Lima: finally sun and surf

1.Jana s first surf class 

2.Surf Masters 

3.After surfing  

4.Peruvian national dance?

5.Fernando and Bjoern  

6.Hungarian national dance

7.Sightseeing  

8.Peruvian Flag

 We took our flight from Cusco to Lima at 7 o clock in the morning after coming home from the already mentioned party at 4 o clock. We were smashed, but thoughtfully had already reserved a hostel in Lima, called Stop and Drop, a place runned by a surfer called Jose Antonio. We were picked up from the airport by a really nice driver and directly went to the hostel. Of course we made friends with Jose Antonio, went surfing with him and had a nice barbecue on the first night together with him, an australian surfer and his swedish girlfriend. We tried really hard to get the charcoal working and finally were helped by Fernando, a peruvian guy from Iquitos (located directly in the jungle), who applied some jungle charcoal techniques i have never seen before and saved the night.  Jose Antonio teached Jana how to surf, because it was her first time. After a lot of crying she even managed to stand up. She did not want to do it anymore after the first day, because she thought the pain in her shoulders would kill her.

The hostel was really great: friendly staff, nice chill out area with DVD, kitchen and couches. After plans failed to go out on the first evening, we had dinner on the second one in the hostel s kitchen. All of the sudden it was full of probably 10 people from Peru, Italy, Nicaragua, Hungary, Australia, Sweden, Germany and Bulgaria. We started drinking and ended up showing typical dances from every single country. Then we headed to two discotheques, with 7 guys fitting in one cab. Pictures will follow…

We were told before going to Lima that the city is ugly and dangerous, but we can only report good things about it. First of all we finally got sun. It was maybe 27° C warm, the sea offered nice 19° C so surfing could be done in a thin neopren. People were very nice and the seafood was incredible. We went to a restaurant next to the sea, which offered Ceviche, fresh, not cooked seafood which comes with all kinds of souces. Really delicious. 

Jana even got some new, original Ray Ban sunglasses as Lima is home to South Americas biggest black market. Getting in is an adventure already. You should definitely do it with a peruvian friend, because you will get robbed otherwise. Then you have to find a cab that takes you there. With your credit card taped to your body you look for the item you want to buy. You tell the seller that you ll be right back, get the exact amount of money that you need out of the bank outside the black market, return, buy and get the hell out.

The Inkas: Cusco and Machu Picchu

1. Saqsaywaman

2. Saqsaywaman with sexy woman 

3. Cusco from above

4. Fountain of youth

5.Ollantaytambo

6.Ollantaytambo 2

7.Ollantaytambo 3

8. 12angle stone in Cusco

9. Inka Wall of Fame I

10. Inka Wall of Fame II

11. Inka Wall of Fame III 

12. View of Cusco from our hostel

13. Machu Picchu Train

14. Machu Picchu

15. We at Machu Picchu

16.Jana and friends

17. Crazy chewing

18. Climbing Wayna Picchu

19.Just your ordinary view

20. Machu Picchu from above

21.We did it

22. Martenitza

23. Wildlife

24.Bye bye

25. Rio

26. Que bicho

27. Fashion show on the way back

 

After an eight hour bus ride we arrived in Cusco, the cultural centre of South America. It s funny how often you meet other travellers that you met before. On the first day we met Christiano, the crazy italian/scotish guy inside a bar. On another day we met the english couple  whom we did the Salar de Uyuni trip with. We went partying with them on our last night, where we met Sylvia, the girl who did the Colca Canyon tour with us. It was a big night out, due to the fact that we had to catch a flight on the next day at 7 o clock in the morning. But first things first.

The Inkas know how to run and invent things. They were the first to perform head surgery, invented anaesthetics, crowns for teeth and a lot of other things. We first saw a lot of ruins around Cusco, then went to the Sacred Valley (Ollantaytambo, try to pronounce that) and finally to Machu Picchu. Here is another example for the Inka s outstanding skills: Cusco was constructed to have the shape of a Puma. I can t even use a hammer, but these people built a city, which now has more than a million inhabitants with the shape of a Puma.

But above all stands Machu Picchu. You really ask yourself how they could built that city at 2600 meters height. It s amazing. To get there from Cusco is also amazing. In order to save money you have to take a bus from Cusco to Ollantaytambo (2 hours), where you get on the Machu Picchu train. This train is owned by an chilean company and boy they know how to use their monopoly to make some money. Then after 1.5 hours, which cost 35 Us Dollar each one way we arrived in Aguas Calientes, where we spent the night. We got up at 5 o clock in the moring in order to be the first entering Machu Picchu, got in and enjoyed the spectacular city. Machu Picchu is also called the lost city of the Inkas, because the spanish did not find it, it was so well hidden in the foggy forests that it was not found until the beginning of the 20st century. We climbed Wayna Picchu, a hill behind Machu Picchu, which is 360 meters higher. Thanks to our hiking experience we made it in a bit. The view was spectacular and only the first 400 people were allowed to climb it…

Arequipa and the Colca Canyon

                         

Trekking Allstars, Check out our new Alpaca Hats, Another one, Condor, Lazy girls, Beer in the Oasis, After a day of hard work, Colca River, The way up, Que lindo, Trekking Team, Trekking route, Flying condor, Colca Canyon, Hostal Dog, Drinking with piggy hands, Plaza de Armas, Guinea Pig on volcanic stone, Lunch, Arequipa-Plaza de Armas,

I know, I know we have been lazy. We are already in Brazil and here I am finally sitting writing the reports for Peru.

Well what you see above is Arequipa and the Colca Canyon. We spent 5 days there  checking out the city and doing a 3 day Hiking/Trecking tour in the Colca Canyon. We stayed in a very nice hostel called Home Sweet Home made friends with there puppet dog and went to a Restaurant where we had Guinea Pig. Tastes like a mixture between chicken and pork and looks like a rat. It came with its full body spread out on a volcanic stone. As you say you eat with your eyes as well. The owner of the restaurant was the friendliest owner we met so far, after explaining the whole tradition of Inka cooking he gave us some food for free and then allowed us to climb the roof of his restaurant to take some pictures of the city. Arequipa is located among some active volcanoes. The city s old part is made of volcanic stones, which have a light, almost white colour.

From Arequipa we went on the already mentioned 3 day trip to the Colca Canyon. The Colca Canyon claims to be the deepest Canyon in the world, so as you can imagine it was pretty hard work climbing from 2000 meters up to 3000 or vice versa all the time. But the views and our group totally made up for it. Our group consisted of Matthias (Trecking master, a german guy from Frankfurt), Sylvia ( an australian who has been living in London for ten years), Lorenzo ( a french who lived and worked in Costa Rica for the last three years), our guide Marco, Jana and me. The whole trip was so much fun thanks to these guys. On the first day we only walked down and after 4 hours of walking we arrived at our hostel for the night right at the Colca River. Next to the river were some hot thermal natural bath tubs, which we all used thankfully. On the following day we had to get up at 7 o clock to begin hiking. This day we mainly walked up, had our first Condor sighting and arrived exhausted in the “Oasis“, where we finally could have some cold beers and a bath in the pool. The last day was the hardest one. We had to climb from 2000 meters up to more than 3000 meters. Therefore we got up at 3 o clock during the night to avoid climbing with the sun trying to kill us. The girls decided to make their hike more difficult by using Mules as their means of transport, which allowed them to sleep one hour more than us because their Mules were thought to be faster than us. Let me tell you this: They were not! Boooyaaa. We climbed that little hill within two hours, it was peanuts. In the end we had to wait for the girls nearly 20 minutes, had breakfast together and went by bus to the Cruz de Condor, a Condor sighting point. We saw almost ten Condors, got on the bus to Arequipa and fell into a long and peaceful sleep.