Northern Peru

At the end of my last post, we were just finishing off the Ecuador leg of our trip. The bike ride I mentioned we might take was spectacular. We followed the "Ruta de las Casacadas" (the "Route of the Waterfalls"), and certainly saw many, all crashing down into the deep river valley below. The largest and most impressive, called the Pailon del Diablo (Devil's Cauldron), could be reached from below via a rope bridge which allowed us to really feel the power and force of the water. The last stop of the excursion involved a short hike down to a smaller waterfall with a small pool we swam in to cool off after the 20km ride. That afternoon, we jumped straight onto a bus heading to Cuenca, our last stop in Ecuador and a pretty colonial town. From there, we launched onwards to our next country: Peru. 

After a shaky start in our first Peruvian stop Piura (involving my debit card getting stuck in a cash point, prior to me being able to obtain any Peruvian soles, and an interesting journey on the back of a police motorbike), we decided to head straight to the coast. Our first stop was the town of Huanchaco, a fun fishing and surf hub. The locals use straw boats on which they sit astride to fish called Caballitos de Totora ("Little Reed Horses"). We visited the pre-Inca Chimu sites of Chan Chan and other nearby connected Huacas (ruins).

It was in Huanchaco that Tanya heard about Chicama, the infamous home of the longest left breaking wave in the world. We decided to go investigate and spent a fantastic couple of days there, where we became friends with some locals who showed us the best places to get into the surf, and even showed us how to cook some local dishes. Tanya and I managed to get a few surfs (with me on a body board of course!), although it was possibly the trickiest places I've ever been in the water on a board! 

We could have whiled away days in that hostel, perched up on the cliff overlooking the long beach, however we were keen to keep our momentum going, aware of how much we want to fit into our trip and how much more Peru had to offer. So it was back onto an overnight bus to the capital: Lima. 

Out first day in Lima was packed full of sight seeing. The squares dotted around the city centre are beautiful. The main square, Plaza de Armas, is surrounded by the impressive cathedral and President's Palace. Nearby, the Congress holds centre stage of another plaza, which is also home to the Inquisition Museum - full of details about the different types of punishments of the time. We also visited an interesting graphic art/comic book exhibition and the national art museum, where two interesting photography exhibitions were on display. The following day we treated ourselves to an extravagant meal (by Peruvian standards) in tv-chef Gaston Acurio's La Mar. There we sampled the best ceviche I have tasted in a sample menu containing five different types, accompanied with morsels of puréed potatoes dressed with different toppings, washed down with Leche de Tigre - which is simply ceviche juice mixed with pisco! It was truly dilicious and he has restaurants all over the world so if you find one near you - give it a go! 

From Lima, we travelled several hours south, through the town of Pisco (of grape brandy fame), to the town of Ica, and eventually to the village of Huachachina with an oasis in the centre and surrounded by sand dunes. Within an hour of arriving we were sitting in a "sand buggy" heading into the dunes to try our hands at sandboarding, only to run into difficulty half way through the tour, when the buggy broke down! Eventually our guide had to abandon us in the dunes in order to retrieve another and it was somewhat disconcerting being left in essentially a dessert as it got darker and darker! However, all's well that ends well, and the almost full refund healed any resentment we had against the tour and hostel! We did manage to have a go sandboarding anyway, and it was great fun - especially going straight down on your belly!

The last stop which I will write about here is Arequipa from where I write this post. We arrived here on Sunday and spent a relaxing day wandering around this amazing white city, built with dazzling volcanic rock. The following day we set out at 3am on the real reason for this stop: a trek into the Colca Canyon which is more than twice as deep as the Grand Canyon at 4,160m deep. It was a truly spectacular place, and our three days spent there were amazing. Our guide was excellent at explaining all the biology, geology and history of the area. For example, there are pre-inca burial sites set deep into the canyon wall and the sulphur in the volcanic rock is clearly visible. We ate prickly pears as well as this strange fruit called pacay, which we could only describe as a cross between a lychee and a banana! We spent the last day at a beautiful lodge at the bottom of the canyon, complete with a pool fed by spring water. We even tried our hand at local net fishing, although we weren't very good at it! The hike out of the canyon, as you can imagine, was quite a slog uphill! It was great to get to the top though! On our journey back to Arequipa, we stopped at a volcanic thermal bath (much needed after the hike!), and to see alpacas, llamas and vicuñas (a smaller wild relative). We also had an incredible view of the volcanos, one of which is currently smoking! We then had a buffet lunch at a restaurant which served both cuy (Guinea pig) and alpaca. The latter was delicious, the former a bit fatty and slimy but we are glad to have tried it! 

From here we are just organising our next stop, Cusco, including Macchu Picchu! We are very excited and I will be sure to write an update when we have made it up there! 

Lots of love, Emma x

Ecuador - the coast and back up north

We felt a bit deflated I think, post the Galapagos trip. I suppose that's not surprising after spending ten days in one of the most amazing places on earth! The drizzly weather in Quito was not helping, so we hopped on (an 11 hour overnight) bus to Puerto Lopez, on the south coast of Ecuador. It's a quaint fishing village, which borders a national park including an island called Isla de Plata, known as the poor man's Galapagos (actually one of a few called such) for its population of blue footed boobies. We only stayed there one day and night therefore we didn't get over to the island. Had it been whale watching season we'd have made the effort, unfortunately however it was not. We did see some incredible fish in the mornings when we wandered down among the incoming fishing boats. The sand turned red with blood and the catch was impressive. Other highlights included finding a pleasant Russian restaurant where we sampled seafood stuffed pancakes!

The following day we moved on once again, this time just a couple of hours south to surfers' paradise Montañita. The small town is heaving with dreadlocks, surf boards and cocktail bars. We stayed in a bamboo shack, on the open sided roof room which contained mattresses on the floor covered with a mosquito net. We became well acquainted with the room mouse and cat, which appeared to live in perfect harmony with one and other. We soaked up some much needed sun on the beach and Tanya managed to fit in a couple of surfs as well. We had a fun evening sampling tasty cocktails from an alley lined with cocktail making carts and bumbed into two of our fellow Galapagos trip travellers. It was quite hard to tear ourselves away from the place - however touristy and quite frankly naff it is, it offered a well needed couple of days to let go and relax! However, we were keen to head back north once more, to the market town of Otavalo just north of Quito.

The reason for our sudden rush to return to northern Ecuador was that each Saturday in Otavalo, the daily artisanal market spreads out from the central square to adjacent streets. It's really quite impressive and we carefully picked out a few souvenirs which would not take up too much room in our luggage for the following months! The locals still dress in traditional dress - the women sporting long black skirts, pretty white embroidered blouses tucked in with intricate textile belts. Both men and women have beautiful long black hair generally worn in a single, low plait. In addition to the artisanal market, Saturday mornings also host the weekly animal market where locals buy and sell everything from pigs, cows and horses; chickens and chicks; puppies and kittens; and, of course, guinea pig, the South American delicacy. It was a little heart breaking seeing the treatment of some of the animals, and wondering what happened to the surplus of puppies present at the market, however I was able to marvel at the simplicity of the lives of the local people who buy and sell there. The covered food market in the town also deserves a mention for it sells an incredible array of fruit, vegetables, meat and cheese as well as selling delicious almuerzos (set lunches) and hog roasts served on a bed of corn. On Sunday, we hiked over to a beautiful lake, la Laguna de San Pedro, about 4km from the town before once again hitting the road, this time heading to the central highlands and the thermal town of Baños from where I write this post.

Baños is situated in the shadow of a currently active volcano. In fact the very night we arrived, our new room mates excitedly reported that they had just seen lava escaping from the crater on a night time trip up near the edge of the volcano! Besides the thrill of being so close to such potential danger (fear not it is constant monitored for increased activity and planned evacuation routes are in place!), Baños offers thermal pools and naturally fizzy water. The local thermal pools contain three pools of different temperatures from about 18 degrees to 45 degrees! A local chap explained that you should four minutes in the (painful) hot water before dipping into the cold pool and repeating this cycle four times. The result was strange tingling on the skin, light headedness and a somewhat tight feeling in the chest, as well and a bone chilling cold at the end of the last cold dip. However, our skin now feels soft and rejuvenated! The town is also a popular adrenaline junkie stronghold, with countless agents offering activities such as water sports, bridge jumping, zip wires, bike and horse riding to name a few. The non-existent safety records aligned with the bridge jumping put me off somewhat, however we squeezed in white water rafting in a spectacular green jungle-esque river valley and a four hour horse ride in the shadow of the volcano where we heard its rumblings and gurglings sounding ominously like thunder. We attempted the same late night trip as our dorm mates to see the volcano eruptions, however luck was not on our side and the cloud cover was too low to even see the top of the volcano. Additionally, one night we treated ourselves to a meal out at the local Swiss fondue joint, which was surprisingly good and made me very happy to get some nice cheese!

Tomorrow we are planning a bike trip, weather dependant, to the incredible waterfalls we drove past once to get to the river for the rafting but unfortunate did not have our cameras with us. Then, out plan is to move onto the city of Cuenca on our continued way south. We hope to reach Peru by the end of the week, which we are very excited about!

So there you have it, I hope this post hasn't been too long and you haven't given up on it by this point! Expect the next update to include what we learned from our first border crossing and news from the next country on our list.

Lots of love,
Emma