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Peru 1 - Tumbes, Lima and Cusco |
We arrived in Peru from Ecuador towards the end of July, crossing into the northern border town of Tumbes. We flew down to Lima to avoid the barren deserts of the north, and flew out of Lima as soon as we could to avoid being mugged. After Lima, we relaxed for four days in Cusco, formerly the capital of the Inca empire, now gringo tourist capital of Peru. After all that relaxing we decided to try and kill ourselves with exhaustion on the Inca Trail, a four day trek over Andean peaks following the original Inca Highway to Macchu Picchu. From Cusco we took a train across the altiplano to Puno on the shores of lake Titicaca, the highest navigable lake in the world, where we visited the floating reed islands of Uros and the idyllic Taquilla island.
Tumbes, Peru's most northerly town is a garrisson town. This is because it's close to Ecuador, and technically speaking, Peru and Ecuador are still at war over disputed border territory. The last major flare up was in 1941, where Ecuador received a solid kicking which culminated in them signing the Rio de Janeiro agreement in which they ceded a lot of territory to Peru. Tensions have never really simmered down, and almost annually there are at least one or two skirmishes.
As the evening approached, we wandered in to town, where there is a large modern central plaza. It comes alive at dusk with people coming out to meet their friends. We ate at a bar on the edge of the square, one of the best meals we'd had for weeks. The local speciality is Chupa, a kind of broth, and I had Chupa de Langostinos, a delicious shrimp stew with half a lobster in it an egg, and a lovely creamy sauce. I thoroughly recommend it. We were staying at the Hotel Estoril, which was a mean nasty dungeon-like place. The rooms were dank and unwholesome. The bed was so musty, I found myself feeling nauseous. It was impossible to sleep. I stole Katie's bed while she went to the loo, at 3am, since it wasn't quite as foul smelling, but it was as hard as a telephone directory. The water supply was most erratic and the cockroaches were abundant. I mused over the fact that they were a different variety here than other places I had come across them - a kind of muddy brown with longer legs - much faster on the run than the central american variety, and equally indestructible. Dawn finally arrived, though with no external windows in our dungeon, the only way I could ascertain this was from my watch which plodded through the seconds at a snails pace. Time for a shower - only there was no water, so I decided to kill cockroaches instead. Finally the water came on, and it was ice cold. The shower was actually above the toilet bowl, which is economical if you ever feel the need to shit and wash at the same time, but otherwise rather irritating. We packed up our gear from cell block H and loaded it all aboard a decrepit motor tricycle taxi for our trip to the airport. It all felt very precarious, but the fresh air was invigorating. Tumbes airport isn't exactly Heathrow, a one room affair with just two check-in desks, both closed. Thankfully it does have a bar! We played cards and downed beers whilst waiting for our AeroPeru flight 517 to Lima. Most of Northern Peru is arid desert - which is why we decided to skip it by flying over it.
Lima was obscured by cloud and we could see nothing as we landed. The airport is modern and feels very clean and safe, but it is sited next to one of the world's most notoriously horrible slums. Dozens of security guards line the smoked glass doors to keep the gnashing hordes at bay. Shadowy characters lurk beyond the electronic swish of those double doors. We felt most uneasy since we hadn't booked anywhere to stay, or any transportation downtown. We weren't planning on staying in Lima any longer than was absolutely necessary, but the first flight out to Cusco was the next day. "Do we stay in the relative safety of the airport, and not really sleep, or do we take the trip downtown to a hotel?" We opted to go downtown, and struck a good deal at the information desk with the Hotel Savoy, which included a seventh floor room, and free two way airport transport for about twenty quid for both of us.
The trip downtown was depressing. Most of the buildings are like prison camps, with watch towers, razor wire, huge slabby walls, and gun toting security men for the well off. The other half are crude shanty huts, with pavement braziers and grafitti for the poor. The streets are filthy, and the people that inhabit them sub-human. We never dared to leave the hotel. It was the 177th anniversary of Peruian independence, so the centre of own was abuzz. We watched the streetlife from the safety of our seventh floor sanctuary. El Chino, the president of Peru, Fujimori was out and about amidst the crowd - a braver man than I. Cusco Lima was still dark at 6am. The enormous crucifix was still lit up on the hill behind the presidential palace. The streets were quiet, almost pleasant. I'd quite forgotten what it was like to get up so early in the morning. I get up at this time every day in the UK to go to work, and it's horrible. I cast a momentary thought towards all those thousands of sad commuters crammed into office blocks staring into computer screens, enduring endless rounds of meetings and returning home at night too exhausted to do anything but vegetate in front of the TV absorbing yet more electrons. I smugly reflected on the fact that going travelling was one of the best decisions in my life - even in a hole like Lima the freedom felt good, every day different, an opportunity to see and do different things.
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Lima airport was packed full of gringos and they all seemed to be going to Cusco. There were flights every twenty minutes. I was apprehensive, would we get a room or not, would it be horribly touristy? On arrival, we had to call several hotels before we found a place with room. The Hotel Macchu Picchu is a fine old colonial biuilding with 4ft thick walls right in the heart of the city. The hotel is managed by a very friendly live-in family. It's hard to imagine we could have done any better. It has two beautiful inner courtyards, loaded up with blooms and overlooked by wooden balconies. The sun was beating down from a clear blue sky and the air was clean and slightly crisp. We found ourselves gasping for breath even without exerting ourselves. The average height of the city is a colossal 3500m. Cusco is one of the most visually striking cities in the world. It was the capital of the Inca Empire, and there are many reminders of this heritage, not least the numerous examples of Inca stonework, where vast stone blocks fit perfectly together without need for mortar. |
 The Hotel Macchu Picchu, Cusco |
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| Our principle reason for coming to Cusco was to 'do' the Inca Trail, a spectacular four day hike across the Andes, taking in numerous Incan ruins on the way to what is perhaps the greatest of them all, the amazing Inca citadel of Machu Pichu. However, Cusco is a high altitude place, and we figured we'd better spend a few days acclimatising before making the attempt. Spending time in Cusco is no great hardship though, since, it's a wonderful place with plenty to see an do. You can while away the days delving into its fascinating history, take a trip out to the ruins dotted around the surrounding countryside, shop til you drop at the colourful Indian market stalls and live it up in one of the liveliest night scenes this side of Mexico City. | ||
| The focal point of the town is
the Plaza De Armas, a spacious square, flanked on all sides by
impressive colonial architecture, churches and monasteries crammed full
of gold, and lots of people. It's a bit of a tourist magnet too, which
means there are plenty of good bars and restaurants to pick from, and
travel agents by the dozen offering everything from a coach-driven tour
of the local Inca sites to mammoth treks in the High Andes. We headed
for one of the bars, which goes by the rather unadventurous name "The
Cross Keys Pub" and is run by a Mancunian. Now, if I was on a two
week holiday, I'd run a mile from places like this, but out here in the
middle of Latin America, it was a novelty to be able to have a pint of
beer in a proper jug shaped glass. The bar was full of travellers,
mostly British students. We joined in with a crowd of them, but the
conversation was somewhat inane, with each trying to be zanier than each
other; "What about when Jen got that soup with a guinea pig's head in it? It's head was breaking the surface - and she's a veggie. She was in tears man! It was sooo funny." "Yeah, well when I was in Africa we had to eat a stewed goat." "I ate a hippopotamus" "I ate an elephant" "Well I ate a human!" "No, that's not funny man." "hah ha ha ha ha! etc" We moved on. |
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| Katie wasn't feeling too good - it was the classic signs of altitude sickness again, loss of appetite, nausea, listlessness. Time to find a chemists. Caution - it's easy to get lulled into a false sense of security in Cusco, with its vibrant scene, but this is Peru, and we heard of a number of nasty after dark attacks on tourists down back alleys. Don't walk alone late at night! Don't get too shitfaced! Try to stick to main thoroughfares. By the following day, Katie had got worse. "It's all started to go wrong since Banos, I feel so depressed", she moaned. The thing is Katie loves food, and losing her appetite was a major downer. | ||
Discovering Cusco's History
Whilst most of the Inca buildings within the city were destroyed by the Spanish conquistadors, their foundations were retained and used by the Spanish for the construction of the colonial town. Whilst this is tragic, the Spamnish did replace them with fine and very opulent colonial buildings. We got our bearings at the archaeological museum, which takes you through some of Peru's earliest history, upto the inca times. An exhibit of mummefied remains was quite scarey, but the most interesting exhibit covered the use of coca leaved by the Inca people. Coca played a central role in Inca society. They used them for everything, medicinally, in religious ceremonies to induce euphoria, baptisms, funerals, socially - all manner of excuses. The use of coca was strictly restricted to the ennobled classes and the messengers who neede the effect to be able to cope with the hardship of racing across Andean peaks at very high altitude. The Inca 'post' system was very impressive. Messages could reach Cusco from Quito, some 2000km away in less than 6 days - on foot - now that's really shifting. After the museum we did some latter day messaging in an internet café - 10,000km in 5 minutes.
We'd booked a city tour for the afternoon, but Katie took to her bed instead. "I hate cathedrals and archaological stuff anyway" she groaned. So I went off on my own and joined a bus full of eager Americans plus a few Scandinavians.
The first few sights are colonial and in the town - we could've easily walked! The Monastery of Santo Domingo was all of 500yds down the road. It was unfortunately so packed full with tour groups, you could hardly breath. The interesting feature of the monastery is the fact that there are the in-tact remains of an Inca temple inside it. These were until quite recently walled up.
The Cathedral, on the Plaza de Armas is more impressive, though not for its architecture but for the treasures within. The choristry is spine chillingly beautiful, or as one of my American co-tourists put it "kinda cute". It took over twenty years to carve and I couldn't take my eyes off it. The walls are draped with wonderful paintings, including a cataclysmic record of the 1650 earthquake, which all but destroyed the town. There is an overabundance of gold and silver - surprising in Peru, I'd have thought it would have been stolen long before.
In Inca times, Cusco was laid out in the pattern of a tiger. It was divided into two disctinct metropolises. The colonial heart is in what was the then the lower town. Our tour took us up into the hills of the upper town, the tigers head, and site of the Sacsayhuaman fortress (pronounced Sexywoman). The stonework is quite incredible; huge blocks, perfectly shaped by hand and fitting with each other with millimetre accuracy. The stones for Sacsayhuaman were quarried and dressed by more than 20,000 craftsmen and transported 10 miles on rolers to the site. Ujnfortunately, there's not a lot left of it, since after the Incas were beaten up by the Spanish, the place was pillaged for it's stone right upto the 1930s a sort of free for all builders yard. "Hey guys, how about we all climb inside these holes in the wall and make like Egyptians", shrilled Babs, one of the Americans.
From Sacsayhuaman it's a short hop to Q'enko, (pronounced Kenco, but nothing to do with coffee), which was an Inca huaca. Huacas are natural rock formations which were hollowed out and carved into holy places. There are over 400 of them in Peru alone. This one had a large stone altar, no doubt the scene of many grisly sacrifices. "Stevie, I've got a great photo opp here …. screamed Babs, "Mister, can you take a picture of me and my friend with these rocks?"
Further out, Puca Pukara is thought to be an Inca royal hunting lodge. Dozens of colourfully dressed indians were begging to have their photos taken - for a fee of course, or trying to sell their home made hand-woven goods, alpaca wool jumpers by the score, hats, plates, ceramics - most of it tat. A scandinavian next to me thought he'd look nice in a baby alpaca skin coat. He looked like a wanker though. "Stevie can you just take a picture of me with these Llamas!" shouted Babs.
Thanks to Babs and her mates being late back on the bus at every stop, it was actually dark by the time we reached trhe final stop Tambo Machay, a sacred bathing site for Inca nobles. Water was channelled here from a stream over a mile away. I imagine it would be very nice in daylight!
Back at the hotel, I was followed into our room by a parrot, who proceeded to eat our photo album! Katie was feeling a bit better. She'd met some really nice girls from Bristol University in the hotel who'd given her some of their anti-sorroche pills.
The biggest tourist magnet in Cusco is the nearby Inca city of Macchu Picchu. In fact it's probably the most famous tourist attraction in the whole of South America. If you're short of time or just pure lazy, you can get to Macchu Picchu by train. If you really want to feel like you've earned it, you take the so called Inca Trail a four day hike across rugged Andean landscape - not for the faint hearted.
| Photos of Peru | |
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| The
end of the Inca Trail Macchu Picchu. |
Pre-Columbian
burial chamber or Chulpa, near Sillustni |
You are
reading the story of Adrian and Katie's travels through the Americas
between May and August 1998.
Adrian and Katie put the rat race on hold for a year to travel the world.
Adrian & Katie's World Tour News - Peru Last Updated: 13 June 1999 Web Page by Adrian Ball (email: adrian.ball@virgin.net)