Tour of Perú

14^th - 28^th August 2019

Itinerary: Lima - Arequipa - Colca Canyon - Lake Titicaca - Train - Chinchero - Sacred Valley - Machu Picchu - Aguas Calientes - Cusco

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14 August. Lima. Lima in winter isn't sunny, it's always grey and overcast. It never rains, you can't buy an umbrella in Lima! This morning we went on a tour where we visited Surquillo market which sold various fruits, meats, vegetables and household goods. Then it was off to San Francisco Monastery. We went inside and saw all the elaborate decorations, the library and the catacombs, full of skulls and femurs. The rest of the bones were underneath the floor. Then lunch, a ham sandwich and pisco sour at Cordano's, where I also had lunch on my last visit! Finally a walk to Plaza de Armas to see the presidential palace, where we were lucky enough to see the end of the changing of the guard before passing the Monastery of Santo Domingo. In the afternoon I strolled down to Miraflores sea front and mooched about. I saw the Paddington Bear statue.

16 August. Arequipa. A short flight from Lima to Arequipa. Then a quick stroll into the town. I was looking for a pair of shorts, but as was winter, no one was selling them. It was about 23 degrees! Then I walked to the main square, the Plaza de Armas, which was very busy. The Basilica Cathedral of Arequipa is very impressive from the outside. In the evening we all went to a restaurant for dinner. I had alpaca stroganoff. Very tasty.

17 August. Arequipa. A half day tour of Arequipa today. First stop was someone's back garden, where we saw pre-Inca terraces which are still used for agriculture today. From the garden we also saw two of the three volcanoes which overlook the town, Chachani and Misti. As there was some sort of festival on, we missed the next stop, we'll do that tomorrow. Next stop was a visit to the Santa Catalina Monastery. Built for rich women, they had servants and slaves! Then we visited the Iglesia de la Compañía and the cloisters by the side. Finally it was a visit to The Museo Santuarios Andinos. The highlight of this museum is Juanita. A young girl of around 12, who was sacrificed on top of a mountain in the 15th century and was preserved in the cold. She is still frozen. We finished off with a Peruvian lunch.

18 August. Colca Canyon. Today we travelled from Arequipa to the Colca Canyon. We drove the Oceana Highway most of the way. It's a paved road with one lane in each direction. It passes from Peru to Bolivia and Brazil, connecting the Pacific and Atlantic oceans. We saw the flora change en route as we got higher (we hit 3800 metres). We saw trees disappear, then cacti until all that was left was really tough grass. There were vicuñas in many places and finally I saw a llama. Lunch (not very good) was in Chivay. Then we drove along a rough track in small vans to the hotel, which is in a valley by the river.

19 August. Colca Canyon. A very early start today, we were on the road by 6am! We saw Sabancaya volcano with ash coming from the top as we transferred to our bus. First we travelled to Condor's Cross to see Andean condors. On the way we stopped at a village where the church had the Virgin Mary dressed as an Inca and the local school kids danced in costume in the main square. The boys were dressed as girls. We probably waited 20 minutes before our first sighting but as we left there were quite a few. We then saw a couple right by the road. After that we stopped to look at Colca Canyon with all the pre-Inca terraces and the village of Magrigal in the distance. We spent a few minutes in the village of Maca. We saw flamingos on our way to Lake Lagunillas. Finally a very long drive to Puno on Lake Titicaca. An extremely long day.

20 August. Lake Titicaca. Not such an early start today. Titicaca is the world's highest, navigable lake. We went on a boat, through the reed beds to the Uros floating islands. We visited Tupire Corazon, which is a small island made up of 15 reed bundles. 25 people live there. We saw the way the island was built, then visited the museum, kindergarten and a tiny house where a couple and their 12 year old son live. The school run was happening while we were there and the little kids were arriving by boat and going straight to the kindergarten. Then we took a reed boat to another reed island before a standard boat to Taquile Island, which is a land island, where we hiked over the to the other side and then had lunch. A great trip. Back at the hotel I took a walk up a nearby hill to get a view of the floating islands. I did try to see the guinea pigs running around the hotel grounds, but failed. So I had a glass of Cusquena beer instead!

21 August. Belmond Andean Explorer. A lie in today, yay! I woke up around 7:30 feeling refreshed. After breakfast I took a walk through the hotel grounds. I passed through a herd(?) of alpacas, around 20 of them. They weren't fazed at all. Someone pointed out a bright pair of eyes in a bush, but I don't know if it was a guinea pig or chinchilla. The consensus was that it was the former. Just before midday I boarded the Belmond Andean Explorer train, dead on midday we left Puno for Cuzco. I had a small 5.5 square metre cabin with bunk beds. We travelled through Puno and on to the altiplano. Lunch was great. In the afternoon I went to a cocktail making class. I made a passion fruit sour, a contradiction in terms, but very nice, nonetheless. At 18:00 we stopped at La Raya to take photos. It was dark! Dinner was very good. The train stopped around 9pm. I sat in the observation car chatting to a German family then went to bed.

23 August. Middle of Nowhere! The train started moving at 5:30, but I was already in the shower. We passed by a river for a good while. We arrived at Cusco around 8am. It was straight off to Chinchera where we saw a dying and weaving demonstration. Way more interesting than it sounds. One of the women was carrying a baby on her back and she showed how they wrap them up for transportation. The poor mite's arms were folded round in a blanket then a belt was tied round it all. He seemed happier than when he wasn't trussed up. Then we walked to some old Inca ruins that were only excavated and restored in the 1970's. After that it was off to Urubamba for the local market. Very colourful and most of the fruit and vegetables were huge compared to ours. After lunch we went to a Chincheria, where they brew chincha, a local corn beer. There were guinea pigs running around in the room next door. Food for the owners. Aqilino our guide offered to take us into town in the early evening. Five of us took him up on his offer. We went through the back streets and up into the hills. We saw Inca storage buildings and holes in the hillside that were old burial chambers. A very interesting couple of hours.

23 August. Sacred Valley. A bit of a lie in today. First off we went to the archeological ruins (quite extensively restored) at Ollantaytambo. It was very interesting and we climbed a couple of hundred metres to about 75% of the way up. Then we walked across and down the other side. We saw a stone with 5 dents which was used to partly support 5 other stones. No one knows how they carved the stones. One theory is acid. There was a temple close to the summit. The Temple of the Sun. It was never finished, as indeed nor was the whole site. After lunch at Maras, where we saw snow capped mountains, including Veronica, we went on to Moray. Here there are five sets of round agricultural terraces. It is thought they were created by a meteorite, which the Incas used to experiment with growing plants at various altitudes. One has been restored and a couple of others are being restored.

24 August. Machu Picchu. After an early morning visit to the town of Ollantaytambo, we boarded a train to Aguas Calientes. We caught a bus for a hairpin bus ride to Machu Picchu. Then there it was! The whole point of the trip and number two on my bucket list. Tiring, exhilarating, out of this world. Worth every penny. I'm so glad I got to see and visit it.

25 August. Aguas Calientes. A lazy day today. After a leisurely breakfast, I checked out of the hotel. Strolled around the grounds for a bit before going into Aguas Calientes, which is the jumping off point for Machu Picchu. I sat in the main square and people watched. Then I saw Aquilino, our guide. We had a chat, walked up a hill and had coffee. Then after lunch we all met at the railway station to catch the train to Poray. There we took minibuses to our last hotel of the tour. Three nights in Cusco.

26 August. Cusco. We went to the Santo Domingo Qoricancha first of all. This is a church built on Inca foundations. Inside there is the smallest stone ever seen in an Inca wall. Then we walked to San Blas Church and a look around inside, before finally ending up in the Plaza de Armas and the Cathedral. Unfortunately, photographs aren't allowed to to be taken inside these buildings. In the afternoon, I just strolled down to the Plaza de Armas, people watched, just idled. In the evening we all went out for dinner together.

27 August. Cusco. Today was a free day, but we all agreed to go to Saqsaywaman, an old Inca astronomical site. Because of the shape and the towers, the Spanish thought it was a fort. Much of it is missing. The Spanish used some of the stones to build the cathedral and the locals took many of the stones to build other places. This only stopped in the 1930's. After that, we saw the White Christ, which was a gift from the Palestinians who came here in the Second World War. Finally we went to the labyrinth at Q'enqo. Inside a split in the rocks is a cave where there's an altar. It was thought to have been used to both sacrifice animals and mummify bodies. In the afternoon I wandered down to the local craft market, then just sat in the hotel courtyard and read. So nice to relax.

This was a busy, tiring holiday, but probably one of the best I've been on. I never thought I'd get to visit Mach Picchu and I feel blessed to have been able to do so. Peru is a great country to visit and the people are so friendly.