After our recent crop of tedious bus journeys we were pleased to finally be on a short three hour ride from Baños to Quito. The bus gods had a further test for me however, when merely 30 minutes into the journey a rather weak-stomached passenger puked all over my shoulder whilst they got off the bus. This greatly amused the conductor till he realised the extent of the carnage he’d have to clean up off the seats and floor. I meanwhile was forced to have an impromptu baby-wipe dry bath, lucky to have a replacement top to change into. When we rolled into Quito we were so pre-occupied with trying to find a same day laundry service we put aside our concerns about its extremely dodgy reputation for crime and our guide book’s stern warnings. Despite all the hype we had no problems there even on the packed, allegedly pickpocket riddled metro buses and had a great time enjoying the amazing architecture of the old quarter and more delicious Ecuadorian food.
With the mystical cloud forest a few hours away we didn’t want to spend too much time lingering in the city, so after stowing our luggage at the hotel for a couple of days we snuck off for a quick visit to Mindo before our flight to Colombia. The tropical forest was almost as dense as the Peruvian jungle but much cooler due to the higher altitude. Amazingly it actually had more biting insects than the jungle and they took full advantage of my lower legs after wading up to a waterfall washed off the DEET I’d smothered on.
The forest walks and waterfalls were accessed via a 500m crossing of forest valley in a vary ropey looking ‘tarabita’ cable car. Hanging precariously above the forest must be addictive because straight after we spent an amazing hour whizzing around the canopy along zip lines. Some of the valley crossings were huge and especially exhilarating when crossed hanging upside down, ‘mariposa’ style.
After 12 hours on a variety of buses we crossed from Punta Sal to Cuenca in Ecuador. Due to a very recent armed robbery of a night bus on the same route we chose the much safer day option, soon discovering that South America’s luxury road travel hadn’t yet reached Ecuador. Thankfully Cuenca’s beautiful colonial streets were the perfect places to re-stretch our legs . As a main commercial centre for straw ‘Panama’ hats we tried to sniff out a bargain at a few workshops where these Ecuadorian creations are made. After trying on most of the hats in Cuenca and even a few $500 Monticristi superfinos we finally picked one that is currently flying back to England ready for some summertime posing.
Back on the buses for a measly 9 hours we reached Baños. Known to be heaving at the weekends, when we arrived on Sunday we couldn’t help feeling it was a bit like Blackpool, with loads of shops selling sweets, inflatable toys and crappy souvenirs. This version however is set in lush forests on the side of a towering and still very active volcano. In the week things went a bit quieter and we rented some bikes for a great 25km downhill ride. We realised our driving skills could be getting a bit rusty after we rode through an enormous one-way, pitch black tunnel. The place was momentarily illuminated with each on-coming juggernaut only to leave us blinded by the light after it left. After a lot of very cautious pedalling we finally got to the other end only to see the exit of another adjacent tunnel for our correct lane of traffic. The route actually goes on for 60km all the way to the edge of the Amazon jungle but our arses gave up after we reached some nice waterfalls and were offered a lift back to Baños in the back of a truck.
All the volcanic activity around Baños gives it plenty of natural hot springs and we spent the evening soaking in them along with half of the town. The sequence was laid out in the beginning; a burning hot bath to start, follow with an icy plunge pool and complete in a high pressure freezing cold shower to massage your muscles. When sufficiently frozen you can repeat the process. After a few goes we decided a few of the colder steps could probably be left out and after storing up as much heat as we were able we legged it back to the hotel.
After finishing our trek we caught the night bus straight out of Huaraz, heading up to Trujillo in the direction of Peru’s northern beaches. Walking the Santa Cruz was so knackering we slept like babies for most of the 12 hour journey, right up until we rolled into a very dismal looking Trujillo. With fears of soggy beach resorts ahead we were reassured to hear that the best were still over 12 hours away by bus and the climate would be completely different. In the meantime we visited Chan Chan, ruins of the world’s largest adobe city, then onto Huanchaco to see fisherman use reed surf boards and to eat ceviche, raw fish marinated in citrus and chili. Our favourite meal in Trujillo however was breakfast; turkey and chive rolls washed down with hot chocolate. Trust us, it’s the perfect combination!
From Trujillo we spent a night in Piura to break up the journey before reaching Punta Sal, our last stop in Peru. Arriving to blue skies and sunshine, we were glad to see the long stretch of cold weather bought on by the South American winter and the time spent high up in the Altiplano was finally over. Punta Sal is a sleepy seaside village with extremely quiet beaches and little to do but relax and watch the amazing show of wildlife taking place out on the waves. With plenty of beer and suntan lotion we chilled out for a few days only venturing out when we needed to visit the nearest town to buy bus tickets to Ecuador. Returning back to Punta Sal via a 40 minute tuk-tuk ride made us wish we’d planned an extra day to recover!
The flight out of the jungle took us directly to Lima and the next day we were on a bus to Huaraz in the north of Peru. Set in a valley between the Cordillera Blanca and Negra, Huaraz is the Peru’s trekking capital and where people come to take on the highest mountain range in the world outside of the Himalayas. Due to the amount of snow in Patagonia we’d managed to dodge any serious treks in South America so far, but with perfect conditions in Peru the 4 day Santa Cruz trek through the Huscaran national park was a must.
We looked a rag-tag pair in our knackered trainers and worn-out clothes compared with the rest of our group but we covered the 58km between 2900 and 4750m above sea level without a hitch. With small day bags for water, snacks and waterproofs our camping gear was sped off by donkey express and erected for our arrival. The nights were freezing cold and we piled on the thermals despite having cosy down sleeping bags. The wonderful cook woke us each morning with a cup of coca tea to help with the altitude which we chased down with an enormous breakfast to set us up for the day.
Our guide Abel was really great and helped make the trip one of the highlights of our honeymoon. The scenery throughout was absolutely incredible and words don’t really do it justice, so check out the pictures and see if you recognise Artesonraju, the peak used at the start of a Paramount Pictures film.
We took two more days in Cusco to recover from all the early mornings before flying out to the jungle town of Puerto Maldonado in the Amazon Basin. After a brief visit to a local market to stock up on some essentials we travelled down the Madre de Dios river to the Tambo Lodge leaving the town far behind us. The next 4 days were spent exploring the jungle by foot and boat, both day and night in search of animals, birds and insects. During the nights we saw capybaras, caiman, plenty of spiders, frogs, caterpillars and even a tarantula. In the days we saw a lots of different monkeys, some turtles, snakes, macaws, cormorants, piranha, birds of prey and enough parrots at a clay lick to last a life time. As usual the mosquitoes were out in force so we we drenched ourselves in DEET to keep them at bay.
Our third day was spent visiting a eco-project with an amazing canopy walk 45m up to the top of the jungle. Unlike similar canopy walks we’ve been on in Malaysia this one felt like it was held together by the sheer will of the brave souls using it and due to a sharp incline it gave us a massive dose of vertigo on the way down. The views at the top of the tree however were awesome and whilst we ate our picnics up there a group of vultures came to perch on the adjacent branches.
Back on the ground we looked in on the project’s animal rehabilitation centre where we saw a jaguar, tapirs, toucans and lots of other weird and wonderful jungle creatures that are usually too timid to be easily seen in the wild. After a long and sweaty day we took a dip in the murky brown river. Despite assurances from our guide that the water was piranha free after 15 minutes everyone seemed pretty relieved to get back in the boat.
When we weren’t out in the jungle or stuffing ourselves stupid on the delicious food they served we relaxed in our cabin until we fell asleep to the sounds of the jungle.
From Cusco we visited the lost city of the Incas, Machu Picchu. Due to the exorbitantly high cost of taking a train directly from Cusco we opted for the cheapskates route through the Sacred Valley by bus and then onto Aguas Calientes using the late night backpacker train. These days Machu Picchu is far from lost, especially in the peak season. To avoid thousands of day trippers arriving from Cusco we got up at 4:30am to make sure we got one of the first buses up to the site so we could experience the ruins in relative quiet for a few hours at least. If was definitely worth making the effort as the place is magical at dawn before the huge tour groups arrive. By walking the marked routes in reverse we felt like we had the place to ourselves at times and even found a quiet grassy spot for some sun-bathing when the queues began to form. The ruins and the mountain-top setting are both incredible and like Angkor Wat, Machu Picchu certainly lived up to the hype in our eyes and we didn’t even mind getting up at 4:30am again to catch the train back to Cusco.
We arrived at Copacabana next to Lake Titicaca with hopes of relaxing in the sunshine and visiting a few of the lake’s islands. Instead we got stuck there for three days while a bus strike in Peru prevented us from crossing the border and poor weather made the usually placid lake far from ideal to spend six hours on in a tiny boat. Fortunately we got a great hotel room and spent the time wisely surfing hundreds of cable TV channels.
With the bus strike eventually over we scrambled onto the first bus out to Peru along with the backlog of other travellers who were also stranded. The weather lifted along with the blockade and we eventually got onto Lake Titicaca from Peru’s end in Puno. We took a short boat ride out to visit the floating villages of Uros where people live on islands made entirely of reeds. Since the reeds need to be constantly replenished you have to watch your step in places or suffer a soggy foot.
From Puno we headed onto Cusco and spent a couple of days walking through the cobbled streets and plazas, enjoying some fantastic restuarants and arranged our next trips out to Machu Picchu and the Peruvian jungle.
