It was a long afternoon yesterday to go back to Barranco and today is the final leg back to Lima, ending our 1400km road trip. After having had a car, we now have a home in Lima!! When there is home, there is grocery shopping and no need to eat out every single day, yeah! :D
Because there was a life before the Incas...
Welcome to pre-Inca Peru! It might not be clear if you just visit the Andes region but there was a life before the Incas. Caral was home to the 2nd most ancient civilization of the world. It began here in 5000BC in these fertile valleys surrounded by desertic mountains. It's Peru's coastal trademark it seems. The white-yellow-brown mountains are for sure very scenic. The site, discovered in 94, is huge and impressive.
Nazca
Bye bye Arequipa! We won't miss the crazy traffic and driving for sure. We ate very well but the city lacks a wow factor and even the Colca is only okay. Our next destination is Nazca with its famous drawings. All the way to Nazca is very desertic with small pockets of green. Even by the sea. When it's not rocks it's dunes...
El condor pasa
Yes the title is shameful but I've been trying (and mostly failing) not to make jokes with the title of that famous song on a daily basis. And since the first stop of our Colca tour is named Cruz del condor, I could not resist any longer. On a more cultural note, Colca mean "storage for grain" in Quechua. And surprise, we're back at 3650m...
Arequipa
The ride Arequipa was rough. We had a great bus with seats reclining at 180 degrees. But the road is rough so the night was rough too. We're lucky to be allowed to check-in early and have a hard time to drag ourselves out after that. Eventually we succeed and reward ourselves with a delicious ceviche followed by a good coffee at the alliance francaise restaurant.
The sacred valley
The train yesterday was slow and not even luxurious... Just ridiculously expensive. But I said I wouldn't rant more about that (but it's hard not too!!!). We have sore legs this morning but still a lot to do and since it's Inca stuff, we'll have to climb up and down their bloody terraces ;) Ollantaytambo is a tough name to pronounce but a very interesting place.
Machu Picchu
After many back and forth, we decided to go to Machu Picchu by a less traveled route mixing biking, rafting, zip lining and hiking (the jungle option). Up early for a long day of sport, we hop in a minibus, load the gear and bikes and head to a nearby mountain. We though we were done with altitude but here we are again at 4000+ meters!
Cuzco
Cuzco is the touristic powerhouse of the county and is unsurprisingly overrun by tourists. The city center is especially bad with its throngs of tourists and vendors. It's what it is for a good reason though. The number of Incas palaces and temples, churches and convent, and the quality of these buildings is humbling.
Puno
Goodbye Bolivia, Hello Peru! In reality, nothing changes, we go from one town on the lake Titicaca to another one. It's still high in altitude (3820m) but after that one we'll start going down... Finally ;) The border is super well organized and seamless. By the look of the border office, it's clear Peru is a step up in development. A few minutes after having resumed the bus ride, the police stops us. The driver is very nervous and aggressive. He doesn't have the passenger list (left it at the border he says). I suspect he's not supposed to take additional passenger at the border as he did.