Monastery in Arequipa, 500 years old, now just a tourist attraction

Plaza de Armas in Arequipa, Peru

Government buildings in Lima

Biking down the new death road: paved, double-laned, guard rails, no deaths so far

Biking down the old death road: unpaved and full of large rocks, single-laned (if that), no guard rails, multiple deaths

Here are some shots from my last few days in SA. I enjoyed a lovely cultural day in Arequipa, Peru, a sweet 13 hours on the bus from La Paz, Bolivia. I am glad I splurged for the bus with the toilet. I visited the convent in Arequipa, which covered a whole city block. It is like a mini city in there. It was in use about 500 years ago I believe, and has recently been reopened for tourists. Then I went shopping in some of the little artisans shops looking for goodies to bring back, since I was nearing the end of my journey, this was the time to shop. I then hit up the museum where they have a frozen Incan girl, 500 years old, and she still had her hair, finger nails, skin, everything in tact, though she was all black and discoloured. Apparently the Incas believed the mountains were gods, and to please them, they would sacrifice a child, to bring good weather. They hiked about 2 months up some treacherous rocky mountain peaks to one of the highest peaks in the Andes, and kill the 8-14 year old child with traumatic blows to the skull. These children then got covered in snow, and preserved until they were discovered 500 years later. The Ice Princess found near Arequipa was perfectly preserved, and it was not until the volcano put up some ash a few years ago, that it melted her icy tomb, and exposed her. She them tumbled down into a crater, where she was found 2 days later by some random hikers. Unfortunatly her body was in preservation so I saw a different one. Anyways, rather creepy. So after that I went for another morbid experience of guinea pig for dinner. They serve it whole, with the head attached, mouth open, little teeth sticking out, feet and claws still attached, just like a mini bear skin rug. It had absolutely no meat, and tasted of old chicken. I felt really bad after, but I felt that I could not leave Peru without sampling its great delicassies. Then I caught the night bus to Lima, and arrived 12 long hours later. I had a nice wander around the city, saw the town squares, grand hotels, elaborate government buildings, beach, did some shopping, took in a movie, dined at McD's.

I made it home not having been robbed, mugged, held up at knife point, bag-slashed, pickpocketed, severely taken advantage of, ripped off, with my camera and passport... mission complete.

Festival in Puno, Peru



Lake Titikaka and floating islands







The Death Road, from La Paz, Bolivia








Well today Eric, Danny Boy, Katie and I survived riding beat up old mountain bikes down the 'Death Road' leading out of Bolivia's capital, La Paz. We started at 4700m and ended at 1000m, over about 4 hours of riding. The first 24ish km were on the new and improved paved Death Road, while the last 47ish km were on the original dirt, rocky, narrow, steep, curvy, scary Death road. Many people have died on the road both biking and in vehicles. Just 2 months ago they openned the new road up to La Paz, so the original one is only used for bike tours and the occasional crazy cabbie. It was so steep, the road is literally carved into the side of a cliff. A bus went over the edge only 2 months ago, killing all 45 people. The road is dotted with crosses, rather eerie. But it was a beautiful sunny day, and we all went slow, and we all made it to the bottom, on the bike, via the road. We spent a while at a lovely resort for lunch where we went swimming. It was so cold at the top, but 3700m later, it was like a blow drier aimed right at our faces. We probably spent 4 hours in the saddle, I only blew one tire, but I can barely sit down now.

A few days ago we did a nice boat trip from Puno to the floating islands on Lake Titikaka, where Andean people still live. The lake is the highest navigable lake in the world, and huge, it took us 3 hours to drive along the side of it. The islands are made entirely of reeds, including their houses and boats. The islands are 4m thick, are in constant need of repair, as the bottom layers of reed rot quickly. It is a hard life for the people, baking out in the sun all day, and working constantly to keep themselves afloat. There is even an elementary school on the islands, 45 islands in all.

The Andes



Dead Woman's Pass on the Inca Trail



Some ruins along the trial



Me and Danny Boy on the summit of Huayna Picchu



Machu Picchu





Yesterday I completed the 49km 4-day Inca Trail hike. It was absolutely amazing, the Andes are breathtaking. We hiked through deep valleys of steep green mountains, and climbed countless ancient rock stairs. The first day we covered about 16 kms, a nice easy warm up for the next day. The second day was very challenging as we passed through Dead Woman´s Pass, at 13,700 feet. The path was so steep up to the pass, and it was a challenge just to get a breath, the air sure is thin up there, all while toting a 13 Kg pack. The climb up turned out not to be the worst of it all, the descend back down the other side was even worse, so hard on the muscles. After making it to our lunch place, we rested up for the next pass that afternoon. We hiked for about 9 hours that day, ascending at least 1000m, then back down again just in the first pass. The third day was only half a day of hiking, but by then, my calves had seized up, and it was pretty tough going. We passed our third pass that day, and descended way down into a steep valley, my legs were quivering with exhaustion. The fourth day we got up at 4am to start the final leg to Machu Picchu, only a couple of hours. We passed through the Sun Gate and got our first glimps of the ruins at sunrise. We then spent the morning exploring the ruins and taking it all in. I was so spent I could barely move, but for some reason I decided to climb the huge mountain right behind Machu Picchu, Huayna Picchu. Only half an hour up to the top, but so steep I had to use my hands most of the way. The veiw was amazing at the top. By the time we descended my knee was numb, and swollen, and I had a nice nap next to a grazing alpaca on the grass in the middle of the ruins. The train and bus ride back to Cuzco was amazing as well, I managed to stay awake to enjoy it, through the steep valleys, along the river. My group was great, there were 12 of us, 2 guides, and 18 porters. The porters are all from local villages in the Andes. They sure make you feel like a slacker, each one carries up to 30Kg, they just strap the gear on to their backs with blankets, and walk in sandals. I even saw one porter carrying an older lady down the trail, she must have hurt herself. I was amazed most people don't carry their own stuff, they hire a porter, but Danielle and I toughed it out. I sure came to appreciate my gear, my boots were awesome, no blisters or pain at all, my pack was so comfortable, and I pretty much live in my merino wool shirts. The food on our hike was amazing as well, gourmet 3-course meels, which made it nice.

I am now speding a recovery day in Cuzco before the Brissards and I head to Puno tonight to meet up with Eric tomorrow. I decided to come home a week early to prepare a little better for my med school interview, so I leave in only 10 days now! I feel a bit gyped out of some vacation time, but I think it is for the best.

Local girls in Cuzco



Incan ruins, agricultural terraces in Pisac



Our sweet camp spot in Huanchaco


Showing off my skills



One of the many amazing sunsets in Huanchaco




Cuzco, Peru

I flew from Lima to Cuzco, and gained about 3500 meters in elevation yesterday. It was a little hard taking a breath, especially going up stairs, or exerting myself in any way. A little scared about starting the Inca Trail tomorrow, though I feel better after having been here for 2 days now. Yesterday the Brissards and I hiked up to the ruins behind Cuzco, one of them is called Saqsaywaman, pronounced 'sexy woman', and later that evening I was describing to some locals that we went up to sexy mama that day. Let's just say I was made fun of, I don´t think Danielle will ever let me forget it. Today I spent the whole day touring the Sacred Valley, a few hours from here. I saw lots of cool Incan ruins, most of them unfinished at the time of the Spanish conquest, and remained half done. There were lots of temples devoted to the elements. I saw a temple of the sun, where during the winter solstice, in June, the sun shines through a window over a carved rock, and casts a shadow of a cross. Also saw a similar water temple designed to cast special shadows on June 21. There are about 6 such temples in the highlands around here, many km's apart, that are all arranged in the shape of a cross, and could communicate with each other. Very interesting stuff. So tomorrow I start out on the 33 km hike to Machu Picchu in 4 days, reaching 4200 meters at the highest, I am sure I will be gasping for air. It is definitely noticable here at only 3300m or so, though the acclimatization is coming along.

Reed boats made and used by the locals for fishing in Huanchaco



Chan Chan ruins







Buildings in Trajillo around the Plaza de Armas



White Celebrities




Huanchaco, Peru
Well, luckily we stumbled upon the Brissard sisters eventually, just in time to sit on a patio overlooking the ocean, and drink some cervecas. We had a great time in Huanchaco, it was so relaxing, and such a cool little surf town. We made friends with lots of locals, so that was cool. We took some surfing lessons, from Carlos and Tito one day. I found it way easier than when I learned in Aussie land last year, I guess it is like riding a bike, you just pick up where you left off. So we surfed until we could paddle no more. The water was really shallow where the waves break, and the bottom is covered in rocks, so it hurt every time we wiped out, all of us were mopping up our wounds after. Our instructers were showing off their 360's, we weren't quite there yet. The next day we went out to some pre-Incan ruins, of the Chimo's, called Chan Chan. It was really neat, my first taste of ruins down here. They were built in the 15th century, a huge complex out of mud, and surprisingly, they still stand. We wandered around, baking in the desert for a while, then caught a collectivo to Trajillo, the city a few kms from Huanchaco. We went to some little cafe for lunch and ordered some hamburguesa deluxe, which turned out to be a hamburger bun with a fried egg, piece of lettus, and a quarter of a neon pink weiner, not quite what we wanted, but still good. There is a ton of colonial architecture and cool building to see in Trajillo, so we walked around a bit more after lunch. We then sat in the Plaza de Armas, the city centre square, and were celebrities. We were approached constantly by locals asking to have their photos taken with us, or just to sit and listen to us talk, or stare at us. We made a bunch of friends sitting there for hours, with a huge circle of people around us, it was so weird, I felt like a star. The next day we rented surf boards and tried to go by ourselves, without much luck, we got pummelled into the rocks many a time, then decided to just work on our tans. Our new local surf bum friends took us out for a night on the town in Trajillo that night. They turned out to be rather sleezy when they drink, confessing their true love for us. We escaped eventually after Danielle was groped my multiple men at once on the dance floor, and I put one in a head lock. So that was an interesting night. We did go to a Latin dance show, which was cool to watch. Our last day in Huanchaco there was a national surf competition on so we hung out on the beach and watched for a while. They were pulling out some pretty cool moves, it was a really neat atmosphere, with DJ's pumping music out all over, cheerleaders, anouncers. Each surfer gets 20 minutes in the water to try and show off their moves, then they are scored on 3 waves. I toured the second oldest church in Peru last evening, in Huanchaco. The curator even took me up into the bell tower, up this creepy, dark, steep stairway barely big enough for me to pass through. The view was amazing, as the church is perched on the top of a hill overlooking the town and the beach. I watched the sun set from the bell tower. There was a man up there, tied in, banging the bell for an hour during sunset. Then they shoot off fire works from the church each evening. We borded a very tight econo class bus last night, and just arrived back in Lima this morning.

So Peru has been amazing so far. Lydia and I met up with Kopetski last week and spent a few days with him before he started Spanish lessons. We stayed at a beautiful oasis in the middle of the desert and went dune buggying around in some sketchy buggies with sketchy divers. They had to stop every 10 minutes to top up the radiator fluid. It was a ton of fun. We Did some sandboarding, very similar to snowboarding down the dunes. They spread motor grease on the bottom to really make you go fast. It is rather hard to carve in the sand though, i preferred going on my stomach. I wore the colour off my dark blue shorts as they were touching the sand while I rode, a bit more friction than snow. After the oasis in Huacachina, we headed back down south for a flight over the Nazca Lines, some ancient, pre-Incan geoglyphs in the desert pampas. We saw figures of birds, animals, hands, trees, and other geometrical shapes. Apparently they were for harvesting calenders, but lots of mysteries remain around their existance due to the huge sizes of them. So after a nauseating cesna flight, which I co-piloted for 10 minutes or so, we had some coca tea to get rid of the nausea, then set out for Pisco, 4 hours by bus.
In Pisco we strolled around the huge outdoor markets, and spend a couple nights sitting in the town square people watching, and sipping cervecas on balconies overlooking the markets. We took a day to check out the National Reserve and did a hike recommended by the Lonely Planet through the reserve. It turned out to be a 9km walk, one-way, on broken pavement, through a baren desert in the hot hot sun, with absolutely nothing to see, but a vulture circling above us. Luckily we got a ride for the last few km, and hung out with some local people our age. We went to the most beautiful beach, a secluded beach, surrounded by sandy cliffs and rocks, with white sand, greeny blue waters, and sunshine, where we swam in our undies. Then we watched the pelicans fish in the fishing village and drank cervecas by the sea for the afternoon, turned out to be a lovely day, not at all what we expected.
After Pisco, Kopetski left for Arequipa and Lyd and I pressed on to Lima. We only spend 1 night in Lima, did some shopping, went to a movie in English, and picked up Danielle and her sister Katie. So we are now in Huanchaco, a little surfing town just out of Trajillo, camping for a few nights, and wondering what happened to the Brissards, as we were supposed to meet 5 hours ago here. We may have to send out the search party soon.

Lonely Planet recommended hike through National Reserve (one long, hot, boring walk on broken pavement)



Beautiful secluded beach out of Paracas, Peru







Pelicans in the harbour of a fishing village



Mmmmmmm, fruit