Lima/ Trujillo/ Huanchaco - 26th April 2017

Wednesday 26^th April 2017

Lima/ Trujillo/ Huanchaco.

Departed from bus station on a Cruz del Sur bus to Trujillo.  Took over 9 hours but included lunch on board (chicken and rice, potato/salad, pud and sweet with soft drink).  Very good facilities including personal entertainment – caught up on 3x different films and loads of solitaire. Large comfortable seats that reclined to reasonable angle.  Very dodgy road in places and view mainly of sand dunes and desert area.

Transfer to Huanchaco which was only about 15 minutes down the road to the

Caballito de Totora Hotel.  Had a pisco sour in their bar, very carefully made by the manager, who seemed to do everything – reception, waiting, bar etc. Nice guy and service was excellent – recommended.

Went for a walk along the beach front until we were whistled by Terry and Diane who had found a nice little salsa bar on the first floor overlooking the sea.  Joined them for a meal of seafood and lots of cold beers. Watched the sunset.

Lima, Peru. City Tour. 25th April 2017

Tuesday 25^th April 2017

Lima, Peru

Walking tour of downtown Lima and the city's historical centre - Plaza Mayor, Cathedral, which houses the remains of Lima's founder, Francisco Pizarro. Some lovely buildings within the central squares, but what was shocking was that only some of the ground floors were being utilised, and floors above were empty/derelict. The holes in rooves were not so much an issue – only 20cm rain per year – but there didn’t appear to be squatters, and the centre of a city was completely underutilised. Also riot cops standing on the edge of the squares expecting demonstrations were a little daunting, but they were friendly and posed for pictures.  Visited Museo Larco – beautiful bougainvillea and cacti surrounding the private museum absolutely loaded with pottery, silver/gold ware from 3000 BC to Inca.  Astounded by the level of delicacy and detail on the potteryware which showed the way of living of pre-Inca civilisation. We were wondering how stories were passed through the generations with no form of writing, but the pottery, and use of knots in string for calculations/ statistics, showed how they managed.  Lunch at the museum – pisco sours to start, French onion soup, chicken with mixed veg and passion fruit tart.  Very tasty in gorgeous surrounds.  Quick drive back along very dodgy-looking sand cliffs backing Lima’s beaches.  Not an area for swimming – lots of mud in the water from reclamation, in addition to the Humboult cold currents. 

Back for relaxing afternoon catching up on blog. Couple of bottles of wine demolished with Ed and Judy.   

Overnight Hotel Monte Real, Miraflores.

Pisco to Lima, Peru. 24th April 2017

Monday 24^th April

Pisco to Lima

The sightseeing tour was a low-budget sort of thing as not much to see. The blue and white church was pretty much condemned due to an earthquake about 10 years ago at 6pm in evening. The cathedral beside had completely fallen down, killing hundreds of parishioners, and had been rebuilt in modern and boring brick.

We bought a new carry-on bag to take all of our excess luggage we’ve been starting to acquire.

 

 

At 1300 we took the bus from Pisco to Lima, which took about 4 hours. Again, hot lunch was included and a soft drink. No alcohol allowed, and all hand baggage and ourselves searched before entry. Also we were all video’d once in our seats – not quite sure of the reason, but good for DVI !!!

Collected by a very good guide, Alex (Alehandro?), who sounded like Vin Diesel, and taken to Hotel Monte Real.  Did a load of washing of all clothes, and found later that not allowed in rooms!  Set up the fan to try and dry it off in bathroom before we were fined.

Very posh evening out at Huaca Pucllana restaurant - on the terrace overlooking a great adobe and clay pyramid built from seven staggered platforms. This was a Fifth century important ceremonial and administrative centre, which sadly was allowed to fall into disrepair. Luckily it is now being protected and was very impressive all lit up as our backdrop. 

Dinner of pisco sours, mixed salad with goats cheese, trout with a sesame crust on mash, chocolate bombe pudding. Lots of very clean and neat people around us but we scrubbed up fairly well....

 

Nazca Lines flight. To Pisco. 23rd April 2017

Sunday 23^rd April

Nazca Lines. To Pisco

Early flight over Nazca Lines. Little airport with lots of different airlines all vying for business.  All had to be weighed (ouch) to sort out who sat where.   30 minute flight (about $100) with 9 tourists plus two pilots. They took us in a set route across the main diagrams in the desert, banking steeply to left and right over each one so we all had a good view.

Good view of hummingbird, spider, lots of straight ‘landing strips’ and what I thought was a very dodgy astronaut/alien.

Found out that there was another tribe who also had similar diagrams, with big eyes for all-seeing, large head for intelligence etc, and therefore was not a recent addition for the alien conspiracy theory. The trip was sadly all-to-short and the whole place was littered with various diagrams and lines. 

 

 

We then spent a little extra to take a tour to see ‘the needle’ up close. The rough brown desert floor had been measured with stones and then scraped down a couple of inches to the white gypsum underneath.  With no rain and little winds, the dew from the desert then set the gypsum to a solid layer, hence why the diagrams remain after all these years. 

We also visited a series of wells which harnessed the springs from the mountains and gave access for the population to get water and also crawl between the holes and clear out any blocking vegetation.  A massive construction effort with large round stones collected from the river to line the canals and watering holes.  Very efficient. 

Taken to bus station for public bus (very posh) from Nazca to Pisco.  Bespoke films on board and lunch of chicken/rice and pudding supplied.  Took about 4 hrs.   Stayed in Hotel Residencial San Jorge, which had a cool swimming pool.  A dip ensued, just long enough for a Pisco sour to be constructed.  We were going to eat at the hotel, but service was rubbish so against our guide's advice ‘don’t go out after dark…’  we all wandered into town to find a real family-friendly evening underway.  Good party atmosphere for a Sunday evening  We appeared to be the only tourists and managed to find a family run café which provided Iain with a two course meal – salad and meat/noodles for 10 solas. No beers, so lady ran across road to an off-licence and supplied us with requisite cold beers for our meals. Good atmosphere and staggered back full and happy. 

Arequipa to Nazca, Peru. 22nd April 2017

Saturday 22^nd April

Arequipa to Nazca, Peru

Bus didn’t leave until lunchtime, so we had a short city tour of Arequipa planned.  I bought an alpaca scarf as a nice souvenir. 

Jude and I went to visit the indoor market first, loaded with fruit and smoothies, as well as usual butchers and all-sorts. On way back had a nice smoothie before joining the gang at the cathedral.  The guide wasn’t happy that we were a couple of minutes late. Shame. 

 

Another guide showed us around and then up onto the roof which gave an excellent view over the city and arcades around the square,  and to the volcanos in the distance.  

Then back to hotel to collect Iain and Terry who had wanted to stay with all our luggage, and who gave very direct feedback re the guide service!  Transferred to bus from Arequipa to Nazca which took at least 9 hours, full lunch and sandwich tea supplied.   Luckily the Hotel Alegria was right opposite the bus station so we only had to stagger a few yards to the hotel and into bed. 

 

Colca Canyon. Condor city. 21st April

Friday 21^st April

Colca Canyon.  Woke earlyish and made our way to a viewpoint in Colca Canyon to see Condors flying in their morning routine.

 

 

From a slow start, there was suddenly about 7 young (brown) and older (black and white) Condors, one of which was being warned off by a brave eagle. We stayed until about 10am, mesmerised by the elegance of these creatures.

Descended to Chivay town which was a bit ramshackle and very ‘touristy’ with the sellers and unfortunately people wanting money for photo with alpacas or an eagle. We declined.

 

 

 

Returned to Arequipa, Hotel Plaza Residence, where we had left our main bags.  Sadly the Roman bath spa underneath was out of action.

Arequipa to Colca Canyon. Volcanos and Hot Springs. 20th April.

Thursday 20^th April 2017

Arequipa to Colca Canyon

 

 

Early start with minivan to Chivay (approx 5 hrs), around to the backside of the three main volcanos.  

 

 

Along the way we saw llamas, alpacas and vicunas. Iain had a vicuna (in a herd of alpacas) take a fancy to him which was quite funny – ‘no, no, no’ when it stuck its nose into his camera bag.

 

Lots of stops for panoramic photos of terraces, valleys and canyons, including Patapampa (the highest place at 4800 m above sea level). Only problem was our guide – ‘remember’/’any questions?’ (one nanosecond break) ‘No’, ‘Vamos’…..

 

Stopped at a couple of villages and ruins.  In one we visited a family home and saw their little kitchen, outside sink and rented ‘homestay’ room which was very basic but nice. The elderly grandma and daughter demonstrated how they spun alpaca wool and made various bits of clothing. I bought a pair of gloves for 20 solas, mainly to show them some support.  Lovely family, very friendly.

 

 

Overnight stay at the gorgeous Colca Lodge. Even though it was dark when we arrived, we immediately changed (wearing the hotel white robes) and walked down to the hot springs owned by the hotel. Water was 36-41 degrees and with a bar alongside, we supped pisco sours whilst relaxing in the hot waters and watching the stars. Saw two shooting stars.

Dinner was superb.  Bottle of wine shared with gang on our terrace. Nice.