Nazca, Ica and Paracas

There is only one reason to visit Nazca and that is to see the 1500 year old geoglyphs carved into the desert floor a few miles north of the town.

There are over a thousand shapes depicting plants, animals and humans in an area covering 325 sq miles, so the only way to really see them is from the air. But the safety record of the light aircraft that service this particular treat is somewhat suspect to say the least, so nothing was going to get Mum up in one of these death traps, let alone whilst paying for the privilege.

There is one alternative, a tower by the side of the panamericana which we climbed which gives a partial view over the nearest geoglyphs, not the most brilliant of perspectives but better than nothing.

And then we were on our way up the coast to Paracas and the national reserve of las Islas Ballestas which is a sea-life and bird mecca.

We then met up with Pamela and Laura for a final weekend in Ica close to the oasis and sand dunes of Huacachina. Today the oasis is a rather forlorn sight as the water levels have reached dangerously low levels and the old hotels that surround the 'lake' (much more of a pond) have definitely seen better days but it is a fun place to visit, have a beer and watch the world wander by and then book an excursion on a dune buggy that includes a little dune surfing.

On the morrow we visited a vineyard not far away on the other side of town, to round off a weekend of contrasts all within a few kilometres of each other.

  

And then back up to Lima to complete the full road trip circuit. In total we had covered 4,300 kilometres in 3 weeks. From the sea level of Lima we had climbed to over 4,800 metres on two occasions, with 6000m peaks often close by, usually the roads we traveled on were at over 3,500 metres above sea level or dropping precariously into the next valley or back up to those heady heights for that is the Peruvian terrain within 100 kms or so of the coast.

Four times we were held up by landslides that had blocked our path, the worst being an overnight stay of 21 hours, for that is what travelling in Peru in the rainy season (December to March/April) is all about.

We stayed in 10 separate hotels/hostels all of which were inexpensive (except for El Albergue in Ollantaytambo which is v special) but perfectly adequate (apart from El Ambasador (ironically with that name) in Puno) and ate in a different restaurant almost every meal, all of which were great, for that is the wonder that is Peruvian cuisine.

Most importantly thank you to everybody that we met along the way who almost without exception were incredibly helpful, generous and a great credit to this fabulous country - from the locals that helped us with directions (2-20 times a day) and occasionally insisted on jumping into the car just to make sure we arrived in the right place :) to the police that stopped us (2-8 times a day) initially to check documents and inquire as to why a couple of gringitos were so far from home but usually then to be super helpful in terms of directions as to where we were heading and to ensure we were ok, and to everyone else...thank you.

And of course a big thank you to Mum for just going with the flow throughout even in the more challenging moments whether it be with the altitude, food, terrain, landslides, impromptu accommodation or map reading!...happy happy memories...

Arequipa and the Colca Canyon

After 2 nights in Puno Mum wasn't feeling great. Lots of people questioned us going there because it is a) a bit of a dump and b) so high that the onset of the dreaded soroche is prevalent. But the Lake, Uros and Taquile should not be missed and whilst there was some discomfort Mum kept assuring me that it had been absolutely worth it, whatever the body was saying.

The best cure for headaches and feeling rubbish is quite simple, descend to a sensible altitude as soon as possible, anything below 3000 metres should do it and 2000 and below even better, so we headed for Arequipa at 2,300 metres.

The expectation was that as we left Puno it would be a gradual descent to Arequipa 300kms away, so everyone would feel hunky dory fairly soon. Not so. It is not until you are 45kms from Arequipa that you finally start descending to the city, the rest of the time the road carves across the altiplano - of a completely different style to the Cusco/Puno version - with as always incredible scenery but still between 4,000 and 4,500 metres above sea level.

So we focused on the beauty of the landscape, observed the wildlife at a respectful distance, didn't hang around and arrived in Arequipa within a few hours...

Arequipa is 1000 kms south of Lima, built entirely of local white sillar stone it positively gleams in the bright desert sun, there are three 6000 metre volcanoes ominously towering over the city and it is prone to violent earthquakes.

I was last here in Jan 2002, 7 months after a reasonably big  shake (8.1) that had damaged many buildings. The place was quiet, subdued, very few people about, the cathedral towers had been half destroyed and the city was a rather forlorn sight.

Today it could not be more different. The place is absolutely buzzing with locals going about their business, tourists enjoying the sights (we stayed at Los Andes B&B which we totally recommend) before embarking on some adventure in the nearby canyons or up a volcano, and the cathedral has been restored (by UNESCO) to its former glory as have all the other buildings that were affected.

In many ways Arequipa's story of repair and regeneration since 2002 reflects that of Peru as a whole over the last decade to where we are today with a booming economy, bustling society and oooodles of belief that the future is bright. And that spirit of hope that things can only get better is perhaps stronger in Arequipa that anywhere else, a real sense that whatever disaster or problem is thrown at them, Arequipeños will overcome it.

There are many beautiful buildings in Arequipa, but the jewel in the crown is the Convento de Santa Catalina. Over 400 years old and looking like it could be in southern Spain the citadel includes 100 houses, 60 streets, three cloisters, a main square and church, cemetery and painting gallery.

In its heyday (17th/18th centuries) there were up to 175 nuns, often the daughters of wealthy families, living in private houses with up to 4 servants. The nuns were cloistered until 1985, totally cut off from the city, the only contact with the outside world was with family members through screened windows.

Today there are only a few nuns in residence and they are 'half cloistered' meaning they can leave the convent to shop for food and visit relatives, living off the income from the tourist visitors looking for the money shot photos as the light blends from the blue and reddish hues as the day progresses.

It is a beautiful place...

After enjoying the delights of Arequipa (there are many fabulous restaurants as well) for two days we set off for the Colca Canyon. Once again the scenery is spectacular as the road climbs to over 4800 metres before dropping into the canyon

Colca is another collection of extraordinary sights. People have lived here since 800 BC, building an ingenious system of terraces that collect snow melt from the nearby volcanoes.

When the conquistadors arrived they herded the locals into new settlements and put them to work in plantations or nearby silver mines, of course building a church in every village along the way.

But for the last 200 years or so the canyon was largely forgotten until the 1970's when the first road was built to service the construction of a dam. And then in the late 70's a team of Polish adventurers navigated the class V waters, confirming on the way that the canyon is at least 3,400 metres deep (more than twice the depth of the Grand Canyon) and the centre for adventure was born.

Activities available in the canyon today include hiking, climbing, white water rafting, horse riding, mountain biking etc, none of which Mum and I partook of.

We did however travel the full length of the road that follows the canyon from Chivay to Cabanaconde (65 kms) in the car, oh the hardship, stopping at all the cliff edge viewing points along the way to our destination, the hotel Kuntur Wassi (also highly recommended).

Cabanaconde is a great place to spend the night as it is quiet, has plenty of trekking and adventure activity opportunities should you want them and it is only 15 minutes back up the road to la cruz del condor (the main event).

As for seeing condors, the last time I was here we were staying over an hours drive from the viewing site which meant we had to get up at 4.30am or something horrible in the freezing cold to get to the dawn show. The best we then saw was something like this...

...in fact no I exaggerate, you can make out the shape of the bird in the photo above, last time we only saw a dot which we were assured was a condor - could have been a pigeon or iron man or anything - but they said it was a condor...we were, safe to say, not impressed.

This time however we had the luxury of getting up at a sensible time, eating a hearty breakfast and still had plenty of time to get in position to see these amazing beasts up close and personal.

 

- remember if you click on an image it will get bigger - 

And right in front of us was 'the toilet' as the ledge is affectionately known.

Cabanaconde is also where Juanita - the ice maiden of Ampato - is believed to have lived before she was sacrificed on the summit the nearby volcano (6,380 mts) of the same name. They are currently building a memorial/museum/visitor centre just above the town to house her and to no doubt pull in as many tourists as possible, and quite right too.

So after a couple of hours sitting on the edge of the cliff watching the soaring (and toileting) condors we got back in the car and headed south, the more direct route to the panamerican highway, the coastal road that runs the length of Peru, rather than retracing our steps on the more beaten track.

The road turns away from the canyon and carves through yet more incredible scenery climbing climbing as always before eventually descending through what can only be described as the most inhospitable environment we had yet seen on this trip. It took 3 hours or so to travel no more than 40 kms along the roughest road to date through the driest most arid and lifeless desert terrain, where once there had been a couple of small villages and some agricultural activity, but no more, as it would appear the water supply had dried up long ago. 

Unfortunately we only have photos of the beautiful bits, not wanting to get out of the car in death valley in case of the early onset of chronic dehydration rapidly followed by a gruesome demise. 

Eventually we reached the highway and zoomed (in comparison) up the coast to Nasca...