Trujillo.

Tags

Chan Chan, Chimu, Hostal Colonial, Hotels, Inca, Peru, Tours, Travel, Trujillo

Hostel Colonial has a good rating from the guide book I have but upon arrival, it’s pretty lacking. There’s major construction going on in the middle of the building and the rooms are small and old, in a grubby way. As check-in wasn’t for a couple of hours, we were put in a holding room, which had plywood walls and camp beds.

With a bit of time free until our afternoon tour and room change, we tried out some of the highly recommended food in the restaurant next door. The food is good (but nothing to rave about) and beats snacking on junk food. After catching up with Email online, we managed to get moved to the correct room. With barely enough space to fit the bed in, hard scratchy blankets and rattling windows, it’s quite a disappointment. Considering we’ve been to far poorer areas such as Nazca and had far superior accomodation for the price, I expected much more.

Trujillo is the most ‘western’ city on this trip so far, with standard looking high-streets and more informal dress. There are still fleets of taxis forever honking but you feel less of a tourist here and don’t stand out as much.

The afternoon tour was excellent and cheap, covering two good archeological sites, a couple of mediocre reference museums and a trip to Huanchaco beach. The two main sites were the Dragon/Rainbow temple, and Chan Chan. The Chimu tribes of the time encompassed a vast area of which the grandness and scale of the buildings can be experienced, at the sandy remains of the Chan Chan ruins.

After the last stop of the four hour tour for a short peaceful stroll along Huanchaco beach, it was back to the hotel and grab some food before hitting the hay. It’s not going to be fun, trying to sleep on this hard, itchy bed.

Inca Trail, day 1.

Tags

Ayapata, Chicha, Hikes, Huillca Raccay, Inca Trail, KM 82, Ollantaytambo, Peru, Tours, Travel, Vilcanota, W'akay Willca

Off to an early start and up at 4am for the bus to Ollantaytambo and some breakfast. It was such a perfect morning with the mist rolling out the valley and the mountains crisp against the blue, that I almost didn’t want to get out the bus, but it was time to get some kind of fuel in me, still not knowing how hard the first day would be.

The road to KM 82 is narrow and winding but carries what I would consider in hindsight, to be some of the best views in the valley. The small rustic houses scattered next to deep green fields, and the occasional passing of the hard blue train, on its way to Aguas Calientes. Because it was still early, I didn’t expect to see any other kind of traffic on the dirt road but we encountered a few buses and trucks, that had us reversing multiple times.

KM 82 is the official ‘start’ of this trail and is nothing more than a parking lot, with a passport control center and some bathrooms. The toilets incidentally, are not free, so take a Sol to pay the kid at the entrance. I begrudge paying a fee to do something that nature intended but what can you do out here; I just wanted to get hiking at that point. After quickly getting through the passport control point and taking the bridge across the Vilcanota river, it was finally time to get moving.

The trail for the first day is incredibly easy and I suspect is a great intro to people who are nervous about what to expect. Now I’m used to getting around at altitude, I just wanted to cover ground with gusto as I did with my training back in Seattle. There’s a fair bit to soak in on the trail but especially on this first day, most of it gets familiar quickly and can be absorbed at pace. The guide does a good job of breaking up the walk, to introduce the flora and explain the history of the area. I have to remember I’m in a group here though, and curb my thoughts of getting in the zone, and charging off to the horizon. I did manage to get some sporting challenge going when I challenged our guide, Flavio, to a race up the first incline we hit. I made it about 2/3 the way up before needing to stop for air and finally started to feel some of the effects of higher elevation again. Man, it felt so good to get that run in though and cleared out the cobwebs.

Stopping at the top of the first incline for a rest and the great view that includes Mount Veronica (W’akay Willca), I got to try some Chicha for the first time. It reminds me of not-quite-ready home-brew and is usually fermented longer for more alcoholic content, although the stuff we were trying had minimal alcohol and is often consumed by the kids. I don’t think I could drink too much of it, but it’s always fun to try something new.

After continuing through some small settlements selling energy drinks and snacks, the group arrived at the first decent-sized ruins of Huillca Raccay. This was the kind of experience I was hoping for, with some great old settlements and tremendous mountainous backdrops – certainly the highlight for me of the first day. You start to gain the perception that you’re gaining more incline than you think you’ve covered and everything looks a long way off. This place must have been spectacular when it was an active settlement.

An hour later was the lunch stop, and the first example of what we could look forward to, in the way of food and porter service for the next few days. Already way ahead of us early on, the porters had set up the meal tents, as well as bowls of warm water, soap and towels, to freshen up before food. The food and drink was pretty awesome and while consisting of staple items, there was a ton of it and very well arranged. The porters take an immense pride in their service, from carrying your overnight items, to arranging napkins and cutlery. There is also a tradition of applauding every hiker who enters the camp at the end of each stage.

Another brief rest stop along the way, was next to an open-roomed house with a large pot heating in the corner. Flavio explained that the Guinea Pigs ambling around the room were for this pot but thankfully, none of this happened while we were stopped. The only other surprise of the day came from a creepy looking doll, perched on a bench outside a house. This doll was seriously messed up, with the hair burned off, one eye shut and a mismatch of clothing, including hacked-off denim pants.

Between the stop and the campsite at Ayapata, there are no more ruins but plenty of broadening mountains and you start to get the feeling that you’re actually at some kind of high elevation. This second half of the day adds a little to the incline but nothing too strenuous. I’m taking it easy, as I know it will get harder and I’ll have three more days to complete so for now, I’m holding back. Tomorrow is the highest pass and I’ll see how I’m doing then.

The food in the evening was extremely good, although something upset my stomach a bit. Spent the best part of an hour down at the bathrooms while everyone had crashed in bed and once my system had completely emptied, I made it back to my sleeping bag. Speaking of the toilets, they are a rough deal and worse than any porta-potty I’ve used.

Today has been pretty long with the early rising but I’m finally in bed at 8pm and ready to get some rest.

Monasterio de Santa Catalina.

Tags

Architecture, Arequipa, Monasterio de Santa Catalina, Monastery, Peru, Stone, Tours, Travel

Too much of itchy feet to get exploring had me out the door early afternoon, to get to the monastery I’ve heard so much about.

Took a more indirect route, for a look down side streets at local life and the colonial architecture.  Even though Peru is quite dirty by US standards, the buildings look like they will be here forever and the colonial carving in the stone is both intricate, beautiful and sadly overlooked by many people. There is so much you could do here to make the stonework more prominent and it’s a shame that it’s not; those interested in such things need only to look above eye-level to get lost in the 17th century culture injected.

The monastery hits you, as soon as you get to any road that terminates by it. Solid fortress-like high walls block the surrounding view and castle-like wooden doors mark the only deviance in the bleached stone. This building has been closed off until 1971 and a portion of it is still closed off to this day.

The 30 soles it cost to get in hopefully benefits the upkeep of this fabulous building and if visiting and you want a guided tour, English is available for a nominal charge.

It’s easy to underestimate the size of a monastery and this place is huge inside. Taking into consideration it’s not even fully accessible, that makes it even more impressive. It took a full two hours to get around and that was pushing it; I could have spent at least a day here, easily.

The two-tone colours are so strong and I’ve been wondering for the last day, if the area uses a specific plant or extract for the primary colours I’ve seen. Whatever the reason, it makes for a very stiking, hard, (and very beautiful) image.  The rooms are as basic as you’d expect, although I was surprised to find some wonderfully carved and upholstered furniture in a few of the rooms. Extras aside, most rooms just consist of a small prison-style bed in an alcove, a cross and a stone oven, with eating area.

Sanitation is something that has fascinated me in this area because, depiste garbage being dumped everywhere on the streets, the old city plumbing is still visible and not so concealed within this building. Perfectly masoned channels at some point carried water (and no doubt other deposits), although I couldn’t see where they terminated.

As with most religious buildings, the art is incredible. It’s a shame that it takes a restriction and fear to paint such incredible pieces, some of which are wonderfully disturbing. Art is not restricted to paintings, either – there are murals in most of the communal areas, covering the entire length of the upper walls. Some of it is decorative art of fruits or plants and others include full representations of biblical events, along with some associated text at its base.

Climbing to the central area gifts you with an incredible view of not only central Arequipa, but also surrounding mountain ranges and El Misti herself. I’m constantly thinking how much this looks like images of the Middle East I’ve seen and Braunda informs me that there are a lot of similarities with Spain from when she was there.  With the public areas closing for the day and the Sun getting low, it was time to head back to the hotel and a short rest to freshen up before dinner.

Arequipa only has a couple of larger tourist attractions but they’re making me dizzy with wonderment. Buildings built from love or fear, for worship or religious practice for me, are one of the few man-made things that will still be beautiful, long after humans have gone.