From the freezing cold at high altitudes to the blazing heat in the desert
We left La Paz heading for Lake Titicaca in Peru. The timing was not ideal as we left on a day where there were demonstrations in and around La Paz, blocking the main access roads in and out of the city. Since we needed to leave after a couple of days of relaxing, we decided to go nevertheless. While we tried to drive around the blockades, we managed to get stuck a second time after crossing a small river on a farmer’s land. Luckily, the farmer was willing to help us out with his tractor and we were up and running again within less than 30 minutes.
Our adventure in Peru started in the South at Lake Titicaca. After another flawless boarder crossing and a quick lunch break overlooking the lake we drove to Puno. We were warned not to leave our car alone in this city, because several overlanders had reported car break-ins. After checking out the main square and arranging for a local sim-card we immediately continued to Peninsula Capachica. Here we found a fantastic campsite in Llachon with beautiful views and a nice sandy beach to relax at. Although it was freezing, as soon as the sun would show its face it was actually quite pleasant. Valentin – the campsite owner – and his wife prepared home-cooked meals for us and we were with plenty of other overlanders chatting the night away.
On our first morning at the Peruvian side of Lake Titicaca we were up early to hitch a boat ride with a local fisherman to one of the floating reed islands. There are a lot of islands that only still exist for tourist purposes. Locals don’t live on the islands and only come here during the day to receive tourists. We were lucky and got a pretty authentic experience. The Uros people live on these islands made of living reeds that float around the lake. The Uros have been living on the lake for hundreds of years – they were forced to take up residence on the floating islands when the Incas expanded onto their land. In the shadow of the Andes, on the world’s highest navigable lake, they make their living from fishing and from selling their reed handicrafts to tourists like us. When we arrived they had just shot a few ducks for the day – the lake is full of them and they form a good source of protein for the locals. Still, for me it was a lot to take in seeing all these dead ducks lying around.
After camping around Lake Titicaca for a few nights we headed straight to Cuzco. This city reminded us of European cities – there is a lot of Spanish colonial architecture to be seen and it really is beautiful. We strolled through the narrow coble-stoned streets and watched baby alpacas being paraded around the city centre posing for photos with tourists. I was really tempted to have my photo taken as well, but decided to give the cute little creatures their peace. Cuzco is immensely popular. We were there in low season, but the main square was still packed with tourists. The fact that a Burger King and McDonalds are located in one of the historic buildings at the main square also proves this point. We camped in the hills above the city near the Sacsayhuamán ruins. Since the campsite was located at around 3,600 meters’ altitude and the city at 3,350 locals recommended walking down into the city and taking a taxi back up. In order for taxi drivers to find the camping we had to say it was close to “sexy woman” – they knew we would remember this and not “Sacsayhuamán” 😉 The one time that we did decide to walk all the way back up, we were carrying groceries and two heavy bags of freshly washed laundry. I still haven’t figured out what the logic was behind this decision… The Sacsayhuamán ruins were worth a visit at well. It was our first encounter with Inca ruins and it did not disappoint. As a bonus we had amazing views over the city and surrounding mountains and enjoyed the only rays of sun that we saw in the three days we were there.
The weather wasn’t on our side. On our last day in Cuzco it rained so heavily that we didn’t really want to leave our car anymore. Unfortunately, our heater doesn’t work above 2,500 meters and we were again freezing – everything was wet and muddy and we decided we had enough of the cold and rain and headed for the sacred valley. We started with a trip to the well-known market of Pisac. Here we scored some souvenirs for our families. While Konsti was bargaining and trying to get a better price I was surprised by moving blankets – the sales woman had put her daughter to bed in the scarfs and blankets and it was really surprising for us to see how children are very much incorporated in society. No day care etc. makes for inventive parenting.
After we spend enough money at the market it was time for more ruins. We headed for the ruins of Pisac. Since the park is 4 square kilometres big we were able to do a longer hike climbing up and down stairs overlooking valleys on both sides since the Inca ruins are located on a ridge. It was a stunning archaeological site that really impressed us.
We ended the day camping near a waterfall. We had to take a very narrow dirt road leading up to this spot and a local woman had just taken her two cows for a walk. The bulls were not amused with our car driving towards them and were getting aggressive. One of them started to run towards us and I closed my eyes and waited for the horns to hit my door, but luckily the bull backed out at the last second. We were lucky!
The next day we enjoyed some very scenic driving and visited the stunning Inca ruins of Moray. It reminded me of the colosseum in Rome due to its round, terrace layered shape. It is not absolutely certain, but the popular belief is that the terraces were used for agricultural experiments in which the Inca could study the effects of different climate conditions on crops (the temperature difference from top to bottom is as much as 15 degrees Celsius).
Our next stop was Maras Salt Mines. Since pre-Inca times, salt has been collected here by evaporating the salty water that emerges from a local underwater stream. The water naturally emerges from a spring, where it is then directed into a complex system of channels that sends it down into the several hundred ancient terraced ponds. This was another feast for the eyes and we were able to buy salt that will last us for at least a decade.
After these visits it was time for the main event that we had on our agenda for this region: Machu Picchu. We drove up to Hidroeléctrica which was the nearest point we could drive to. We arrived late and it was already dark. This wasn’t one of our best ideas since driving on dirt roads in Peru can be quite challenging. This road was particularly scary as it had steep drops, corners where you couldn’t see any traffic coming from the other side, and very narrow passing’s allowing only one car at a time at some points. Konsti – positive as he is – pointed out that the darkness actually helped him, because he could see other cars better.
We camped in front of the train station and set our alarm for 04:00. Since it was raining heavily we were still unsure whether or not to take the train at 08:00 or to hike the 10 kilometres and arrive at Machu Picchu earlier. Finally, we got out into the rain and opted to do the hike. We immediately had company from the cutest little dog that we named Don Pepe. He followed us around for hours – almost up to the gates of Machu Picchu. We were already discussing how we could get him to Europe. In the end he left us for another couple who did feed him 😛 After having walked in the rain for hours, we were starting to fear that we wouldn’t be able to see a thing. Unfortunately, this was true because it was so foggy. The lama’s made up for it, because they shared in our misery. They had to endure the relentless rain also and didn’t look very impressed.
Finally, at around 11:00 in the morning the fog started to lift and even made way for the sun. We were very excited and wanted to shoot some more photos. We had an entry ticket for the morning shift which goes until 12:00 and we had to re-enter the “park”, because there are strict walking routes and we weren’t allowed to go back. We were really lucky and re-entered the “park” at 11:55!! Since no one checked our ticket at the exit we decided to stay a bit longer, enjoy the views and soak up a bit of sun. Our visit had a happy end!
We took the bus down (I never get motion sickness, but this bus ride did the trick in less than 10 minutes) and had lunch at the river running through Aguas Calientes. Then we took the train back, because we were absolutely dead from all the walking. During the 40-minute ride we saw so many tourist walking along the train tracks. We did the same hike in the wee hours of the morning and we realized we did the final kilometres of the Inca Trail. Before we started our trip to the coast we made one more stop at a coffee and cocoa plantation. We arrived unannounced, but were still welcome to stay amidst their plants. The next morning, we went on a little tour around the plantation, did some route planning and had a good coffee. Then we were on our way for the two-day journey to Nazca.
The first night we slept at a lovely little camping in the Andes. The money that we spend is invested well in the awesome project ‘Oye LENA Peru’. In 2012 Stefanie and Gilder, a mixed Belgian-Peruvian couple, founded the N.G.O Oye Lena, an educational project for children. Every morning the project works with kids with special educational needs and every afternoon with toddlers from underprivileged families. The project is based in Curahuasi, a small but charming town in the middle of the Andes mountain range, 125 km away from Cuzco and the famous Machu Picchu. Thanks to its unique location, it offers magnificent views on the mountain-scape and it benefits from a very pleasant microclimate. The much feared Peruvian rainy season barely has its effect in daytime, since most of the rain only falls during the night.
The next day we headed for Nazca. The winding roads went on forever and we were not driving faster than 30km/h. Since we were not in the mood for a night at 4,500 meters in the wind and snow we decided to drive further. It was a hellish ride. Snow, rain, fog (the most dense fog I had ever seen, we could not see anything)… at one point I screamed out of pure fear, because a truck seemed to be headed towards us on our side of the road. It turned out it was right next to the road, but the fog was so dense we couldn’t really see. Truck drivers had even parked their trucks on the road (yes in the middle of the main road to the Peruvian coast) for the night, because they were too afraid to continue. Then we argued back and forth where to camp – yes also part of the journey 😉 We had nothing to eat all day except for some really average sandwiches and chips. We ended up at a busy gas station, since it was too dark to find a nice spot somewhere in the wild. For me these are the traveling days that cost the most energy.
As you can imagine the night at the gas station wasn’t the best and at 04:00 in the morning a guy that was parked next to us started moving stuff in his truck. It made so much noise – it was as if something was exploding really close to us and everything vibrated. Anyway, the next day we went to see the Nazca lines. We visited the viewpoint together first and then decided to drive back to the airport. Konsti went on a stomach turning plane ride (I chickened out). I was determined to at least send Konsti up in the air with a decent provider, but we hadn’t even gotten out of the car yet and we were sold a ticket for little money. I was worried, since my travel guide book was telling me about all these accidents that had happened a few years ago. Luckily, the pilot returned my husband safe and sound. In the meantime, I was entertained with a National Geographic documentary about the Nazca people. It taught me that the Nazca people were so desperate for water that they carved out the Nazca lines in the form of all sorts of creatures that were a symbol for water (for example a spider – collecting drops of water in her web). We also visited the Maria Reiche museum, which is a museum dedicated to Maria Reiche (surprise). She was a German scientist who revealed the significance of the mysterious Peruvian Nazca Lines.
We then headed to Huacachina for some sandboarding and dune buggy riding. It was so much fun, but I did have to close my eyes during the ride. Even Konsti – who is never nervous about anything (except for public speaking) was telling me “this isn’t safe”. Our driver was mental and even made all other buggy drivers frown their eyebrows. We camped in the middle of the dunes which sounds more romantic and idyllic than it was, because we had a huge sandstorm that totally blasted us away – no relaxing days by the pool ;-D
Before going to Lima we wanted see Paracas National Park. This was such an awesome place and so relaxing. We were riding around with no plan for hours and had the best views of the coastline. Especially the scenic cliffs were breath-taking. Early the next morning Konsti went for a swim in the ocean. The horrible smell from all the bird poop and dead fish couldn’t stop him. Luckily we have our shower that he could use immediately thereafter.
It was time for Lima! The city has a German club and we were welcome to stay here for two nights in their car park. It was a bit weird that we were only allowed in here, because of Konsti’s passport, but after we saw the pool we decided to not think about his anymore. We spend a few lovely days in Lima, exploring the neighbourhoods of Miraflores and Barranco. On our first night we went to eat street food at Plaza Barranco with out friends from Poland. Only on weekends the whole plaza is turned into a street food festival. There is live music and there are street vendors everywhere selling all sorts of delicacies. The one that Konsti and I had a hard time with were the beef intestines. They were very very chewy. The beef heart was good though. Traveling definitely opened us up even more to trying new foods 😉 We flushed it all down with some lovely Pisco’s! The next day we walked along the coastline soaking up more of Lima’s good vibes and went on a tourist bus for the first time in our lives. It got a bit chilly after the sun went down and we got up and close with Lima’s traffic jams in rush hour. On our last day in Lima we decided it was “reading a book by the pool time”.
As it would turn out, this day in Lima by the pool would unexpectedly be my last day in South-America ☹ We had decided to take a vacation from our vacation and visit Konsti’s brother and our sister-in-law and their son in Vancouver. Our nephew was going to be six months old and we hadn’t had a chance to meet him yet and we couldn’t wait to see him (and his parents of course ;-)). We were on our way and had arrived in Montreal where we were waiting for our connecting flight to Vancouver when we received a phone call from the Netherlands – a family emergency. My only sister was fighting for her life after the birth of her son went horribly wrong. There we were sitting at the airport of Montreal staring into the dark night as snow fell down struggling with our emotions and deciding what to do. As we had seven weeks of our journey left and a car parked in Lima it wasn’t easy. Konsti flew back to Lima without me and I went back home to be with my family. We still decided to board the connecting flight to Vancouver before splitting up. We enjoyed a few lovely days getting to know our little nephew, going on a snowshoe hike and having some awesome family dinners.
Konsti and I then flew to Toronto where we spend our last day of travelling together at the Niagara waterfalls. It was a magical last day together albeit freezing cold. Saying goodbye wasn’t easy and I’m sure going to miss my travel buddy (he will travel for six more weeks with his father) and miss travelling together. I comfort myself with knowing that I want to be there for my sister and Ecuador and Columbia will still be there to visit in the future (hopefully).
At this point my awesome husband will take over the blogging. A big thank you to everyone who has been reading our stories so far. It was great to share them with you and who knows, maybe we’ll do another trip like this in the future. I would sure love to! A big thanks to my husband and travel buddy. It was awesome!
¡Hasta luego!
The South American Roadtrip 