Huanchaco, Huacas and Chan Chan

Following in Padre's footsteps (even down to the hostel!) our next stop was the fisherman's village of Huanchaco. Here we camped in a cosy campsite so close to the beach that the ocean sang us to sleep each night. It would seem that Huanchaco, like Sucre in Bolivia, is a place backpackers find hard to leave. We met some great people in that campsite, and shared some wonderful memories. The main attraction of going to Huanchaco was orginally for the famous archaeological ruins of Chan Chan - but the beach took over, and we ended up getting lost for about 11 days, eating fresh mangoes, lounging in hammocks, and even watching the resident iguana of the campsite go about his day.

We did eventually visit the archaeological sites however. Lots of people tend to just get a taxi to Chan Chan and go about it themselves - but we opted to get a tour so we would have a guide, and we were so glad we did. The tour took us first of all to a site called Huaca de la Luna (sacred site of the moon), and it is opposite the Huaca del Sol. The two sites were completely covered by sand, and are preserved beautifully because of this. The government does not have enough money to excavate the sites properly, so only the Huaca de la Luna has been properly examined - and only a proportion of it at that. The Huaca de la Luna is said to have been a religious site, a temple of sorts for the Moche people, whereas the Sun Huaca opposite is said to have been built later, and was more of a political centre. 

The Huaca de la Luna is one of the most amazing archaeological sites I have visited. It was a site for human sacrifice, where warriors would battle each other, and the one that was victorious would be sacrificed to the Gods. The site had five levels - every 100 years one would be plastered over, and a new level with a new murial painted atop it would take its place - it is incredible to see the different stages, and how the artwork changed over the 500 plus years the Moche people used the temple.

Outside was the most incredible example of this - here you can see 6 different levels of painting, and behind this wall there would be another 5, and behind that another 4...etc.. giving an awesome insight into the lives of the people. The bottom row depicts slaves, above that the warriors. The artwork surrounding the Huaca, and the fact it was only discoved around 22 years ago - before that it was a mountain of sand. The site is still, slowly being excavated - it would be amazing to go back in 10 years and see the Moche Village which lay between the two Huacas, and the Huaca del Sol too.

We also visited the site of Chan Chan, the largest Pre-Colombian city within South America. The site of Chan Chan is incredible purely due to the sheer scale of it - the ancient city sprawls over 20 square km, and once housed over 30,000 people. The city is dated to the Chimu people, and has largely been reconstructed. The main area where tourists visit shows the citadel, and a network of store rooms, decorated with a fishing net design across the walls. We can also see pelicans, and the direction in which they are facing shows the direction in which the person should move around the rooms - there was only one entrance. The site has unfortunately been so reconstructed so much that it actually bares very little resemblence to ruins, and more seems to have been heavily interpreted and covered in plaster - the pelicans look a bit like 8-bit renderings of their ancient selves. On one hand it being so reconstructed allows us to see what it would have maybe been like, and would make it more accessible for tourists to relate too. However, as archaeologists, we found it a bit false, and would rather they had been restored to a lesser extent.

 

The museum of Chan Chan, and the museum of the Huacas were very informative, and had an array of artefacts which were amazing - the pottery of the era was so detailed, and the faces so well constructed, unlike anything we had ever seen before. The tour was fantastic, and kickstarted our history and archaeology-heavy next two weeks...watch this space!

Eco Truly

After two weeks of trekking, hiking, rafting and drinking, we decided we needed a bit of a detox, so after saying farewell to Padre, we headed to a placed called Eco Truly, just North of Lima. The park is a self sustainable community, and is primarily a place where Hare Krishna residents can stay and practice their way of life, and volunteers can come and work among the community, learn their values and relax.

The setting of the Park is right on the beach, and the buildings, called Trulys, are really beautiful. From a distance it looks like a little gingerbread village - the perfect setting for relaxation. There are the rules you would expect : no drinking, smoking, meat, caffiene, sex...and some that surprised us, like there being no onion or garlic allowed in cooking (apparently they are too much of an aphrodisiac!). The food was brilliant, three meals a day of a variety of vegetable concoctions, and plenty of cake too. We awoke every morning at 6.30 for 2 hours of yoga, something which left us feeling well stretched and ready to start the day. At the start of the week we were both pretty terrible, but by the time we left we were already more flexible than before! We camped at the Park, and were joined by a large variety of stray cats and dogs in our little field, which we loved up until one particularly large cat (who we named Neil) marked his territory on our tent.

 

 

And after a hearty breakfast, we were to work for four hours in an area which needed assistance. This is where the experience stopped being what we had hoped of it. We helped in a variety of areas, including the kitchen, the field, mosaics and the beach. Yet it seemed that wherever we were put we were more getting in the way than helping ‐ the devotees and residents had it all under control, and the volunteers were not really doing anything of value ‐ a massive contrast to the other places we have volunteered in, where we could really see that our help was needed. The Park seemed more interested in generating tourism than teaching volunteers about their way of life, or indeed about self sustainability either.

Our time at Eco Truly was definitely a relaxing break, but unfortunately was not the enlightening experience we were looking for. As with most places, you get out what you put in, and although we were putting our all in to helping and learning, it seemed like the residents were bored of backpackers using it as a pitstop along the Gringo Trail. However, we did have a peaceful time here, enjoying the surroundings, food and company - so in a way, it did exactly what it said on the tin website. 

New Groove...Cusco!

Once the capital of the Inca Empire, the city of Cusco is undoubtebly one of the most popular tourist destinations on the whole continent - and that can be pinpointed to one specific area, which features on many a bucket list; the stunning Inca site of Machu Picchu. This was the reason, like so many others, we first wanted to visit South America. My Dad and I had talked of going ourselves after I finished University and he retired, long before I'd even met Dave - so it was always going to be a highlight of our trip. For this reason, we booked the official Inca trail months before (just under a year ago now!). There are so many variations on the trek, and much cheaper ways to get to Machu Picchu itself, but I would do it all again exactly the same way. 

  

So we arrived to the city of Cusco with enough time to acclimatise before embarking on our trek, and explored our surroundings.  The city is a maze of steep and narrow streets, lined with cobblestones and littered with Inca foundations mixed with Colonial buildings. The surroundings of the square are lined with original Inca walls. We visited numerous museums, with archaeological finds from all over the country - from ornately carved figurines to anthropomorphic clay pots. We also visited (on recommendation from Gilbs and K-Wottz) a charming chocolate museum, filled with interesting facts and statistics, and here we sampled a delicious chocolate fondue.

We had read about the surrounding archaeological sites, and in one of Padre's book there was a description of how to get a taxi to the furthest one, and walk (about 3 hours) back to the centre. It sounded easy enough, so dodging the price of the tours, and feeling pretty confident after our Colca Canyon exhibition, we set on our way. We taxi-ed to the first site, of Tambomachay, more popularly known as The Baths of the Incas - there are theories connecting the site to an ancient water cult. 

From there we walked to the next site of Pukapukara, which is a beautiful ruin of a fortress, or a guard post. It had several lower chambers, a smattering of stone rooms and an upper esplanade which offered stunning vistas. 

The next site was a fair walk away, warned the book, about half an hour. After about 15 minutes we were surprised to have seen no other tourists, but assumed we were being awfully clever and everyone else had forked out for a tour. After about an hour, we began to doubt that we were on the right path, having not seen another person, or indeed much of a path, for the last half hour. About three hours later we came across a village with a tourist office, who informed us we had walked in completely the wrong direction, and were in fact now so far off track we were no longer on our map. So this then resulted in us getting a taxi to the final ruin (totally disheartened and so skipping the two inbetween), Sacsaywaman (lovingly called 'Sexywoman' by tourists). This site was by far the most spectacular; considered the most impressive after Machu Picchu. The fort was the site of a bitter battle of the Spanish Conquest, and was used as a base to lay siege to the conquistadors residing in Cusco. It was three tiered forticiations of gigantic stones, a phenomenal site. There is an area known as the Inca Throne, where only the foundations remain, but still to this day there are offerings around the area. The site really was incredible, and got us all quite excited for the ruins we were bound to see on the Inca trail.

So after a day of rest, we were then off on the Inca Trail - a 43km walk over four days which combines inca ruins, jungle paths through cloud forest and high passes (up to 4200m) camping along the way, finally reaching the lost Inca city of Mach Picchu on the fourth day. We were lucky enough to be on the same trek as our friend Aled (who worked in the clinic at Inti Wara Yassi). We were picked up by a bus and taken to the town of Ollantaytambo where we had breakfast, and were given the oppertunity to buy any last minute items - here we purchased trekking poles, and were extremely glad we did! We were then taken to the beginning of our trek, at kilometer 82. 

On the first day the trek lasted for about four hours, and we were able to go at our own pace, enjoying the spectacular views of the snow capped Urubamba mountain range. We also had our first glimpse of Inca ruins - those of Llactapata (which was used primarily as an agricultural station). We were amazed that by the time we reached our first stop, the Chaski's (or porters) had already set up a giant tent and prepared a delicious three course meal for us all. The food was exquisite, and continued to be throughout the trek. We spent the evening drinking beers and getting to know each other, and found we were lucky enough to be in a great group of people. 14 of us in total, with 9 Americans - one other girl from Pinner (small world!) bringing the total of Brits to 5. 

The second day was one of the most intense work outs of my life - a real physical challenge! The journey to the highest pass was one of beautiful scenery, but the countless steps up to the vista made them partially visible through the sweat. The use of coca leaves again proved invaluble during this part of the trek! We were comforted by knowing it was the most difficult part of the trail, and the elation when reaching the top was plain in everyones faces. The combination of the steep steps and the shortness of breath due to the altitude was exhilirating - I can say that in hindsight!

The journey down to our campsite was more enjoyable, and our knees were grateful for our trekking poles helping to ease our way down the steep steps. The views all around were stunning, including a beautiful waterfall cascading from higher than the eye could see. The third day was an easier walk but a longer day, though it was broken up by Inca ruins across the trail (which was for the most part original Inca stones). The second half of the day was incredible, we walked through the cloud forest on the Inca trail, full of hanging mosses and trails, Inca caves carved into rocks, orchids and general jungle. It was beautiful - and a fantastic birthday for Aled! The cook even made him a special birthday cake to celebrate, we had become a little family. For Aled's birthday meal, and our last meal, we were surprised with a garnish of an intricately carved cucumber Parrott, who we promptly named Benjamin, and became the mascot for our final day.

When we reached the second highest pass of the trek, at 4000m, our guide Manny showed us how his ancestors would have made an offering to Pachamama, mother earth. We each had carried a small stone to the height, and offered it with coca leaves and some scented flower water, making a wish for whatever we desired in our future. 

On the fourthand final day, we awoke early and were on the road by 4am. It was quite an intense trek to the Sun Gate (Intipunku), up an almost vertical climb, with other groups overtaking, and some even running to get there. Everyone seemed worried they would miss something amazing, or else not be able to see. However, when we got there we found that there was actually loads of space, and from every angle there was a spectacular view, our first glimpse at the lost city. Here we sat and watched the sun rise over the colossal ruins, and congratulated each other on the monumental hike we had almost completed. 

Once we reached the city, we were given a tour by our guide and then were able to explore the site ourselves. The pictures really cannot do it justice - the scale of the ruins is incredible, and to imagine what it would have been like as an Inca city is really magical. The site fills up with tourists extremely quickly, and it is hard not to feel a little resentment towards those who had just popped up on a bus! We then met our tour group for lunch in Aguas Calientes, and a well deserved GIANT beer. Benjamin was celebrated in all of his glory, and put in a zip lock bag for us to take around Peru (NB, he made it as far as Lima where he promptly turned to a bag of stinky mush and was thrown away). 

We chose to spend an extra night in the town of Aguas Calientes, with the intentions of going to the natural hot springs while we were there. But instead we ended up drinking into the evening at our hostel, and then meeting three of the guys from the tour for dinner and more drinks, and a lot of laughing. We got the train back to Cusco, which was an experience in itself. We were given food, a surprise visit from a masked dancer, and a fashion show of baby alpaca designs during the journey - entirely bizarre! 

The next day Padre has booked us on a day trip white water rafting as a treat. I was pretty nervous, never having done it before, and a bit afraid of bashing my skull against a rock on a rapid. However, it turned out to be BRILLIANT fun, really exhilirating and a good laugh as well. Our team, of all girls except for Dave and Padre, called ourselves the Champions, and survived without anyone going overboard. Well, we all went overboard, but only when pushed by each other! We ended the day by ziplining across the river, and then returned to our hostel. After an adventurous two weeks we parted ways with Padre; having seen and experienced some things which will never be forgotten, and are unlikely to be topped.