Mon 6th May – The Adventure begins! We´ve done it, Flights booked, Machu Picchu trek is looming, rucksacks are packed, we´ve said our goodbyes – Peru here we come!
Checking our baggage in, my rucksack weighed 19.4 kgs and Andy´s was 18.2kg. Still a heavy load – but a massive achievement for me! Over 10 years ago I had a 40kg suitcase for a 2 week holiday in Florida (and the wheel snapped!) and I usually don´t travel light for weekends – so for me to pack 19.4kg for 4 seasons of weather and 7 months is quite amazing!
Sitting in the plane from Madrid, somewhere over the Atlantic, I realised there is no going back now – I´m very excited and nervous at the same time! When we arrived at the airport in Lima there were 2 challenges. Number 1, work out what the customs declaration was saying, as it was all in spanish – with a bit of help we worked it out! Number 2, spot our name from about 50 boards at the arrivals area. Lima has 8 million people and it appears they all like to drive their cars at 6pm when we were on the roads – I´ve never seen such busy roads and I´m so glad we weren´t driving! We arrived at our hostel at 7.30pm, in the district of Miraflores, a nice part of town. Rooms were just want we needed, clean beds and hot showers!
Tues 7th May – Clear Blue skies and 18 degrees – not quite what we expected, but glad we didn´t ship our summer clothes straight to Australia! Walking round the city I´m learrning that using your car horn in Lima is very common – you constantly hear them – for other drivers, for taxi drivers trying to get your attention – and it will always remind me of Lima now! We had a very lazy first day, relaxing on the hostel patio, walking to the beach and we had our first meal in Peru! We went to a small restaurant in Miraflores recommended by Lonely Planet – 3 courses for about 3 pounds! I had white fish (Seafood is very big in Lima), refried beans and rice – and I really enjoyed it! Then it was back to the Hostel to chill out!
Wed 8th May – We woke quite early – so we headed to Huaca Pullana in Miraflores – Ruins from the Lima Culture in approx 400AD (1000 years pre-Inca). We had the first tour of the day, which meant we had our own tour guide! These buildings were made completly by hand from mud – which in Lima isn´t a problem as it never rains. Unlike the Inca´s who worshipped the sun, the Lima Culture worshipped th Moon and the Ocean, in part because the ocean provided them with much of their food. It was a really interesting tour and start to our visit to Peru.
In the afternoon we headed to the Cruz de Sur Bus terminal – with plenty of food and drink for the 24 hr bus journey ahead! The bus was a lot better than I was expected, and in fact we had more space and better seats than I have ever had on a UK bus or plane! One of the added bonuses of taking the bus, was that we got to see a lot of Peru on our Journey to Cusco. The first 8 hours went very quickly – but then we started the climb into the mountains. We were constantly weaving up bendy roads and climbing higher and higher – when we ascended above the clouds I think we were at about 4000m! And I definitely felt it and I now know what altitude sickness feels like! We arrived at 2pm on thursday and spent most of thursday afternoon and friday relaxing and taking things slowly. Luckily in total we have 5 days to acclimatize before our trek, which is going to be much needed. Well Bueños noches mi amigos, Tengo hambre….dinner calls!
Sounds incredible, I am very jealous. Glad you got there safely and everything is going well. X