Not long after setting off from the oasis, we stopped at a winery where they
make Pizco (Pizco Sours is a famous drink in Peru). Despite it not yet being
lunchtime, there was very little vineyard touring and quite a lot more plying
you with booze before expertly guiding you towards the gift shops. After lunch
- and watching a chap dancing (not sure if he was full of Pizco), it was off
to Nazca.
Nazca is home to the Nazca lines - some world famous graffiti drawn some
2,000 years ago that's only visible from high up. This time, I heeded
the Foreign Office advice
and didn't go up in one of the shady flights (which apparently is a bit of
"vomit comet") and instead saw a couple of them from a viewing platform.
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| The lizard |
Whilst it's a pleasant wee town, Nazca doesn't have much else going for it,
except it's lack of rain (4mm p.a), some underground
aqueducts. and a nearby sand dune that is nearly the height of Ben Nevis.
Still having nightmares about my sand buggy experience, I didn't take up the
offer of climbing it in a vehicle.
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Me in an aqueduct. Terrible photo - you can't actually see the water or
the fish swimming in it
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| Some more Nazca graffiti. Bloody vandals. |
The bus didn't leave Nazca until 6pm the following day, as it was an overnight
trip to Arequipa. This would also be my first foray into high altitudes. The
journey could have been worse - I'm not sure if it was my terrible chat, BO,
or just sheer luck, but I managed to bag a double seat to myself, although it
still didn't mean a good night sleep. We arrived at Arequipa at 4:30am - when
it was still pitch dark and absolutely nothing was open.
My hostel in Arequipa was quite shabby and run-down. And pretty filthy, it was
the kind of place where you wipe your feet on the way out. Still, I couldn't
give the guy (who seemed to be a one man band and run the whole place himself)
anything but a glowing review, since he got out his scratcher at 5am and let
me go and sleep in my room, long before any check-in.
Arequipa is another pleasant Peruvian city, and again, quite large (around 1
million people). The cathedral and Plaza de Armas (every Peruvian city seems
to have an "Army Square") were well worth a visit.
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The mountains surrounding Arequipa
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A massive bell(end)
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The main square
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Arequipa - and Peru in general - has dozens of crazy fruits that you
never see anywhere else. I tried quite a few - a couple were pretty
minging - but a few others were delicious. Shame I can't remember the
names of any of them.
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| A tower of fruit |
So far, the altitude (around 2,300m) wasn't really a problem, although
you could definitely notice the lack of oxygen in the air. However, I
signed up for a trip (leaving at 3am) that would take you to the dizzying
heights of around 4,500m.
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It certainly had some nice scenery
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At least two of us were having a nice time
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Nice to find someone more ginger than me in Peru
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Colca Canyon is the place to go to spot condors. I've since learned that the
reason they hang about there is because the park rangers bury carrion in the
area for the condors, but I wasn't complaining. They are the largest land
birds in the world, although you wouldn't know it from this rather pathetic
video I took.
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This condor was actually willing to eat out your hand.
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| Colca Canyon |
At this altitude (4,000+ metres), even walking up some steps, makes you feel
dizzy and light-headed. Not a good sign for hiking up to Machu Picchu, but
I've a while yet to acclimatise.
The advantage of starting a tour at 3am is that you can fit a lot of stuff
in, which included the world's crappest breakfast. We went to some hot
springs, which would have been lovely if the temperature hadn't been close
to 30 degrees. We also got to see a volcano explode (you can hear my
surprise in the video), although apparently this is a daily occurrence (and
incredible timing by the tour guide to take us there at the exact
moment).
Back on the bus ... next stop, Cusco (via Puno to pick up some people - which
added a few hours to the journey).
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