Peru – The road to Machu Picchu!
The next day we drove to Paracas. This is a seaside town and the gateway to the Ballestas Islands, home to approx. 200 types of birds, sea lions, Humboldt penguins and occasionally dolphins. Our visit was to fly the Nazca lines by light aircraft. These huge drawings can only be seen from the air, they were discovered in 1927 but have been there for over a thousand years and we still know relatively little about them. If you’re happy to ride a rollercoaster you’ll be fine but if the thought turns your stomach you might want to just buy a set of pictures instead!
The next day we drove the 250km back to Lima and continued our tour. The buildings of the old city show their Spanish heritage and the Cathedral had amazing mosaics and carvings. The city was also a hive of activity with street cleaners and gardeners keeping everything immaculate. We were only back in Lima for one night and were flying to Arequipa the next day at 0530. This White City is at altitude, our room was ready when we arrived and we rested to get acclimatised. In the afternoon we walked the city and visited Santa Catalina Monastery, the Cathedral, the pretty Yanahuara district and Carmen Alto viewpoint to see the Misti, Chachani and Pichu-Pichu volcanoes properly for the first time. The next day we were in the foothills of Chachani surrounded by llamas and alpacas en route to Colca.
Another very early start saw us at the Colca Canyon before 8am. We waited with bated breath and were rewarded with several majestic condors rising on the thermals. These amazing birds are the symbol of the Andes and although they have a wingspan of almost 3 metres, they looked tiny in this vast canyon when we first spotted them. During the afternoon we stopped at more colonial towns to arrive in the very chaotic lakeside town of Puno. There is only a narrow strip of land between the lake shore and the mountains so the city is precariously creeping up the mountainside. It’s predominantly a fishing and agricultural area where bartering is still king and a traffic jam is an everyday occurrence. Lake Titicaca, the world's highest commercially navigable lake, at 3,860 m above sea level is home to the ‘floating islands’. For thousands of years the Uros people have lived on and maintained these unique islands, depending on the lake for their survival and in recent years, supplemented by tourism. We spent two nights here at the Relais & Châteaux hotel Titilaka and the hotel, the lake and the islands were magical.
The end of our trip was in sight as we drove to Cusco via Pucara, the Temple of the Wiracocha and Andahuaylillas for more insight into the local history. The next day Sacsayhuaman Archaological Park was impressive, shopping at Pisac Market was fun and soon we were in Ollantaytambo for our overnight stay.
The next day was the highlight of our trip – Machu Picchu! We took the Inca Rail train to Aguas Calientes to meet our guide and boarded the bus which took us up the last steep winding road to Machu Picchu. The Urubamba River rushes though the pass below us and The Lost City of the Incas disappears into the clouds above us. We journey up through jungle vegetation and you wonder how the place was ever built. Our guide took us to vantage points all over the sacred site and explained the terracing, the shrines and buildings. From here you can also see Intipunku – the sungate where people who take the Inka Trail will emerge and glimpse their first sights of the lost city. For the adventurous, there are 400 tickets available daily to climb Huayna Picchu and see an alternative view amazing!