Peru: Our Final Solo Trip
With just two weeks left to be on our own, we decided to pack in as much of Peru as we could. It was a fast-paced, full-on adventure, but so worth it.
Flickr Album - Peru
2 Weeks In Peru
Welcome to the final two weeks of Our Year On The Road! Well...not exactly, but this is the final section of travel that will be just the two of us.
We had purposely left these two weeks open to the very last minute as we wanted to get a feel for Ecuador and give ourselves time to make the difficult decision. In the end, the decision was once again made easy through recommendations from a number of friends. With such glowing reviews of the country and with ample recommendations on where to visit, Fernando and I set off.
Trying to do Peru in 2 weeks is TOUGH. Ideally we would have had at least 3 weeks if not more. To fit in everything we wanted, we had to take a number of overnight buses and late night/early morning flights to get us around. This wasn’t the cheapest option but considering this was our “final 2 weeks” we decided it would be worth it - and it so was!
Feeling "fresh" after a night on the Overnight Bus
Huaraz
The main street of Huaraz
Although only a 130min flight between Quito and Lima, this flight ended up being one of our most expensive legs (thank you, flying in South America!). To get to Huaraz, we needed to fly into Lima in the evening and then make our way over to the bus terminal to then take an overnight bus (we told you it was tough!). Thankfully everything ran smoothly, the bus company we used, Cruz Del Sur was as good as you’re going to get - 160 degree beds, a pillow and blanket- it certainly beats flying economy but I wouldn’t want to do it every night.
Huaraz was certainly the most “authentic” of the cities we visited (i.e. the least infiltration of tourists and lot less pretty). The city was constantly pumping, filled with people any time of the day and/or week. We were staying the heart of it all, right next to the local market and on a road lined with street vendors and stalls. It was awesome. It was our first taste of Peruvian life and we loved the energy and chaos. It reminded us a lot of India or Nepal, with the crazy traffic and tuk tuks everywhere.
Guinea pigs for sale in Huaraz, Peru
The reason for our visit to Huaraz was to conquer a few hikes and see some of the most insane looking sights that Peru has to offer (just Google Laguna 69 for a taste). It is known as the hiking capital of Peru but ironically we arrived feeling completely hiked-out and with a great sense of fatigue as we were just getting over our time in Ecuador.
Regardless, we had to push on! We had 3 nights in total and in the end we did one hike, one day tour and had a day to explore the city.
Laguna Churup
Laguna Churup
Thanks to multiple blog posts and help from our hostel, we decided to try out Laguna Churup, a lesser known hike in Huaraz. It is just 45 minutes away by collectivo (the local bus) - and I say “just” because all the other hikes are a minimum of 2 hours away - which in of itself was an interesting experience. Collectivo’s are minivans that kind of just run on their own schedule but on fixed routes, for example, we arrived at 7am where we were told the collectivo started from (and yes, it was there) but it didn’t actually leave until 7:45am when they had rounded up enough people and filled the van (and I mean filled). Then, when they dropped us at the hike, it was arranged that they’d pick us up (along with a handful of other hikers) at 2pm. It was all very strange but it worked!
The actual hike was a killer, I think it was the hardest I’ve ever done, due to the altitude, my fatigue and the relentless uphill. At only 7km long, you hike uphill the whole way until you reach the lake, this uphill is a mix of stairs, mud, streams and sections where you are literall climbing p rocks with ropes. It was adventure! In the end, it was all worth it for the incredible view we were rewarded with at the top:
Scenes from our hike at Laguna Churup
Laguna Parón
The stunning blue of Laguna Parón
We had long debates over whether to do Laguna Parón or Laguna 69, the two big draw cards for Huaraz.
In the end we settled on Parón, purely because it involved a lot less hiking and at this point we couldn’t see ourselves doing another day of hiking like Churup.
The tour was organised through our hostel and we were picked up at 6:30am and dropped back home at 7:00pm - it was a long day. Because it’s so far away, the day pretty much consisted of driving for 4 hours (with a break along the way), having an hour and a half at the lake to walk around and enjoy the view and then jumping back in the van to go back. All in all it was a really exhausting day, being squished in a tiny van, BUT I would still highly recommend the visit. The lake itself was just like you see in the photos, such an unreal shade of blue that you need to see in person to believe.
Laguna Parón
Exploring Huaraz
Plaza de Armas of Huaraz
Considering the long day of driving we had to visit Laguna Parón, in the end we were put off doing any other day tour (Pastoruri Glacier was on the cards) as we couldn’t stand the thought of another day in a cramped minivan. In hindsight I’m glad we gave ourselves the day to explore Huaraz and to relax. As we have spoken about before, these days doing nothing are so important, we could feel how fatigued we both were from the past few weeks of travel and having a day to relax was just what we needed.
To be honest, Huaraz is not the prettiest town in Peru. It is incredibly busy at all hours of the day, packed with locals going about their day and selling goods on the side of the road. We were lucky to have a large private room at our hostel with a little table to work on (such a luxury!) so we spent a lot of the day there, catching up on admin stuff.
Admin time in our Hostel
As far as what Huaraz has to offer, we really enjoyed (maybe not the right right word...) the local market - coming face to face with lines of chicken carcasses, meat and fish, watching women bundle up their bag of guinea pigs...it was a very real experience.
We were also very lucky to be in town in one of their many festive days. We did ask around the meaning of the festivities, but all we could get was that it was some Christian celebration. Not very enlightening, but still a lot of fun, with lots of parades with people dressed up, playing the drums, singing and dancing.
Scenes of Huaraz: the festive parades and the local market
Cusco
A Surprise (for us) parade in the main square in Cusco
Cusco felt like a world apart from Huaraz - quite literally as it took us an overnight bus, a taxi to the airport, and a morning flight to get us there. These long journeys seriously took a toll on us, finally arriving in Cusco in the mid-afternoon, all we had energy for was a bite to eat and a stroll around before passing out at our hostel.
But long journey aside, Cusco couldn’t be more different to Huaraz. The town was super packed with tourists (even in February, the low season), with plenty of shops and restaurants all catered to the international crowd. To be fair, once you step outside the Plaza de Armas area it suddenly becomes a lot more local and you get a much better picture of how the Cusquenos live.
Cusco itself is an incredible city. As we learned, it was the capital of the Incan empire. To wrap your head around that you need to understand that in its peak, the empire spanned across Ecuador, Peru, Chile and a bit of Argentina! And at the centre of it all was Cusco. Like everywhere else, the Spanish conquerers did a “good" job at destroying as much of the Incan architecture as possible, but some remains do exist in the city, including some amazing stonework in the walls and the original road routes into the city.
Old and new mixing together in Cusco
Old and new mixing together in Cusco
To understand the history better, we did a walking tour. I’m not going to lie I have officially reached my limit with these free walking tours, we found the best quality tours to be in Europe but they have gone downhill since coming to South America. Unfortunately it’s been our experience that a lot of these companies introduce commercial elements into their tours to make extra money, so we’ve found ourselves killing time in chocolate stores or clothing/jewelry stores, waiting until the tour will continue again. The tour in Cusco was okay, it’s definitely worth doing one as the city itself contains so much history with Inca remains scattered around. The history is so impressive, we just wish we had a better tour guide to tell it to us.
Some original Incan stonework (and Alex)
We were staying just outside the San Pedro Market, a large market catering to both locals and tourists, with fresh produce, heaps of fresh juice stalls and souvenirs. This is a must visit in Cusco, and if you find yourself in the city on a Sunday, definitely head over here as the market shuts early but the area suddenly comes alive with makeshift gambling tables (usually run by children!) popping up all over. We hung around and tried to understand the different games going on, the main one that seemed to be popular involved flicking a 10 Sole coin (around 2 cents) onto the checkered table where if it landed right on the square you’d win the amount in the square (usually 30 soles - 6 cents). There were also the largest crowds I have ever seen gathered around different street performers around the city, seriously hundreds and hundreds of people all gathered to watch a clown, or comedian perform. Such a great Sunday atmosphere.
Crowds watching street performers in Cusco, Peru
We really enjoyed hanging around Cusco, we gave ourselves one whole day to enjoy the city and spent most of our time strolling through their little cobblestone streets, taking leisurely coffees in balconies and perusing the shops (still fun even though we can't buy anything). We had an amazing vegan meal (twice) at Green Point Restaurant and a really special date night dinner at KION Peruvian Chinese Restaurant. I am always craving Asian food and when my aunt and uncle recommended this place we knew we had to go, although it is a bit fancier than our usual places it was very much worth it.
Machu Picchu
Ticking off another Wonder of the World
First fun fact for me (Fernando), is that the name is actually pronounced "MATCH-oo PEEK-choo". Now that we got this one covered, let's get into it.
We were NOT meant to go to Machu Picchu this trip, because it's rainy season and the Inca trail is closed all of Februaru. "What's the point of going to Machu Picchu if not hiking?!" we had reasoned. In the end we convinced ourelves it was still worth it and that we'd certainly regret visiting Peru without see Machu Picchu.
Also worth pointing out, Machu Picchu was by far the most expensive day trip we've done throughout this trip, racking up to USD 300 per person (which is the equivalent of 4.5 days of our daily budget). A lot of this is because we didn't have much time, so we had to go there by train (~USD 150 per person return trip), and to get the bus from Aguas Calientes (USD 25 per person) instead of doing the 2h hike up. The entrance is around USD 100 per person as well.
We have to admit that it was definitely worth paying a little more to enjoy the vistadome train to and from Aguas Calientes though:
On the Vistadome - to and from Machu Picchu
Was it worth it? Absolutely. Machu Picchu is one of those things that you literally see thousands of photos and hear about it all the time, but you have to go see it to truly understand its wonder. It's truly astonishing. It is incredibly touristy as you can imagine, but this did not take away from our experience. We could still find quiet corners to sit, enjoy the view and take it all in.
Machu Picchu
Machu Picchu from a different angle
A local resident from Machu Picchu
We opted for visiting it on our own with no guide, so that we could take our time and be free to roam around like the resident llamas.
Sacred Valley
The beautiful city of Ollantaytambo, in the Sacred Valley
Just like seemingly everything else in Peru, the Sacred Valley was another "must-see", but due to time constraints we couldn't stay a night or two in the valley, which would have been ideal, instead we had to opt for another full-on, packed day to see it all. This is what we didn't really like about Peru. Unlike Ecuador, where it was fairly easy to make your way around on local buses and taxi, in Peru you're stuck with big tour groups unless you have the money to go for private tours (which we didn't).
But anyway, here we are in yet another day long tour with 40 other tourists, into a crammed bus. For what it's worth, we managed to pack a lot in one day, covering the main spots in the Sacred Valley: the Maras Salt Mines, the Moray (an Incan micro-climate experiment), Ollantaytambo and Pisac.
The Maras Salt Mines are quite a view. Nested in the valley, there is this massive salt deposit with hundreds of individual pools owned by local families.
The Salt Mines
The Salt Mines
The next stop was Moray, which is believed to be an Inca experiment with micro-climates. Although not certain, it is believed that the purpose of these circles and depressions was to create micro-temperature differences between one step to the other, allowing them to test different crops and plants at different conditions.
Moray, Peru
Moray, Peru
We also had the chance to see and take photos with lots of alpacas and even a 6-week old baby goat. Best USD 1 spent on this trip.
Making some special, little friends
All in all, we loved the Sacred Valley - we just wish we had more time to do it properly. We couldn't even see the Colca Canyon which was supposed to be amazing. If / when we're back there, we'll probably spend a few days in the region and explore it with no rush.
Arequipa
Arequipa, Peru
Another recommendation we received and did not let us down was Arequipa. This gorgeous city is completely different to everything we'd seen in Peru - and South America, even. It's a small, colonial town that almost feels like Europe. The Plaza de Armas is gorgeous, surrounded by historic buildings and arches, and the houses are mainly white, with the mountains in the background.
Arequipa, Peru
Arequipa, Peru
We decided not to do any tour while in Arequipa. We spent our 2 days there walking around town, enjoying the easy life and going to what became our favourite activity: getting a juice at the local market.
Enjoying all the colours and tastes of the market in Arequipa
We also visited the "Alpaca World", a very touristy but also interesting place, where they have different types of alpacas and llamas and they walk you through the process: from getting the wool, to cleaning it, dying it and making the final products. Of course it ends at a very nice store with 100% alpaca wool products for sale, where we got Alex's parents some presents.
Learning all about Alapaca wool at Alpaca World!
Lima
Enjoying our luxurious apartment in Lima
With only two more days left just the two of us, we decided to treat ourselves to a nice Airbnb in the heart of the fancy, tourist district, Miraflores. This was such a relief having lots of space to ourselves, which we made full use of by enjoying a big home-cooked dinner on our first night... which coincided nicely with Fernando getting to watch his Sao Paulo game on the TV.
Because we only really had one day to see Lima, we decided to take advantage of being by the ocean and do a long coastal walk. I highly recommend doing something similar if you find yourself in Lima. We were super hot and sweaty by the end because of the strong summer sun, but the walk itself was great: super flat, hugging the coastline while constantly passing through beautiful parks. See below our itinerary, which includes a great bakery where we started the day (2) and an equally great gelateria where we ended it (5). From there, the staff at the gelateria pointed us in the direction of the bus going to Miraflores and we took this back to the start.
It also happened to be Valentine's Day, so we really enjoyed sitting in the Love Park, where many couples were congregated for the special day and shared a necessary selfie kiss...
At the Love Park, Lima