Wednesday 28th - Sacred Valley

We headed off into the Sacred Valley which eventually takes you to Machu Picchu.
This valley is very green and fertile with the river Urubamba running through it and you can still see the Inca terraces on the hillsides. We stopped at the market in Pisac and bought a few things. The people are lovely but, as in Cusco, very pushy.
Our journey then took us on to Ollantaytamba which is an Inca fortress smaller than Machu Picchu but absolutely stunning, walked all the way up to the top of the steps and Ana Maria was really informative about everything to do with the architecture, way of life etc. We also visited a house in the village where the guinea pigs were racing around the floor (their life expectancy is about 6 months before they become stew!) and a cute kitten was asleep in the still warm pot on the fire!

We spent the night in a wonderful hotel in Urubamba. Our room was a round bungalow, so everything is a slight curve and 2 stained glass windows showing the sun and the moon (very important to the Incas). The grounds were absolutely beautiful, full of flowers and birds and we were surrounded by mountains.

We visited an animal sanctuary on the way there where we saw for the first time Peruvian dogs (no hair and with a body temperature of 40 degrees!). Apparently people take them to bed as a hot water bottle! They also had a couple of condors and so we were able to see them at close quarters on the ground, having already seen them in the air. They can live as long as 60 years, but, apparently, they choose the timing of their end by deliberately crashing into the ground or the mountainside.

Monday October 26th

We arrived in Cusco after amazing 10 hour train journey on the Andean Explorer train from Puno - a bit like the Orient Express! This was travel in real style, with drinks and meals served throughout and an open ended observation car at the end of the train, which allowed great views of the stunning Andean scenery. There was also a carriage with a bar in which we were served pisco sours and entertained by
Andean musicians. R was invited by the female lead singer to dance with her and was obviously in no position to make excuses, so rose as best he could to the occasion, and knowing that each of the children would be immensely grateful not to be present to witness the scene. The highest point on the route is a pass at 4100m where the train stopped for a short period before starting the steep descent into the valley before finally climbing again to Cusco at 3800m. The railway and the road follow each other closely along the valley which has plenty of well cultivated fields, using the classic Inca design of terraces to maximise the use of steep mountain sides. All along the route, the track was not separated physically from the road and when it went through towns or villages, it went along the same street as the pedestrians and traffic and in Juliaca, it went straight through a street market, with stalls only a few feet away from each side of the train. This is partly due to the more relaxed approach to health and safety and also the fact that trains do not run that frequently – the Andean Explorer only goes 3 times a week and there are no other passenger trains and only a few goods trains.

The next day we had a half day city tour of Cusco, including visits to a number of Inca ruins. The biggest of these was Saqsaywaman, the centre of a key battle when the Spanish were trapped in the city by Inca troops and we marvelled at the achievements of the Incas to work with immense pieces of stone to construct their fortress city. Although most of the Inca buildings in Cusco were destroyed or built on by the Spanish, we were able to visit Qoricancha, where original Inca temples have been preserved in the same building as a Catholic convent. Our guide, Ana Maria, was able to give us a short tutorial in the basics of Inca architecture, sufficient for us to be able to recognise the Inca style in the construction of walls and foundations which are visible in many parts of the old city. Unfortunately, our photos from the morning were mysteriously absent from S’s camera when we went to download them later – a photographic equivalent of the famous “wardrobe malfunction” of Janet Jackson’s blouse at the Superbowl a few years ago, but seemingly inexplicable and irremediable. Perhaps a message from Pachamama (the Inca goddess of the earth) or the result of having lunch at a restaurant with the irreverent name of Pacapapa?

One less attractive feature of Cusco was the number of people on the street begging or trying to sell something (mostly "tat"). It was difficult to get them to accept “No gracias” as an answer and eventually we opted for just ignoring them and pushing past. We didn’t feel good about that but it made the experience slightly less painful. But that only detracted very slightly from a good day in one of the most impressive old cities you could possibly hope to visit, full of history, as well as the launching point for Machu Picchu.

S was put to shame when we met an American couple at least 15 years older than us we reckon who had just done a week long trek similar route to ours but involving an even higher pass and were camping - this after S explained she was "too old to camp"! A bit of embarrassment, but no regrets about our decision to opt for lodges, and a proper bed etc.

Update Friday 23rd October

Not very good at blogging so far, not helped by S suffering from the altitude which necessitated getting a doctor out to prescribe tablets for blood pressure (!) and circulation. S has had a perpetual headache since Tuesday and even been given oxygen which was very welcome at times. S hoping the worst of this is over now.
To update on the last few days, we left Arequipa (2300m) on Tuesday morning to cross the altiplano where we saw hundreds of alpaca, llama and vicuna (another animal in the same family) plus many volcanoes and fantastic scenery throughout, we arrived in the Colca valley to a wonderful hotel by the river with hot springs to enjoy. The following morning we went to see the canyon itself (claimed to be the second deepest in the world) and the condors who were an amazing sight. They soar in the canyon looking for food using the thermal winds and even turn their heads to look at the many tourists there. We were lucky enough to see about 10 in all, both juveniles and adults.

Yesterday (Thursday) we continued our journey to Lake Titicaca and Puno. This took us up to 3800m and S was suffering increasingly from the effects of the altitude, to the extent of being given some oxygen by Hugo (an oxygen cylinder being a standard requirement for all tourist transport in the Andes). That provided temporary respite, but on arrival at Puno, she had a relapse and we called for a doctor, who arrived with admirable speed and even arranged delivery direct to the hotel of the medication he prescribed (pretty impressive compared to the service from the NHS). By now R was also feeling some effects and both of us spent a fairly miserable night, not budging from the hotel room, and contemplating contingency plans in case S was not able to acclimatise and was advised to go down to a lower altitude. The trek was starting to look a bit on the ambitious side. The next morning involved a very early start (5.30 wake up for 6.10 departure), but S rose to the biggest challenge of the whole trip, gritted her teeth and made it onto the boat. Although she was still well short of 100%, she was slowly on the up and the hurdle she cleared that morning proved to be a key part of her preparation for the trek. Gold star for determination!

The start of the boat trip to Suasi involved a visit the floating islands of the Uros with such lovely people who sang to us and took us out on one of their reed boats. The floating islands are amazing, when you get off the boat you feel the ground sinking as they are made of the reeds found in the area and literally tied down by weights , Then on to Taquile island where we saw how the men knit and women weave hats, belts etc and were entertained by a dance with the cutest little girl imaginable.

Finally we reached Suasi Island, a beautiful small island just off the eastern side of the lake and within sight of the Bolivian border. The hotel is the only thing on the island and we were alone there, apart from a German couple, with whom we had a hilarious attempt to talk German, with R incapable of stringing more than 3 words together without something inadvertently coming out in Spanish. The hotel had a beautiful garden overlooking the shore, with views over the lake that would not have been out of place in a postcard from the Cote D’Azur or the Croatian coastline. The island was inhabited by lots of alpaca who are quite tame and some cute little mammals called viscucha like a cross between rabbits and chinchilla.

The evenings were quite cold and we were grateful for the wood burning stove in our room, although we subsequently discovered that S’s partial relapse into altitude sickness was probably caused by our not extinguishing the fire and allowing it to burn out naturally, because it drew air from the room and so further deprived us of oxygen. Happily though, S’s relapse proved to be short lived and thoughts of a “Plan B” to avoid the highest part of the trek receded further in our minds. But S’s recovery was not helped by the return boat trip to Puno, which started in bright and hot sunshine and then turned half way across into a storm with waves high enough to make even the most hardened sailor feel slightly seasick. R spent the last 2 hours with his sight firmly set on various fixed points on the horizon and S wondered what she had done to upset the Andean gods so much.

Arequipa 18th - 19th October

Flew into Arequipa this morning to lovely sunshine and wonderful views of snow covered volcanoes. Over lunch saw religious procession reminiscent of The Godfather celebrating the day of the lord of miracles. Our hotel is a lovely old building built round a courtyard of beautiful flowers. Tomorrow we go with Victor Hugo (our guide!) for a tour of the city and particularly its convent and cathedral.
Had fabulous meal last night in a fish restaurant in Lima, tried Pisco Sour for the first time which is delicious but S found it quite potent!

Had lunch overlooking the main square, R had a beef dish and S had fried cheese with guacamole, nice but very salty!

In the evening after spending half an hour in an internet cafe which cost only 1 nuevo sol (22p approx!) we had dinner in a typical Arequipa restaurant recommended by one of the guide books. R chose the typical filled pepper – very hot and spicy – S tried one mouthful and the roof of her mouth felt like it was on fire so was glad she had chosen tiradito which is raw marinated fish – delicious! Unfortunately S decided to try another Peruvian speciality for her main course – alpaca – which she found very tough and left half of it, worth a try but not for her! Had some delicious ice cream typical of this area, made from a special kind of milk which more than made up for the alpaca. Wandered around the main square after supper and admired the cathedral lit up at night without the backdrop of volcanoes in the dark – a wonderful sight.

The next morning, we were taken round by Victor. Arequipa is a lovely city full of white buildings and interesting things to see. We saw the convent which takes up 5 acres in the middle of the city and where nuns still live and the cathedral which dominates the main square and which was partially destroyed by an earthquake in 2001 when one of the towers came down. Also the museum housing the mummified (by ice) body of an Inca maiden nicknamed Juanita who was sacrificed over 500 years ago and whose hair teeth etc are still visible - not for the faint of heart!

Hi from Lima!

Arrived safely yesterday after a long time travelling - to find have been upgraded to a suite in the hotel which includes a sauna and roman bath!! Could get used to this! Now waiting to do a half day tour of the city, it has 9 million inhabitants - very overcast here and humid, about 20 degrees outside. Spoken quite a bit of Spanish to the guide who picked us up from the airport yesterday - need to keep this going throughout the trip.

We can see the Pacific from the rooftop restaurant where we had breakfast but it is so grey the sea and sky are almost the same colour.

We visited the gold museum, which contained some amazing inca and pre-inca pieces, although we did learn of rumours that not all the pieces that had been exhibited in the museum in the past had been genuine.

We also had our first taste of ceviche – the classic dish of Peruvian cuisine consisting of raw fish marinated in lime and onion and it was delicious.

Tomorrow morning we are off flying down to Arequipa in the south where hopefully we will see the sun!