¡ Hola, buenos dias ! Don't underestimate the power of greetings. Here in Peru they are very important, and it's expected that you greet anyone you speak to properly before asking them anything or beginning a conversation. Peru is full of other features which we are also getting used to including the huge difference in landscape and climate between its three main regions: the coast, the highlands (Andes) and the jungle. Anything can happen here - including the sewers being cleaned so that for a whole day the water supply is turned off in a city and NO water is available for cooking (so restaurants serve pizzas only - shame!) and the toilets don't flush... Enough said! There's more: The hotel we're staying at currently has a very creative approach to electrical wiring. In fact, if someone rings the doorbell from outside, the receptionist shuffles over to a dangling mangled set of wires and short-circuits them with his thumb and index finger to open the door, triggering a few sparks and sometimes (to the waiting guest's amusement) getting a minor shock himself. Oh, and also - our bedroom light comes on if we slam the door! Hmmm...
Our arrival to Peru came as quite a shock, because we didn't expect it to be as different to Chile as it actually is. They do after all, share a border and we thought that there wouldn't be a significant difference between the two countries. We were wrong! In fact in our first few days we had scary flashbacks and thought we were back in India by mistake. Yikes! Peru is years behind Chile in terms of development. All the facilities are private initiatives as there seem to be few public services. There isn't ONE main bus terminal, there are 10 - one for each bus company which runs buses around the country, and the same goes for tourist information and booking tours. We discovered quite by surprise that the kindest and most helpful citizens in Peru are the security guards who supervise the shops and banks (there is a serious lack of policemen here). Unlike in Europe, they are very approachable and willing to be helpful - we even got one nice guard to pack up our shopping from the supermarket. Groovy! Indeed, "security" is an issue (in Lima particularly) and all the properties in and around Lima (shops included) are surrounded by tall metallic bars. When you buy a bottle of water there, it's handed to you through the metal bars! Slightly disconcerting. Also, we are very aware of the risk of earthquakes. We hadn't really given it much thought, but most buildings have "Safe areas in case of Seismic activity" and as we flew over the Andes we saw many gaping fault lines, so it must be true!
This all took us quite a while to get used to, and our first few days were spent holding hands tightly and bravely walking the streets of Lima trying not to get mugged. Many locals are kind to point out that we need to watch our stuff ALL the time and that no one can be trusted. Gracias! We were not sure which areas were safe and which were not and to be honest were a bit overwhelmed by the unfriendliness and general difficulties we had to do simple things. Booking a bus to get out of Lima is not just a quick phone call to National Express, pay with your card and off you trot - oh no! It's a little more like: 1. Read the "Getting around" section in Lonely Planet to find out how to get to town from our hotel because we don't know where we are. Discover that there are over 200 local buses (none of which are marked) and that the taxis are all un-metered and unregistered. There is no metro, tram or other means of transport. Problemo! 2. Discuss limited options and settle for asking our hotel receptionist what a taxi fare SHOULD cost to the bus station. Bus station? Which bus station? We don't have one bus station, we have 10... (Problemo!?) "Oh, ok. That's nice. Could you kindly tell us which bus station to go to, to get a bus to Pisco". "Si si Señorita. It's this one (on map). Will cost 3 Nuevos Soles by taxi". Good, we have progress. 3. Hail down a cab and fight like mad to pay the right price. Fail miserably and pay almost double instead. Damn! 4. Get to desired bus station. Wait patiently in cue 20 minutes (they don't have any change. At all. Not even a dollar!? Problemo!) Finally get to front of cue and are told that this bus station does not go to Pisco. Problemo! Well, you get the point. Soon enough it's lunch time, we haven't seen or done anything cultural at all and we stiill don't know where to go or who to ask to get the right info or pay the right price. Oh, and we still don't know how to get out of Lima although our determination to do so FAST has increased tenfold!
All of these tasks take place in Spanish as no one speaks English, and although Emily is doing her very best, she's finding the dialect a little challenging! It is well known that all Spanish-speaking countries in South America (that's most of them!) try hard to create their own version of the language so that the OTHER south american countries won't understand them. This, as you can imagine is not a constructive approach for Emily who is trying to communicate in a language she has not used for about 10 years! (So far she's told one insistent waitress "no thank you, we don't want to come into your restaurant, we've already been eaten!" and she also told a waiter than he was "very sexy" rather than saying "the food was nice" as she had intended. Hey! It was an innocent mistake! Nobody's perfect...)
So we made it through Lima and then went to Pisco (a pretty fishing village) without further ado. However, the first place we went to of real interest was Nasca, famous for its giant "geoglyphs" which cover large areas of the desert with animal, plant or geometric shapes and are thought to be over 2,000 years old (pre-Inca). The only way to see them is from the air, and any excuse to get up in the skies is fine by us, so day one consisted of a 35-minute flight over the "Pampa" (plateau that they're found on) in a teeny tiny Cessna for 4 people at a very low 500 feet. (And no, we weren't tempted. But only just!)
It's pretty fascinating stuff really, because there are literally hundreds of theories about how and why they were made, but nobody knows the truth. The theories range from possible to very creative: they are of complex astronomical significance and were dug out by the Nasca culture with spondylus shells (may have been used as a calendar) OR they're a complex "map" to guide farmers to scarce water sources in the mountains. They were made to communicate with aliens and assist them when landing on earth, but then again, they may have been made by Maria Reiche, the woman who spent 50 years of her life researching and studying them in great detail and she made them with a broom because she was a witch and wanted attention! Well, we can't say that we know the truth, but we can certainly state that if Maria Reiche DID make them, she would have needed many minions, because 50 years is not long enough to single-handedly make that many shapes and lines over such a wide area!
After the lines, we went to a Nasca cemetery which still contains original mummies and historical artifacts (ceramics, human and llama hair, instruments). Sounds a bit morbid, but these mummies and artifacts with them are really well preserved and teach us a lot about the ancient Nascans. They have skin, teeth and hair and some even still have trophy heads beside them. These are skulls of their defeated enemy which they strung to their belts and wore as a warning to others that they were powerful and not to get on the wrong side of them! All the trophy heads have a thorn through their eyes and mouths to close them up so that their souls are unable to escape their bodies and move on to the afterlife - the worst form of punishment for the Nascan culture!
We noticed that some of the mummies have deformed heads which grow upwards like aliens'. The reason being that at the time, deforming heads was a common way of differentiating between social classes or status so that as soon as babies were born two planks of wood would be tied around their skulls and strapped tightly causing enough pressure for the growing cranium to develop upwards rather than outwards. Inevitably the pressure on the brain caused so much pain that primitive operations were performed (a hole was literally drilled into the skull) and in 40% of the cases, the patient survived. This can clearly be seen in the remaining mummies. Incredible! Of course when archeologists discovered these deformed skulls the "scientists" favoring the paranormal explanation for the Nascan lines used it as further evidence for their theory. However, we think this tells us more about mid-20th century man than it does the ancient Nascans;-)
So how come these bodies are so well preserved, you ask? Well, when they were buried the internal organs were removed and replaced with a mix of cotton, salt, mud grass and chilli. Unlike the Egyptians, the organs were not preserved but due to the creative "filling" - the skin, bones and hair remain in very good condition. Also, in Nasca, the weather is the same all year round. There are no seasons. It's hot and the sky is blue all day long, all year long. So the bodies have not been affected by moisture or varying temperatures. In fact, it only rains for 20 minutes per year (!) but don't worry (the guide told us), it doesn't all rain at once. Usually that 20 minutes of rain is spread over 3 or 4 days... Phew! Actually, joking aside, it did actually cross our minds that heavy rain WOULD be a serious problem here because the houses are mostly made of adobe (mud bricks) and most of them have very little in the way of solid roofing (mostly all mud or straw or nothing at all). We took advantage of the great Nascan weather to do half a day of mountain biking. The tour company drove us and the bikes up the base of the Andes to about 2000m and then we hopped on the bicycles and cycled back down again, seeing mines and Inca ruins on the way.
After a pleasant and relaxing time in Nasca (our hotel had a pool and we topped up our tans doing nothing for 2 days!) we went to Arequipa - the second largest city after Lima. This is where all the things about Lima which we found difficult on arrival were turned around, as despite its size, Arequipa is very well organised and user-friendly. It's well developed in many places and this perhaps encouraged us to lower our guard a bit. This turned out to be a bit of a mistake.... We know we said that there were hardly any cops in Peru, but it just so happens that on our first day in Arequipa as our curious ways led us further and further away from the centre, we ran into a bit of difficulty. We had located the local market - the real life of the city where the locals are dressed traditionally and shouting at each other and selling fruit. The colours and excitement are engaging but it stinks of fish and raw meat! Sounds a bit gross, but it's a view on the imperfections of real life in Peru. These bits of our travels are where we really get to see what living here is like, and are valuable to us. It's not organised, we didn't pay for it, and anything could happen. We were very excited with our find and Chris proudly got his camera out to record our little discovery when two policemen stopped us in our tracks and gave us a stern warning that we were in a very dangerous place and what were we thinking? Emily innocently said that we really liked the market (and smiled) but it was clear that the coppers felt strongly about this and we wasted no time in putting the camera away and hurrying off along our way back to the safety of the main plaza with all the touts, hotels and other tourists. We felt like two children getting told off at school, but their words of warning may well have saved us our posessions or more?
After getting orientated and settled we headed for the museum of "Juanita, the ice maiden". At the risk of boring you with yet more South American history, we will explain briefly: the Incas were dedocated believers in "Pachamama" (mother earth) and felt strongly about making offerings to mother earth in return for good health and prosperity. In 1996, a frozen 12-year old girl was found on the top of Mount Ampato (volcano, 6,900m high) perfectly preserved (the best conserved mummy in the western hemisphere) including the offerings that were buried with her: her clothes, textiles, ceramics, coca leaves, ornaments, gold figurines etc. After much testing, it was discovered that she was herself an offering to the Gods from the Incas about 550 years ago, and because she was frozen solid, she comes complete with frozen blood and all her internal organs except for her eyes. The scientists can even tell what she ate up to two weeks before her death (mostly vegetables), and after some DNA testing they're even trying to find some living relatives. She has proved to be a priceless window on to the culture and even the microbiology of life in these parts 550 years ago. Fascinating stuff!.... So, this museum shows all of the objects that she was buried with and in the very last room, conserved at -20 degrees Celsius and at 100% humidity (as she was found) is Juanita herself. Well, that's what's meant to happen at any rate - naturally, when we visited the museum Juanita was temporarily excused for blood tests at the local University! Bit of a shame, but another mummy with a similar history but slightly less well preserved was on display instead and we were still very impressed! We have to say, the quality of museums in Peru is very high. We have visited several museums in this country so far and we are really struck by the high amount of interesting and relevant displays. Whoever thought that museums were fun!?
However, the real highlight of Arequipa was a 2-day tour we went on to visit the Colca valley (165km north of Arequipa) . This is famous for its extensive terracing on the steep slopes of the canyon which were built by ethnic groups between the ninth and fourteenth centuries AD and are still used today. The canyon is twice as deep as the Grand Canyon in Colorado and may even be the deepest canyon in the world... and with the surrounding Andean peaks and snow-capped volcanoes this was undoubtedly one of the most beautiful places we visited. As well as being beautiful the canyon is a perfect habitat for the Andean Condor, the highlight of our excursion. On first arrival at the viewing site to see this giant vulture there were just a few sizeable hawks swooping around the rocks around us, impressive but not what we had come for. We were a bit nervous because sometimes the Condors don't come. However, our luck was in and a guide spotted one in the distance of the canyon. Several minutes later we were treated to our first fly-by! This was truly special as the enormous creature with a wingspan of around three metres glided past us not flapping at all, just using the thermals rising out of the canyon and tilting it's tail feather like a rudder in the airwaves it was master of. Stunning! Later a few of its friends came to play too and we were treated to an even more spectacular aerial display only metres away. We can't really describe what it's like to sit on a big rock with a 1200m straight drop to the river below and have 5 or 6 giant Condors fly above your head gracefully. You'll just have to imagine it yourselves!
Interestingly, the first stop on our tour was to a shop just outside of Arequipa where we were told to buy coca leaves, cookies and sweets! What?! COCA? Like, what cocaine is made of!? You're kidding - no way! But who were we to disobey, right? Obediently we handed over our dollar note and walked out with our little stash. It turns out that at 4,900m we were very grateful for these purchases...coca is a very effective reliever for altitude sickness! Now we just need to convince the British authorities that Canterbury is very high and we feel ill - and we've got a little business set up!? Despite this, we noticed that there are many anti-drug campaigns on the streets of Peru and our latest shocking statistic is that 90% of coca production is used for narcotics. That's bad.
The tour also gave us an opportunity to learn about the Peruvian ways of life and to taste some interesting food including Alpaca meat (Alpacas are like llamas) and a funky bitter fruit which grows on cacti. We were also invited to a Peruvian restaurant for an evening of traditional music and dance. Stupidly, we thought that WE would be doing the eating and THEY would be doing the dancing. However, as soon as the music started Emily (despite her convincing attempt to be blind, deaf and very dumb) was pulled onto the dance floor by a Peruvian dancer and forced to jiggle her asparagus soup and Alpaca steak up and down...and almost up again! She didn't look quite as stupid as Chris belly-dancing in the Lebanese restaurant in Delhi but it was a close call... Grrr! We think locals do this for their own amusement although WE'RE the ones paying for the entertainment! Surely that's wrong and immoral?
Finally, to heal Emily's wounded pride we thought we'd treated ourselves to a little flight for fun, and rather than getting a 12-hour bus ride on bumpy roads, we took a half-hour flight to Cusco. No upgrade to business class this time though. Shame! Nice views all the same. We have just signed up to take part in the Gringo's holy grail ("gringo" means "foreigner") - the 4-day Inca trail to the mighty Machu Picchu. We are told that it's incredibly difficult and very challenging, so thought we should write to you all now in case we don't make it! (o: We have to wait nearly a week to do it, as there are so few spaces and the demand is high. Never mind, the wait should give us enough time to acclimatise to the altitude and come to terms with hiking at 4,000m. When we catch our breaths we'll write to you on our return to let you know all about it!
Apologies if this write up is too lengthy or factual - we are just so pleased to be stimulated by Peru's immense cultural wealth and diversity that we feel the need to record every detail just in case we forget! We're sometimes not sure how the update reads? After several relatively comfy months in OZ, New Zealand and even Chile, it feels great to be challenged again and to have to think on our feet.
¡ Hasta Luego !
Emily and Chris