The Uros Islands and Puno

I feel like we're really motoring now. Back to similar speeds of travel we achieved through Mexico when we'd be moving every one to two days. We've a little over a month left meaning there is no time to laze around. So, after the delights of Cusco and the striped pants brigade, we took a bus to Puno for a taste of Lake Titicaca on the Peruvian side.

The journey to Puno took longer than the six hours owing to a poorly bus. This was a first. I don't know how many miles we've travelled since the start of last October, but this is the first time we've had any bus trouble. Quite I feat I think, considering we've travelled in some pretty dodgy transport - none more so than the old US state school buses which are everywhere in Central America! But they got the bus working again and we limped on to Puno, albeit some two hours late.

Puno is quite unimpressive. Even with the vast Lake Titicaca in view, the town somehow maintains a drab appearance, mostly owing to the hundreds of terrible half built buildings littering the place. But you can't have everything. At least we were free to walk the streets without be accosted by restauranteurs or massage ladies. It is worth climbing to one of the view points high up. Everything looks much better from up there.

From Puno you can take boat trips to any of the three closest islands on Lake Tititcaca. It's the reason most people would venture to Puno. We had planned on a full day trip that would take us to two of the islands: The Uros floating islands and Taquile. However, owing to a terrible night's sleep - which I blame on the altitude (we're at 3,855m, which is higher than La Paz in Bolivia) - we only went for an afternoon trip to The Uros.

Our guide book didn't sound too thrilled about the Uros islands. The people there have constructed their islands from reeds. They use reeds for everything; their houses, their boats and as carpets. They live off the lake by fishing and hunting birds. But, so the book described, these days they have a secondary source of income: tourism. The book went on to say that the islands that you visit by boat are little more than "floating souvenir stalls". Cue the tourist trap alarm bells ringing in my head! But at the very least I was curious. It should be worth seeing the floating islands as you don't see them everyday.

We joined eight or so others and after about half an hour on the boat from the Puno dock, the islands started to come into view. I was reminded of that dreadful Kevin Costner film Waterworld, you know, the 90's big budget flop? This community had created land for themselves way out in the quite serene settings of the lake. There was a central canal and to either side were groups of islands. We stopped at one, got out and were confronted by, you guessed it, souvenir stalls. Luckily the awkward situation was broken by a guy who gathered us around a big map of the lake and started to explain about the islands and the people on them. He described how the islands are made, using the roots of the reeds and ropes and anchors and lastly, lots of cut reeds on top to make a soft floor. I was very glad of this. Not only was it interesting but it meant that it wasn't just us, the souvenir stalls and a bunch of people staring at us waiting for us to part with our Soles. Spend your money foreigners, they would be thinking, What's the matter? Are you too stingy??

Afterwards we were persuaded to take a reed boat to the next island. The onboard entertainment was three young Urovians(?) who gave us a three song performance, in exchange for a donation. The first song in Spanish, the second in Quechua and the third in English. In English we were treated to Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, which when sung, they substituted the word twinkle for the word Gringo. Adorable!

This ten minute reed boat journey set us back five Soles each, which is extortionate given that you could go two hours on a bus for that. The next island was much like the same as the last but it had a restaurant. The Latin American family with us (who were generally lapping up the whole experience) went and had a big meal and as it was about four o'clock and we weren't at all hungry, we just sat and waited until they'd finished. It wasn't as if you could go exploring. The island was small. You'd need to hijack the reed boat.

The Uros experience was everything I had feared it would be. It was really cool to see the islands, plus I do love a boat ride, but the forced tourist trap thing will always make me feel uncomfortable.

Cusco - Peru

One of the things I like most about Cusco is the road signs prohibiting the use of car horns on certain streets and intersections. I really don't know how the average Peruvian driver copes with that. Imagine a sign in the UK forbidding the British from queuing in a bank or post office. It just goes against our instinct.

Seriously though, Cusco is a very attractive place. It has great architecture and charming little cobbled streets lined by houses with uneven roofs. There is no shortage of restaurants, bars and hostels. There is also no shortage of tourists and people trying to make their living from them. This is called the gringo capital of South America - and thinking about it you may as well include Central America in that, too. Not even in Antigua, Guatemala are there so many white faces. And this is at a time when the nearby site of Machu Picchu isn't back to full capacity. It is the gateway to the Sacred Valley, and given that it is a buzzing, good-looking city, not to mention the former Inca capital, it's going to attract some attention.

Cusco is also home to what I call the plastic backpacker. There are plenty of them with their dreadlocked hair and their stripy check pajama-like trousers, doing their best to give off some 'new age' vibe, man! Where were they in Ecuador or Colombia, hmm? There was a lack of striped PJs in Mexico, too. I'm just kidding really. I've not become a travel snob. Wear those PJs. I bet they're very comfortable.

Anyway, you cannot walk down a street without someone trying to strong-arm you into their restaurant. You cannot move for offers of massages, and on most street corners you'll find a woman dressed in traditional clothing holding a rope to the other end of which a llama is attached. If you feel like paying for an 'authentic' photo, there's your opportunity.

Cusco isn't all that cheap either. It has had enough influence from the tourist dollar to have banished the standard Peruvian price. However, if you're struggling there is always a somewhat heavily disguised McDonald's on the Plaza de Armas, should you be missing their particular brand of dirty burger. We must have been, as we went there... twice... and it was good! Hey, it's not our fault that Cusco couldn't offer a cheap alternative. There was a distinct lack of street food on the go.

Truthfully the odd restaurant did offer an 'economical' set menu from around 10 Soles (ususally 3-5 Soles in the rest of the country) and the good thing about these is that it is not the standard fare. You can choose things such as nachos with guacamole for a starter. It certainly beats soup with a chicken foot floating in it!

We stayed in two places sandwiched between our trip to Machu Picchu. The first had a spider that Sophie expertly removed from our room (see below) and the second, El Arcana, was all round better value, didn't have spiders, and had a good atmosphere - although the roof leaked a little. The picture doesn't do the spider justice. It was bigger than it looks.

The constant hassle on the street and the inflated prices soon become tiring which is why we were ready to move on after a few days. But then with so much to go and see outside of the city, I imagine that's what most people end up doing.

Machu Picchu - Peru

We stayed the night before in the town of Aguas Calientes. This town was not as I had expected. It's possible that we have yet to visit somewhere that gets such a turnover of tourists everyday, but this place was like an Alpine ski village. And as such, not a cheap place to be. But I felt quite impressed by what Peru has done here. As my last blog explained, this is not an easy place to get to. In fact, I was expecting more of a dusty little town with a couple of overpriced restaurants. Suddenly I felt less sympathetic about the thousands of tourists stuck here a few months back during the floods. Not a bad place to be stuck. Perhaps that's harsh. After all, apparently some hotels did start raising their prices for their captive flood victims - the cheek!

No, there are many overpriced restaurants, but there are also many very nice looking hotels. Oh, to be rich. Nevertheless, our 40 Soles ($13 USD) a night hostel was just fine.

Whichever way you choose to get to Maccu Picchu, there is another little gem of information that you should know. Machu Picchu opens its gates at 6am, and in order to beat the "hundreds of American tourists" who, we'd been told by more than one person, turn up on the bus, we were advised to set off from Aguas Calientes at 4am and make the two hour hike up the mountain to the entrance.

So this is what we did, and again my camera LCD screen saved the day as we'd forgotten our torch. But even with a little light to help us in the pitch black, this was no easy walk. It actually only took us about and hour and a half, but it was constant climbing, the forest was extremely humid and combined with the early start, it didn't make the most enjoyable walk you're ever likely to do. Once at the top, we waited for the gates to open - (while you're waiting, get a ticket stamp for entry to climb Huayna Picchu. It's free but apparently they only dole out so many so it's best to get one as soon as you can).

About ten minutes before the gates opened what did we see but the first bus arriving and a load of sightseers climbing out out looking remarkably fresh. Hang on a second, we could have taken the bus. Little did we know the buses start making the 8km journey up the switchback road from Aguas Calientes at around 5.30am, meaning our hike didn't buy us the advantage we'd been led to believe. How long this has been the set up I'm not sure. Perhaps we should have checked this out for ourselves. Or perhaps a lot of people really like hiking in a dark sweaty forest with nothing to see.

In any case, we were amongst the first to enter the site of Machu Picchu. Six o'clock in the morning is when the place looks at its most mystical. The clouds had just started to break up and the sun was rising behind the mountains. We found ourselves a good spot overlooking the main city and sat in awe at the ever-changing view in front of us. It was spectacular. People arriving from a four day Inca Trail hike would have certainly felt rewarded by this (there's definitely an element of luck with the weather). Like any hike, it makes it all the more special if you have a prize at the end whether it be a crystal blue lake or an ancient city straddled atop a mountain. Either way, if you can get yourself a good spot early in the morning you won't be disappointed - and I would say all the better if you're not hot, sweaty and knackered just getting there!

There were many tour groups being led around, and while I'm sure their guides had some interesting wisdom to impart, I felt quite glad to be left alone to wander at our leisure. Our allotted time for climbing Huayna Picchu was between seven and eight am, so we headed over to get cracking with that. Huayna Picchu is another part of the Inca settlement sitting atop a higher adjacent mountain peak. It takes around an hour to walk up there but from the top the view of Machu Picchu is unparalleled.

After sitting a on top and having a spot of lunch we'd brought in (they say you can't take in bottles of water or food but ignore that), it was time to make our way back down. This is when you really realise that those with vertigo shouldn't be up here. We walked around the peak following signs that led down a different way than we'd come up. Then, the fear gripped me. A set of steep and uneven stone stairs led down the mountain with no hand rail and only part of a stone wall to steady you. And some of these stone steps weren't really steps at all in my opinion - these Incas must have had very small feet. One false step and you'd be falling off the side of a mountain. Of course, it's unhelpful to think of it that way. But that's the difficulty when you're hit by a fear of heights. However, the fear I seem to have developed in recent years is quite a rational one. If there was a hand rail, I'd have been fine. I've had the same feeling skiing in the past, and likewise, it's only a slight lack of confidence in my skiing technique that allows such negative thoughts to creep in!

Slowly but surely, I made it down from the peak and from then on the presence of hand rails put me at ease. I certainly wouldn't like to attempt all that in the rain. Those that have done long hikes to get to Machu Picchu might be put off by yet more climbing and hiking, but, if you can brave the dizzy heights of Huayna Picchu, it's well worth it.

However you want to do it, Machu Picchu is a spectacular sight. At 126 Soles ( $42 USD) entry, it's not cheap, but even though I've been saying it a lot lately, you can't miss it!

Getting to Machu Picchu

If only I'd had my laptop with me the day we made the journey to Machu Picchu. My head was full of advice received from other travellers and blogs alike, and as the day unfolded, it all turned out to be pretty useless. I wanted to get on the blog straightaway and set the record straight. But it has had to wait until now.

The recent rain hasn't helped with the confusion as to what you do to make it to the most popular site in South America. But the train is up and running, and although not from Cusco, you can still take a two hour bus ride and catch it at Piscacucho. It will then take you straight to Aguas Calientes, for a hefty sum of course.

But what I want to talk about is the backpackers' route. The route where you inevitably end up busting a gut all in the name of saving a few pennies. Not the 'Inca Trail' - which I'm sure is good in its own way, but sharing a path with 1600 other people at any one time didn't appeal to me - I'm talking about the way to get there from Cusco, in a day, using whatever transport you can find.

Firstly there are buses that leave Terminal Santiago in Cusco at around 7am destined for a town called Santa Maria. That caused us no problem. The bus is slow of course and can take anything from 5 to 7 hours to do this leg of the journey. It will set you back 15 Soles. Not bad.

Once at Santa Maria you're in the hands of taxi drivers, for now at least. Your next destination is Santa Teresa, and buses do not go there. Instead you have to do your best to get a good price from the taxi driver. Ours wanted 10 Soles. He then drove like it was a stage in the RAC Rally. Colin McRae would have been proud of this lad. The price for getting a corner wrong though was not a possible collision with a tree trunk or spectator. That would at least give you a chance for survival. No, the price would be considerably higher. Most of the 'stage' was set high on a small shelf of the mountain with drops that must have been at least 500 meters, if not more. There's no coming back from a wrong turn there. But I had faith in our pilot. We needed a co-pilot, but you can't have everything!

So, after our hour and a half long dice with death, we arrived in Santa Teresa. The driver offered to take us further and after a brief discussion with the Spaniard and the French couple sharing the front seat (there had also been various passengers in the boot of this estate car along the way) we agreed to be taken further. Ten or fifteen minutes down the road, we came to a small gathering by the roadside: some other taxi drivers and some people selling food. Here was the end of the road. The driver asked for 15 Soles (seemingly forgetting the 10 we had agreed on) and as he had technically taken us a bit further, we all paid and he pointed out the next leg of our journey.

This next leg is something else altogether. You have to cross the river, the great white rushing waters of the Urubamba river, and the only way to do it is by zip-wire. This is something that you've just got to do. You can't turn around now, although surely there must be people who do. Attached to the zip-wire is a tray, kind of like an oversize tool box tray. You can fit two people on it at a time and once in, you're pushed out across the wide expanse, hoping that the pulleys will hold and that they've tied the other end well! As long as you're not too scared, it's actually an amazing experience.

Once on the other side, you climb down the bank and make your way towards Aguas Calientes. Well, actually you have to reach the Hidroelectrica first. They say you can't go wrong, it's a straight path. But it's not and you can go wrong. After about forty minutes of walking you need to take a left turn as you approach the big waterfall. There is a small red arrow painted on a rock, but it is easily missed. From there you walk through some kind of industrial site you feel you shouldn't be on and it was here that we stumbled upon a check point - the first sign that we were on the right path.

And then comes the railway tracks. The much-talked-about walk along the railway tracks to get to Aguas Calientes. We could have hung about for an hour and taken the train that leaves at 16.50. But in the spirit of building up a sweat and keeping the costs down, we set off walking the gradual incline along side the train tracks. In fact we really attacked this section of the journey, under the illusion that we'd be able to beat the train there. Of course, we didn't, but after two hours of determined striding, the light faded and I had to use the light from my camera LCD screen to see us through a couple of dark tunnels.

We arrived in Agua Calliente at 18.10 and had covered the ten kilometer walk along the train tracks in a shade over two hours. Not bad, but we were really going for it.

So, a quick re-cap;
07.00 - leave from Terminal Santiago on a bus to Santa Maria (15 Soles)
13.30 - arrive in Santa Maria and take a taxi straight to Zip wire crossing (15 Soles)
15.00 - arrive at zip wire and walk to Hidroelectrica
16.00 - arrive at Hidroelectrica and walk to Aguas Calientes
18.10 - arrive at Aguas Calientes and go in search of a shower and a beer.

Note, there was no stopping for lunch (I got a cheese sandwich from a lady at the zip-wire. The chicken sandwiches were to be avoided!) in this and no waiting for transport. The journey can be done in a day, but there isn't much room for any delays.

It was an enthralling day all in all, and I loved it. We could see the effects of the recent rains and the patched up railway line and the shored up river banks.  It wasn't the absolute breeze we'd been led to believe, but the scenery was spectacular and the unexpected twists and turns and the general wondering if we were on the right road made it a decent adventure - I just felt I should share it!

The Nazca Lines - Peru

We took a bus from Ica and though it was a relatively short journey it was particularly tough for me. A combination of an already dodgy stomach and a morning wine tour which included downing shots of Pisco meant I spent the journey staring out of the window at a point in the distance, breathing deeply and pondering as to what would be worse: sticking my head out of the window, or braving the festering toilet at the back which could turn even the most cast-iron of stomachs. I got through it with neither action necessary, but it was touch and go.

Once in a while you turn up at a place that is high up on the agenda of most people's itinerary and in most cases you know this because prices are suddenly higher. Nazca is one of those places. It is a small dusty town just off the Panamerican highway and when I say dusty, I mean you need goggles to walk up the street. That said, they're in the process of turning more of the dirt into tarmac and generally making it a more pleasant town centre. But all this really isn't of concern if you happen to be staying in a rather top-notch retreat just out of town - see vivalatinamerica.com

Moving on to the reason for being in Nazca, the Nazca Lines. The strangely precise sets of lines engraved in the dry earth making up shapes which include a spider, an astronaut, and a monkey with a very curly tail, have inspired various theories to be drawn as to their meaning. The Nazca people were around at 200BC (and were gone long before the Incas showed up) and you have to admire their work, whatever the purpose of it was. My favorite theory is that they created these geoglyphs so that they could then entertain themselves by flying over them in hot air balloons. How very decadent... and a slightly ridiculous conclusion, if you ask me! After all, it is us who are all about decadent things such as flying in the sky for fun.

Which brings me to the best part. If you want to get a good look at these lines, you really have to get in a plane and see them from above. It's not cheap, but it is definitely worth it. You can book your flight from many places in town, but the best thing to do is take a taxi straight to the airport at 7am or 8am and buy your ticket there. It's cheaper at US$60 as opposed to anything up to US$75 elsewhere. Then you have to pay about US$7 for the airport tax.

Anyway, enough of the money talk. The flight is an amazing experience. Our plane was about as small as you can get - I think it was a Cessna 172. It had four seats so it was just the two pilots and us - two pilots in case one suddenly becomes ill, which has apparently happened. It was very cosy. The pilots were as cool as pilots usually are (but not smug like commercial pilots can appear to be!) and it reaffirmed my desire to be one when I grow up! What a fantastic job.

Trying to forget the Cessna's single point of failure in having just one engine, we were soon zooming around spotting geoglyphs to the right and then to the left as the plane banked and swooped around - I can see why they provide sick bags. Even if there were no ancient lines to see, I would have enjoyed flying above the desert anyway. It is something you shouldn't miss and thirty minutes in that plane makes the trip to Nazca well worth it.

Huacachina - 10 people, sand boards and a V8

There is a small oasis not far from the town of Ica, Peru called Huacachina. A visit to an oasis is well worth it if you haven't experienced much desert before, but once you've seen the tranquil green lake surrounded by touristy buildings which are in turn surrounded by sand dunes, there is a way to liven things up a bit; Dune buggies!

We signed ourselves up for a group trip which meant a ride in an absolute beast of a buggy. We're talking about a ten-seater equipped with a roll cage and a powerful V8 engine. Tasty stuff! The engine roared as we climbed the first of the many dunes and as we approached the top, the driver slowed and then stopped just as we were about to head down what looked like an almost vertical drop - all very theme park. But the pause turned out to be a little longer as his phone started ringing and he took a call, with the rest of us staring down into the sand-covered oblivion. I'm not sure if that was coincidence or a deliberate maneuver to increase the suspense, but it worked!

Thankful for the roll cage and the fact that we didn't die after the first drop, I settled into the experience more and racing through the desert was an amazing experience. From time to time we would stop to take pictures of the amazing landscape before zooming off once more to find a steep dune to climb and then slide down.

After half an hour or so, we stopped again and out came the sand boards. I didn't even know that sand boarding was part of the tour, no one had mentioned it when we signed up. It was a welcome bonus and I was glad to learn that our driver didn't expect us to stand up on the boards, unless we really wanted to. I was happy to take the first slope lying down and wasn't disappointed! You can use your legs to brake or you can see how much speed you can pick up, taking care to keep your elbows on the board and avoid a nasty sand burn. 

On the next slope we tried I watch a guy who'd done a bit of snow boarding before, try to replicate it on sand by standing up on the board. It wasn't easy and he tumbled over a good few times, luckily sand is a bit more forgiving than ice, but, having only skied on snow before,  I was more than happy to continue with my sledging approach. Even he admitted that lying down on the board was much more fun.

With the light fading unfortunately the experience had to come to an end. We stopped for one last look at the desert with the sun setting in the background, and then set off for one last burn back home. We all climbed back in the buggy and the driver turned the key which produced a very sorry sounding groan. The battery was dead. We got out to give it a bump-start but as soon as the driver dropped the clutch the tyres just locked in the sand. So, he went off to find signal on his mobile while we sat and waited in the fading light. Although it felt very isolated sitting there in the desert in the dark, we in fact weren't all that far from civilisation and another buggy soon can to rescue us before any sand monsters came to eat us!

If you ever get the chance to experience a ride like this, I would really recommend you take it. It's not to be missed!

Sea lions and Penguins! - Peru

Yes! Finally I can say the zoom lens I've been carrying around for the last six and a half months has paid back some of its hefty price tag. The Ballestas Islands off the coast of Peru are home to hundreds of sea lions, some penguins and more birds than you can count, and the long lens came into its own.

We stayed in Pisco, which is towards the coast and about four hours south from Lima. In 2007 an earthquake struck the region and Pisco was very near the epicenter. The damage done is still very apparent - the town understandably looks more like a building site in some parts. The cathedral was not totally destroyed but you can see its very fragile-looking dome from the street.  However, the main plaza and streets feeding from it are now in good condition and buzzing with people.

Twenty minutes in a taxi down the road is Paracas and the National Reserve. From here you can take a trip to some of the islands. In the mood to see sea lions, we got ourselves on one of the early morning boats leaving for the Ballestas Islands.

It was a simple but fantastic trip. Firstly we journeyed along the coast to get a look at the pre-Colombian Candelabra etched into side of a sand dune, the origin of which is a mystery.

Next we arrived at the islands and amongst the thousands of birds we could spot the odd peguin waddling around. The water temperature is an all year round 15 deg C and  it certainly was not cold there.

Around the next corner was a beach full of sea lions. It was rather odd to see and from a distance they almost looked like humans. In the sea were sea lions floating and swimming, and they too looked pretty human-like. I suspect they were in fact busy looking for food. In any case, the zoom lens was a joy to use as, because of the rocks and choppy waters, we were that bit too far away to get some good close-ups otherwise.

Caraz - Peruvian Andes

In the Cordillera Blanca, you have the opportunity to explore the mountainous countryside and then return to stay in some of the most peaceful towns you're likely to find in South America. We picked out a place called Caraz which is an hour and a half down the road from Huaraz. It really is down the road too. I was surprised to learn that Caraz is almost a kilometer further down in altitude. There was no switchback roads on the journey, just gentle downhill descent that at times you didn't even notice it.

Well actually, the gradient might be gentle but the road is peppered with pot holes, some of which you could lose a truck in! Therefore people who drive on it spend most of the time treating each pot hole like a chicane, swerving from left to right and often playing chicken with oncoming traffic because the tarmac might be in slightly better condition on that side of the road. It makes for a lively journey, especially when you driver tries to overtake a car that is swerving around, oblivious to anything behind.

We arrived in Caraz and Nathan and I went to get some lunch (it's nice to meet someone always as hungry as me) and Sophie and Jo went to scope out the accommodation the town had to offer. They returned some time later having been in just about every hostel going, and were particularly keen on a little place up the road called Alojamiento Caballero so we went and checked in there. It was in keeping with the town's tranquil vibe and it had a balcony overlooking some stunning countryside with a table and four chairs - perfect for a game of cards or two!

Alojamiento Caballero is a bit rough around the edges and had pillows that you imagine only Fred Flintstone could get any sleep on, but it did us just fine, was incredibly cheap, and the owner is a friendly and welcoming ninety-something old man who can't really hear what you're saying, making conversations particularly challenging!

Looking to do some hiking, we had a stroke of luck and managed to get ourselves on a heavily discounted tour. The tourist board was offering trips to Laguna Paron to show people the natural beauty and celebrate the recent triumph achieved by local Peruvians. Apparently the lake was being used as a source for the hydroelectric station downstream and was being drained. The local people weren't having that, and managed to regain ownership so that it can be preserved. Well done them!

Although the tour didn't involve walking, it was nice to be chauffeured around for a change. The weather wasn't great but having not put in the hard graft in getting up there meant that it didn't matter so much that some of the scenery was shrouded in cloud.

The trip took us to see the ruins at Tunshukaiko, a particularly underwhelming site that I wouldn't recommend, and then we finished the half day with lunch at a trout farm. I had the opportunity to scoop out some of the fish myself before it was taken off to be prepared in the kitchen. You can't get much fresher than that!

Laguna 69 - high up in the Peruvian Andes

Four thousand, six hundred meters above sea level is a bright turquoise lake surrounded by snowy mountain peaks going by the name of Laguna 69. It is the popular day hike you can do from Huaraz – and one that our hostel was keen that we attempted on our first day in the Cordillera Blanca. I’m very much glad that we didn’t, instead opting to do the hike a few days later. After all, this is a destination 13,000 ft in altitude (it sounds much more impressive in feet) and is not to be sniffed at, especially if you’ve spent the previous week lounging on a beach.

So having given ourselves a few days to adjust, we signed up with the hostel organised tour. They simply provide a ride to the starting point and make sure that a driver is waiting to pick you up when you return. You can do the walk off your own back, but there was enough people signed up at the hostel to make it a reasonable price. Plus they give you a little sketched map detailing the route and a Dutchman called Rex was on hand the night before to give us a few tips for the day in a very monosyllabic fashion.

Our party of eleven set off at 6.30am (well it was more like 6.45 after some faffing) on the road to Yuncay where we were to pick up supplies from the market there, and then be driven up the bumpy switch-back road to the starting point. The driver instead tried to drop us off at a restaurant for breakfast which came with a hefty “gringo tax”. We weren’t having that (he was obviously in cahoots with the restaurant owner) and made him take us to the market as planned. I’m not sure how, but the two and a half to three hour drive took four.

The starting point was 3,900m high for the three-hour hike up to the lake and the little map came in very handy. The direction we had to take wasn’t always all that clear but we were safe in the knowledge that if we found ourselves climbing after only ten minutes, we had done something wrong – thanks, Rex. I take that back about your tonal delivery!

The walk itself is not technical (save a few jumps over a river or two) and the ascent, when we got to it, wasn’t too steep. The overriding challenge was altitude. It was best summed up by Jo when she said that it was like doing a hike whilst having the flu. It affected people in different ways and at different times. Luckily for me I didn’t feel any effects until after we reached the top, when gradually a nasty headache (I don’t get headaches so I suppose I don’t have a decent frame of reference) started and remained with me for the rest of the day.

As we climbed, the group split up and spread out with some struggling more than others. We were walking against the clock, as at this time of year there is a high probability that it will rain in the afternoon. And as I’ve learnt from climbing mountains and volcanoes before, it can be a bit of a blow when the prize at the top is obscured by rain and cloud. You need that reward at the end when your working hard and on this occasion we got it! The switchback trail ended and the beautiful lake emerged, every bit as breathtaking as the posters we’d seen in Huaraz. It is like a little peace of heaven up there.

You can swim in the lake if you feel like it, but it is about 3 degC so you wouldn’t want to be in there for long. With the sun beating down I was slightly tempted to go for a dip but glad I didn’t as when a few clouds came over the temperature dropped a somewhat drastically.

The journey back down was quick and straightforward and while there was a few spots of rain, the downpour we were expecting didn’t materialise. By the time we reached our driver, we were all suffering from headaches, but it was well worth it! My last picture shows a lake near the start of our hike. Even the less impressive lakes are pretty stunning around here.

Huaraz - sun and rain, sun and rain...

The overnight bus from Trujillo to Huaraz did not yield much sleep, although I probably had more than if I’d really been trying. I’m finding it much better to assume that I will be awake all night as it takes the pressure off, and any sleep I do get is a welcome bonus!

We arrived in Huaraz at about 7.30am, and along with our new friends Jo and Nathan, we took up the offer of a free taxi to a place called Caroline Lodging – offering travellers a free ride after an all-nighter on the bus makes such good business sense, I’m surprised its not more popular.

So with their free lift and presence in most guide-books, it’s no surprise that Caroline Lodging is a popular place. 35 Soles ($12 USD) buys you a matrimonial room including breakfast – which they kindly gave us upon arrival with no extra charge – and you can get a dorm bed for about $5USD. The place has a great kitchen and dining area, a cinema room, arranges tours and does your laundry. The only slight drawback is that all these extras have to be paid for. Laundry is not going to be free but if you want to cook you have to pay an amount depending on how many people you’re cooking for. The same goes for the cinema room, making it the first place that has charged to watch their DVD’s.

Huaraz is a hub of a place for outdoor activities. Surrounded by gorgeous snow-capped mountains (which looked even better at sunset) reminded me a little of being in the Alps. But the place isn’t about skiing. Its about hiking and trekking and adventurous things like ice-climbing. – the latter offered to us by way of a knock on the door at 7.30am. For a minute I thought I must have agreed to something the night before, but then I realised the cheeky guide was knocking on all doors speculatively to see if anyone was interested. Climbing a wall of ice is really something you agree to do the night before. It’s never going to seem appealing when you haven’t even had your first a cup of tea.

Of course, it wouldn’t be Peru without some ruins to see. And that’s what we did on our first full day. We had spoken to some people who had taken on something a little bigger on their first day and had been beaten by the altitude. Given that the night before we had climbed 3200m from Trujillo by bus, immediately hiking up too much further didn’t seem like a good idea. No, far better to acclimatise a bit first by doing a 2 hour walk to the ruins of the Huari Empire (700-1000AD) at Willkawain. The ruins themselves are well kept stone buildings that were once lived in and then later used as burial chambers for the important folk of the day. We hired a guide, who happened to be nine years old, and he rattled off the information with great confidence, for a small sum of course. He was the perfect size for some of the tunnels we crawled into, the rest of us struggled a little.

However, for me, more impressive was being out in the countryside. Once we had seen the ruins, we spied a big cross on the top of a hill and decided to walk up to it. It was good to test out the body after a week of lazing on the beach, however at this time of year the afternoon usually spells rain. By the time we reached the cross the heavens opened and we ran back down for cover. Just a couple of hours earlier we had been suffering the heat from the strong sun and now we were soaked and doing our best to keep warm. Luckily the hostel had good hot showers so we headed back. By this time the streets of Huaraz were more like rivers.

Once clean and dry it was time to shell out a few extra Soles pick out a DVD. Anything without Jean Claude Van Damme would be perfect!

Chan Chan

On the road between Trujillo and Huanchaco is the huge ancient ruins of Chan Chan. A bit like the pyramids in Mexico, or the volcanoes in Central America, visiting lots of ancient ruins makes me become a little blasé and under whelmed at the thought of seeing another. In fact, I was tempted not to go to Chan Chan, but to break up our lazy beach days, we did. And I’m so glad we did. After all, it’s the largest adobe city in the world – to quote another statistic from our book – so it is bound to be good.

It is pre-Inca ruin, that was built and belonged to the Chimu, before the Incas kicked them out and copied there building style in Cuzco. Chan Chan is in great shape. It is not a group of stone foundations where walls used to be, it still has proper high walls meaning you can walk around inside an ancient city. Not bad, hey? And if you don’t want to take a guide, you can buy a leaflet, which describes what you are seeing each plaza and courtyard, and what they got up to in each place.

The walls have engraved pictures of birds and fishes that are in excellent condition - they´ve done a good job of restoring them. The whole site is under restoration at the moment as they are trying to protect and strengthen the walls and paths. And it is so vast. The city walls once contained palaces, temples and houses, plus rows of storerooms stretching 1000km up the coast where they kept their agricultural wealth. It certainly beats another day on the beach!