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It was taking too much time and I was so bad at updating that I've now set-up a mailing list if you'd like to keep track of where I have been and the photos that accompany them.
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I've trimmed down the old blog entries to just the road-trip type narratives, so won't have to see all my inane ramblings.
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23rd August 2006 - Peru Trip - Day 15, July 18th - Lima to Denver via Miami
A long arsed day back home: Miami sucks! It took more than 2 hours to get through immigration, security and customs – it seemed to be very disorganised.
There are no signs to tell you where to go if you need to change terminals – no idea who flies from which terminal – ahhhhhh! Oh, and it takes 25 minutes to walk from one to the other – no moving walkways, no bus, no train and no signs. Oh yeah, I mentioned this on day 1 – well it’s so bad I’ll say it again!
Also American Airlines sucks. First my flight went u/s, AFTER we were boarded. Two hours sitting in the heat – nice!
They also keep the seat belt signs on for far too long. We must have been in the cruise for at least an hour, with no turbulence – I was gagging for a piss. Bastards
Anyway - enormous thanks must go to Angie and Steve for being such great hosts and organizing so much for us all – it was great!
When's the next one?
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22nd August 2006 - Peru Trip - Day 14, July 17th - Lima
My last day, so went back to the black market and purchased seasons 3-5 of 24 on DVD – that’s 18 disks for $20 US.
Rode on a combi for the first time – in fact it was the first time Steve had rode in one as well! These are just private minibuses that are on a set route and pick anyone up for 50c (Peruvian) – basically very very cheap! Usually they are Toyota or Nissan 9 seaters and usually they are old and falling apart.
We visited the art museum across the road form the black market. (Museo de Arte de Lima)
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21st August 2006 - Peru Trip - Day 13, July 16th - Lima
By now everyone had gone back to the USA except me. Steve and Angie took me into downtown Lima. When we got there it was full of people celebrating some festival – all the men were dressed in gangster clothing complete with wooden machine guns.
Found out later that this festival is called La Virgen del Carmen, and is mainly celebrated in Cusco and Pucara. That would explain the Virgin Mary being carted around then… but not the gangsters! There were lots of brightly coloured and elaborate costumes on display. All the following photos were taken with Angie’s point and shoot camera that I borrowed.
photos of festival
general photos from square and surrounding areaOn our way to find a bite to eat a young boy was hassling us to buy finger puppets. Instead Steve asked him if he was hungry – he was genuinely taken aback by this, but followed us for a sandwich and a drink.
We decided as we were being stupid tourists that we would take stupid tourist photos.
stupid tourist photos and caféLater we went to a theatre called Teatro Canout in Miraflores. They did quick and funny sketches of normal life in Peru, using only improvised instruments – clay pots etc. Although I didn’t understand a word, you didn’t need to as it was acted out so well in a visual sense.
After this I was taken to a remote back street to sample some street food. On the way we encountered two police cars, and here I got a sense of how they are thought of – Angie’s Peruvian friend was driving.
The first encounter involved a police car heading at us in the opposite direction down a narrow street. He stopped next to us and asked if we had seen a grey car. "No" she replied. He then asked us to pull over further down the road. Again "no" was the answer and we drove off. Afterwards she told us that it would be far too much hassle to stop – so she didn’t!
Later on we jumped a red light turning right, and unluckily, a police car was on the opposite side of the junction. He put his lights and siren on and followed us.
Two blocks later, and still driving he started to shout through his external speakers on the car to pull over and stop. No response – we carried on driving. Two blocks later he shouted again and this time we pulled over.
After the policeman inspected all the paperwork he said that he would give her a ticket. After much debating, pouting, pleading and indignation, a bribe was decided upon – we paid and went on our way.
Afterwards we learned that you can bribe the police because they are paid so little. Also if you give up your licence, you have to retrieve it down the police station and that would take hours of waiting and a $200 US fine. We paid a bribe of $20 US after the policeman explained he needed gas in his car – and that there were two of them.
Anyway, on to the snack of the night - cows hearts on skewers (anticuchos) with a side of tripe. The cows hearts were good, but the tripe was… well… tripe. We looked for a bin to throw away the tripe leftovers, but they had all been taken away as everyone was packing up for the night – so we left them on the plastic table – as soon as we stepped away all the street kids pounced like vultures on the leftovers – at least they would be full that night.
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20th August 2006 - Peru Trip - Day 12, July 15th - Lima
Went to the Indian market today (Mercado del Indios) – most stalls were selling very similar items, except one I found, that had some very original stuff. This was also the stall that had various spiders and butterflies mounted in glass frames.
Later we went to a superb restaurant that specialised in seafood and especially ceviche – it was superb!
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19th August 2006 - Peru Trip - Day 11, July 14th - Lima
Now a few reaxing days back in Lima - no travel - ahhhh...
We went for a trip down to the black market (Polvos Azules). You can buy anything here straight out of the factories – complete soccer kits for any team, and country, DVD’s that haven’t been released, shoes, clothes… and the list goes on and on.
Now you would imagine that a black market would be that – a temporary market, with stalls etc outside. No – this is indoors and takes up two stories of a permanent building!
I got roped into playing football (soccer) in the local team that Steve plays in. Now, I haven’t played for at least 15 years I would guess, so went in goal so I wouldn’t get so knackered – yeah right!
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18th August 2006 - Peru Trip - Day 10, July 13th - Paracas, Islas Ballestas, Sand Dunes to Lima
Woke up to a dreary misty day for our trip to the Islas Ballestas or locally known as the guano islands. We were taken to the small port by a minibus where largish looking speedboats were rapidly arriving, loading up, and departing full of people wearing their orange life vests.
We ended up being one of the last boats to leave – ours looked a little older than the rest, and attracted the attention of the authorities, who poured over the boat and the captain's paperwork looking for mistakes – luckily they didn’t and we were given permission to depart.
As we got to the edge of the harbour where speed was restricted, the captain had to radio for permission to leave, but the radios didn’t really work very well. He shut down the engines so that he could hear the faint reply, and after a few failed attempts to radio his intentions, started up, and left for the islands. We never did hear any reply – I think he just got fed up and left!
On the way out we saw the three pronged Candelabra, a drawing that has been etched into a hill on the shore of the mainland – no one knows why it was drawn or when. It may be linked to the Nasca Lines further south or may be much more modern.
photos of boat trip to islandsThe Islas Ballestas are colonised by millions of birds who over years have deposited bird-poo up to as much as 50 metres deep over some parts of the islands. During the mid 19th century this became Peru’s major export to Europe and the USA as fertilizer.
Nowadays modern technology has taken over in the fertilizer industry, and the birds are left to their own devices. You can still see the structures on the islands used to haul the poop onto the ships below.
We saw sea lions, pelicans, penguins, cormorants, boobies and brightly coloured crabs.
photos of islands (a bit iffy due to the grey weather)On the way back we passed many of the brightly coloured old fishing boats and were lucky enough to catch a school of dolphins in the bay.
photos of the jouney backApparently there were not as many birds as other times in the year – funny how so many people come each year to see a load of bird shit on a rock!
We then drove a couple of miles to the Paracas National Reserve. (Reserva Nacional de Paracas) We went to the high cliffs, where the ground seemed to be very crumbly, especially if you went close to the edge!
Half the party were convinced that we had seen a condor – take a look at the photos and let me know if it is! Maybe it's a vulture?
photos from Paracas National ReserveWe then went looking for a tour company that could sort us out a trip to the sand dunes for a ride in a beach buggy and to try some sandboarding.
We donned ski goggles and were taken on a 10 minute ride along the road to reach the dunes. Both drivers just drove flat out over the crests of the dunes, sliding and skidding around every bend – the beach buggies were surprisingly stable, and there wasn’t a time were it didn’t feel safe.
We then tried sandboarding – the bindings were just glued on Velcro straps to put your feet through. It was difficult to get the bindings really tight, and before we were launched, the guides "waxed" the boards by smearing squeezy packets of I Can't Believe It’s Not Butter on the bases.
Angie went first, and decided to sit on the board – she was pushed by the guide and went down the steep slope at a great rate of knots without falling off. Vanessa and Matt followed suit leaving Dre and I to try standing up.
Dre tried first and fell off about every 20 feet. Next up I managed to get about ¼ of the way down before falling off and watching my board career all the way down to the bottom (stupid straps!)
We then had to walk all the way up again in the soft sand – you’d think we could have got a ride back up? Noooo!
Matt managed to ride standing up on a gentler slope, and I managed my second trip down in one go without falling off. Yay!
photos from sand dunesThen it was back to their base via the 10 minute drive on the highway.
We then ate lunch in the posh hotel and drove back to Lima.
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16th August 2006 - Peru Trip - Day 9, July 12th - Nazca area, Ica and Paracas
We booked a flight for the Nasca Lines at the hotel for later, and ventured out to do some other sightseeing.
First we headed out into the desert to visit the Cementerio de Chauchilla, but on the way we spotted a makeshift graveyard in the middle of the desert.
graveyard photosThe Cementerio de Chauchilla (Cemetery of Chauchilla) are a series of tombs containing mummies dating back to between 1000-1300AD. Until quiet recently, these mummies were scattered across the desert after being ransacked by tomb raiders, but now they have organised things for the better.
Best comment of the day: "Hmmm – I feel like KFC."
photos of tombsOn the way back through the desert, we came across a couple of very new and ornate gates that led to nowhere – how odd!
We popped into a little museum near the airfield called Museo Inka Wasi which was run by a real life Sharman. Inside there were trophy heads, a condor mummy and many other artefacts collected over time.
photos from museumWe then arrived at the local airfield to await our flight over the Nasca Lines.
We were shown a video, which I think I’d seen many many years ago in the UK, about the lines and the life of Maria Reiche who spent most of her life studying the lines.
Noticed this sign while waiting – good job I didn’t have a young dog with me!
Covering an area of the pampa of around 500 square km, the lines are still an archaeological mystery. They consist of over 800 dead straight lines, 300 geometric figures and 70 animal and plant drawings – all are almost impossible to see from ground level – in fact only in recent history the main road was built intersecting a drawing of a lizard, which couldn’t been seen from ground level.
There are many theories about the lines. The one that probably makes most sense is that they were made between 900BC and 600AD and were used as worship to ask the gods for water. Most of the straight lines point to mountain peaks or symbolic mountain peaks, where the water would flow from.
All the animals are created from only one continuous line – the theory is that the people would walk exactly in these lines as a symbolic gesture for the gods. Of course the more they walked these lines, the more distinct the lines would become.
The lines were created by removing the dark sun-baked stones from the surface and piling them up on either side of the line, exposing the lighter coloured gypsum below. One reason that the lines are still here after all this time – it hasn’t rained here in over 2000 years!
To give an idea of the scale of the animal drawing that you’ll see in the next slideshow I’ll quote some measurements: the condor has a wingspan of 130m (426ft), and the lizard (no photo) is 180m (590ft) long!
The weirdest thing is the so called astronaut or spaceman – looking like an alien, it is carved in the rock at an angle and seems somehow out of place with the other lines.
We flew in a 6 seat Cessna 206, and the pilot did a great job of banking so we could take photos of each animal we saw.
photos of lines and animalsWe then took a glimpse of the highest sand-dune in the world at 2078m (6817ft) high – Cerro Blanco.
There is one place that you can see some animal drawings on the pampa without flying – a tower that is near to where the lizard has been cut in two on the Panamericana. You can see some straight lines as well as the drawings of hands and tree. It’s still hard to see these drawings from this tall tower, so you can forgive the builders of the road for not noticing the lizard.
photos from towerWe then drove north as far as Ica which is famous for its chocolate (of course I ate some). Dinner for me was sea bass, before we continued to drive to Paracas to stay the night in the Hostel Mirador, which reminded me of the old 50’s style holiday camps.
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