Peru came as a shock after Bolivia. Half finished buildings and streets that looked like building sights. Peru is a very poor country. Moving on quickly from the border and passing through Puno, the journey to Arequipa was over high desolate, gray mountains.
Arriving in Arequipa I was slow getting off the bus and somebody was trying to take my bag from the luggage compartment below. I stopped them just in time... I´d seen photos of Arequipa before I arrived. Colonial buildings on the main square built from white silla volcanic stone, the volcano towering above the cathedral. The reality was low cloud obscuring the view, blocking the sun out and everything looked just a little dull.
The Saint Catalina Convent is one of the top sights in Arequipa. Built in 1579 and covering 5 acres, it is one of South America´s most important architectural and religious buildings. It was pretty cool.
Nazca
Arriving at 7am into Nazca, with my German friend Lena, the thermometer had been turned up just a bit and we headed to Grumpies Restaurant across the road from the bus station. Suitably named for our mood, after a night on the bus.
After a false start and the taxi driver taking us to a tour office that clearly wasn´t the airport terminal that he claimed it was, we made it to the actual airport and bought our tickets for the flight over the Nazca lines. The little 4 seater plane took off for what was to be a very bumpy flight.
The lines were actually much smaller than I had imagined, making it much more believable that they were made by man and not aliens as was thought by many in the mid twentieth century. An insult to the intelligence and ability of the ancient civilization that once lived here. The ancient people of Nazca lived in a time when the land was becoming drier. Their god lived in the enormous sand dune mountain that towers about the plains and controlled the water. The many symbols on the land it is now thought are symbols for Shamans and the lines points towards sources of water. An irrigation system built hundreds of years ago by the Nazca people still functions today and is used by present day farmers.
Later walking along the road in Nazca there was a collection of big old American cars that wouldn´t have looked out of place on a scene for 'Mad Max'. I look for my camera but it was not in my bag. Oh shit.... we retrace our steps to look where it my be but it´s not there. Photos backed up the night before, I was lucky not to lose them, I add it to the shoes and sock I have lost so far on my travels. But unfortunately no photos of the Nazca lines.... Later in a week of electronic 'catastrophes' my Ipod decided it´d had enough and crashed, wiping out all the music on it.
Not wanting to spend any more time in Nazca it was time to take the night bus to Cusco. Our trusty guide book does not recommend night travel in Peru because the roads are dangerous and robberies can happen. To spice up things a little we choose the front seats on the two story bus. At night the roads are safer, in one way, the drivers can see the lights of other vehicles reflecting on corners. That's if they have lights that work.... It was an exciting ride watching the bus go through blind corners on the wrong side of the road, always missing oncoming traffic. Please note, for safety reasons, always take the aisle seat on the right hand side of the bus. This is statistically the safest place to sit and the wisest. Regular front page news stories of long distance buses in head on collisions.
Cucso
The naval of the earth according to the Incas. My opinion of Peru improved after a few days in Cusco. It´s a beautiful city with lots of colonial buildings and Churches, some build on Inca ruins. The Inca stone work in truly amazing, the blocks fitting together without gaps. Look at the photo of the 12 sided stone in the wall.
How did they do that? The Incas did not have a form of writing, so nothing was recorded and the Spanish Conquistadors had no interest but to destroy everything in there way and steal the rest to be shipped to Spain.
Cusco was a city I felt happy and safe in. The beautiful old area of San Blas, where I stayed, had security guards on the streets at night. The food was good and cheap and there was always somewhere playing live music that almost no tourists went to. One of the best bands I saw was called 'Autopista a la Luna' - Road to the moon. They played a fusion of Jazz and Andean music. Instead of a drum kit the drummer used a cajon, this is a wooden box with a hole in the back. The drummer sits on it and managed an amazing range of sounds. When you´re a travelling band with no transport a full drum kit is hardly practical. The bands were friendly, always wanting to know where we were from and telling us where they had played in Europe. It was easy to spend two weeks there, with the music, many interesting museums, Inca sites and of course a trip to Machu Picchu (in separate blog).
There are many Inca ruins near Cusco, but Saksaywaman is far by far the most impressive. High on a hill above Cusco, the huge stone blocks look impossible to move let alone be expertly carved to fit together without any gaps.
The Sacred Vallay is near to Cuscu and I visited the town of Ollantaytambo. Apart from impressive Inca ruins nearby, the town has been permanently inhabited since Inca times. The narrow streets are laid out in a grid, the lower sections made from huge Inca carved blocks. What really impressed me were the doorways of intricately fitted stone blocks having constantly been used for over 500 years.
Similar with Machupichu and nearby Pisac, the doorways are very high considering the Inca people were very small. I wish modern building were the same, it might prevent the bumps on my head.
With all the Inca ruins are the terracing on the mountain sides. Used for agriculture, to increase the available land and stabilise the ground. 500 years later they are still in good condition.
Big, dirty, scary, dangerous Lima. I had to see for myself. I booked into the Hostel España which was just off the main square. The initial feelings of paranoia quickly disappeared after walking though the main streets and finding it no different from any other big city. There were a few unusual sights; an armoured tank with machine gunner at each side of the presidential palace, many riot police and military on the streets and security guards with muzzled Doberman Pinschers. I don´t know which looked more scary.
Moving to another hostel in the safe suburb of Miraflores, was a bit of a culture shock. Miraflores felt like a modern North American city, with many shops, restaurants and a shopping complex built into the cliffs beside the Pacific Ocean. It was here that I met up with my friends, Tamara and Anika, and we planned our boat trip in the Amazon Basin.
