Sometimes, I think of our trip in South America that started in Peru and longing for the moments I spent there, as every trip I did. That day when we were on the way to the airport we already knew that it was time to live another adventure.
After a long flight, we got to Lima in the night, it was more or less one am and it was cold, before going to the lodging located in the center we had to find our car, an automatic car, the first time I was going to drive this type of car. On the way to the center, we saw many police patrols, even if we already knew that the city was dangerous we were surprised to see so many police cars there, in addition to each house there were portals, large portals like to lock ourselves up … Finally, we got to the hostal, this one also had a trap in the door that only allowed to put out the eyes to see who was knocking before opening it.
The next day we woke up early even if we went to bed very late the night before or very early in the morning, depending on how you see it. We had to walk through the city with a rainy weather and a little cold before going back to the road to the Ica desert.
On the way, Sylvinho was driving and suddenly we saw the police lights following us in the rearview mirror before asking us to stop the car on the side, first, they asked me where we were from and where we were going before saying that Sylvinho hadn’t put his light on flashing before stopping the car, which was false. But to be more clear he told me that it didn’t matter, they could make a fine and we would have to pay here or directly in Lima … I told them that we didn’t have so much money with us and he replied that what we had would be enough although I gave them half of what they wanted …
On the road near Ica we began to see the different climates of South America, we went from the cold and gray climate of the city of Lima to the hotter climate, with a lot of sun and sand surrounding Ica, and that in just five hours .
Finally, we got to the Ica desert just before the sunset, but to enjoy it we had to reach the top of the dune, so we rushed to climb the sand with our sneakers, sneakers that we had to empty of sand in the hostal. … But definitaly, the sunset was worth it, and to be honest I didn’t know that there was a desert in Peru before seeing Ica …
The next day we planned to go to the desert to have fun over the dunes with a buggy and a snowboard, a great time especially that I had never ever snowboarded before that day, for my first descent from the dune I fell, for the second I didn’t but the girl who had descended before me fell and fractured her wrist, but we had a good time, I like these kinds of sensations.
Before taking up the car, we had a last breakfast in Ica, and the waiter saw my backpack with the flags sewed on it he and was surprised, for this reason he followed me outside screaming « ¡Hey amigo! » to the purpose to give me the flag of his country. That’s something that made me very very happy, it’s part of things that catch my attention and that I cannot forget … Afterwards, I got into the car with a lot of energy.
Back on the road but this time to Cangallo, still far from Cusco. The itinerary of the day had to pass through the mountains of Los Andes, a road that would be longer, eight hours at the beginning that became ten at the end, but we really enjoyed it because the mountains with their llamas on each side are very different and impressive, above all, once again we changed the climate, we leave the heat of Ica for the snow of La Cordillera de Los Andes at four thousand eighty meters high, in fact at this altitude we used to chew some coca leaves because according to local habitants that works, We really didn’t have any problem with height … In Los Andes we always changed height, we had water bottles, and when the bottles inflated we were going up, when they deflated we were going down.
The trip to Cangallo has taken us longer than expected because we had to go through a road in the forest, we saw that the road was difficult with a car although we managed well, but when we saw a ramp to cross the river, with a car, we knew that we had to change our itinerary…
We got to Cangallo at night and tired. We had only one idea in mind: sleep. But the next day we woke up early, in fact like every day, we had a very tasty breakfast (that also like every day) looking at the results of the South American games and we spent a moment chatting and laughing with our hosts, Juan Hernan and his family, a very sociable family with whom we quickly created links, I gave her daughter a bracelet, we took photos together. Then we went for a walk through the little town, I really liked the scenery and the settings, the streets were small and there were women sitting around tables drinking coffee or mate and selling grains, or plants. So with the energy that the carefree streets transmitted to us and our hosts with their delicious breakfasts we went back with so much motivation to the road for a day that was once again announced as longer.
The first stop: Las aguas azules, a more touristy place, always in the Ayacucho region. This place is beautiful, very beautiful, the problem is that there is a huge amount of tourists … we couldn’t get close to the river without passing by a lot of people. But once again the roads surrounded by the mountains where people were driving like if they had nothing to lose were very cool and as the day before we got to the hostel late, around one in the morning …
We didn’t sleep a lot, as always, but we slept well, we really wanted to keep driving because it was the last road before the final stop … Because it was the last one driving so much, we stopped many times as soon as we saw something that called us the attention, it was a viewpoint, a bridge or a river …
We got to Cusco at the beginning of the dinner, this way after having crossed some towns, we were going back to a big city after the one of Lima, although Cusco is very different from Lima, it’s a city with many small streets made of cobblestones and very lively. The first day, for dinner we went to a restaurant, more luxurious than the others where we went on the way, also the waitress was French although she warned me of that after having let me speak Spanish for a few minutes … Which is funny is that I got sick after eating at this restaurant that as I said before was « luxurious ». In Cusco the climate was mild in the day, but when the night came it became very cold, fortunately for sleeping we had many blankets.
The next day, which was also the first day to discover the region, we went to see Las Salinas, an exceptional and incredible place, some giant salt mines surrounded by the mountains, we really liked the site although there are also so many people there that it’s difficult to enjoy quietly more than two minutes … But because we had a car, we could stay there as long as we wanted, so we waited a bit, and we enjoyed when the bus left.
Before going to the site of the ruins of Marras and Morray, we had a stop to eat, it’s there I noticed that all the bottles of water had the « Coca Cola » brand, and later I noticed that the bottles of juices also had it .. I think Coca Cola is too present in South America, right?
We liked the site of the ruins of Marras and Morray because we love the story about the Inca civilization, also on the way I recorded something that I’ve been watching for a year every week, a video of the dusty road with dry plants and cactus on each side, an environment that we can describe as dry but in the background there was the mountain with snow on top, the contrast of these two planes gave the landscape an incredible charm.
Just two days in Cusco and we took the train to Aguas Calientes to discover one of the seven wonders of the world, we took it at five am and we really enjoyed it, for the landscapes we saw and also for the apple juice once again with the « Coca Cola » brand I drank.
Five hours later we got to Aguas Calientes, which is a small town but where there are many people, all there to see what Sylvinho and I wanted to see too … But first we rested a bit despite it was difficult because our room was very close to the rails of the train, I mean that when there was a train passing by we not only listened to it but also felt the walls move.
The reason why we were in Aguas Calientes had arrived. We took a bus to the ruins of Machu Pichu, a dream for Sylvinho to visit the site, but I noticed the vastness and the extraordinary side that this place has when I got there and when I was discovering it little by little, the funniest thing is that it says that they haven’t discovered the entire site, according to them there still is a part hidden by the jungle, incredible.
At noon we started to climb to the top of the Machu Pichu mountain, which seemed easy to me, there is a high altitude but they are almost only stairs, although there was a snake that seemed aggressive to me on the right. The view from the viewpoint is beautiful, not only because of the view on the site but also because of the other mountains surrounded us, but I think it would be better earlier with a little fog …
In fact even if it’s a tourist place, the ruins of Machu Pichu are a place to see at least once in your life, the road is very worthwhile to enjoy.
We decided to go back by feet, we walked through the jungle with to the purpose of discovering the remains of the hidden part and still unknown ruins … no, we just wanted to enjoy the jungle a little bit more before going back to Cusco.
The return on the train I don’t know why but it seemed very long to me and I couldn’t sleep contrary to Sylvinho, I had only one thing in mind: getting to the hostal and sleepping before starting another day.
We stay three more days in Cusco to discover the city deeper, walking in Cusco is different from walking through the jungle or the mountains which I love so much but sometimes leaving the adrenaline of the expeditions is fine to rest a bit. Sylvinho wanted to try the « Cuy », a dish with guinea pig, something that we liked although I am more a fan of ceviche and that a friend of mine has told me that the best food in her country is in the north. Although it’s a tourist city too there is an authentic side in Cusco that I loved, the markets, the colors, the tiny streets where there is always something to see…
In front of the market entrance, there were children playing soccer, suddenly one passed me the ball, I started to play with them, and when I finally lost the ball I told them that I had to keep going on my way, they asked me if I would come back but when I came back after an hour they were already gone.
Because we stayed in a hostal up the city, in a small and not wide street, all made of cobblestones like almost the whole city, it was difficult to drive by with our car, we had to get a boost every time we wanted to go up the slope, when We have seen the difficulty with which we were trying to climb we realized the achievement I did the first day with two more people in the back seat …
Perú was our first South American trip, we discovered once again a totally different culture, such beautiful, difficult and dangerous landscapes but it was time to take a plane that time to Guayaquil in Ecuador where we had to spend more time in the jungle and climb the Highest volcano in activity in the world, I’d have to go back, at least to taste the food from the north but also to the south to experience the famous Madre de Díos and other places protected by the Pachamama. See you soon Perú!
Thanks for reading.
Lucas.
Black ace adventures 