Sure, Lima is not the most beautiful city and getting ripped off by the taxi mafia right away at the airport is not the warmest welcome one can imagine. Still the city has a few nice corners and some of them were shown to us by the fabulous guide that came with the tour I booked in advance. Generally it was a great decision for me to join the Intrepid "Classic Peru" tour, so in the 10 days I had in Peru I could just see and experience as much as possible without having the hassle of running around trying to organize sightseeing stuff, transport and accommodation. I know, all of this usually belongs to the real fun of traveling too, but this time I just enjoyed it a little bit more comfortable again :-) As i said, I really loved the South American vibe and I knew from the very beginning of my short stay that I will have to come back to explore it all more thoroughly some time. And of course it's always good to have more travel projects on the list ;-) Lucho our tour guide was just perfect, he managed to have everything smoothly organized (even the surprises like a 9 hour delayed flight were handled professionally), he always gave us the right amount of background information about people & culture, not too much but just right, he was a very easy going & patient bloke with a big smile on his face all the time, lots of experience & talent as a guide and the wish to share the love for his home country without omitting the downsides. Also my travel group was a pretty cool one, with lots of diversity in age, cultural background, travel experience and levels of humor and let's just say craziness ;-)
Flying to Cusco, the center or navel of the ancient Inca empire, we changed altitude for a few thousand meters and walking up a few stairs made you already breathe a bit more heavily. The town itself was quite a cute one, of course pretty touristy but also with lots of charm in the historic district. Also our hotel was really lovely and separated from the traffic noise outside, however not from the other guests inside that would scream at 5 o'clock in the morning that "IT'S FIVE O'CLOCK NOW!!" and that the "GROUP IS COMPLETE TO LEAVE!"... thank you so much for this information dear friends, that's exactly what I needed to know while looking forward to sleep in.
Later we took a train to Aguas Calientes which we reached after nightfall and that was going to be the starting point to visit Machu Picchu the next day. And yes of course, there were tons of other tourists at Machu Pichu but still, it was one of these magic places on our planet that one definitely has to visit once in a life time, another acupuncture point on Mother Earth's surface I was blessed to visit. A local guide gave us lots of background info about the Incas and this very special site of theirs and once more I got the feeling, that human knowledge and spirit is much older than commonly believed. So also some parts of Machu Pichu seem to have been built long time before the Inca empire came into power, by a more ancient civilization I guess (but not necessarily by aliens as also pointed out by our guide ;-). Anyway, what touched me once more was the energy some special places do have and again I could have just stayed a couple of hours or even days more in this place just to admire nature and the divine behind it all.
However, at some point it was time to leave and take the train and then the bus back to Cusco. It was a lovely journey too, driving from daylight into the night and enjoying all the magic colors this brings along. Back in town I had a not so tasty dinner at the wrong restaurant but then again a few very tasty Pisco sours with my fellow travel mate Ilkay from London, who also shared some of his interesting and then again funny stories as well as his talent as an actor :-)
We then had one more free day in Cusco and I shortly took over Lucho's job and lead a few members of our travel group to the religious site of Sacsayhuaman (more easily to be memorized as "Sexy Woman") and hired a local guide, who gave us some more insights about the Incas understanding of interconnectedness with the universe and its heavenly bodies and spiritual powers. And maybe the guide also just added a few more details as part of the whole entertainment program, one can never be a hundred percent sure, but it was worth the fun anyway. I definitely liked the place and its history, despite the cold rain that started to pour on us right at the end of our tour.
Well, a hot soup fixed again the freezing and a little break in my hotel room made me ready for a Peruvian dinner. The dinner then was highlighted by a grilled guinea pig, a local specialty, but maybe more for the fun of it and less because of its taste. Too bad I couldn't always try and taste all of the Peruvian cuisine since I had that nasty digestive problem I was carrying with me since Miami, but then again, it wasn't that awfully bad and many of my fellow travelers had one or the other inconvenience too but still we all managed to keep up with our travel program and enjoy it.
On the next day a long long drive was on our program, traveling from Cusco to Puno and the famous Titicaca lake. A very scenic drive indeed, in a wonderfully comfortable bus (best ever I guess), even though riding the train could also have been nice but taken much longer as well. Anyway, by nightfall we arrived in Puno where Lucho took us for a stroll around town and showed us the memorial of his great grandfather, a hero of the Chile-Peruvian war of the 19th century. After dinner it was early bedtime since no one wanted to join me for Karaoke and there was no more coca tea left ;-) but alright, next day would be a long one anyway. So the following morning some bike taxis drove us down to the highest navigable lake where a boat awaited us to sail to the floating village and then further on to Llanchon to our homestay. The floating islands and their people were quite impressive, a life on bundles of dried totora reeds where houses, schools and watchtowers are built and all sorts of tourist souvenirs made.
Arriving in Llanchon we were greeted by our homestay families and Ilkay and me were guests of Matilde, a very nice and hospitable woman and super cute mother with three boys. Our guest room was just very beautifully made, I guess not lest because Matilde's husband is a construction worker who built everything by himself. Unfortunately we haven't met him since he is working in Puno during the week and on their little farm on the weekends. Matilde cooked very tasty meals for us, and Ilkay and me also had the chance to help a little bit out on the farm, plowing the field and getting water down at the village well (quite different from just turning on the tap water, which they just don't have yet). Later on we were invited to play volleyball and football with the local people and I very much enjoyed playing these games and sharing the fun with the villagers. After that we got dressed up again in local dresses and helped preparing our dinner. After the meal everyone was pretty tired and so it was bedtime again, even though it was only something like 8 o'clock. Well, a couple of hours of music listening also made me ready to sleep and under the about five layers of blankets I felt comfortable and warm (and only going to the toilet with freezing temperatures outside wasn't too much fun ;-)
The next day it was already time to say goodbye again and I was grateful for the experiences we were given, the encounter with the lovely people and the stunning views on Lake Titicaca on a perfect morning. Generally, visiting the Peruvian local people often reminded me of the simple lifes and yet warmheartedness I experienced during my trip on the countryside in Nepal. Living close to the elements seems to make people just much more humble, gentle and kind compared to what you experience around the bigger cities. Our bus drove us to the next bigger town so we could take the plane back to Lima. And there the ugly side of life was back again, Julianca was maybe one of the ugliest cities I've ever been, filled with dirt and dubious business. People in this place just don't seem to care for anything else than making money with lots of illegal activities and the city and its surroundings are stunningly covered with tons of garbage that people just throw out of their cars on a regular dumping tour. And nobody seems to give a damn. After we learned that our flight will be delayed until late evening I was very glad that we left the place as quick as possible to do a spontaneously organized sightseeing tour at an archaeological site an hour drive outside town. And finally we left Julianca by 10pm and got back to our hotel in Lima by around half midnight. There we all bid farewell and thanked for a great time together and whereas most of my fellow travelmates had to catch an early flight or tour the next day I was just too happy to be able to sleep in :-) I still had some time left to do my laundry, share some time with locals & cats in a city park, before hopping on the plane that'd bring me to my second last station Rio de Janeiro. Thanks a bunch Peru for this great experience and I hope to be back some day to spend a little more time with you :-)
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