Peru

2700 miles, 29 days.

Huanchaco

A long 24 hour crossing from Ecuador to Peru (including a few hours around Piura's market,) took us the seaside town named Huanchaco. Fortunately, the Peruvian buses were a level up in class, featuring bus attendants, snacks, disgusting "Inca Kola" and semi bed recliners. Arriving at the weekend, we joined hundreds of locals that had come to enjoy the beach. We actually have no idea where they all came from...there was nothing surrounding us but desert and the nearby town, Trujillo.

In the intense, dusty heat, we were back to cheap ice creams and sampling new street foods. Scattered in the sea and along the beach we saw the traditional style fishing boats  unlike any others.

Fishing boats native to Huanchaco.

A short drive to Chan Chan gave us a glimpse of Inca life with a huge complex of ruins. It was the largest adobe city in the world with 30,000 population within its walls. It was different to any historical site we had previously seen and showed a variety of aztec artwork.

Chan Chan's Inca ruins

Huaraz

Another night bus took us to the miserable bus terminal of Huaraz. At 5am, freezing, in the pouring rain we found a perfect B&B to get cosy. Despite being rainy season, we were extremely lucky with the weather. The clear skies allowed incredible views of the codilleras blancas mountains surrounding the town. It is the second highest mountain range in the world with more than 50 peaks above 5800m.

The view from our rooftop!

Typical clothing in the Ancash region.

Our first hike up to Wilcacocha lake gave us a collection of decent views across the mountains and taking us through some tiny villages.  However, it was our hike up to Lake 69 that took our breath away. We took a gamble on the weather and couldn't have had a more perfect day. 

Before we even started the 3 hour ascent we stopped at lake llanganuco and got more excited of what was to come!

Lake llanganuco.

We started through a steep valley along a crystal clear river, constantly within sight of staggeringly vast snow capped peaks. One of which was the tallest tropical mountain called Huarascan, standing at 6728m. We wound our way up mountain sides, around waterfalls gushing down from above. The snow made the tips look diamond encrusted in the sun light.

Huarascan peaks towering over the valley.

Working our way up!

At 4652m (the highest we have ever been!) we arrived at the unbelievably stunning lake 69. We couldn't quite take it in. The water's high mineral content made it luminesce turqouise in colour. The contrast against the snow covered peaks emphasised this. We promise there is no photo shop involved in our pictures!

It was pretty chilly up there once we stopped to rest and it was definitely too cold to take a dip. With it being low season it was great to not have hoards of people there.

Lake 69 glimmering in the sunlight. 

We took our time descending to the valley,enjoying the views and lake 68's reflections of the mountain range. A beautiful 5 hour round trip of solid walking with steep gradients in testing altitudes. One of our favourite and most rewarding days so far.

Lake 68 on our way down.

Our departure was on another night bus from the cold and miserable bus terminal.


Paracas

We arrived the following morning having passed through a grim looking Lima. To put it simply, we did not share any inclination to stay longer than our 20 minute walk to our connecting bus.

We stayed in a small town called Paracas, a place solely built up as a result of it's tourist attraction: Islas Ballestas. In the middle of the desert it was sweltering hot here. You couldn't have too many cold showers! During our short stay and in between cooling down with coconut ice creams, we embarked for the islands that boasted the must see wildlife. As soon as the boat arrived we spotted a group of penguins casually waddling their way around. Birds were covering the surface area whilst thousands of sea lions overlapped each other on the banks below. They made a horrible racket and we found it extremely comical to see them flopped out and lazing in the sunshine.

Penguin gang.

Making a horrible noise.

Varied looking but all incredibly ugly.

Arequipa and Colca Canyon

After a few days at sea level we returned to high altitude for the mountains and impressive scenery. We stopped in the city of Arequipa, the second largest city in Peru. Here we enjoyed the convenience and comfort of being able to buy everything we had been craving and rest before hiking again.

Arequipa is the closest place to link to Colca Canyon, a 6 hour bus ride away. The journey was great, passing llama farm after llama farm and weaving around frosted peaks. We also got to see a llama relative called Vicunas, very rare.

Llama land.

We arrived in a very cold town called Cabanaconde which is the primary entry village to the canyon. Here we stayed a night eating a tasty llama dinner before setting off! It was our first taste of the small town life around the canyon region and, again, there were specific items of clothing unique to the area. All women were covered in layers of intricately embroidered materials accompanied by an identically embroidered hat.

The first morning of our hike we got our first proper view of the canyon.....and it was incredible. With a depth of 2 miles, twice that of the Grand Canyon, it was so vast we could not take it all in! From the top you could spot the tiny villages scattered in and around it, with only tiny zig zag trails to reach them. The steep gradients of the canyon walls also became apparent to us.

We hiked down to the river below for 5 hours until we encountered the tiny town of Llahuar. We were literally in the middle of nowhere...and for this reason we could not believe how lovely our place was to stay. The lodge gave us a cute little hut, a great dinner and breakfast and overlooking the river. This was topped off by being steps from the hot springs to warm up in on the river bed and rest our achey legs! However, electricity was a luxury here.

The following morning we started our hike up, along and back down the canyon to Sangalle, an oasis next to the river below. The trails up and down were incredibly windy, steep, narrow and often engulfed by cacti.  It was extremely luscious and another great place to stop and rest. We lazed by the pool (yes, pool!) Reflecting on the beautiful views from our day's strenuous walking. Like our previous lodge this was a budget option, despite the setting. We did not have electricity in our room and the facilities were basic. Still, a real treat!

Oasis at the bottom.

After now hiking along,  down, along, further down, back up, along, all the way back down...we had to do the final climb back to the top! Against our hamstrings' wishes, we made it back to Cabanaconde, loving the views of the canyon as we ascended. We also saw a couple of Condors en route!

Cusco and Around


We stopped in the old city of Cusco for a few days before visiting surroundig areas. We were surprised how much we actually liked the town as we were anticipating a city suffocated by tourism and people trying to sell us tours for Machu Picchu. The architecture was really interesting and reminded us a lot of other colonial towns we have visited.

So many churches. 

From Cusco we wanted to escape the hustle and bustle to find somewhere to rest and see a more real side to Peru. Huarocondo is a tiny village of 2000 inhabitants,  nestled in the distant greenery. The half hour journey from the city was a perfect place to stroll around the mud brick houses and watch Peruvian life go by. We loved our restful days here to relax and recover from all our days hiking in a very comfortable B&B...we were the only foreigners in town!

All muddy, simple streets.

Machu Picchu

Being in Cusco, we were within reach of Machu Picchu....however it wasn't so easy to get there. To avoid paying hundreds of pounds for the train there and back we took the cheaper route. This included 3 legs of transportation and 8 hours in cramped colectivos.  This was topped by a 2 hour walk along the train tracks to arrive at Aguas Calientes. This town was literally a tourist gimic, simply constructed of hostels and restaurants with tourist menus. Not really our scene.

However, we got up at 5am the following morning to get to Macchu Picchu. It was definitely worth the effort and lived up to expectations. Set up on a mountain and surrounded by other huge peaks, the Inca site sits beautifully above the vallies below. Getting up there early we also got to see it without hundreds of tourists.

Classic viewpoint.

We also loved the llamas ligering on the grassy spots.

Mmbaaarghh.

Surrounded by steep peaks.

Detailed restoration.

Posers.

Incredibly remote and hard to reach.

Lake Titicaca

Our final place in Peru was the highest inhabited lake in the world. At an altitude of 4000m ...walking up hills proved tiresome! We stopped at Puno to the visit the islands from there. Puno being a simple town, we were eager to see the cultures on the outer islands. All boats taken into the 198 mile long lake were incredibly sloooooowww.

Over 2 days and one night we saw 3 different islands. Uros was the first, famous for being built solely out of reeds. Literally everythig was made of reeds; the floating island, the houses, the craft work, the boats...they even ate the reeds. It is among a collection of 120 of these constructions, where only a third are open to tourism. Although it was impressive in the middle of this stunning lake, it was all a bit of a sad gimic for tourists.

1 of 120 floating uros islands.

Everything revolves around reeds.

From here we went to Amantani to spend the afternoon and stay the night. We were taken in by a women named Marisol and her warm family. They gave us a room in their house and cooked us lunch, dinner and breakfast the following day. Their family room was a very basic mud brick shelter used as a combined kitchen, dining room and living space. We enjoyed learning from them and playing with their children. We also walked up to the highest point to get a fantastic 360° over Lake Titicaca.

The following morning we said our goodbyes and departed for our final stop. Taquile was another quiet place to stroll around. We enjoyed sitting in the countryside overlooking the bright blue water below.

Vast blue lake.

Practical Information

Accurate from March 2014.
£1 = 4.5 soles.

Ecuador to Peru border crossing info in ecuador tab.

Ittsa run a comfortable and cheap 35s bus between Piura and Trujillo. Although we had to wait hours for the next as the are popular and book up.

Linea run overnight,  35s, 8 hours, from Trujillo to Huaraz.

La casa de Maruja is a great place to stay just outside Huaraz.

March is still rainy season and hiking takes luck for clear skies in the Cordillera Blanca.

Laguna 69 trek can be done in a day. Transport to trailhead in tourist shuttles are about 50s return, be sure to take one with fewer people. The only other bus there when we visited had about 15 very grumpy looking people waiting hours for 2 slow folks plodding back.

Linea run overnight, 35s, 8 hours, from Huaraz to Lima.

Soyuz/Peru bus leave every 12 minutes with stops down the coast from Lima. 4 hours and 25s to Cruze de Pisco.

Paracas is a 3s collectivo to Pisco, which is 1.5s to the Pan america.

Taxis are more easily persuaded to go collectivo.

Ica to Arequipa takes 12 hours.  95s with Oltursa overnight.

Colca canyon tours look awful with rushed days and early starts. Go yourself.

3 companies run from Arequipa terminal terreste, 5.5hours to Cabanaconde - on the canyons edge.

A tourist ticket to enter any town near the canyon costs 70s.

Hostels give basic maps and there are very few paths which means less chance of getting lost. Lodging is cheap, basic and beautiful, food is simple, snacks and water are overpriced.

Cruz del sur are generally a rip off but advance tickets can get good deals. 39s, 11 hours overnight to Cusco. And you might get to play bingo!

The  cheap way to Machu Picchu -
Taxi to terminal Santiago / collectivos to Quillabamba around the corner. 4 soles. Arrive around 6am for best chance to leave soon.
Take a collectivo to Santa Maria. 5.5 hours, 20-25s.
Take collectivo taxi to Santa Teresa. 1 hour. 10s.
Take collectivo taxi to Hydroelectrico. 30mins. 5s.
Walk up the train tracks for 2 - 2.5 hours to Aguas Calientes.
Stay the night, leave early for MP. Bus 25mins, 28s. Walk would be very steep and a couple of hours.
Walk down from MP to river at bottom by train tracks, 45mins.
Avoids 30mins into town and back. 2 hours to Hydroelectrico.
The exact same in reverse. Buses take much longer, but cheaper.
Total - 80s return each. £17. Instead of £77 on the cheap train!

Many companies run from Cusco to Puno but only at 8-8:30 AM or a night bus that arrives by 4-5AM. Transzela is seriously comfortable, day bus is 6ish hours for 25s.

Turning up at the dock before 8 and you can tag onto a tour of the Titicaca islands, at a much cheaper price. 30s takes you to Uros, Amantani, back to Taquile then Puno. Turning up on Amantani you will be greeted by nice ladies offering homestays, 30s per person including 3 meals. Small entrance taxes also apply for each island.

Border crossing Peru to Bolivia. No fees, good exchange rates. Many companies run from Puno to Copacabana waitin for you at the border. From 10s, all have left by 7:30AM. 4-5 hours.

Example complete budget - £15 and up, per person, per day.