Yours truly is now in Arequipa, another pretty colonial town in the south of Peru, and just sitting down to reflect on the last few (very busy) days here. The coastal town I was referring to in the last post was in fact Paracas, nearby the famous Pisco, and after a boat trip to the lovely Ballestas Islands (a.k.a ´the poor man´s Galapagos´) we travelled to Nazca with a stop on the way at the Pisco factory.
Pisco is a strong spirit-like drink made from grapes and I have developed quite a taste for it, as has most of the group. Amusingly, at high altitude any alcohol goes straight to the head and as a lot of our time has been spent up in the mountains, I have been quite giddy and getting into the Christmas spirit already!
Despite not being a tour group kind of person (I feel sure this will be the last organised tour I will do) I am very impressed with GAP Adventures and think that they do what they do very well. I am basking in the luxury of the hotels we have been staying in - they are probably only two star places but compared to what I am used to they are super-luxurious, private bathrooms and everything! I am seeing a hell of a lot of southern Peru in a short amount of time and the people I am travelling with (a bunch of Ozzies and one drunken Finnish man, no less!) are good fun even if most of them have very different perspectives and expectations to myself.
At Nazca of course we flew over the mysterious lines - which were created by the Nazca people somewhere between 200BC and AD700 for possibly astronomical or possibly religious reasons, we don´t yet know - in a small plane, and when we landed back down I felt quite emotional (for a change!) partly because the experience was so strange and amazing, and partly because I never thought I would be able to do it due to a lifelong fear of heights, which seems to now have been faced head on much to my surprise. We also visited some Nazca tombs, which are remarkably intact complete with their skeletons and made me think deeply about death and the eerie empty shells it leaves behind.
We have just finished a two-day visit to the Colca Canyon area, which is astoundingly beautiful and a good change from the miles of barren land and desert that I have been surprised to see in Peru, and now are back in Arequipa for the night before taking a flight to Cuzco tomorrow in preparation for the much-anticipated Inca Trail! This pretty city also has much to offer, and I would like more time to potter through its streets and squares, but in order to see everything we do have time restraints. The other afternoon we visited the Monasteria Santa Catalina, an old nunnery which looks and smells as it would have done many moons ago when the nuns were still praying there, and unlike most museums which bore me to tears after ten minutes, every second there was fascinating and the guide was a fountain of interesting knowledge.
In fact all of our guides so far have been excellent, and I feel as though I am learning a lot more about Peru´s history than I did about Ecuador´s, even though I get the distinct impression that I am seeing it all through a tourist´s eyes. It took me a while to adjust to the massive difference in the way I am travelling here and the way I was in Ecuador, but overall I think it is good for me to experience South America in both ways. When our GAP guide, José, isn´t around, I am the unofficial translator for the group and I am still managing to use my Spanish quite frequently; I have definitely picked up more of the language than I thought.
The food here is absolutely incredible and, dare I say it, ten times tastier than Ecuador´s rice ´n meat staple meal! The variety is exceptional and I am especially enjoying the alpaca meat (alpacas are in the same family as llamas and just as doe-eyed and cute, so I do feel a twinge of guilt but not enough to stop me tucking in!). People just keep on feeding us these massive buffets and naturally I feel obliged to try everything, so mum you will be pleased to hear I am putting all that weight back on now in time for the festive season! The best meal was at a family restaurant in Nazca before we took the night bus to Arequipa (also a luxurious experience compared to previous night buses!) and we ate a traditional Peruvian meal that had been cooked in the ground and which I had to bless with Chicha (a fruity, alcoholic concoction) and coca leaves while thanking the god Mamayakkta (very bizarre indeed, but a fun insight into Peruvian culture!).
Apart from the drier landscape, Peru is similar to Ecuador in many ways too and I can see myself growing to love it equally, if only I had more time to explore. The people are defiantly proud, and keen to prove to me that it is better than Ecuador, but I don´t think they can ever succeed! However, every day is exciting and new for me, and I intend to make the most of the next fortnight - I have managed to get a flight to the jungle to join the others there and there is the Inca Trail to look forward to next week so I have plenty to keep me interested and occupied, much of which will be less passive than the things I have done this week.
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