" broke so the other driver brought the girls back and then came back for the rest of us and brought us home. When paying the price of the journey went up due to his taxi breaking and I refused to pay. There was a bit of a disagreement and I paid what was agreed back in Mancora and headed off to bed.

Funnily enough nobody got up for breakfast - it turned out we didn't get in until 6am after all the tuc-tuc shenanigans. We were due to meet Robbie back in Mancora at 12.30 to go for our postponed surf lesson. Naturally we were a bit late as people took a while to surface but eventually we got some more tuc-tuc and redlined them the whole way into Mancora. The night watchman told us that last nights drivers weren't happy with me and to watch out so I was a little worried but nearly all of that was erased once we arrived in Mancora. Even though we had agreed a price of 20 soles in Punta Sal the driver tried to charge us 30. They are all a pack of chancers!!! We met Robbie, got our gear for the day and loaded them onto the minibus that was bringing us to our beach. We thought we were good to go but the driver had to lift up his seat and hotwire the bus to get it started which was unexpected. After a few tries the engine roared (or spluttered) into life and we headed off to the beach.

When we got to the beach we headed down to the waters edge and went through a few things with Robbie and practiced getting onto the board on land. Robbie then brought us out on a longboard one at a time and helped us get up on a wave each so we could stand and enjoy it and then we were on our own. There were a few locals there who were very aggressive getting onto the few good waves so we all really struggled to get up and surf. We got up on a couple and tried to stand but our balance wasn't holding up it's end of the bargain so after getting thrown around a few times we got out and dried. We hopped back into the minibus and headed back to Mancora. We made a deal with the driver to bring us back to our hotel in Punta Sal so we didn't have to endure another tuc-tuc journey. During our volleyball game yesterday we made plans with the other group to have a BBQ on the beach but that never happened so we relaxed in our hotel for the evening and I watched the World Cup qualifier between Argentina and Brazil. Robbie turned up during the game and we chatted about stuff - including his time as a pro surfer when he lived in California. We were all feeling tired after the surfing and the previous nights excursions so an early night was had by pretty much all.

We had another optional excursion the following day which was to be our last in Mancora - fishing. I had never done it before so was quite excited about it. We got up early for breakfast which took ages to come - so much so that the captain for the day came up to find us and went to wait on the beach for us. After eating we went down to the beach and met up with our captain and took a rowboat out to our vessel for the day. None of us envisaged the boat or the tools we would be using but it turned out to be much more fun. The 7 of us were all on a small boat with a Yamaha outboard motor at the back and our "rods" were a block of ply with fishing line wrapped around it and a bit of reinforcemnet steel tied on as the weight. He drove us out to our fishing location for the day and after taking his bearings from a couple of landmarks on land he dropped the anchor and started preparing bait for us. As he did some Pelicans saw what was going on and came to join us. With bait ready he put them on our lines and we started fishing.

The first 15 or 20 minutes went quite slowly as nothing seemed to be happening and then one of the girls got really excited as she thought she had caught something. Our captain had only a few words of English and one of them was used to quell her excitement - rock. Her hook was snagged on a rock so we headed back to work. Pretty soon after we caught our first bit of lunch after many false hopes and then everyone got involved pretty soon after. Sometimes people thought they had something when they didn't but we got more used to the feeling as the morning went on. the water got a bit more choppy and we all started to feel the effects with a couple of the group getting sick. With about 20 fish caught (and some seabirds as they tried to rob the catch) we decided to head back to terra firma and out of the rocking. Back on land the captain took the catches and went to prepare them for us to eat for lunch. We went back to the hotel to pack and relax for the afternoon and the chef BBQ'd the fish for us (and some chicken for the non fish folk) and prepared a buffet style lunch for us. We all ate our fill and then some people went for lunch but we stayed and relaxed poolside for the afternoon. I headed down to the beach for the sunset to take some photos and then we all came back and had dinner before taking a taxi into Mancora to catch our nightbus to our next destination in this amazing continent - Huanchaco.

The journey didn't lend itself to a good nights sleep. Although the seats recline they were a little too short for me so I was a little cramped and the person right behind me snored like a pig the whole way which kept waking us up. Upon arrival at the bus terminal we got our bags and hopped into taxis to our hostel where our rooms were ready and we were able to check in straight away. We left in our bags and went down for breakfast which was really good. Afterwards we went for a stroll down the town which was right on the beach. This town is famous for the reed boats still used by the fisherman to go out for the day. We passed these lined up along the wall seperating the footpath from the road and continued down to the pier. Here we went our seperate ways and I went to enquire about surfing lessons before we headed back and relaxed for the rest of the morning after the poor nights sleep on the bus. We headed for lunch to a small little place we had noticed during our walk earlier. It was run by a couple and we had burgers which were quite good. We got chatting to the man and he was telling us all about the history of Peru on the pictures he had on the wall and after Emer had some Apple Pie we headed down to the beach to relax for the afternoon. Emer headed back to chat to people on Skype while I had a short snooze and took some photos there and on the way back. Emer was still chatting when I got back so I headed down to the beach with some others to watch the sunset. We relaxed and chatted on our terrace with some drinks for the evening and headed out to a BBQ place for dinner which was quite nice. I paid for it all with my card to get cash and the waitress did a little dance when she got the tip which was nice to see. We were all knackered after the night bus so headed back to bed.

The next day was a trip to a site we were both looking forward to after booking the trip - Chan Chan Mud City. As we had another night bus we had to pack our stuff and move all our bags into one room which we had for another night. After doing that we had breakfast and met our guide for the day as we took our Hiace taxi to the mud city. The city itself, in it's height, was about 20km2 and contained 9 citadels. We visited one of the citadels which is part original, part restored as El Nino comes and damages it every time the weather storm comes to town. The part we visited gave us a real feel for the place and we saw the main square, a reservoir, a cemetary and loads of walkways with really ornate wall decorations built out of, or etched into, mud walls. We were told that the city wasn't used for living but only celebrations and sacrifices which was mad due to the size of the place and the amount of work that went into it - all the people lived just outside each of the citadels. It was built and used between 800 and 1460 AD before the Inca's, and then the Spanish, came and looted the place. After seeing the sections open to the public and taking lots of photos we headed back to our taxi and headed onto the next location for the day - The Temple of the Moon just outside the town of Trujillo. Another mud structure, this one was built and used between 100 and 1200 AD and was only properly discovered in 1980.

Inside the temple we saw various colourful depictions of the Moon God built into the mud walls. As each leader changed the various sections were buried and a new structures and depictions built to signify the changing and the starting of a new chapter. Various walls were excavated and on display and were quite nice to see. We walked around and were quite impressed with the various sections but nothing prepared us for the north facing wall when we walked outside. Still being worked on by archaeologists, it is 7 stories high and had various graphical depictions on each level - dancers, warriors, monsters, snakes and various other things important to the people. All were built around the same time and would have been visible to all who came to celebrate there. There was a big ramp to one side and an altar at the top on level 7 and our guide told us that human sacrifices were made and their blood drunk. After standing in awe and taking some photos we headed back down to the waiting taxi where there was a small market. Some people bought stuff and then we headed off.

We had the option of being dropped into Trujillo on the way back which myself and Emer took. We walked around the Plaza de Armas which was surrounded by really colourful buildings and had a nice main square. We took some photos and then headed to go and get the bus - along the way we started to get a bit annoyed by all the taxi drivers beeping at us to see if we wanted them. We made it to the corner to get the bus and waited for the one with Huanchaco blazed on the front window. It was a crazy "bus" - another Hiace van with a load of seats welded in the back. At one stage we had 18 passengers, the driver and the conductor and it was nice and cozy at that stage. It emptied out a little as we left Trujillo and took it all the way to just outside our hostel. We chilled out for the afternoon, had dinner at the hostal and then got a taxi back into Trujillo with all our stuff where we boarded our nightbus to Huaraz.