South America and South Africa

The last five days I was in Cusco, the former Incan capital and today’s backpacker’s epicentrum in South America and in Machu Picchu, the sunken Inca town in the jungle that was rediscovered by Hiran Bingham in 1911.

Cusco’s centre is defined by the Plaza de Armas. Apart from the Cathedral and another church the plaza and the roads adjacent to it are surrounded by shops that cater exclusively for the tourist’s needs: restaurants, bars, souvenir shops, tour operators, internet and money changing booths that more or less offer exactly the same for more or less the same price. The closer the buildings are to the plaza the nicer they look. Everything there is tidy and clean and the city stretches out to the hills enclosing Cusco. It is nice to sit here while writing travelblog but simultaneously it is a somewhat odd experience as it seems that the city centre is designed for the international traveller and not for the Peruvians. Even KFC and McDonalds have their branches here. Despite the amenities I am happy to leave to Lago Titikaka in Bolivia tonight as I didn’t really come here for seeing a quasi western town centre.  

Machu Picchu, built between 1450 and 1540 by the incas, is uniquely located on the top of the mountains at the border of the Amazonian jungle, about 70 miles north-west of Cusco. There are several ways to get to Machu Picchu of which the most spectular ones are the multi-day hikes, e.g. the well known Inca Trail. I decided to do a two-day bus/train-tour with a visit of the Sacred Valley, an overnight stay in Aguas Calientes, a town consisting of hotels/hostels and restaurants approximately 30 car-minutes below Machu Picchu, and thereafter a whole day at the ruins. I was curious how Machu Picchu would compare to Angkor, the temple city in Cambodia, which really impressed me when I visited it in 2002. (I consider its main temple Angkor Wat still as the most beautiful building I have ever seen.)

When I woke up there was heavy rain and Machu Picchu was in the clouds. Of course I was somewhat bemused but on the other hand the clouds emphasized the location on the hardly accessible top of the mountain and it appeared as almost built in heaven. Albeit the ruins are really good in shape considering that 70 percent were still intact after almost 500 years coverage by the jungle I was mostly excited about how they are located. (See also photos.)

The lasting three days I spent in Arequipa and the Colca Canyon. Unlike Nasca I haven’t planned the visit of these two places from the beginning but on the Galapagos Islands cruise somebody recommended to go there. Arequipa is the second largest city in Peru and beautifully located below some volcanoes. The most famous might be the Ampato where the famous Inca-mummy “Juanita” was found in 6,300 m altitude.

Arequipa has some old monastries of which the larger part of the Convent Santa Catalina was made accessible to the public after  the earthquake in 1970. The convent is like a little town in the city and it was restored and coloured typical for that region. While we were there, I was together with the two spanish flight attendants I met in Nasca, a film-team was shooting a scene for a film about a nun of this monastry.

After two days I left in the early morning for a two-day tour to the Colca Canyon which is deeper than the Grand Canyon but apart from that cannot compete with it. The tour started with a visit of the Cruz del Condor, the deepest part of the canyon, where each morning condors rise in the morning thermals. Thereafter we went to the rim of the canyon and started our hike to the “oasis” at the bottom of the canyon where we stayed overnight. As my feet were completely messed up by my hiking-boots I decided to make use of the offer to waive the next morning climb for a ride on a mule back to the rim. After the breakfast we continued our tour with visits to several villages with great views of the scenery, a bath in the hot springs of La Calera and finally a visit to the Aguada Blanca National Vicuna Reserve about one hour out of Arequipa. (See photos “Two-day tour to the Colca Canyon”)

The last 1.5 days I was in Nasca, well known for its Nasca Lines, which are parallel and geometrical figures, as well as designs like monkeys, birds, spiders etc. cut into the stony desert more than 2,000 years ago. They are best seen from the air and I arranged a flight for the afternoon. The plane had space for seven passengers and I was brought together with a group of five. Since there is not much else to do in the town I booked a tour to see a pre-inca cemetery a few miles off.

When I showed up at the airfield at 2:30, my flight was due at 3:00, the ground staff told me that the other group is delayed and that I have to wait a little bit. Finally at 4:30 they told me that the flight will not happen this day as the other people didn’t show up and they returned the money to me after a lengthy discussion I had with them as I wanted to do the flight anyway. Since I just came to see the lines from the air I was rather disappointed and somewhat angry how they dealt with me. For seeing them from a tower, the second best alternative, it was already too late as well as for the visit of the museum. And since I was leaving that evening, I already bought the coach ticket, there was no way of seeing them the next day.

Later the evening at the coach station I met some people from the cemetery tour again and while we were waiting we actually had a very nice evening and I relaxed. With the two flight attendants from the Canarian Islands I am actually now in the same hostel in Arequipa. And the Israeli guy said that he wished that what happened to me would have happened to him as the flight wasn’t that great anyway and not worth the money. Yessss!

Huaraz (alt. 3,000 m) is the main town of the Cordillera Blanca, where apart from the range of the Andes running along the Chile-Argentina border the highest mountains in South America are. The mountain range is easily visible and from Huaraz alone one can see 23 peaks higher than 5,000 m. The town is well known among international climbers, Peru’s highest mountain, the Huascaran (6,768 m) is only about 40 km away. While I was in Huaraz it was clear to me that I wanted to go hiking. I made two hikes, one self organized acclimatization hike to Laguna Churrup and one day-hike to Laguna 69. Both hikes started on an altitude of about 4,000 m and lead to an altitude of 4,600 m (the Mont Blanc as the highest mountain in Western Europe is about 4850 m high).

When I started the hike to Laguna Churrup at 1 p.m. it was too late to reach the lake and return to Huaraz while there is still daylight. Therefore I decided to turn around at 3.30, in time to be back before dusk. Despite I didn’t see the lake I enjoyed the day a lot, particularly organizing everything with the uncertainty how it’ll work out. I got to Llupa, the starting point of the hike, with a public-transport minibus together with ten Peruvians coming from the market with their stuff on the roof and all watching me. When I disembarked the minibus unfortunately I forgot to ask when the latest minibus is returning to Huaraz. Hence I learned the hard way that there were no buses operating from Llupa anymore when I returned from the hike. However, a farmer’s woman kindly told me so when I was walking by and she also pointed me to a different dirt road back to Huaraz saving me from making a huge detour. Eventually I caught a minibus when I was already expecting to have to walk back the entire way.

For the hike to Laguna 69 I booked the transport and the hike started “in the backyard” of the Huascaran. The weather here is always unpredictable and I was requested to bring clothing pretty much for any possible weather conditions. (Given the high altitude it is not a surprise that it gets really chilly when it is not sunny but windy.) The hike is in total twelve miles long and goes 600 m up. It consists of two parts which are more or less flat and two medium-long steep parts. A lot of people were doing it as it is arguably the most rewarding one day-hike in the area.

I was writing these lines while I was already in Nasca, the Peruvian town where ancient cultures cut lines in the desert, some of those more that 2,600 years old. It is still unclear what they were used for. However, it appeared kind of surreal to me being in the desert after seeing the Pacific Ocean four hours ago while riding on the coach and less than 24 hours ago being on 4,600 m above sea level surrended by glaciers.

While I was on my cruise to the Galapagos Islands I decided to go directly by coach to Huaraz, Peru, not knowing exactly how I get there. It was clear that I would take the overnight bus from Guayaquil, Ecuador to Piura, Peru, but thereafter I had to figure out how to get further. And since I would be new in Peru I wouldn’t be familiar with the conditions and circumstances, e.g. which border crossing is safe, which bus companies are reliable, via which towns should I travel, when should I change the bus, can I pay in USD (no) or do I need Peruvian soles (yes), etc.

In Guayaquil I entered the CIVA coach and apart from a closed border for one hour for what reasons ever there where no complications on the ride. When we got closer to Piura after approximately eleven hours drive I detected that the coach was going further south so I asked the conductor Juanito, how I learned later, whether it would be possible to stay on the coach instead of changing coaches in Piura (without knowing when and from where the next coach will leave). I mentioned that my final destination is Huaraz, still 20ish driving hours away. Juanito told me that I can stay on the coach, charged for the longer way proportionally and then he started calling around to find out which coach services would be suitable going further to Huaraz from our then final destination Chiclayo. While we were still on the coach it became clear that the direct service from Chiclayo was booked out. Anyway, after our arrival Juanito invited me to a cab ride to find out which other bus company would get me to Huaraz. (Considering that he already finished his work duties it is clearly unthinkable that this would happen anywhere in Europe.) The outcome was that I had to go with another bus company to Trujillo, change there the bus terminal to Movil Tours, meanwhile the third bus company, to take the overnight coach to reach my final destination in the early morning hours. He helped me to buy the ticket, even wrote me a little sheet on Spanish how I get there so that I would only had to hand it over the counter when buying the ticket in Trujillo if I wouldn’t make myself clear given my still limited Spanish skills. He gave me his email address, I gave him the address of my blog, so maybe he reads these lines.

Anyway, everything worked out perfectly. After 33ish hours I finally arrived in Huaraz at 6 o’clock in the morning without any problems. (Regarding the travel time: the long distance coaches in Peru are actually really luxurious, the seats are comparable with those of a business class of (intercontinental-)planes, one gets snacks and softdrinks, and there is excellent service by the staff – Thanks, Juanito!) The hotel was already open (I had not reserved) so that I could check in and finally could allay my desire for a shower.