High to low and back again.

I am lying in bed just thinking, I am wondering about blogs. I am wondering how best I could communicate some of the feelings, sights, smells, fears and emotions that we have crammed into our lives the past months. I am wondering if it is necessary to record the quietness in our hostel room at this moment, a quietness which is broken by the creaks of the wooden planks on the balcony outside as some early riser scrambles to get away to catch the first bus to Aguascalientes in order to be ahead of the masses wanting to catch the first light over Machu Picchu. I wonder at the age of the squeaking planks, and of the efforts of the craftsman who carved those balconies that so elegantly adorn many of the buildings in Cusco. 

Cusco Balconies

I wonder who it is and why someone would wish to let off firecrackers so early in the morning and how the bangs frightened the little dog.

I am thinking how I have skimmed through countries, countryside and people, hoping that when I read what I have written at some time in the future I will remember the feelings I had as we climbed some gravel road and I looked ahead at the next hairpin bend and all I saw were little round stones that I knew were bad enough to ride on a flat road, let alone up a hill, round a corner, with an oncoming bus bearing down upon us!

I wonder how I will remember Yamil with his semi-dreadlocked hair, his squat physique, wide Peruvian features which were broken by a broad smile, revealing worn teeth that like his hands bore evidence of a tough rural  life; or his young goffer who trotted between errands, instead of walking, in an effort to please.

We need time to write about such things, the things we want to store in the memory bank that has only ever functioned erratically and has shown not  to improve with age. I also ask myself who would possibly be interested in reading about our travels in the years to come?

As a student I got a job at RCA records in London where I picked and packed records in the warehouse.  I remember having a nightmare where whichever direction I walked there were huge vinyl records rolling down the street towards me! I thought the world had been over-run by records and wondered where people would find the space to store all of their records! Where have they all gone?

What has happened to all those stamp albums which were going to be so valuable, and the Scalextrix sets and Marklin Trains? Blogs no doubt will suffer an even quicker fate. Maybe it would be better to select or paint just one picture that would remind us of the past months and could be hung on the staircase wall with all the other happy memories instead of all the masses of digital pictures. If I had to do choose such a picture I think it would be the picture Ewa took of our shadow as we dashed back to Cusco in an effort to beat the sunset. Life is but a shadow.

Chivay to Cusco is a trip of about 600 kms. That does not sound a great distance to do in a day, but if you consider the finger test it can become a real challenge. The finger test is how I estimate altitude. At 3200 metres I can feel all my fingers. At 3800 metres the tip of my left-hand index finger starts to tingle. At 4000 metres my index finger goes numb and all my other fingers start to tingle. At 4800 metres I am essentially driving with no hands.

Warming up

We left Chivay at 7.00am. The road twists and turns up to 4800 meters over the next 86 kms and takes close to two hours to travel. My hands were freezing and I had to drive with alternative hands warming up on the cylinder head! Thank goodness the sun started shining and we descended down to 3800 where I started driving again with nine fingers. A coffee break at the side of the road and a quick bask in the sunshine got us on our way again.

I have always thought Cusco was really high. Well at 3200 it is not that high. I was really baffled as the road follows a river from Lake Titicaca to Cusco and my internal compass told me that the river should flow into the lake and not away from it as Cusco is high. As it happens you can paddle from Lake Titicaca to the Amazon River via Cusco. Any takers?

Cusco is a really beautiful city, but the outskirts are tatty like most of the big towns we have been through, but to arrive from the East at sunset is a nightmare. The traffic has a mind of its own, the road is full of diversions, potholes and dust and the people are completely oblivious to the fact that the descending sun makes it impossible to see two feet in front of you. How we made it through to the town centre I really don’t know, but we did. It made a big difference to know that we had accommodation just off the Plaza de Armas at Hostel La Pasada Viajero, where we once again drove through the reception into the courtyard!

Cusco Crafts

Cusco Plaza des Armas

Cusco Cathedral

Hand made by the Inca's

It is impossible not to enjoy the vistas through the narrow lanes. The architecture is almost organic as it climbs up the surrounding hills. There is no doubt that the tiled roofs and the mud coloured walls of the residential areas and the splendid stonework of the formal buildings and churches make Cusco a photographic paradise. Cusco is a tourist city of note, but it was really interesting exploring the real life of the markets and areas away from the tourist attractions.

Free. Life is but a shadow

Cute Kids

Inca Grain Storage Ollantaytambo

Volcano over Sacred Valley

We decided that Machu Picchu would not be on our itinerary for a number of reasons, but we did have a really memorable drive through the Sacred Valley from Pisac to Ollantaytambo the launching spot to Machu Picchu. There is no doubt that despite the tourism, there is a real spiritual feeling to this fertile valley. We also had an amusing time haggling at the market stalls of Pisac. The roasted guinea pig (Cuy) on display didn’t do a lot for my appetite, especially the exposed teeth!

Guinea Pig with teeth

How do you imagine Peru? Most probably you would say “dry and mountainous”? Well 60 % is Amazonian forest, 30 % is Alti Plano and the balance is the narrow dry coastal area. As a result Peru has an incredibly diverse eco structure with a wide variety of flora and fauna. It is a fascinating country that is going to require a much bigger chunk of time than we had bargained on.

We left Cusco and headed west to Nazca. I thought we would descend from Cusco. We didn’t, we went up to no fingers, with snow all around the surrounding hills. I had been told that it was a scenic drive but we certainly were not prepared for this road. The road to Abancay winds up, down and through various valleys for 250kms. I estimate that we turned a bend every 200 metres. Allowing for the length of the bend that would mean that we negotiated 1000 bends! I am not talking about gentle bends, these are right-angle and hairpin bends.

1000 to go

We rose up to the barren Alti Plano, then descended marginally to Abancay, before dropping down to the coastal region of Nazca and the Ica valley. I turned off the engine 50 kms from Nazca and free-wheeled into town, a saving of two and a half litres of petrol! I had the utmost respect for the couple who were riding bicycles in the opposite direction and even afforded a wave and a smile. I wonder if they have reached Cusco yet!

Free wheeled for 50km to Nazca

The old adage that says “all I need is a roof over my head” does not apply to the coastal region of Peru. There is no need for a roof as there is no rain! The area around Nazca and the Ica valley is a desert, but fortunately because of the underlying rock formation there is abundant water that flows down from the Alti Plana and is stored below to desert sands, making this area extremely fertile and the centre of the wine and fruit industries.

It is impossible to make head or tail of the Nazca Lines from the ground, but a visit to the Museum in Nazca was really worthwhile as it gave the background to the various cultures that developed in the area dating back to 4000 BC. It would appear that there was a cataclysmic change in the weather about 2000 years ago, which changed the west coast of South America from a fertile vegetated area to a desert. This was coupled with major volcanic action which combined to see the collapse of the sophisticated Tawanaki, Nazca and Paracas cultures around 700 to 900 AD. The Inca only ascended in the 15^th Century, but it was interesting to see how they picked up the skills of their predecessors.

Landing Strip?

Nazca Lines

The Incas only came in 15th Century

Nasca Lines

The scale of the Nazca Lines is astounding. Despite research by numerous scientists they have no clue as to how they came about or their purpose.  What is really fascinating is the fact that the lines are visible at all. I expected that they would be carved into the ground, but they are not. The area where they are found is covered with small rocks and stones. Imagine taking a large vacuum cleaner and sucking up all the stones along a dead straight line ten kilometres long, or conversely blowing all the stones away along a tapering path for the same distance, it would cause an image on the ground. That is how they appear. If you used a jet engine and angled it downwards it would make the same path on the ground! Whatever, the lines are clearly visible and although you can see them on the ground, the patterns only become apparent when viewed from above and have have not been covered by wind or sand for thousands of years. I wonder if they can be seen on Google Earth?

Why is it that the disc jockeys who start playing their music at 1.00am, think that everybody in a 5 km radius wants to listen to them until 7.0am. It is really arrogant. I want to find the DJ who was playing his music in Hauachina, a quiet oasis outside Ica. I want to find out where he lives and start playing the same sounds at the same volume when he decides to get some rest. 

Our new car

Huacachina Hostel

Huacachina Dunes

The owner of the Hostel was surprised when we checked out in the morning and decided to move on to the Paracas Nature Reserve, which was the complete antithesis of our sleepless night. Absolutely nothing but quiet colourful desert sands and tracks that appear to be going nowhere, but by random selection take you to a bunch of four small buildings and a tiny fishing harbour where you can indulge in the best and freshest fish meal you can imagine, surrounded by a myriad of sea birds, including double chinned Pelicans who look as though they should be Trombone players.

Cathedral Rock Paracas Nature Reserve

Paracas Nature Resurve

Where?

Trombone Players

Fish Restaurant

I love the concept. You decide to open a fish restaurant in the desert, miles away from civilisation, with no marked roads leading to it, only tracks that may or may not be leading in the right direction!

That is it. One more blog from Lima and we will be home in time for our wedding anniversary and my birthday.


I love presents!