Meeting up with Ben's dad, Norm, we were extremely, and pleastantly, surprised to be shown around Lima by Silvana (a family friend of Norm's) in first-class style. Many, many thanks to Silvana who took time out of her day to drive us to a beautiful lunch at a 5-star restaurant, an exclusive club on the beach, and her lovely house (even though we were only wearing our typical traveller's garb of thongs and t-shirts).
Huacachina
Moving out of Lima after only a day and a half (in what has become standard hasty style for the last month as we have moved fast to maximise Norm's vacation time), we headed south for New Year's in Huacachina. This town of only 200 or so people exists a mere 5km outside of the much larger Ica because of a tiny green lagoon oasis that somehow manages to hold back the 70m high sand dunes surrounding it. While in the desert, we thought to try our hands at sandboarding, so we signed up for a dune buggy trip which turned out to be a rollercoaster ride over the tops of knife-edged dunes with highly inadequate seat belts. First-time sandboarders weren't allowed to stand on the boards, so instead we had the much safer option of screaming down the steep sun-baked dunes head first, our chins inches from the sand, gripping the straps of the freshly oiled 1 meter board for dear life. Fun!
Since Ica is the center of Peru's wine-growing region, we splurged and bought a bottle of "vino fino tinto" (after almost gagging on the less expensive vino tinto - Peruvian wine doesn't seem quite as nice as other South American wines). This bottle was the beginning to a quite enjoyable New Year's eve celebration at the bar in the back yard of our hostel where we sampled such lively cocktails as "Huaca-f**king-china" and "Piscoco" (which uses Pisco as it's main ingredient, not piss). Happy 2006!
Nasca
We nursed our hangovers and managed to find a sober bus driver to get us to Nasca on New Year's day. Nasca is famous for the lines, figures, and geometric shapes etched into the desert plateau near the city some from as far back as 900 B.C. They are best seen from the air, so we coughed up $45 per person for a ~35 minute flight in a 4-seater Cessna. We didn't realize how complex and confusing the etchings were, with lines stretching as far as the eye could see, criss-crossing each other and the more famous geometric shapes (e.g., trapezoids) and animal figures (pictured below: spider, hummingbird, fish/whale, monkey, and condor). We learned that the lines are not that big - for the figures, the lines are probably only 6 inches wide - and they're obviously hard to see from the ground as the Pan-American highway was built right throught the middle of them (can you see the lizard with the highway on its back?). We also flew back over the aqueducts (spirals in the ground), that are still functioning today.
Pisac
We took a lovely 14-hour overnight bus trip over the Andes to Cusco where we were lucky to be seated next to the highly aromatic chemical toilet that was frequently visited by those passengers whose stomachs couldn't handle the winding road. Thus refreshed, we headed out of Cusco to see the Incan ruins which populate the lovely, green, awe-inspiring mountainsides of the Sacred Valley. We first encountered the famous Incan stonework at Pisac, a very extensive site covering the top of a mountain spur, with steep terracing and exquisite rock work in their Sun Temple (look how well they blended their work in with the existing rock). It was also an excellent vantage of the fertile valley of the sacred Urubamba river (which the Incans artificially straightened for 3km to increase the amount of farmland - still existing today - impressive!).
Ollantaytambo
We headed further down the river to Ollantaytambo. This town is still in the original Incan layout - the whole town forms a trapezoid - complete with cobbled streets, flowing water channels, and massive trapezoidal doorways. Different from the last site, Ollantaytambo appears to be a work in progress; we can only imagine how grand it would be if complete, with massive rose granite monoliths (quarried over 6 km away from the mountain across the river) perfectly fitted together and once carved with images of steps and pumas. This ruin also contains a series of Incan baths (the aqueduct is carved into the sheer rock face). This area was astounding to view, as we had no idea how they could have carved the series of perfectly square niches and steps in the cliff, nor could we fathom what they could have been used for.
It turned out that we were in town the day before the Bajada de Reyes Magos, a local festival. They seemed to be starting the celebrations that night, so we hung around to watch the parades. Lucky we did, as we ran into our friend Jonathan, who we met traveling in northern Peru and decided to team up once again to see Machu Picchu.
Machu Picchu
No trip to Peru would be complete without visiting Machu Picchu; unfortunately, it seems that the Peruvian government knows this too, as it will cost you a hefty sum (in South American terms) to visit this amazing site. The best part of Machu Picchu is not its stonework, but rather its location on top of a jungle-clad mountain, with precipitous cliffs dropping down to the Urubamba river, which almost completely circles the base of the mountain. We arrived before sunrise and were treated to a magical spectacle as the mist covering the site parted to allow the first rays of the sun to illuminate the ruins.
We decided to test our acclimation to the altitude by climbing Huayna Picchu (the big, pointy mountain just behind Machu Picchu). Our intrepid band managed the very steep ascent with only a "few" pauses to catch our breath. It was completely worth it, though, as the fog that had gathered during the morning lifted as we reached the summit, allowing the midday sun to again illuminate the ruins - what a view! After two days of rain, we enjoyed an inordinate about of sun that day. It did sprinkle in the afternoon, but just enough to create a rainbow...what a great ending to an excellent day!
Cusco
After Machu Picchu, we headed back to Cusco. The city is worth exploring for its many beautiful buildings with tiled roofs, whitewashed walls, and brightly painted doors and woodwork (the last one's for you, Giles).
Our last Incan ruin, Sacsayhuaman (sounds a lot like "sexy woman"), was just outside the city of Cusco. The size of the stones used at this site was almost ridiculous (up to 6m high and some over 350 tons!), each displaying the perfect fit characteristic of the best Incan stonework. Sadly, only a portion of this site is left as it was used as a pre-cut stone quarry for Cusco after the Spanish conquest - to imagine what once must have been! Across from the main ruins lies a glacier-carved hill that was also "decorated" by the Incans with multiple carvings in the rock face.
Train to Puno
We decided to take the train south from Cusco to Puno, our first non-bus transport option, and we were glad that we did. Besides all the advantages that train travel offers over buses (such as getting up to walk around, a table to eat lunch on, and a much better bathroom), the scenery was spectacular - velvety green mountains backed by snowcapped peaks with herds of llamas and traditionally dressed locals.
We've been a bit behind on posting our blogs due to the travel schedule. We are still in Bolivia, just having said goodbye to Ben´s dad. We'll try to get the blog of our journey through Bolivia posted ASAP!
