Baker's Breadcrumbs

Nearly 6 months after booking the classic 4 day, 3 night Inca Trail, the (early) morning had finally arrived. With a small daypack each, a duffle bag weighing less than 5kg and hired trekking poles in hand, we were ready to embark on the 44km trail that climbs, dives and winds through Andean mountain passes deep in the Sacred Valley.

Beginning of the Inca Trail

The Inca Trail was not the only trail used by the Inca people to reach the city of Machu Picchu. Many other trails lead to the famous site, however the trail known as the Inca Trail is the one 're-discovered' by the German explorer Hiram Bingham in 1911 and is believed to have been of great importance to the Incas as there are many significant ruins of Inca-time watchtowers, terraces and accommodation for the Inca people walking to Machu Picchu for big festivities. But enough of history for now...

Watchtower Ruins

Sayonmarka Ruins

Inca Alter at Sayonmarka Ruins

Puyapatamarka Ruins

Intipata Terraces

Our 'group' was comprised once again of just the 2 of us, cementing for us that same as in the jungle, we are just destined to be a lonely duo on this trip! Although our first thoughts were 'how bored' we'd be with no social interaction for 4 days we found we were actually happy to have the freedom to go at our chosen pace - which was pretty fast.

River along the Inca Trail

Conachana Ruins along the Inca Trail

Our guide, Juvi, plus 3 porters and a skillful cook, were from a local family-run company, "Inka Trekkers." Juvi owned the company and the porters came from local highland communities. Over our 3 days together we learnt about the way of life in their communities and heard our guide's own story of how he began as a porter and by saving his tips and working nightshifts went to study to become a tour guide, which takes many years, exams, a lot of money and hard work. The porters' working conditions are a big issue - when our guide started at the age of 17 he carried 50kg of gear on his back, now they are only allowed to carry 25kg. Our porters were all really sweet, worked incredibly hard the whole time to make us feel comfortable and our cook crafted the most amazing concoctions. Just for a taste - we ate pancakes with homemade strawberry sauce or herb-stuffed omlette for breakfast, hearty pumpkin and quinoa soup followed by crisp fried trout or spaghetti for lunch and then a 3 course dinner of soup, beef, spicy chicken or lasanga and a warm dessert of rice pudding with a sweet purple corn syrup. Not to mention morning tea of high-calorie snacks and fruit and daily afternoon tea of hot chocolate, biscuits with jam, fresh salted popcorn, deep-fried cheese and banana chips. Yum! And there goes Ali's hope that 4 days trekking would be the antidote to shedding those extra South America kilos.

Ali and Juvi in our dining tent

Us and our porters

The lack of need for us to lift a finger around the campsite was equally as un-camping like for us as the jaw-dropping variety and presentation of the food. Our tent was put up and airbeds inflated by the time we reached camp each day, plus we were given warm water and soap morning and night. For every meal we dined inside a tent at a table with a table cloth - this was camping a la deluxe!

Ali

The trek itself was really enjoyable, though hard at times due to the high altitudes, massive temperature variations and crazy steep steps up and down the mountain passes. There were about 250 other tourists walking the trail at the same time as us and about the same number again in porters and guides. Being just the 2 of us meant we could freely overtake slower trekkers, and stop to explore the many trail-side Inca ruins for as long we pleased. Plus we got to sleep in longer than some groups, like until 5am instead of 4, and still reach the next campsite in good time.

Ali walking the Inca Trail

Inca Trail

Ali walking the Inca Trail

Ali on the Inca Trail

The second day was the toughest - straight after breakfast we resumed our trekking up the harsh steep steps, climbing breathlessly to an altitude of about 4250m, where after a short celebration of our victory, we then headed straight down a similarly steep path into another mountain pass.

Celebrating reaching the top of Dead Woman's Pass

Trav at the top of another High Pass

Us chilling on the trail

On our final day, we awoke at 4am and then trekked downhill to the checkpoint entrance of the Machu Picchu park area. To our dismay, thick white clouds hung low over the valley and even 2 hours later after trekking to the 'Sun Gate', the first high point overlooking the Machu Picchu city, the cloud had not budged at all. So there was no jaw-dropping first view of the ancient site for us - which is touted as the great reward for 4 days' hard trekking. So on we went, continuing down the path to Machu Picchu, where much lower down we glimpsed our first views through the gaps in the clouds.

Llama at the Sun Gate

Machu Picchu buildings in the Clouds

And what saw was very impressive - much more so than in the photographs. Our guide took us on an in-depth tour of the site and kept stressing the need for us to use our imaginations when it came to historical explanations as practically all of the Incas' record-keeping was wiped out by the Spanish and their pilaging of Inca life in the 1500s. Although Machu Picchu remained a secret from the Spanish and they never actually found the site, the Inca people who lived there abandoned the city and fled to the highlands, and was never returned to again. Tragically this left the site to be later looted by treasure-hunters from around the globe, which only really stopped after it was 're-discovered in 1911.

Postcard Picture of Machu Picchu

Us at Machu Picchu

Machu Picchu Quarry

One of the most impressive features was the 'Temple of the Condor,' a large stone structure in the shape of a condor with outstretched wings. The condor symbolises freedom and independence for the Incas and the temple was used to worship them and make offerings.

The majority of the city has been restored and some buildings have thatched roofs made from grass, window frames and stone picture hooks.

Llama at Machu Picchu

After our tour we decided 4 days of hiking up and down steep mountains was not enough torture, so we embarked on the vertical climb up Wanu Picchu, a mountain towering above the Machu Picchu site. However, only 400 people are allowed to scale this mountain per day and it is imposible to make it to the office to gain the entry stamp when on the Inca Trail trek. However, we were informed that sometimes people don't show up, and we may be lucky if we ask close to the final entry time. Luck was on our side as we timed to perfection our entrance. We raced to the peak of the mountain, totally exhausted but elated to find the most incredibly high panoramic views of Machu Picchu and the surrounding valleys and river. With the morning cloud now completely lifted, the miniature city shone in the midday sun below us and we lay back on the warm flat rock faces high up on the peak, steeling our weary selves for the sheer descent to the bottom.

Ascent up Waynu Picchu

View of Machu Picchu from Summit of Waynu Picchu

After Machu Picchu we ravenously ate a lunch of hamburgers and chips in the local tourist town Aguas Calientes, before our 3 hour journey back to Cusco that evening. So tired we could barely speak to each other, we took long-awaited hot, soapy showers and then dined on the most succulent, tender roast chicken at a cheap and cheerful restuarant for our final dinner in Cusco.

Lizard in Machu Picchu

Now wondering to do what with our last week in Peru, we decided it was time to soak up some sun and catch some waves on the north coast.

Our time in the city of Cusco was fragmented into single whole days, sandwiched between our voyage to the jungle and then the Inca Trail. We bit the bullet and checked into the 'Wild Rover' hostel, with a reputation for big parties and noisy nights. Once through its doors adorned with patriotic Irish flags, the large hostel stretched out in front of us, a totally 'gringo' world in seclusion from the bustling city outside. Thankfully we were allowed to check in early when we arrived and we crawled into some of the most comfortable beds on our trip to catch up on sleep from the overnight bus ride.

Cusco was once the Inca-time capital of Peru and then demoted by the Spanish who moved the capital to Lima. Cusco wa an interesting city to wander around, with a sprawling green central plaza, old carved stone buildings, winding cobbled streets and a look-out high up on the hillside, which was worth the high-altitude hike to the top for the sunset view and spicy mulled wine. This hilltop neighbourhood was called San Blas, not only were its views amazing, so too were its eateries. We stumbled across a cafe where they bake their own tomato-infused bread as well as mouth-watering chocolate and lemon tarts, which we happily indulged in for afternoon tea.

Plaza de Armas, Cusco

We took the self-guided walking tour of the city, taking care to dodge the persistent touts and tour operators ready to grab you and ram their product down your throat. The most prevelant were the massage girls, from which a constant barrage of 'massage, massage' was issued. This truly was tourist town. The walking tour took us through the local markets, stocked with fresh and dried foods of all kinds. Most bizarre was the market's "medicinal" section - an aisle of stalls selling parts of animals like intestines, testicles, cow jaws, and most grotesque of all - whole skinned heads of bulls with horns and eye sockets intact.

Intricate Inca Stone work

Cows mouths

Our hostel's star feature was its well-stocked bar, which fills up with backpackers every night and even more so on weekends. It was Saturday night, a DJ was spinning some tunes and we took advantage of the 2 for 1 mojitos and hourly free shots.

The next day, in no frame of mind for intense sight-seeing, we decided to get out of town for a Sunday lunch of 'pato' (duck) in the tiny town of Lucre, a bus ride away to the outskirts of Cusco and famed for its duck. This day also happened to be Mother's Day - and no different to any part of the world, the enitre city was taking their mama out for lunch. We stood in a queue with locals waiting to board the next bus that would take us to Lucre. This process took much patience, and evenutally we neared our destination and were told we'd have to get off the bus and catch a taxi the rest of the way, away from the highway and into the foothills where Lucre (so tiny it was not on our map) was nestled.

Parrot in Lucre

Once there, we found a garden restuarant in time for a late lunch and ordered two different types of duck. One barbequed to tender and crispy perfection and served with Peruvian specialties of potatoes, corn and stuffed peppers, and the other crispy-skinned pieces of roast duck in a sweet and sour grape sauce with rice. Both delicious. This was topped off with a piece of take-away moist coffee & chocolate cake from the local cake shop, before boarding the bus again for the long ride back to Cusco.

Ali with BBQ Duck, Lucre

Travis with Duck and Rice, Lucre

A much quieter night for us, and some much-needed sleep before our Inca Trail!

We had been through canyons, desert, high altitude altiplano and the mountains. Now it was time to experience the jungle. After spending a day in the city of Cusco in the Sacred Valley, we flew to the town of Puerto Maldonado in the south of Peru's Amazon basin. The (very expensive) flight took all of 45 minutes, which we booked after reading that the road between Cusco and our destination was horrendous and took over 20 hours. We since discovered that the new transatlantic highway had been built through this section and now takes a mere 11 hours. Nevertheless, the bird's eye view was amazing - as we watched the terrain below transformed from dramatic mountains draped in cloud to dense, lush canopies of forest.

Rio Tambopato

We were met at the airport by our jungle guide, Paul, from the Explorers' Inn Lodge where we were to spend the next 4 days, just the 2 of us in our group, with our own personal guide! A few hours later by bumpy bus and scenic boat, we arrived at the lodge on the banks of the Tambopata River. Not quite a wide as the Amazon, the Tambopata River was still wider than any river we had ever seen, and made the perfect setting for immersing ourselves into the life of the jungle. Our room was a wooden bungalow with a thatched roof, and we slept inside mosquito nets. We were fed a consistent diet of soup for lunch and dinner followed by some sort of chicken or vegetarian dish, always with rice. Being surrounded by banana trees, bananas were in abundance, and we soon became addicted to deep fried banana chips, served fresh, warm and salty - the perfect accompaniment to our evening cerveza or pisco sour.

Figure 8 Butterfly (This one is an 89)

Sunset on the Rio Tambopato

On our first night, our guide took us on a night jungle walk, stopping on the way to freak out at fist-sized spiders nesting with their giant baby spiders, and photograph cute tree frogs as well as other weird jungle insects. Gumboots were a wardrobe staple here as the jungle was still drying out after the rainy season and we often found ourselves trudging through ankle-deep, thick mud.

Chicken Spider

Scorpion Spider

Cat-eye Monkey Frog

Stick Insect

Tarantula

Our second day kicked off with a harsh 4.30am start, and a short boatride downriver to a claylick on the river bank for some bird-watching. Inside a bird-watching shelter we sat patiently (and sleepily) binoculars in hand (true jungle style) waiting for birds to fly onto the walls and feed off the mineral-rich clay. Eventually they came - chestnut-fronted macaws and parrots, the macaws being the coolest ones to watch. We also got to see dusky titi monkeys swinging from tree to tree high above us.

Sun Rise on the Rio Tambopato

Parrots and Macaws at the Clay Lick

Later that morning we visited a local farm by the river, walking through plantations of banana, papaya and orange trees, samping the fruit along the way. We also attempted to visit the largest tree in the jungle, but after much jungle bashing we were thwarted by a large expanse of water. Although our guide did attempt to cross with a rickety raft that had Ali with water up around here ankles before the attempt was aborted. Later that day back at the lodge, we got up close with some playful, hungry little tamarind monkeys who couldn't get enough of our bananas.

Tamarind Monkey

Tamarind Monkey eating a banana

Brown Capuchin Monkey

Ali and Paul trying to cross on a rickety raft

That night we went out on the boat to search for caimans , small members of the alligator family native to South America, using a huge spotlight. This turned out to be pretty boring, firstly when the boat's engine wouldn't start, and even after we all swapped to another boat, we saw one tiny caiman very fleetingly and then just the tail of one other. Despite the lack of caiman sightings being out on the river at night under a canvas of bright stars was pretty special, although Trav does not share this view!

Large Caiman

Small Caiman at night

Our third day in the jungle started cruelly again, with a 5am breakfast in preparation for our round-trip 6 hour hike to Lake Cochochaca. Our guide had promised us otters, so it was otters we were determined to see. After 3 hours trekking a la gumboot style through thick jungle which our guide would frequently slash at with his machete, we reached the lake. The lake was breathtaking, once connected to the Tambopata river centuries ago, but now isolated, surrounded by thick jungle and home to lots of wildlife. And there were the otters! A family of giant otters were playing,swimming and catching their breakfast of fish in the early morning sun.

Ali with face paint from natural plant dyes

Giant Otters

We then paddled a 'catamaran' (2 canoes welded together) out around the lake and got up close to two sunbaking turtles, saw an elegant snake bird flying over the lake, and spotted monkeys high up in the trees.

Herron

Howler Monkey (Look closely)

Us on a Strangler Fig

We lazed away the rest of our last day siesta-ing and swimming in the warm rusty water of the river.

Wahwi watching the Football from the Goal Posts

The next morning we made the journey back to Puerto Maldonado where we spent the day swinging in hammoks at our hostel and devouring tropical flavoured ice cream in the humid heat. We also visited a terrible reptile park where the only highlight of seeing the cruelly-housed animals was that Ali got to hold a snake for the first time, with only mild trepedation. The next day we were back on the plane to Cusco, to get ready for our Inca Trail!

Ali holding a Boa

Arriving in Arequipa at 2am (2 hours later than expected and not uncommon in Peru either, it turns out), we were relieved that the hostel we had picked from our Lonely Planet had space for us. After checking into the 'Paris Hilton Suite,' as our massive room with ultra comfy bed was aptly named, we were instantly asleep.

The next day started with 2 main missions - 1. coffee, 2. kill bed bugs! Happy to be back amidst city life, we sat down in a local coffee house for a long-yearned for cafe latte. Next, we dumped our contaminated clothes and sleeping bags at the laundry, stressing the need (in Spanish, thank you dictionary!) for a hot water wash and hot dryer to kill the little bastards.

Bed bugs attack

With our main missions complete, we then set about enjoying the city. Peru's second largest city, Arequipa is a very pretty city surrounded by two pictuesque volcanoes and rich in both culture and history. We took a guided tour of the Santa Catalina Monestry, a 400 year old convent where historically the second born daughter of rich Spanish families lived as nuns. The grounds were absolutely stunning and we spent some hours photographing the beautiful grounds and relics.

Santa Catalina Monestry

Santa Catalina Monestry

Santa Catalina Monestry

Santa Catalina Monestry

Santa Catalina Monestry

Santa Catalina Monestry

Santa Catalina Monestry

Santa Catalina Monestry

Santa Catalina Monestry

Arequipa was a breath of culinary fresh air for us after eating traditional Bolivian and Peruvian food for weeks. From sipping lattes to feasting on fine seafood and traditional dishes with a twist at a sumptous restaurant, to chowing down on crispy, deep-fried cuy (aka guinea-pig), we knew we had struck gold here.

Dining in Arequipa's Top Restaurant

Dining in Arequipa's Top Restaurant

For a traditional Sunday lunch, we took ourselves to a restaurant where the locals gather for cuy. The cuy was served with head, claws and all, and was stomach-able once you got the image of your cute, silkly-soft childhood pets out of your mind. The cuy had a stronger flavour than chicken, and was quite tasty despite the hard work involved navigating all of its teeny weeny bones. Our Sunday lunch of cuy and cervezas was topped off with freshly deep-fried plump donuts, Peruvian style, drenched in a sweet syrup - a Sunday speciality!

Lamb Ribs

Cuy (Guinea Pig)

Ali chowing into her Cuy

Other highlights of Arequipa were the impressive Cathedral, rebuilt after many an earthquake tore up its interior structures and exterior facades, and the viewing of Juanita the Ice Princess, a preserved mummy of an Inca girl sacrificed by the Incas to their Gods of the mountains over 500 years ago which has been entombed in the volcanic moutains near Arequipa until about 15 years ago, when she was exacavated.

Demon in Cathedral

Ali Rings a Bell

Big Bell

Cathedral Tower

Cathedral Tower Silhouette at Sunset

We left Arequipa on a high, feeling excited for what the rest of Peru would offer us, and caught an (extremely luxurious) overnight bus to Cusco, in the heart of the Sacred Valley.

Over-the-Top Tourist Policeman (Hillarious!!)

El Misti

Puno, a rambling port city on the Peruvian shores of Lake Titicaca, was merely a jumping off point for our exploration of more islands on the lake. We boarded an 8am boat bound for a tour of three islands in two days. Our first stop was one of the small islands of the Isla Uros, where communities of local people live on islands made from floating reeds. We and other touristicos were given an entertaining show about the history of the foundation of the islands and shown inside their houses made of reeds, and of course given the chance to buy their many handicrafts. Their 'show' included a demonstration of how the islands were constructed as well as daily life on the islands using models of miniature houses, boats and household items - which was hilarious as the real-life houses were not much bigger! The inhabitants of the floating islands supposedly now live in Puno and no longer on the islands themselves, which are reserved for giving tourists tours of the islands, making it a real Disneyland experience rather than a truly authentic one.

The show on Isla Uros

Houses on Isla Uros

Child on Isla Uros

Isla Uros

We then set sail for Isla Amantani, another island 3 and 1/2 hours away on a typically slow boat. Here we were greeted by a local woman who led us to her home where we were to spend the night with her family. The three of us - the two of us plus Julia, a girl from Belguim, were fed a traditional hearty almuerzo (lunch) of quinoa soup and a vegetable stew (the whole island is veggo). This was follwed by a mandatory siesta (tough life), and then the family's 10 year-old son took us on a tour of the island, showing us his school and the highest point of the island to see the Pachatata Inca ruins and watch the sunset.

Boat to Isla Amantani

Our Guide on a Gate, Isla Amantani

View from Pachatata, Isla Amantani

Travis on Isla Amantani

That night we ate a dinner of more soup a veggie stew with rice. The family live without electricity, gas or main water supply, in a mud-brick house. They cook with a wood oven, and keep cuys (guinea pigs) for medicinal uses,which live uncontained in mud crevices on the floor of the kitchen, the same way cuys have been kept by Peruvians for centuries. The family grow plentiful and colourful crops of potatoes, corn, quinoa, herbs, beans, carrots and fruit such as passionfruit. After dinner, Mama dressed us in clothing traditional to the island. We looked quite comical in the colourful clothing, made for much smaller people than us! This home-stay cost us a mere $10 each, and was a truly unforgettable experience.

Us in traditional clothes

Ali with hosts son

Leaving the island the next morning, our next destination was Isla Taquile, another small island inhabited by indigenous communities. We spent a few hours exploring this tranquil island, perusing their quality handicrafts and enjoying the high-altitude morning sunshine, before climbing back aboard the boat to return to Puno. Back in Puno, our mission became 'kill bedbugs,' as Trav had discovered bites all over his legs and arms. We doused our packs with Raid, took hot showers, and isolated and double-bagged all worn clothes and our sleeping bags, to deal with at our next destination, Arequipa, where we were travelling to later that night.

Us with Mama and her youngest son

Our Captain, and host family's eldest son