Enjoying Lima's sea air

After a not too hellish 21 hour bus ride to Lima, it was straight to 151 Hostel in the Miraflores district of Lima. Lima hadn't really been on my list of places to go but after arriving at our cute hostel it seemed that maybe Miraflores wasn't too bad of a place to spend a few days.

Being at sea level for the first time in about 6 weeks we figured that a run might be in order, now that our lungs could finally handle the exercise. The Miraflores district of Lima prides itself on being safe, clean and beautiful with parks lining the cliffs of the murky beach below. The parks are dotted with different statues and one area has a distinct Park Guel by Gaudi feel to it, making for an interesting and pleasant area to run along.

It felt amazing being able to get our jog on again and not be gasping for breath after 5 steps. The misty air that Lima is famous for at this time of year didn't even dampen our spirits. After a run, of course you've earnt yourself a good lunch right? So off we walked to try out La Red, one of trip advisors cevicheria recommendations.

Along the way I had a pretty scary experience where we crossed a wide suburban street, Jimmy a little ahead of me, with no cars around, then as I was reaching the other side a car came flying around the corner (not indicating) and instead of going around me - there was loads of room and no other cars in sight, or giving the customary beep to warn me he was coming, the car just drove straight at me and so thankfully I saw at the last moment what was about to happen and had to literally jump out of the way in order to not get hit. Jimmy of course wanted to chase him down but I told him it wasn't worth it and we carried on our way. About 5 minutes later the adrenaline wore off though and I had a bit of a delayed reaction of shock. Thankfully I was fine aside from the shock but I was more keen than ever to get to La Red as soon as possible so I could get a drink in me. 

La Red turned out to be a great spot with delicious ceviche, a yummy main of fish with a coriander sauce, finished off with two huge caramel deserts. They carried out a tray of the desserts from which you could choose from so it was so hard to resist them! One of them was basically caramel made from sweetened condensed milk on the bottom, then uncooked meringue on top. My idea of heaven, but it definitely undid any positive effects the run may have had on our waistlines!

Jimmy was pretty keen to try out the surf but after looking at the waves again after lunch, decided it probably wasn't worth it so we instead just wandered around some more, taking in Miraflores. In the middle of the area is a large ruin site Huaca Pucllana so we decided to check it out even though we were feeling a bit over ruins (terrible I know). The tour guide was unfortunately incredibly dull, much like a robot just stating the facts, but the ruins themselves were quite different to anything we had seen before due to them being a lot older, dating back to 200 AD. 

The mud bricks were all made by hand and were built layer upon layer each time there was a celebration, about every 50 years. A celebration usually involves a sacrificial woman and so it's said that there have been many bones found amongst the ruins. The strangest thing is just how the ruins are situated right in the middle of an urban area, and they were actually once a lot larger but developments have meant that they have been reduced in size to the few hectares that now remain.

After our ruins visit and making it back to our hostel, it was dinner time. We had arranged to meet our friend Khalid at the Burrito Bar at 8:30, which was in the neighboring bohemian district of Barranco. Lima was certainly delivering on the food front with Burrito Bar having the best Mexican food by far that we had had on the trip to date. The beef quesadillas were so, so good! And of course it was great to catch up with Khalid and hear about what he had been up to since we last said goodbye to him in La Paz. 

The next days surf wasn't looking any better so another run had to suffice for Jim. After our run we checked out the mall that had been built into the cliffs below Miraflores. After some more ceviche and a quick bite at La Lucha (a sandwicheria) we figured why not hit up the bowling alley for a bit of fun. Weirdly they make you pay for it in half hour blocks rather than number of games so we went for half an hour and played 2 speed games of bowling. As usual I started off with a bang and was getting spears and strikes but before long was lucky to get a few pins at once. Jimmy on the other hand was just getting warmed up and managed to overtake me pretty quickly.

Before our bus that night we filled our day some more with a walk down to the beach to test out the temperature of the water as well as explore the Barranco district some more before a reasonable enough hour to go back to the Burrito Bar for another Mexican fix. 

Another city down, another few days of basing our days around where we were going to eat next and now, onto the sleepy beach town, Huanchaco, for Jim to try and finally put his wetsuit to use that he's been lugging around in his bag for the last 7 weeks. 

Post trekking relaxation

After our trek we decided that we weren't in any hurry to move on from Cusco. This was firstly due to us not being able to face a long bus ride just yet, next because we didn't really know where we were going to head to and lastly because we actually just really liked the vibe of Cusco. That's what in love about not having a set itinerary to stick to, you can just stay somewhere you like longer if you decide to.

We arranged with our trekking friends to meet the next day at Paddy's to watch the second game of the football and enjoy some day drinking together. We did just that and then reserved ourselves a table at Nuna Raymi for dinner so some of the others could try out the local Peruvian dish of guinea pig. 

The Inti Raymi festivities were still going on out in the main square so between games we were able to catch some of them. The part I enjoyed the most about the whole thing was being able to see all the different traditional costumes, some of which were quite scary looking!

Interestingly there are some costumes that include white masks with big noses and then they wear western clothes and walk along pretending to swig out of bottles of beer. As part of the parade they then grab the Peruvian women and throw them over their shoulder as they kick around trying to escape. We deduced that this must be a depiction of the Spanish when they invaded which was an interesting subtle dig at the Spanish. I mean hey, they did conquer their country and all so it's understandable that they want to take a dog at them but something that we have noticed quite a bit of over here is a definite undertone of racism toward non Peruvians. Examples have been when we went to the hot pools in the Colca Canyon and without realizing Jimmy went in the "locals only" pool so was promptly told to vacate. Another example was when we considered buying LAN flights to go from Cusco to Lima and when shown the prices the $97 were flights were for Peruvians only and we would instead have to pay the more expensive price of $150 instead. Also park entry fees have been considerably cheaper for locals, usually about 75% cheaper. I get that the Peruvian wage is likely to be significantly lower than the average westerners and so they are probably catering to that in those instances but the one that I found the most bizzare (along with the hot pool) was when we were walking up the Main Street of Cusco and saw this lovely park with the following sign.

Now just imagine if in NZ we started putting signs up saying that tourists were prohibited in certain places. The uproar would be huge! Anyway, just a little interesting insight into the culture over here.

The next cultural difference is as I mentioned earlier, eating guinea pig. Five out of our group of ten ordered it for their dinner (both Jimmy and I gave it a miss). Before the real thing came out, the waitress brought out a display plate and told us it was for us to photograph. So of course we did..

I was pretty repulsed by the thing and couldn't wait for it to be taken away, the whole while it was there I was having flashbacks of my two guinea pigs I'd had as a kid. Thankfully the real meal was a lot less in your face but the concencous around the table was that it was ok, but very bony and tasted like gamey chicken. My crispy skinned trout on the other hand was divine!

The next day was the real deal of Inti Raymi which ended up just meaning a whole lot more of the same parades but with about 1000x more people crammed into the main square. We retreated to pubs around the square so we could watch from the safety of the balcony without there being the risk of being pick pocketed (we had been told to watch our pockets as we had tried to push our way through the crowds earlier).

After a last dinner at Indigo with Danielle and Brett (the Australian couple), and a last lunch at Green Point (an amazing vegan restaurant for the menu of the day which includes a huge amount of food, all for 10 soles - about $4) with Danielle, Brett, Rebecca and Peter (the English & Scottish couple), it was time to bid farewell to them all and head on our way to our next stop, Lima. We had decided to go there rather than Huacachina as originally planned as most had said Huacachina was fun only for sandboarding which we had already done and Jimmy was keen to hit the coast ASAP in search of some waves. 

Our lovely host at Home Sweet Home gave us a hug and sent us on our way, wishing us well for our travels.

Cusco had certainly felt like home for the last 10 days but with time running out on our trip we have to keep on moving.

Winter Solstice at Machu Picchu

Being awoken at 3:30am with no tea service was a bit disappointing and then we were further disappointed to find that "breakfast" consisted of one slice of stale bread with jam and butter. We couldn't help but feel like the care factor was gone now that the porters and cook had received their tips. Our spirits were still pretty high though given we were about to head off to see Machu friggen Picchu!!!

The walk took us about 1.5 hours to reach the sun gate. It was actually quite an amusing walk as with any trail, some people walk slower than others. Given we were racing against time in order to beat the sun to the sun gate, our group was pretty keen to keep up a good pace. This meant having to overtake some people who were going at a more leisurely pace which meant a lot of comments directed at us like "geez some people are in a hurry" etc. 

We finally reached the sun gate as the sun was still hiding behind the hills, but giving us enough light to be able to see the majestic sight of Machu Picchu laid out below us. We had made it! The Inca site is said to date back to around 1450 but was deserted after the Spanish conquest, most likely due to illnesses. The site wasn't rediscovered (although was known about by locals) until 1911 by an American named Hiram Bingham. It's said that he asked a local where he had found an ancient clay artifact and the local pointed up the hill. Bingham requested he show him the whereabouts of this site and he refused but offered his sons services instead and low and behold, the boy led him to what we now know as one of the seven wonders of the world. Since this time the site has undergone restoration and is still undergoing it to this day.

 

After taking in its beauty for about half an hour from the sun gate it was time to go down and join the hordes of other tourists who were arriving by bus from Aguas Calientes. As it happened, the 21st of June is Winter Solstice which means the sun enters through the central window of the temple of the sun and falls directly on the large ceremonial stone located inside of the temple. Being one of the most important days of year on Machu Picchu's calendar meant there were a larger number of people than usual there according to our guides but it still couldn't take away from the sheer beauty if the place.

Our guides gave us a tour for a few hours around the site and then we were free to wander around and soak up the scenery ourselves. 

Understandably so, the Peruvians take the sacridity of the site very seriously. This meant that our afternoon was punctuated with whistles being blown by guards when they decided someone was doing something they didn't like. Two of our group got in trouble for doing a little dance when they stepped into some sunshine. Jimmy's jump shot and jandal shot definitely wouldn't have been allowed either but we managed to get away with them without any whistle blowing. What was the real shame was the fact that as we were lying on a non roped off grass terrace enjoying the view and the sunshine with many others, a guard suddenly decided we weren't even allowed to do that and moved us all on. Feeling a bit disheartened we figured it was time to go down to Aguas Calientes and get some lunch and a much dreamed after cerveza.

Lunch was a little disappointing and so were the hot springs that we had been dreaming of after 4 days without a shower. But it was still great way to share a debrief with all the crew and say our farewells to those that were heading off in their different directions.

It was a bit surreal all in all but definitely happy to have ticked that one off our bucket list as it's an incredibly impressive, stunning location that everyone should try and visit. Doing the 3.5 days of hiking to get there absolutely added to the whole experience and I would even go so far as to say that the hike was as much of a highlight as Machu Picchu itself. A big thanks to Peru Treks and our awesome group of comrades for making it one of the most memorable four days that we will ever have I'm sure.