Peru’s most striking characteristic is probably its geographic
diversity. We have seen few other countries in the world where one can go
surfing, visit amazing ruins, hike up glaciers, go sandboarding on giant dunes,
or visit the Amazon jungle – all within a one-hour flight or overnight bus
ride. As if not already enough, Peru complements all of this with a beautiful,
warm culture and world class food.
Well rested after our month in Mancora, we set off for a few
days to enjoy Cusco, which is known as the gateway to Machu Picchu but is actually
a premier South American destination in itself. This picturesque, high-flying
Andean city offers a great perspective into Peru’s indigenous culture, with the
local population swarming the narrow cobblestone streets in traditional
clothing, amidst massive Inca-built walls. We thoroughly enjoyed touring the
city by foot, checking out the local market, and tasting the unique local
flavours at the superb restaurants. We also had to dedicate some time to adjust
to the high altitude (at 3,400 meters, merely walking can be a challenge on the
first couple days), as well as Gen having her first ever cross-continent
interview.
From Cusco, we then took the train to Aguas Calientes, the
small village located directly below Machu Picchu. While Ace is far from being
a ruins fanatic, even he has to admit that Machu Picchu is a breathtaking site. The ruins are surprisingly well maintained
and the setting amongst the top of the lush green mountains is surreal – no
wonder it’s considered one of the most famous and spectacular sets of ruins in
the world. We visited the site on two days – first on a perfect sunny day and
then very early in the morning, when we got to watch the fog-covered landscape clear
up with the sunrise.
As much as we enjoyed Machu Picchu, it was actually our next
stop that turned out to be our favorite mountain adventure in Peru (well, at
least Ace’s… see below). Given that the Inca trail was fully booked, we decided
to go for some high altitude trekking and found a very comfortable lodge nestled
way up in the Cordillera Blanca mountain range.
If looking for a South American trekking adventure, we can’t recommend
this place more highly – a truly lovely experience with beautiful mountain
ranges, snow white peaks and glaciers, and air and water was as fresh as we can
ever remember.
The unfortunate part was that Gen could not get
acclimatized. We tried trekking together the first 2 days, but she ended up
very ill both times (fortunately, not too far from the lodge so it was
manageable, although unpleasant and very frustrating for Gen). Not that Ace
preferred this of course, but it actually made for a very unique experience as
he got organized and went off on his own for the last two days. It´s quite
something to go off into the wilderness all by yourself for a day, without even
meeting a single person one of the two days. The first hike was through a huge
valley to a cliff and waterfall where the glacier breaks off into a river down
below. The next day was the very challenging high altitude hike called Lago 69,
where you start in fields with winding rivers and cows, and the reward at the
top (4,600 meters) is an amazing turquoise lake (like lake Louise), set right
below snowy white mountains and glaciers.
One of the prettiest things so far on this trip.
After “roughing it out” in the mountains for 5 days, we
headed back to Lima and took advantage of Gen’s brother’s family discount at
the Hilton for a couple days, where we stayed in the hotel most of the time
except for stepping out to feast on a couple of the famous local restaurants –
La Mar for a top quality seafood lunch and Astrid & Gaston for a (semi)
affordable taste of one of the top 50 restaurants in the world. Neither disappointed
one bit!
We ended our Peruvian adventure amidst a very different
landscape – in the sand dunes of Huacachina – a tiny little backpacker town
surrounding an oasis in the middle of the dunes. Although the town is a bid run
down and we wouldn’t be caught dead swimming in the lagoon (some backpackers
with very questionable judgment would!), we had lots of fun climbing the dunes,
going for a dune buggy ride, and making a very lame attempt at sandboarding
(which Ace will blame on the equipment and not at all his ability J).
Photos - April 8-26: Mainland Peru