Peru - long and in parts (as requested)
 

After reading both LH738’s and Jailer’s reports of their times in Peru, I thought that I would add my own experiences there in the early part of April. After my last feeble attempt at a trip report, covering Thailand in parts (which never made it past halfway), I thought that I'd do this in one piece - which means that it's looooong http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/wink.gif.
*change of plan* - after comments in my 'how long is too loooong' thread, I'll post this in about 6 parts - I've only completed the first four, so it gives me an incentive to hurry up with the later bits.

Before I start, two cautionary notes:
- This report is going to be more about the place itself than the flights - on account of the fact that a BA transatlantic flight in Y is substantially less interesting than the Nazca lines !
- While we met many interesting people (although no Yaley hotties http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif ) I will refrain from passing comment on any of them - I just couldn't stand all the follow-up messages saying things like 'Hey, us Yanks are not loud and overbearing' or 'Vot do you mean, ve do too have a sense of humour'. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/biggrin.gif

Myself and Mrs Stewie Mac had been wanting to take a trip to Peru for years, and nearly went for it for our honeymoon last year, but decided that we'd probably need something rather more relaxing (and went to Thailand instead), but finally resolved to go in April 2003. After spending some time looking at organised tours (with the likes of jla) and deciding that they were not only too restrictive, but also rather expensive, we decided to organise everything ourselves, using only our trusty 'footprint' guidebook and the web. For once, the good people on this site were not a mine of information (see a couple of my posts in the South America forum in Travel, sadly unanswered), but I found a very good site for hotels and general info on Peru and Bolivia here.

We had around two and a half weeks for the trip, but wanted to fit a *lot* in, so we booked everything (internal flight, hotels, train, tours) up from the UK by e-mail before we left - we could unquestionably have saved money by sorting things out in Peru, but we were concerned that we only had one 'free' day in Cuzco on the whole trip, and didn't really want to either 'waste' time in sorting things on the ground, or risk getting behind the schedule if timings didn't fit. Okay then, on with the show:

April 2
BA 207 LHR-MIA, seat: somewhere down the back..... http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/frown.gif
Tickets were booked on-line at aa.com (for no apparent reason, around £50 each cheaper than ba.com), and our first and surnames had been transposed, so were unable to get our BAEC numbers attached to book in on-line; however, used telephone checkin the night before, and utilised the 'Customer Services' desk in T3 as a 'fast bag drop', thereby skipping the lengthy queue - a promising start. Although our onwards flight to Peru on AA was booked separately, our bags were interlined through to Lima without problem. The plane was pretty full (only two middle seats free in the main Y cabin, one of which was fortunately next to us http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif ) - usual BA longhaul Y, so decent food, drink (London Pride !) and IFE, and mediocre space. Arrived on time in MIA, and quickly through immigration. Checked in for our MIA-LIM flight, and then, following some good advice from the AA forum, went up to the pool deck in the airport hotel and sat out in the fresh air for an hour or so.
AA 917 MIA-LIM, seats 14 B/C
First time on AA since about '92, and the extra space is really TERRIFIC ! Sadly the rest of the experience was underwhelming, and I *really* don't like having to pay $5 for a beer - so we snoozed for most of the way. Again, landed more-or-less on time, picked up bags up and went through customs - each person (or group of people) going through presses a big button to generate a light: green means 'go', red means 'come this way while I put on the rubber gloves'. Probably a deal more scientific (and effective) than anything the TSA are doing http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif .
We had booked 2 nights at the Hotel Antigua in Miraflores, and their driver was waiting for us - a short journey across town, and we were asleep before midnight.

April 3
Our only day in Lima, and we really should have done/seen loads of things, but frankly didn't have the energy. Took a taxi to the Museo de Oro, which is apparently the number one attraction in Lima, although personally I found it rather samey, with the exception of the 6 inch man with his 8 inch willy (see if that gets through the draconian censorship) - quite remarkable ! I actually found the Museo de Armas upstairs more to my taste (they have a matched presentation pair of broomhandled Mausers given by Waffenfabrik Mauser to the Argentinean President in 1910 - cool !). Then back to Miraflores via the bus station (booking tickets to Paracas and then onto Nazca) to have a walk by the Pacific. Both still knackered, so early night.

tomorrow you get Pisco Sours and the Nazca Lines !

You are off and running. I'm looking forward to the next installment.

Me too - I did Bolivia and Peru last year myself so may add just a comment or two :-)

April 4
Up early for our 7.30am bus to Paracas - a great way to travel in Peru, we used Ormeno's Royal Class service. Nice new bus, secure luggage storage, snacks and videos. Interesting trip down the Panamerican Highway, admiring all the beachclubs to the south of Lima (abandoned on this Friday morning). A sign indicating that Arequipa (our ultimate destination in the bus) was 1,016 km (about 650 miles in real numbers) from Lima brought home just how big a country Peru is - Lima-Arequipa is not even half of Peru, and would pretty neatly cover Britain from Lands End to John o' Groats ! We arrived at the Hotel Paracas just as the sun broke through the low cloud at 11ish - sadly the Northerly wind which blows most of the day was carrying a rather unpleasant smell from the nearby fish factories, which would continue until the wind shifted direction at around 4pm. We went out for a quick lunch - about a pound of ceviche mixto cost $4 at the 'Cevicheria Jack and Jill' - very tasty ! The afternoon was spent relaxing in the sun, and swimming in the pool - the Pacific didn't look that warm (or clean), so we decided to postpone our first swim in it until later in the year, in Mexico.
*** Top Tip - the hotel bar makes lousy Pisco Sours.

April 5
Another early start for a boat trip out to the Ballestas Islands - 'the poor man's Gallapagos'. Not having yet been to the real thing, we can only listen awe-struck to the seasoned travellers relating tales of seals chasing them down beaches like puppies http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif - however, after an hour's delay while the mist clears, the seals, penguins and sea-birds we see are impressive enough for me (sorry, I'm not a twitcher, so they were all sea-birds to me...). More lazing by the pool (it's the only one we'll see all holiday, so we're taking advantage) before picking up our 4pm bus down to Nazca. The driver has obviously driven this route a few times, since there's a lengthy delay before the video starts (Deep Impact - what a load of cr*p !), but it finishes about 2 minutes before our arrival ! We find our way to our pre-booked hotel, then go next door to the Bar Kanada to check e-mail and have a snack.
*** Top Tip - the bar Kanada makes excellent Pisco Sours !

April 6
Up early for our flight over the Nazca lines, after a terrible nights sleep - Hotel Alegria was the cheapest on our trip ($25) but also by a far greater margin, the worst, and probably the only one to which we wouldn't return.
AeroIca, no flight number; seats 3 and 4 (out of 4 !), Cessna 182
We waited for about 40 minutes in the 'lounge', which was the reception area of the Hotel Suisse, across the main road from the airstrip, watching a video about the lines (for UK residents, it was a very old 'Horizon' programme). We were then taken out to the 'gate', which was exactly that - a gate from the path by the road onto AeroIca's apron, where we had another 20 minute wait. After a few minutes, a couple of nice ladies came up to take our 'airport tax', of 2 soles (about $0.60) each. We were then waved onto the plane, instructed to buckle in, and don headsets so the pilot could point out the lines properly. Noticed that the altimeter was showing about 1,900 ft above sea level, which tied in with our guidebook giving Nazca as being about 600-some metres asl. After a couple of false starts, the pilot got the engine running, checked the instruments, and then we were off ! Probably the shortest taxi possible (straight ahead for 20 yards and then a sharp right) put us onto the main (only !) runway, and the pilot just opened up the throttles for a rolling take-off ! 30 seconds later we had reached cruising altitude (about 300 ft above ground level) and were heading across the desert, as the pilot said something about 'the whale on the right'. I peered out of the window (muttering thanks that Mrs Stewie Mac had made me buy some prescription sunglasses for the trip) but could only see a few vague lines in the dirt below. Feeling a terrible sense of anti-climax, I squinted hard and made out some vague 'big fishy' shape, and pondered briefly how it's possible to fool some of the people all of the time http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/frown.gif
And then about twenty seconds later the actual whale came into view, and it was clearly a whale !! Yippee - my faith in Maria Reiche and documentary film-making restored in a split-second http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/biggrin.gif . The next twenty minutes were a series of incredibly steep banks (something like what you get under a ram-air square chute, for the sky-divers out there) punctuating great views of all of the designs and patterns that make up the lines. Fantastic !
To complete the trip report, we landed extremely smoothly (how come the smoothest landings are either in a 747 or a Cessna ???), and taxied quickly back to the AeroIca apron (straight back down the runway :eek http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif. Great flight !
We then went for a short tour out to a cemetery, which had a number of (restored) open graves, with mummified remains; as the temperature climbed, our guide explained that the Atacama desert in Northern Chile extends up into Peru - basically the coastal strip of Peru south of Lima (a strip of land around 1000 km long, and anywhere from a few km to a couple of hundred km wide) is the same desert, and has seen 'no significant rainfall since the last Ice Age'. We learnt lots of interesting facts about how the Nazcan civilization (one of the many pre-Incan civilizations which existed in Peru, and which no-on ever hears about) mummified people, of which the most startling was that after removing the main internal organs (and pulling the brain out through the severed neck !) the whole body was 'put over a low heat to dry it out' ! Cue images of a very large fire set to Gas Mark 1 !!
Back to Nazca, and we have until 10pm until our overnight bus to Arequipa... fortunately, the Hotel Nazca Lines allows non-guests to use their pool for $4.50, so we get an unexpected, unplanned but very welcome second afternoon by the pool http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif . More Pisco Sours at Bar Kanada, and onto the bus only an hour late.

April 7
We arrive in Arequipa about 7am, after a pretty good nights sleep (Ormeno's Royal Class Sleeper Seats are about the equivalent of old-style biz class - around 45" pitch, good recline, but no IFE or champagne http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/frown.gif ), and grab a cab to our hotel. A very pleasant day spent wandering around Arequipa, a very pleasant city, and a visit to the Santa Catalina Convent. Until about 25 years ago, this was closed to visitors, but as the numbers of nuns dwindled, about three-quarters has been opened up. It could be a little village in Southern Spain, even down to the alleys running through it, all named after Spanish cities. If you like pastries, then partake here, where they are excellent (look out for the 'pastillerias') - we could find nothing similar in Cuzco.

Next up: Cruz del Condor and Cuzco...

Great reports so far. Waiting for the next installments. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/thumbsup.gif

Looking forward to your Cuzco installment. Enjoyed very much when I was in Peru last summer and also spent time in Lima, and 4 days hiking the Inca trail. I hopped from LIM to CUZ via Tans-Peru. If I knew how to post a link, I wrote a trip report (see archives) on that experience "fruit cake at 35,000 feet". Interested to compare experiences.

April 8
Up early (noting any pattern here http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif ) for a two day trip to the Colca Canyon to see condors. For this part of the trip, we had booked a 'tour' - transport in a small van to/from Chivay (about 4 hours each way) and then Cruz del Condor, with accommodation at the Colca Lodge. This trip featured some of those people who I'm not going to talk about, which means that I'm not going to say too much about the busride ! On the way, however, we stopped at the high pass at 4,850 m (that's just over 16,000ft !!), and it started snowing !! Got to the lodge in mid-afternoon, and it was really great - a very simple place, in keeping with its environment (so no tv, fax, newspapers, etc), but with fantastic thermal springs. In fact we chose the lodge over the simpler (and cheaper) places in Chivay because it had its own thermal spring, and we spent about 2 hours in them after dinner, watching the stars and listening to the Rio Colca - bliss http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/biggrin.gif

April 9
Quick breakfast and on the road by 6.30am, for the hour-and-a-bit trip to Cruz del Condor. When we got there, there was probably around a hundred folk there already - quite surprising ! Over the course of an hour or so, we saw half a dozen of these incredible birds (the largest in the world, with a wingspan of up to 14 feet) soaring backwards and forwards across our front on the thermals that rise up the cliffs of the Colca Canyon, the second deepest in the world (3,400 m deep at its deepest, although not much over 1,000 m deep where we were watching). FYI, the deepest canyon in the world is the Cotahuasi, another few hundred miles into the Andes, which is IIRC 3,700m deep. As the air warmed more, the condors disappeared off to the coast to search for food (mostly carrion), and we headed back to Arequipa. The road was about evenly split between paved and packed dirt, and the incredibly dry and hot conditions made it dusty beyond anything I've experienced in Europe - worse even than the Masai Mara in the dry (apologies for the obscure reference, but it's the second dustiest thing that I can think of http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif ). In addition, as we lost altitude on the way back down to Arequipa (from 4,850 to about 2,400 m asl), the driver kept stopping to check the tyres - slightly disconcerting as he was slaloming down switchback roads with sheer drops at 60mph + ! We made it home safely however, with just time for a nightcap in the beautiful Plaza de Armas, before an early night.

April 10
A taxi picked us up at 6am, getting us to the airport in plenty of time for our 7.55am LANperu flight to Cuzco (LP91 if anyone cares). We had actually checked with the LANperu office the night before, since there was a general strike today in Peru, in protest at American-inspired government pressure to stop coca production in Peru. Later in the trip, on the Inca trail, we would get an idea of how important coca leaf is to the Peruvian people (and the other Andean peoples too), but for the moment we were just concerned about missing our flight. On our return from the Colca Canyon the day before, we had seen rocks and oil drums forming ineffective roadblocks on the main roads, and had deliberately given ourselves extra time to reach the airport, just in case, but as it turned out we had a very swift ride. Check-in was easy and efficient, and our BAEC numbers appeared on our boarding passes (we had entered them when booking on-line) - sadly I have just noticed that these O class flights are ineligible for mileage (so what's new, I hear the BAEC members asking http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/wink.gif ). Our flight was originating in Lima, then stopping at Arequipa and Cuzco before returning back to Lima (as was the Aerocontinente flight which was timed within 10 minutes of the LANperu flight - glad that we were on the shiny A320 rather than the rather tatty looking B737...). Boarding was on-time and involved a pleasant walk across the apron to the stairs (using both front and back doors). Interior pretty standard for a new 'oneworld' plane - legroom more BA than AA, but perfectly adequate for this 35 minute flight. The safety briefing was done on video, using rather badly-animated CGI characters (looking surprisingly like the mutant-David-Beckham-type bloke that my company has started using in our own literature - we worry about our designer sometimes http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/wink.gif ), and taxi and takeoff were prompt and smooth. No food served, but refreshments served (pre-poured) from a tray - typically Peruvian choice of water, orange juice, mate de coca or Inca Kola ! Wonderful views of the Andes, with jagged, snow-covered peaks sticking out above the clouds. A smooth landing into Cuzco, grab the bags and at our hostal by 9.30.
We take a stroll around downtown Cuzco, dodging the postcard / painting / cigarette / jumper sellers and restaurant and tour touts in the Plaza de Armas - it's obvious that we've arrived in Gringotown, South America. Having finally arrived in the home of the Incas, I treat myself to a bottle of Inka Kola, and am immediately returned to my childhood - the taste is instantly familiar to anyone who was brought up on Barr's Ice Cream Soda. Not that the taste is the same, but the artificial sweet/dry balance is as evocative of my schooldays as Proust's madelaines were to him. We drop into United Mice, the tour operators with whom we have booked our Inca Trail trip (I liked the name, okay http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/wink.gif ) to confirm timings and pay - everything is fine, but it turns out that due to some people having to change plans because of the general strike, we will now be joining a group of 14 people all travelling from La Paz to Quito with this company. While we're slightly concerned about how we'll fit in with an established group, we are pleased to hear that they are on the 'comfortable' version of the trip; the only immediate effect of this is that porters will carry our sleeping bags (they will be carrying all of the main groups kit, and the operator is keen that we don't stand out as only having paid for the 'simple' trip). We go to a restaurant recommended by the Footprint guide, but it's a very gringo place, and we wonder if the guides tend to recommend only gringo places, or if they become gringo places because they appear in the guides (feel free to join in with this discussion) - either way, we resolve to try to 'get off the beaten path' for the rest of the trip.

April 11
Woohoo - it's not an early start !! Not up until about 9am this morning, with a quiet-ish, 'acclimatisation' day planned. We had decided to have a preparatory walk around the ruins to the North of Cuzco (Tambo Machay, Puca Pucara, and Sacsayhuaman), but rather than paying $10 each for a guided tour, we were going the cheapo route - a 2 soles bus ride up to Tambo Machay, and then walking back down via the ruins to Cuzco. Amazing Inca construction, with huge blocks of stone, weighing up to 300 tons, fitted together with incredible precision. The 7 or so mile walk goes very easily, but unlike tomorrow, it's all downhill ! We drop off our sleeping bags at United Mice and have dinner of lomo saltado and beer at the small restaurant opposite the police station - it seems to be their staff canteen, and with the number of guns being carried by grumpy-looking men, we hope that no crazy people decide to try a 'Pulp Fiction' stylee hold-up !

Next: the Inca Trail begins...

Inka Cola Everytime I see someone write about it I shudder. The only "bad" memory I have from Peru (OK, maybe too much Pisco Sour, also).

The soda reminded me of an evil brew of Mountain Dew and Bubble Gum!

I did my Inca Trail with United Mice .... did you have Cesar for a tour guide ? I was also on an ecounter trip, as it happens. If you are going to do a tour in a place like this, I can highly recommend them.

spookily enough, we did have Cesar as a guide - found it very amusing that the Encounter briefing notes mentioned that he 'had a tendency to get bored if the group had insufficient single females' !

Ozzie, you should post how the trail compares to your trip, when it's up (probably in two or three parts, as it's quite long).

Wonderful descriptions, Stewie Mac.
I'm looking forward to the next parts - especially the Inca Trail which I did as Inca Rail.

April 12
The return of the early start - a 4am pick-up for the start of el Camino Inka ! Onto a bus already half-full of porters (for this trip, we have 16 tourists, 2 guides, and 23 porters !), which makes various stops on the way to Ollantaytambo to collect the remainder. At Olly the porters leave us and join their loads on a truck to the trailhead at km 82, and we are joined by the Encounter group which spent the evening at a hostal here. They seem a reasonably friendly bunch - as friendly as you'd expect, given that it's still only 6.15 am, and it's drizzling - but we're still wary as to how we'll get along over the next three days. As the bus takes us to km 82, the senior guide, Cesar, tries to raise everyone's spirits, but it's clear that a few of the guys maybe had a few too many spirits of their own last night ! Nevertheless, we are soon at the trailhead, and after an obligatory team photoshoot under the sign saying 'El Kamino Inka' (the two guides juggling a hi-tech assortment of film and digital cameras) and a passport and ticket check (my passport now bears a stamp for 'Sanctuario Machupicchu') we cross the Urubamba river and begin the trail proper.
The first few miles of the trail are fairly gentle, rising and falling slightly as we follow the southern bank of the river, and we make good progress, stopping only briefly to hear how coca leaf features prominently in Andean society, and to learn how to wrap it around a catalyst and chew it - while this clearly has an effect (in the remaining silver mines in Bolivia, the workers can manage 36 hour shifts without food by continuous coca leaf chewing http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/eek.gif ), it just gives me a numb cheek, and I only try it a couple of times. As we turn South, away from the river, the path remains gentle, but the rising and falling becomes rising and rising - soon we are a couple of hundred metres above the Urubamba, and we can see the first ruins of the trail on the valley floor. Llactapata, a series of agricultural terraces with a few houses, was probably a food source for Machu Picchu - it is remarkably well-preserved, and would only need re-roofing to be inhabitable (the Incas used thatch for roofing, which was replaced every six months or so - we have left the dry desert conditions of the coast and entered cloud forest, and it is easy to see how vegetation would rot quickly). The clouds finally clear, and the sun quickly heats up the air - we are glad that the trail is still gentle, and I am concerned how I will cope if the sun shines for the long slog up to the high pass on the second day. However, as we approach our lunch stop at Huayllabamba, it is a beautiful day, and we enjoy the sight of the butterflies and black bees floating around the flowers, and some people are lucky enough to see some of the 200+ species of hummingbirds which can be seen on the trail. Our lunch spot is marked by two big red tents, one the cook tent, and one the dining tent - we will soon come to welcome the sight of these, as they are the first things erected at each of our stops. The kettle has boiled, and we are all soon sitting in the sun drinking mate and (on our part) getting to know our companions. But the sky is clouding over, and as lunch is served, the drizzle which greeted us at dawn returns. We retire to the dining tent, and tuck into soup followed by pasta, which turns out to be the standard lunchtime fare. After a post-prandial cuppa, it is time to set off again, and there is much deliberating over the wearing (or not) of waterproofs - the weather is the definition of 'dreech', and several of us (me included) decide that skin (and a t-shirt) is sufficiently waterproof for it. After a mile or so, passing through the 'village' of Huayllabamba itself (probably a dozen small houses), the path begins to climb, first gradually but then inexorably steepening. This is the start of the climb up to the high pass of Warmiwanusqa, an ascent of 1,200 m in 7.5 km (that's about 4,000 ft in 5 miles, for our majority audience http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif ). Cesar wants us to camp tonight at Llulluchapampa, about two-thirds of the way up to the pass - it shifts the whole physical emphasis of the trek (making the first day the hard one) since the 'traditional' first campsite is near where we have had lunch, but we will reap the benefits over the next two days - we leave behind almost all of the three or four hundred other tourists (with their accompanying hundreds of porters) and have the trail to ourselves until we reach the hostel at Winay Wayna. The path settles into a steep upward climb, and fairly quickly I'm suffering ... we're still only at about 3,200 m, but suddenly it doesn't feel like we've acclimatised at all ! For the next two and a bit hours, there's about 30yds of flat path (which brings shouts of 'Yeah ! It's flat !'), and one hell of a lot of steps. [We later learn than this part of the trail is not original, and has been mostly constructed in the last thirty or so years - most of the steps are slightly too high to be comfortable (maybe 16" or so), and are slightly too wide to be easily taken in a single stride. Later on the trail, we will use original Incan steps, which are much better designed, with alternate steps sloping different ways, so you can take a big step up at one end, a small step up at the other, and a medium size step in the middle. It doesn't sound like a big difference, but after a few hundred, you start to get real grateful !] I've had some problems with my left patellar tendon, and the physio has warned that this is likely to hurt, so I'm trying to lead with my right leg the whole time. It's certainly helping my left tendon, but after 800m climbing one-legged, my right quad is aching and shaking. The group is well spread out (Cesar had very sensibly advised everyone to take their own pace - it would be hard to get lost on the trail) so Mrs Mac and I are pretty much on our own, trying to work out how far we've come (and how far we've got to go) from the sparse description of the trail given in the footprint guide. We get to a point which, by my reckoning, is about two-thirds of the way, and it's taken us well over two hours... the thought of another hour of this is gloomy, so we stop for some water and a consolatory Mini Creme Egg (we shopped for some trail snacks in the UK before we left - Mrs Mac picked up dates, raisins and granola bars, while I grabbed chocolate... I've done enough hiking to know what you need at these times http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/biggrin.gif ). Setting off again, we walk maybe 100 yards, round a bend, and there's the two red tents ! We've made it to Llulluchapampa, our tent has already been put up, and the tea's on - suddenly everything is great again. Half an hour later we have sorted out our kit, changed into dry clothes, and are sitting in the chow tent drinking mate and munching on popcorn. After a filling dinner of soup and fish 'n' chips (one of the bonuses of the 'comfortable' trip was better food !) we retire for an early night. Sadly the low cloud we have had since lunch is still with us, so no chance to admire the stars.

off to france now for a long weekend, so you'll have to wait until wednesday for the rest of the Inca Trail ... sorry http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif

April 13
Awoken at around 6.30 by a 'knock' on the tent, and an enquiry of 'tea, mate or chocolate' - I don't get that at home http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif . We do the 'two-people-and-a-load-of-damp-kit-in-a-small-tent' thing for fifteen minutes, and emerge blinking into a dry but grey morning. Breakfast is already under way - 'porridge' with apple and banana in it, or pancakes with what looks like maple syrup, but turns out to be more like treacle. More tea, and we fill water bottles with boiled water for the day. As we're eating, the porters are breaking camp - all the small tents are down, and the first porters are on their way to the lunch stop to stake our claim on the best patch (another unexpected bonus of being the first group on the trail - we get the best spots at the crowded sites, which pays dividends at Winay Wayna). By around 7.45, we're all ready to go - it's another couple of k, and another five or six hundred metres up, to Warmiwanusqa, dead woman's pass. I take off my dry kit and put my damp tshirt from yesterday back on (I'll be sweating like a pig in ten minutes time, and I want to keep *one* t-shirt dry for the evenings), and we head off. The group splits up in a similar fashion to yesterday, with the Icelandic footy players and the keen walkers up the front, and the rest of spread out varying distances to the rear. Actually, it's not too bad this morning - the knowledge that we're already two-thirds of the way up the climb, and the better weather, both keep spirits up, so while it's hurting, we're able to smile and appreciate the scenery. In fact, it's amazing the difference that the weather makes - although it's overcast this morning, it's clear and bright at our level, and we can look back down the valley, and across to the distant Andes, as the patchy clouds drift by (if you're confused about the fact that I've given overcast, clear and cloudy as simultaneous weather conditions, then tough - this is cloud forest, and that's just how the weather is !!!). Soon after starting, we get passed by a few porters from another group - they are the advance lunch party for one of the groups, and they're motoring ! One of the things that everyone comments on on the trail is the porters; they're carrying pretty big loads (we're all particularly impressed by the guys carrying the big blue Calor Gas cylinders) and practically *running* up the hills, wearing sandals and making $10 a day ! They really deserve the tips they get, but on the last night, when we're sorting tips out, we're advised not to tip too much - if portering becomes too attractive an option due to big tips, there are concerns that too many men will abandon farming and throw the economy out of whack.
Around 9am, we see the top of the pass, where half of the group are already waiting for us, when we're passed by the first member of the following group - he's made good time from Huayllabamba, and although it's obvious that he's in good shape, he's looking pretty whacked. He's also slightly pissed off, since he'd been trying to be the first person at the top, and hadn't realised that there was a whole group with a 4km head start ! We're at the top a few minutes later, and have some celebratory chocolate before putting on fleeces - the breeze up here chills you pretty fast. Cesar has asked us all to wait at the top, as he has a 'special' present for us, so we spend a few minutes taking the 'reached-the-high-point-and-here's-the-photo-to-prove-it' shots while the last few arrive, with him. He gathers us all around for our 'special present', and then gives us all a well-done hug ! There's laughs all around, which quickly turn to cheers as he then pulls a bottle of 'Scotch' out of his rucksack. He pours the first shot onto the ground as thanks to pachamama (mother earth, one of the two entities worshipped by the Andean people, along with the sun, whose quechan name I forget), then passes the glass around the circle. Let me tell you, the nearest that 'whisky' had been to Scotland was when I drank it, but it still tasted pretty good ! Cesar then pulled a bagful of lollipops out of his rucksack (like the Tardis, that thing was), and never have I heard a group of adults (or even kids, for that matter) get so excited over a handful of lollies ! The lollies are passed around, and by now everyone's ready to move off again - the lone scout from a following group has now been joined by a few more, and it's getting busy up here. Also, the grey drizzle from the previous evening has returned, and the view has closed in to a few tens of metres - we feel sorry for all those who've just spent 3 hours walking up from the bottom, to be greeted with this. We head off down the other side of the pass towards our lunch stop, some 1,000 m below - this is the bit that I really haven't been looking forward to (I know, the grammar is terrible but I'm in full flow now...), as I'm really concerned about the impact on my left knee. It turns out that it's steps for a lot of the way, and so I try to run down them, keeping my knees soft on impact. It seems to do the trick, but it means a lot of work for my quads again, and the right one is still tired from the ascent - I have to stop every few minutes, and towards the bottom, my legs are trembling so much I'm finding it difficult to stand. But soon I get to the campsite area by the Pacamayo River, and I head towards the big red tent; sadly, however, it's not our big red tent, so it takes me a few minutes to find our group. It's here that we start to realise how popular the trail is, even in April, which is pretty near the lowest of the low season - it seems that every flat bit of ground around here is sprouting tents, as more and more porters arrive. In fact, by the time we're sitting down to lunch (soup and pasta, again, in huge quantities) we see some small tents going up, and realise that some groups will be camping here tonight. At first, we find this incredible (it's only about 12.15, for goodness sake), but then we think about it - for many people, that trip up to the top of Warmiwanusqa will have taken them four hours, and will have effectively finished them for the day - after the punishing descent, they won't want to go any further. However, as more and more tents appear, we are very glad that we put ourselves through the pain yesterday. By about 1.30, we're off again, to have a look at the ruins of Runkuracay, which are thankfully only a mile or so away, across the valley floor. As we look at the ruins, we start to realise how the Inca Trail works as an introduction to Machu Picchu - over the course of the three days, you see a progression of more and more impressive Incan sites, so that while Runkuracay was more 'wow' than Llactapata, sitting here now a fortnight later, I'm completely unable to remember anything about it. It's almost as if the later views of MP, Winay Wayna and Intipata have overloaded that part of my mind which remembers 'ancient civilization info', and Runkuracay has had to be erased. Still, we spend about 40 minutes there, so it must have been pretty cool at the time http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/wink.gif . Sadly, it's now started raining properly, and as we head off up to the second pass (another 500 m climb), the cloud closes right in, and the views disappear. It's not cold, however, so I don't bother putting on a waterproof, and within half an hour, we're up at the top. It's really miserable now, with viz down to just a few metres, so we don't hang around on the top, but head down the other side, towards the ruins of Sayacmarca. This bit of the trail is original, and the steps are much more comfortable - there's also a couple of places where the Incans have carved tunnels through rock outcrops, which doesn't sound very exciting, but they're twenty or thirty foot tunnels, sloping down at >45 degrees, all done with hand tools - jeepers ! It doesn't take us long to get down to Sayacmarca, but the weather hasn't improved, so we don't hang around, and we head off sharpish for our next campsite, only a couple of k further along. Once again, by the time we arrive all the tents are up and the tea's on - this is the way to go camping ! We quickly dive into our tent to sort out our sleeping mats/bags, and I change into some dry clothes, before heading for the chow tent and having some of Cesar's special drink (which seems to be double strength hot chocolate with extra sugar and a large shot of 'Scotch') - it goes down a treat http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/biggrin.gif . Mrs Mac had claimed that she could smell popcorn as we arrived into camp, and sure enough, a couple of big bowls arrive as we sip our drinks; everything is looking *pretty* fine right about now ! After another tasty and filling tea, everyone is sitting around sipping their tea, and I decide it's time to bring out the miniature of Te Beag I've been carrying around Peru (it's a very tasty malt from the Western Isles) - unfortunately, there's only boiling water for tea available, and I've got too used to taking my Scotch with a splash of water to take it neat, so it goes back into the rucksack for another night. By 9pm, everyone's heading for bed - sadly, another cloudy, star-free night.

tomorrow, we should reach Machu Picchu (must get typing...)

Thanks Mac!

Awoken with hot chocolate again this morning - we could get used to this quite quickly ! Unzipping the tent reveals a decent amount of blue above and between the clouds, and we get out in double-quick time in case it disappears. We're camped on the South-East side of the valley, so the sun hasn't reached us yet (it's still before seven), but it's lighting up the snow-capped mountains opposite and in the distance, and the view is fantastic, with the peaks bracketed by the blue sky above and the grey-white cloud below. It seems that we might actually be able to see some of the great views today. We tuck into porridge and tea, while the porters break camp, and we're ready to go before eight. Today is going to be an easy day - just one more ridge to cross (and it's only a few hundred metres climb) before the long descent down to Winay Wayna, more than 1,000 metres below, where we will camp for the night. The trail here is easy - a gentle up-slope which we hardly notice after the first day's exertion, and we're taking it very gently, stopping to (literally) smell the flowers, as Cesar points out a few of the 200 + species of orchid which grow in the Machu Picchu National Park. The weather has closed in again, so while we can see some blue sky directly above, we are walking in cloud, and we can't see the wonderful views which should be on our left. This also means that we reach the third and final pass with a sense of anti-climax; unable to see the lie of the land, we just reach a point where the trail stops going up and starts going down, and that's it - downhill from here to Machu Picchu ! Just the other side of the pass we reach Phuyupatamarca, the cloud town, another impressive set of ruins. This really does feel like a town (or at least a village) - we spend some time wandering around the dwellings and admiring the way that the Incans collected and channelled water - they were very aware of its importance, and in all the sites we see, there are pools, fountains and conduits. Sadly the ever-present cloud stops us from admiring the views, and we soon head off down-hill; we've found out that there's beer for sale at Winay Wayna ! As we descend below three thousand metres, the cloud burns off, and the sun appears; within minutes, people are stripping off fleeces and jumpers as the temperature climbs. We can see Machu Picchu mountain in front of us, with the ruins themselves just the other side, and finally we get some idea of how it fits into the local geography. We're traversing the steep Southern side of the Urubamba valley, and the river itself is off to our right, still a thousand metres below. We can see in front of us, a few hundred metres down, the terracing of Intipata, the sun place, and directly below us, but still out of sight, is more terracing (and the beer-supplying hostel) at Winay Wayna. Looking back up the trail, we can just make out the ruins of Phuyupatamarca, and all around us rise up the peaks of the Andes. We're torn between sadness that the weather hid all this from us for the first two days, and gratitude that it kept the temperature down - we're walking downhill here, but it must be well over 30 in the sun (that's high 80s), and we're cooking http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/eek.gif . But almost before we know it we're at Intipata, and we spend half an hour admiring the effort that must have gone into making the dozens of terraces which cover the hillside, before heading back down the last miles or so to the hostel and campground at Winay Wayna (the terracing of Winay Wayna itself is another half-mile or so around the hillside, but Cesar wants to go and see it this afternoon, when it's cooler). The hostel area at Winay Wayna comprises a couple of main buildings, containing the hostel, bar/restaurant and showers/toilet block, surrounded by a number of 'terraces' - unlike the Inca versions, though, these are just cleared flat areas on the hillside, more like wide paths than proper terraces. By the time we arrive, at about noon, every terrace is filled with tents, as the dozen or twenty groups who have completed the full Inca trail are joined by more groups who have walked up to Winay Wayna from the railway, in order to join the walk up to Intipunku, the Sun Gate, to watch dawn over Machu Picchu. Thankfully our porters have made good use of our head start, and we have an excellent camp spot, at the end of a terrace next to the path to Machu Picchu. Before we reach there, though, we pass a small hut selling cigarettes and beer, and most of us stop and take the chance to have a pre-prandial cold one - we feel that we've earned it http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif . After hanging up damp clothes to dry in the sun, it's time for lunch (another gargantuan meal of pasta), and then people snooze, sunbathe or write up journals for an hour or two, as the campsite fills up around us. By four o'clock, when we head off to visit the terraces, there must be hundreds and hundreds of people here - by a long shot, it's the least pleasant aspect of the trail, and we thank our lucky stars that we put the work in on the first day.
*** Top Tip - if you ever do the Inca Trail, persuade your guide / group to keep going on the first day and camp up at Llulluchapampa !
The terraces themselves are incredible - about thirty terraces, each around 5 feet high, built into a concave bowl in the valley side, and are maybe 400 yard across. We took a few photos, but none of them give any idea of how steeply the terracing slopes - it was decided that the word for the day was 'vertiginous' ! The terraces are on a western slope, to face the rising sun, so we're in shadow by now, but like this morning, the sun is catching the peaks opposite us, and illuminating the nearly full moon which has just risen. It's quite a place, with the still of the evening being broken only by the sound of crazy Icelandic guys having a race down and up the terraces (fyi, always have your money on Hal !). The group drifts back to the campsite in ones and twos, but I sit here for half an hour or so. Judging by the number of people at the campsite, and the number at the terraces over the hour or so I'm there, a lot of people don't bother going to see them... maybe they just came to see Machu Picchu, but it's definitely their loss http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/frown.gif For me, Winay Wayna has a power that MP doesn't, probably because it gives you peace.
I get back to camp around 6.30, just in time for the last of the popcorn, and the start of supper - tonight, it's baby condor and chips (well, that's what they told us !). After supper, we give tips to the porters and cooks, and then everyone heads off to the bar for a couple of beers. There's much talk tonight of doing '24 hours' then next day - wake-up tea is at 4am, ready to move out at 4.50am ('German time !' says Cesar), to be at the checkpoint for 5am when it opens. Therefore, the '24 hours' refers to staying in the bar in Cuzco until 4 am the following morning - we'll see http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif After an hour or so of increasing international understanding through sharing drinking games (I sit quietly, sipping my malt http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/wink.gif ), and watching the 'dancing' in the bar, we head for bed.

this afternoon, Machu Picchu ! (promise http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif )

April 15
This morning the wake-up knock comes at 4am, as promised - it's very dark indeed, but it's still just about possible to tell that it's pretty cloudy (not a star in sight overhead). People have had two days to get used to the morning routine, so by 4.40 we're pretty much set to go - and half a dozen people head off to the toilet block for their morning ablutions. **** ! We wait around for a couple of minutes, then Cesar takes us down to the checkpoint to be first in the queue for when it opens, while Jaime waits for the crappers (can I say that...). There's still no sign of them at 5am, so most of us head off through the checkpoint, and Cesar heads back to the campsite to find them. The path here again traverses the side of the valley, and there's a drop off to our right, but even as the sky lightens, the cloud is too thick to see how far it is (or much of anything, for that matter). It's almost fog rather than cloud, with a lot of moisture in it, and we're getting pretty wet walking through it, but no-one wants to stop - Intipunku, the Sun Gate, is just above us. After twenty minutes or so the stragglers catch us up, and another twenty minutes finds us at the stone columns of Intipunku. It's almost full light now, and sunup can't be far off, but the cloud hasn't lifted at all, so it's hard to see the significance of this place - it's only from Machu Picchu that it's possible to look back up, and see how the sun would come up right between the pillars. We wait here for around fifteen minutes, as more and more hikers follow us up, before Cesar announces that we're going to go down towards Machu Picchu, to wait for the cloud to clear. People are kinda grumpy (including me), as watching the sun rise over MP from the Sun Gate is supposedly spectacular, but there's nothing we can do about the clouds, and we walk on. The path drops gradually down for fifteen minutes, until we reach more terraces, and another checkpoint - Cesar explains that MP is right below us, and we wait ... and wait ... and then the clouds part, for a fleeting second, and we finally see the ruins.
We wait here, on the terraces above the ruins, for an hour or so, as the clouds very slowly lift, revealing Machu Picchu, and Huayna Picchu, the hill you see behind MP in every photo. But they don't lift uniformly, or quickly, or irreversibly - the clouds swirl and gather and reform, and we sit for an hour, drinking in the views of the ruins, and the hills, and the distant Andes, and as they finally clear, the Urubamba river below us. Where we stand is the spot where the photo of Machu Picchu is taken, and it's strange to see this sight, familiar from countless magazines and books, finally revealed below us. By nine o'clock, the sun is properly up, the clouds have all gone, and it's warming up - we head down to the hotel at the foot of the ruins to leave our packs (and have a second breakfast - ruinously expensive egg and bacon rolls http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif ), and join the seemingly never-ending stream of daytrippers who have stayed in Aguas Calientes the previous night and taken the first bus up. We spend the next three hours looking around the ruins, but in many ways they're a disappointment - as so often, the journey has been more than the destination. There's no arguing with the scale, or the achievement which Machu Picchu represents (we decide that vertiginous is today's word of the day, too), but there's too many tourists with camcorders and bad dress sense - I wish I was back at Winay Wayna. We *refuse* to pay $5 each for a bus down the hillside (hey, it's only about 2 miles, although 1 of those is down http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/wink.gif ) so head off down the path. It's yet more freaking steps, and these are clearly not Incan - it's very uneven, but at least most of it is shaded by trees, since it's now getting really hot. About halfway down, we get passed by the two fittest members of our group, who've run up and down Huayna Picchu, and kept right on going - they're clearly aiming to run all the way down the hill and onto Aguas Calientes. We wave them on.... It's actually only forty minutes down to the bridge over the river, which isn't too bad, and another fifteen minutes alongside the river brings us to town. AC is a one horse town, but it's the iron horse - just a long strip of hostels, restaurants and t-shirt shops spread out along the single rail track. We head to the pizza place which is our meeting spot (run by Cesar's mate - he takes the opportunity to flake out upstairs), and tuck into a large Hawaiian and a beer. At three thirty, everyone grabs their kit and heads off towards the 'station', where we are refused entry - Cesar still has all our tickets ! The fit members are sent back down to the pizza place to rouse him. With about ten minutes to go before the scheduled departure time, Cesar comes running up the street (actually, that should probably be 'tracks', given that the 'street' is actually a small space each side of the railway, and you certainly couldn't get a car down it http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/wink.gif ) with a handful of tickets, which he passes out. We head into the station, but the doors onto the platform are closed, so there's a last few minutes of sunshine to be bathed in before we all board. The train is completely full, but clean and fairly spacious, and they have trolley service selling snacks and drinks. It's an hour and a half back to Olly, with great views as we follow the Urubamba eastwards. It's just dark as we get off the train at Olly station, and walk a mile or so up the road back to the main square, where the same United Mice from three days before is waiting for us (we also wondered why the bus couldn't come down the road to the station, but up near the main square there's a big rock (car-size) in the middle of the road - go figure !). We pile into the bus, and head back to Cuzco. The moon is full tonight, and I think that most of us spend the journey back admiring the landscape, lit in electric-blue by the moon - there's just a couple of minutes excitement when 'Down Under' by Men at Work comes on the tape, and we all sing along http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif . Arriving back in Cuzco, we get dropped off first (shouts of 'see you in the pub') and make our way (hobbling, in my case - my knee's completely locked after sitting immobile on the bus) back to the hotel. We pick up our key, and the bag we had left behind, and head to the shower - wow, that feels good http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/biggrin.gif .
Feeling squeaky clean and surprisingly awake, we stroll back down to the Plaza de Armas, pausing only to change some cash, and hit Paddy's at ten to ten. It's not exactly a typical Peruvian bar, and it doesn't look like there's anyone in here from South America (even the bar staff !) - when we find out later that they're selling canned Guinness at 13 soles (about $ 3.80) we realise why it's not big with the locals ! I'm too ready for a beer to hold off for ten minutes, so we order drinks and a snack, and settle into a corner which looks like it should be big enough for the whole group. People arrive in dribs and drabs, but by 10.25, everyone's here, and the left-over cash from the tips is used to buy a couple of tables full of Cuba and Peru Libres (two for one in happy hour http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif ). The group has a strong Northern European bias (with the exception of a Kiwi and an Aussie), so there's none of that namby-pamby sipping of drinks - we're all on a mission to get pissed, and by about 11.30, one of the Icelanders becomes the first casualty, passing out in the chair in the corner. A bottle of sambucca appears (from where, I have no idea http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/wink.gif ) and everyone takes it in turns with flaming mouthfuls of the stuff. Cesar and Jaime have joined us, and they are manfully keeping up, but clearly they're not used to this - I think the Spaniards left behind their 'civilized' attitudes to drinking along with the language. We stagger off at about 1.30, ignoring all the safety advice about taking cabs home at night, but we're still in more danger of having our shoes over-zealously cleaned in the Plaza de Armas than of being strangle-mugged.

April 16
A quiet day ! For the third (and last) time on this trip we don't have an alarm call, and take our time waking up. Our only task for the day is picking up our train tickets down to Puno for tomorrow, so we head off to the station, stopping at the nearby laundry to drop off a few t-shirts to keep us going until the end of the trip. We had pre-booked tickets in first class (the only class you can reserve more than five days in advance) for $82 each, but when we got to the station, we noticed that, in a remarkable contrast to most airline seats, for 'last-minute' sales it is possible to buy 'backpacker' class seats for only $14. After three seconds of thought, we decide that the three course lunch in first class isn't worth $136 for the two of us, so buy the cheap seats. Walking back up to the Plaza de Armas, we stop to buy some water and a snack - after four days of roughing it, we decide to treat ourselves with a Snickers - it's only as we walk away and do our sums that we realise that it cost $1.50 http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/eek.gif, turns out it's imported from the US. A leisurely afternoon precedes supper at Paddy's (the observant will have noticed that this seems to run counter to our earlier stated desire to stay off the gringo trail, but hey, we're still feeling a bit hungover...) and a stop at the laundry to pick up our stuff. Unfortunately, the laundry is closed - oops !

next up - Titicaca and Bolivia...

[edited to say - it edits out 'danm', but allows 'crappers' :****: - useless software...]

[This message has been edited by Stewie Mac (edited 05-09-2003).]

Enjoyed your reports! Your account of Cuzco and the Inca Trail brought back some good memories! Any bouts with "altitude sickness"? That was the toughes part of the trip, but fortunatly I was over it before starting on the trail. We did our tour through GAP Adventures and would highly recommend them if any of you are considering any type of adventure tours.

April 17
The train to Puno leaves at 8am, and we have been told to be there by 7.30. At 7.25 the laundry is still not open, and we abandon our stuff - if you're ever in Cuzco and see someone wearing a Zanzibari OneOcean t-shirt, it's mine ! A valuable lesson learned - never do your washing on your last day in town . We get on the train without problem, to join the four other 'backpackers' in the carriage - approximately a 12% load ! Later in the day we see that the first class carriage is almost full, and we're glad that we didn't spend the extra. The train leaves on time, very slowly - the track runs down the middle of streets, and through busy markets, hooting its horn; initially we are surprised, but then we realise that with only three trains a week, normal life takes precedence, and the train has to tread carefully. As we leave Cuzco, we get up to full speed (probably around 40mph) - we even overtake a car travelling on the (very good, paved) road which runs by the tracks - although it is a 60s vintage VW Beetle ! After an hour or two, we have settled into the gently rhythm of the rails, and have stopped worrying about the Ormeno bus which shot past us (with the new road, the bus can do Cuzco-Puno in around 6 hours, rather than the 10 which the train will take). I should probably devote a few lines to the scenery, which is fantastic, but we've been in Peru for a fortnight now and we're becoming blase about incredible countryside http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/biggrin.gif . The train stops about noon at La Reya, the high point on the journey, at 14 thousand and some feet - when we planned this trip, we thought that this would be quite something, but after our trip to the Colca Canyon, and the Inca Trail, it seems pretty commonplace. We buy a couple of empanadas and some cake from the tiny market which has been setup, specially for us, and watch the first class carriage disgorge an entire Kuoni tour group, intent on buying up a couple of alpacas worth of jumpers and socks. A few more hours and we're in (and out of) Juliaca, before a very leisurely last half hour along the shore of Lake Titicaca and into Puno, about an hour ahead of schedule. We find our hotel without problem (wow ! it's a Best Western !), dump our bags, and head out to find our last two postcards of the trip, and some supper. It's surprisingly cold after the sun goes down (the guidebook does tell you about this, but as normal I'm out in T-shirt and the locals are all laughing into the sleeves of their thick coats), and we end up in a touristico 'fine dining' restaurant, blowing $20 on lake trout and chips (our most expensive dinner of the trip). I also have my first encounter with a 'cerveza grande' - it's a full 1.1 litre (that's 2 real pints, or 2.5 of your yanqui pints http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/eek.gif ) and nearly floors me (I have already had 2 of the regular big beers) !

April 18
A relative lie-in this morning, with our pickup for our trip to the Uros islands not till 8.30am, so we have a leisurely breakfast served by just about the first miserable people that we've met on this trip, but it's a beautiful day and our spirits are high. We are bussed down to the waterfront, and by 9.15 we're chugging gently out across Puno bay, which is covered by a thick layer of green algae. Apparently a few years ago, the water level in the lake rose (El Nino strikes !), causing a load of sewage to flow into the bay, which in turn caused the algae. At the time, it was so thick that some tourists tried to walk on it, thinking it was grass, but it's been gradually thinning and the locals hope that within another year or two Puno bay will be clear again. We're told that the rest of the lake is still clear, but the Uros islands are within the bay, so we will have to wait until tomorrow to find out for ourselves. The Uros islands are the famous floating islands, made only from reeds - it's quite an experience to step onto the island, and feel it move almost as much as the boat you just got off ! The islanders here near Puno make their living completely from tourism, and by the time we arrive, the little stalls are set up with handicrafts; the usual knitted products and paintings which we've seen across Peru, and some whicker products made from the reeds of the lake. There is another group of islanders living on similar reed islands, across on the eastern, Bolivian shore, who still fish for a living, trading their catches for vegetables and fuel on weekly visits to the shore. We visit two separate islands, with an optional reed boat transfer between the two ('only 15 soles for the two of you'), but there isn't really anything to see on either one - the USP of these islands is the island itself, and after five minutes of bouncing up and down, the trip becomes a little bit sad... maybe just us, or maybe just that in our whole trip, this is really the only time we have seen where tourism is not just part of the economy, but the whole economy http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/frown.gif . By 12.30, we're back in Puno, and by 1pm we're sitting in the hotel, awaiting our lift to Bolivia. For this next part of our trip, Puno-Copacabana-La Paz, Mrs Mac had concerns about crossing the border, so we have pre-booked transfers and accommodation with a Bolivian tourist agency. It turns out that our driver has parked outside the hotel early and then promptly fallen asleep, so our pick-up is fifteen minutes late, but we make good time around the lake, and by 3.45 we are at the Bolivian border. The crossing itself is easy - considerably less trouble than the time we crossed by road from Canada into the US, for instance http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/biggrin.gif , but our Peruvian is not taking us on to Copacabana, and after forty minutes of waiting, we give up on the pre-arranged transfer and jump into a cab - Copacabana is only ten minutes from the border. At the hotel, Mrs Mac has a heated argument about our missing car (afterwards, she's very pleased with herself, as she wasn't sure if her Spanish would be up to it), but it's decided that we should take it up at the main office in La Paz the following evening. We watch the sun set over the lake (beautiful http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif ) and then head up to the main square and the cathedral - this is Good Friday (if you'd been paying attention to the dates, you'd have known that already) and Copa is the place to be in Northern Bolivia. All the roads around the square, and the square itself, are packed with stalls and people - there's even a section with half a dozen foozball tables, and the Bolivians take no prisoners at foozball ! We wander around for an hour or so, looking for a cambio to change some dollars, but this is a night for the locals, and none of the tour agencies or cambios are open, so we finally change some money at a hostel - sadly, the smallest note we get back is 50 bolivianos (about $6.50) which is too big for any of the food stalls to want to change - seems that the national change shortage spreads across borders ! By nine o'clock we're too hungry to keep waiting for the candle-lit procession (scheduled for 8pm, actually started at about 11.30, we find out the next morning...) and head back to the hotel for a (very good) supper and bed.

April 19
Another leisurely start, as we aren't getting picked up until 8am, so we have plenty of time for an excellent breakfast, looking out over the lake - it's another beautiful day, and from here it's really possible to see how the lake is often described as being 'aquamarine' blue. Apparently there's some problem with the dock, so we pile into a 4x4 and head off to a jetty a few miles north of Copa, where we are picked up by a speedboat for the trip to Isla del Sol. It seems that Turisbus have booked us on a private tour for this trip, just us and our friendly guide, Alan (who forgot to pick us up from the border yesterday ). This isn't really what we had in mind, but after a couple of times trying in English, and once in Spanish, we persuade him to stop talking. We spend the twenty minute boatride watching the sun sparkle on the water - the first time that that description really seems appropriate, as the sun is still fairly low, and the air is incredibly clear - it really does look like a carpet of shimmering sparkly crystals floating on the surface of the blue blue water. We walk around Isla del Sol for a couple of hours, and while it's very pretty, it's very much a tourist route. Interestingly, and probably because this is a very big family weekend, almost all of the tourists we see look like they're Bolivians, and we guess that they're up from La Paz for the weekend (they look like big city folk http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/wink.gif ). The boat ride back to Copa isn't so sparkly - guess the sun is too high. We have lunch in the hotel, and then grab our gear and head down to the bus stop on the main street, for our ride to La Paz. Traffic is snarled up - there's a big queue of cars lined up ready to get blessed, with flowers on the bonnets and ribbons hanging from everywhere, but obviously the blessing is a slow process, because the queue seems to be right the way down the main street ! Fortunately the bus is heading away from the cathedral, so once we're all on board we're quickly on our way. The only excitement of the journey is the ferry crossing of the straights of Tiquina, where the Bolivian Navy has its only presence, watching over the barges which carry vehicles across, and the small boats which carry the passengers. We get to La Paz about 5.30 pm, driving through the suburbs of El Alto, before heading down into the bowl that is La Paz - quite a sight. We check into our hotel, then have a go at Turisbus about our failed pickup at the border - after some haggling, we agree a suitable discount, and it's smiles all around..... until we're advised that our taxi will be waiting to pick us up at 5am the next morning for our 6.55am flight. We've got $8 in bolivianos, and Mrs Mac is adamant that we're not changing any more cash, so we head out looking for some cheap eats. Fortunately, we picked the right city for cheap eats, and after an hour wandering, we're soon sitting down tucking into pollo and lomo and a litre of Fanta, all for $2.20 ! We'd made a decision before we started to have a review conversation over this dinner, and we reflect on our trip... we've had a fantastic time, and we want to see more - more of South America, more of Central America, more of the world - so we agree that our vague plans to pack everything in and head off for a few months have become concrete. [In fact, I'm writing this up at work, and in about 20 minutes I'm going to ask my boss for a quick chat, and hand in my notice http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/eek.gif http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/biggrin.gif ]. Excited, nervous, but full, we head off to bed.

April 20
The wake-up call comes at 4.15 (our last early start of the holiday), and we shower and pack up. There's a couple of bowls of yogurt set up in one corner of the dining room, and we neck that, with a cup of tea, before finding our driver. Incredibly, there's a Salvation Army band (yup, the full deal, brass and drums and two dozen ladies singing) walking down the middle of the street (at 4.55 am !!!!) so we have to wait for a few minutes while they head up a side street towards the cathedral. We're at the airport by 5.20, and the check in line for AA922 is only a couple of people long (this flight starts in La Paz, but stops in Santa Cruz, where it picks up a few more pax). I don't want to check our bags (or ourselves) in for our continuing BA flight to LHR, but the agent insists that it's the rules and he has to. Two minutes of typing later, he's unable to check us in for our BA flight, so he tells us to collect our bags as normal at MIA and check in there - just like we asked to do in the first place. We head through security, past the Narcotics agents (in combat fatigues and .45s) and into the departure lounge, where the pricing at the snack bar (tiny letters at the bottom of the menu warn that prices are in USD) fools us into spending some dollars on top of our final bolivianos. We emplane on time, and after cabin pressurization (on the ground !) we're soon up above the clouds, and admiring the early morning views of the Andes. The flight is maybe 30% full for this first hour-long segment, and we're all thrown an AA box containing some peach juice and a small muffin (I'm still waiting to find a muffin as good as those at the Regent Chiang Mai...). We land smoothly at Santa Cruz, and lose about 20 pax, who are replaced after 15 minutes by another 20 heading up to Miami. Groundstaff come on board during the stop and make a real nuisance of themselves, 'checking' each row of seats. Still, we're off again on-time for the nearly 7 hours flight up to Miami. More excellent views for the first hour or so, then it's cloudy over the Amazon and most of the Caribbean, and I'm cursing the fact that I actually *chose* to watch 'The Truth About Charlie' on the BA flight across, and can't bear to watch it again. A hot breakfast is served about 9.30 am (about 40 minutes into the flight), and then another AA box (more juice, small ham n cheese roll) is thrown out at about 1pm. By the time we land at Miami, we're both bored and starving - still, gotta love that extra space !
We clear immigration and get our bags (admiring all the sniffer dogs), then head off to terminal E to find the BA checkin. This flight (and indeed both the MIA-LHR flights for the next three days) have been showing full in Y for weeks, as this is the end of the Easter holidays, and families are heading home from Disney for the new school term, so I let the agent know that our timings are flexible, and we 'd be happy to take a later flight if it would help. The agent doesn't think that they'll need volunteers, and even though he says he'll put us on the list, he doesn't mark the baggage tags, but I can't be bothered to argue. We head off to the Bacardi bar for a big plate of nachos and a beer, and then go up to the pooldeck to get some air and sit in the sun for an hour. We were thinking of swimming, but it's cooling down now (it's around 5.30) and there's quite a breeze, so we just get some final sun. We head down through security at about 7, and wait at the gate - they're paging plenty of people, but they all seem to be for seat-shuffling - lots of families have been split up. (I later learn from the CSD that they had bumped two singleys, and that the flight was completely full in all classes). We wait until the last minute to board, and the jumbo is packed - after a less-than-half-full 757 with MRTC, it's amazing how many people there are in the 747 ! Again, it's a standard, and unmemorable, BA Y flight - only points of note are that, amazingly, they didn't run out of London Pride, and that the hundred or so kids on board didn't make much noise. We landed an hour early, cleared immigration and customs easily, and were home by 11am.

Well, that's the lot - hope everyone enjoyed it, and sorry if it's too long - ended up at about 12,500 words, rather more than the 7,500 that I estimated ... [insert smiley here as I'm over the limit in this post, apparently]

[Mrs Mac was doing most of the photography on this trip, with a Canon SLR (she's not a convert to this new-fangled digital stuff) but I did take a few snapshots with our new Ixus v3 - if anyone knows how to get them on-line, I'd be happy to put them up to accompany the trip.]

Ahhh ... it seems that Cesar never changes. We also had a "Surprise" at the tope of the pass (scotch and lollies) - though I CAN tell you why most groups do not camp at Llulluchapampa. The night we were there, it had been raining (more like drizzle) all day - it was bascially a swamp. The porters had placed grass over the mud to make it a little better - but I can tell you it's no fun stepping out of your tent into one foot deep mud. Though it was relatively comfortable :-) When I get home, I'll post a link here to a picture.

Cesar is also well known for chasing girls on the tours, and I'm sure nothing changed on yours.

While we had rain for the first two days of the tour, the last day at the sun gate was brilliant ... perfect views.

We also refused to take a bus down ... but decided instead to run down the steps (yes, we are mad), which took about 12 minutes to the bridge. We then wandered off to go to the hot springs in the town (highly recommended) - they hire out towels & costumes, so you really just have to present yourself .... great to sit in hot salt baths after three days hiking !

Unusual mix you had for an encounter tour - they are usually full of people from the UK, Australians & Kiwis, and not much else.

I really enjoyed your reports. Congratulations on your decision to "travel while you are young" decision.

Please keep us posted on your plans now that you have officially given notice.

Great fun, thanks for sharing.

P.S. we saved our laundry, but almost at the cost of missing the train.

Definitely one for the collection, even though there are NO menu transcripts! http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/biggrin.gif Thanks for an enjoyable report!

Probably best really when the menus include guinea pigs, alpacca, llama and potatos in shapes and sizes you never though possible !!! :-)

specially for seat 2A, here's those menu transcripts in full http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/wink.gif :

on BA (both flights):
Braised Beef or Chicken Korma (described on the outbound as 'Britain's National Dish http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif )

on AA:
pasta or chicken (outbound)
eggs or pancakes (inbound)

Wow, writing these menu transcripts is sooooooooo much easier in Y http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/wink.gif

Stewie Mac, you wrote a wonderful report and hopefully you continue after your next trip(s) to keep all the details in your reports http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif . (And yes, I remember the wake-up times at 4am or 5am, too http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/frown.gif . But we go there and want to see anything http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif .)

We are organizing a trip on our own to Peru. You went to all the places we are headed, and a few more than us. It's great to read your account.

I particularly appreciated your account of the Nasca Lines, as I've been debating organized tours versus do it ourselves. I'm now convinced reading this that we can handle the DIY version, while saving a substantial amount of money.

Do you remember where you stayed in Puno? You mentioned it was a Best Western. Do you recommend it? The two high end hotels are the Liberatador and Sonesta; online reviews say they are were the tour groups stay. Reviews are highly disparaging of the Sonesta. We've booked El Buho at the moment which doesn't sound like any great shakes. Hopefully it is clean; it is inexpensive and in the center of town.

I see that you took a half day boat ride in Lake Titicaca, going to the floating reed island of Uros. We've heard from two local companies. Neither have offered a half day tour, rather offering a 1 or 2 day tour that includes Taquile Island. Do you feel that you missed out on anything by taking the half day tour?

I booked a half day Uros Island tour with Llama Path, based in Cusco with an office in Puno, www.llamapath.com for $13USD. I am also doing the 2Day MP hike with them as well. Everyone has posted good feedback about their service.

You, too? We are hoping to finally go for spring break next year.

Great trip report, OP - thanks!

Are you kidding me? I am too.

Going hopefully Feb 17th.... not quite spring break, but I can skip some classes :p