I just completed my Peru journey and arrived in La Paz, Bolivia this morning. Peru is a really special place and I loved my time there. The country has it all: spectacular mountain ranges, deserts, beaches, cloud forest, cities, and jungle.
My last update was in Arequipa, so I’ll pick it up there. The highlight of Arequipa was a trip to the massive Monasterio Santa Catalina, a lavish residence that was built for the nuns of Arequipa in the 16th century. It is a large self contained complex—a city within a city. The nuns did not live modestly. The monastery is beautiful, with winding alleys painted in bright blues and reds and decorated with flowers. We toured through the cloisters, living areas, and kitchens. No single room was exceptionally incredible—it was the totality that was impressive. The sun was shining during our visit which made the colours even more vivid. Next to the blue walls, the sky looked dull. Arequipa also has a very nice Plaza de Armas (main square)—a feature of Peruvian cities that I am getting quite jealous of. Every town and city, no matter how small, has a very nice Plaza de Armas, which serves as a meeting place for the people. I wish that this would become a more common theme in North American cities.
From Arequipa, I traveled to Cabanaconde, where I trekked through the Colca Canyon. At 3191m, it is the world’s 2nd deepest canyon, just behind the neighbouring Canon del Cotahausi. I spent three days in the Canyon and absolutely loved my time there. On day one I trekked from Cabanaconde to the picturesque village of Sangalle. The scenery along my hike was beautiful, as I was surrounded by green mountains, sheer rock faces, and many different types of cacti. As you walk along the canyon you have mountains towering above you on both sides and a vertigo-inducing drop to the river 1000m below. It is an awesome juxtaposition. The colours of the canyon rock are vivid, ranging from yellow, to grey to rusty reds. I stayed at a place in Sangalle called the Oasis hostel, which felt like a little piece of paradise. It is located in the heart of the canyon, right beside the calm Colca river, and feels incredibly serene. Also, a swim in the pool felt great after a long hike.The hike on day two was even more picturesque, but was also probably the most physically demanding of my life. I hiked to the Mirador Apacheta, which had a panoramic view of the canyons and the three rivers that forged them. Standing on top of the lookout was an unforgettable feeling. The impressive mountains and epic drops gave me chills. After about 6 hours of beautiful hiking I came back to Sangalle and decided to start the climb back to Cabanaconde. In the next few hours I learned a few valuable lessons. Lesson 1: don’t leave the 1100m vertical climb for the last portion of your day. Lesson 2: don’t do the toughest climb in during the hottest part of the day and without sunscreen. Lesson 3: bring more than 1L of water for said climb. The climb up the mountain was an absolute physical and mental test, but I made it!
I also visited the Cruz del Condor in the canyon, which is a nesting area for the famous Andean Condor. We got there pretty early in the morning and were able to see some Condors immediately, albeit from a distance. As the temperature warms, the land heats the air and the Condors begin to rise up with the hot air. Before we knew it, there were 10 Condors circling above our heads, sometime as close as 10 feet away! They are incredibly majestic creatures and fly at impressive speeds with seemingly no effort. Condors have a 2m wingspan—easily the biggest I have ever seen. It was amazing getting a chance to see them up close.
After Colca Canyon, I headed to Puno, a city on Lake Titicaca. Puno itself is unimpressive, but the Lake is beautiful and I spent most of my time there. I met up with a friend named Phil from Colorado in Puno and we visited Sillustani, a pre-inca burial ground located on a peninsula of the lake. Sillustani has a collection of large towers that served as tombs, which are located on a plateau overlooking the lake. On our tour we learned about Pachamama—mother earth—which is an important part of Peruvian culture. Pachamama is the belief that man should live in harmony with the earth. It has thirteen components: earth, wind, water, and fire, past, present, and future, the snake, condor, and puma, and love, knowledge and hard work.Phil and I also took a two day island tour on Lake Titicaca, which was fun. At 3800m Lake Titicaca is the world’s highest navigable lake (meaning that you can take a boat from it all the way to the ocean). We visited the floating islands, which are an amazing collection of islands made of mud and reeds that literally float on top of the lake. The islands were fascinating, but unfortunately they have been made into a bit of a tourist spectacle, which takes away from the experience. We also visited the islands of Amantani and Taquile, which were extremely beautiful and much less exploited than the floating islands. The air was incredibly crisp and clean and the views over the bright blue lake were spectacular. We spent the night on Amantani with a local family, which was a really interesting experience and felt very genuine. The island life is primarily agrarian and there is beauty in the simplicity with which the people live. We witnessed a huge thunderstorm over the lake, which had some of the most vivid lightning strikes that I have ever seen.
After Puno, the next stop was Cusco, the former Inca capital that was captured by the Spanish conquistador Pisaro in the 16th century. Cusco is a striking colonial city, with winding cobblestone streets, spectacular churches, and Florence-esqe red clay roofs. It is a tourist hotbed, but still has retained its character. In Cusco I met up with Niall (who is visiting his sister in Quito) and we booked a trek to Machu Picchu. As always, it was great to meet up with a familiar face from home.
We did the five day Salkantay trek and it was one of the most incredible experiences of my life. We had four tough days of hiking, all of which were leading towards our visit to Machu Picchu on day five. The trek started at Mollepata at an elevation of 2900m and climbed up to 3900m, where we spent our first night. The campsite was picturesque, right at the foot of two huge snow-capped mountains. The sky was clear that night and the stars were incredible—we could even see the milky way. We had a great group for the trek. There were three Aussies: Luke, Bridey, and Scott, two Kiwis: Dan and Cherie, three Irish: Becky, Colm, and Tom, Two Canadians: me and Niall, one American: DeAnne, and one German: Janina.
The next day was a beautiful and incredibly varied hike. We started alongside big green mountains and climbed up to our maximum pass of 4600m, which was surrounded by rocky snow capped mountains. We soaked in the view of the spectacular 6200m Salkantay mountain that towered beside us, the highest peak in the region. The sky was perfectly blue that day—which made the scenery even better. After reaching the high point, we descended into the mountain valley and into the lush and cloud forest and jungle. While we walked through the jungle, it was hard to believe that we had been shivering on top of a mountain just a few hours earlier.
Another highlight of the trek was our fourth day, where a group of us chose to hike a longer route to Aguas Calientes (the town close to Machu Picchu) that took us past some Inca ruins. It was a tough climb, but the views were worth it. We climbed up towards a mountain ridge and along a huge gorge, through cloud forest for most of the way. The best moment came at the top when our guide, Nico, pointed out the direction of Machu Picchu. The clouds broke and we had a couple of quick glimpses of the site. It was completely unexpected and was amazing to see. We could see Wayna Picchu, the famous mountain in all of the Machu Picchu photos, as well as some terraces. After descending, we had a nice walk along the train tracks to Aguas Calientes. By the time we finished our hike, we were all completely exhausted and pumped about our first shower and bed in 4 days.
The next morning, we were up at 3:45 to climb up the 1600 remaining stairs to Machu Picchu. (this was even earlier than our typical 5am wake-up). We stumbled up the path in the darkness and reached the gate about an hour before it opened. At 6am they opened the gates and we got in! It was a surreal feeling as we walked into the site and got our first glimpse of Wayna Picchu. I’m so glad that we chose to do the hike to Machu Picchu. It made me feel as if we had worked for it, and now deserved to see it. Seeing Machu Picchu was an incredibly powerful and moving experience—one that I will never forget. I felt different up there—small, humbled, and inspired.
The ancient city at Machu Picchu was quite large, considering that only about 500 people lived here. The city was designed for the most important people of Incan society: priests and heads of government. They also had virgins and llamas there, which they used for sacrifices to the gods. Typically the sacrifices were performed on the winter solstice, likely because they wanted to ensure that the sun and warmth came back to their world. Throughout the site, many elements are centered around the date of June 21st. For example, windows are situated so that the first rays of sun on the winter solstice travel through them. There is some incredible stonework at Machu Picchu. Some of the stones are so smooth and tightly fitted that it looks like they were put together fifty years ago, not five hundred years ago. Machu Picchu’s construction began in 1450 and continued until the mid 1500’s when the Inca civilization was wiped out by Spanish colonists.We also saw the astronomical temple, which is the nerve center of Machu Picchu. The centerpiece of the temple is a large stone that the Incas used for its energy. The main square is large and well kept and is full of grazing llamas. Considering that we didn’t see a single llama or alpaca for the entire trek, I think that it’s safe to say that they were placed there artificially. The site is also full of fountains, baths, water channels, and living quarters. On almost all sides, Machu Picchu has terraces that were farmed by commoners. The drop off is so steep that it is hard to fathom how these terraces were constructed. I’m sure that a few men were lost in that process. Actually, the fact that someone would see this site and think that it was ideal for the construction of a city is absolutely ridiculous.
We climbed up Wanya Picchu, which is the incredibly beautiful mountain in all of the Machu Picchu photos. It was a fairly tough walk up, with a great view over the entire site from the top. Niall, Luke, and I sat on rocks at the top and looked over Machu Picchu.
It is hard to put your finger on what makes Machu Picchu so special. The ruins are spectacular, but there are certainly equally impressive ruins in the world. The mountains are beautiful, but there are certainly larger mountains elsewhere. There is something about the entire package that is greater than the sum of the parts.I really admire the way that the Inca’s approached nature. No natural obstacle was too great and no danger was too great to be overcome. At the same time, they had a great respect for nature and lived as an equal, rather than a superior. Their approach lies in stark contrast to the approach of modern society, which is focused on the dominance and control of nature. It makes you question some of the things we are doing today. What is wrong with respecting nature in the way that the Inca’s did?
Towards the end of the day I found a nice secluded spot on a high terrace and soaked in the view of Machu Picchu. I hope that I can make it back here again.
We got back to Cusco and had a couple of much needed relaxation days. After getting our energy back, we did a white water rafting trip, which was a lot of fun. We managed to survive the grade III rapids, and everyone stayed in the boat, except for when we intentionally tipped it. Despite having wetsuits on, we froze in the river water!
Niall left for Quito yesterday and Bolivia is up next for me! Peru amazed me in so many ways…I hope Bolivia can do the same.-M
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