Peru Extract

	Touchdown at Bonaire
After a 4am pickup at Shalford for a 6.30 flight to Amsterdam, we overflew Guildford again at midday before touching down 11 hours later at Bonaire in the Caribean. After a further 4 hours we reached Lima in the early evening.

	Marguerita at the museum
A 9am start for the morning tour of Lima - starting at the archaelogical museum. Here we see Marguerita as enthusiastic as ever, explaining the significance of the animals shown in this early carved stone.

	Mummy
The ancient indiginous Peruvians buried their dead in foetal position. This is a well preserved example due to the dry atmosphere.

	Erotic pots
The museum contained many examples of ancient Peruvian pots. They were in the form of animals, people, objects and these sexually explicit pots seemed particularly popular.

	More pots

	A dog jug
A particularly fine example of a jug in the form of a dog.

	Llama pots.

	The Museum
The archaeological musem from across the square, plus the statue of Simon Bolivar.

	Typical house
Typical house in a posh part of Lima. Note the cage around the front garden.

	Changing of the guard
Changing the guard at the presidential palace.

	The real guard
The real guards of the palace plus the band.

	The main square, Lima
The palace from across the main square. (Composite photo)

	Central Lima
Entrance to Old Post Office Arcade on Aliaga Street in Lima.

	Central Lima

	San Francisco Monastery in Lima

	Cloisters at old monastery

	Old Monastery

	Monastery Church

	Monastery Cloisters
We are led by Marguerite

	Main square in Lima

	Lima
View North West showing shany town on lower slopes of mountain.

	Lima

	Lima
Showing half built half occupied houses in front of more shanties

	Park
The next day we started on our coach journey south heading first to Mirafiores. View of the pier from park in Mirafiores district of Lima

	Park
Lovers statue in Mirafiores park.

	Pier at Mirafiores

	Peruvian hairless dog

	Pachacamac
Model showing the pre-inca temple complex of Pachacamac - the next stop along the coast to the south.

	Pachacamac
Pachacamac - Temple of the Sun

	Pachacamac

	Pachacamac
View of encroaching shanty town.

	Pachacamac
Guard overlooking the site

	Pachacamac

	Pachacamac

	Pachacamac
View from temple to the Pacific

	Pachacamac

	Motorway South

	Toll booths

	Road safety

	Shanty town stage 1
The houses in a shanty town start by laying down mats and matting walls.

	Shanty town stage 2
Then a more permanent structure is established.

	Shanty Town
And then it grows into an entire town - overlooking the Pacific in this case.

	Cycle Race
Just because it's the only main road south doesn't stop it being blocked by a cycle race and this truck of supporters.

	Cycle race

	Hacienda San Jose
A late lunch at the Hacienda at Chincha.

	Hacienda San Jose
The entertainment

	Hacienda San Jose
Music from an animal's jawbone by rattling the teeth.

	Hacienda San Jose
In the cellars

	Hacienda San Jose

	Hacienda San Jose
The hacienda's church

	Jean
Photographing cotton on the way from San Jose back to the main road.

	Paracas
After a long day in the coach, we finished at Paracas just south of Pisco. Overnight at a waterside hotel with pools and a fantastic view http://www.hotelparacas.com/welcome/index.html

	Paracas
Our bungalow

	Paracas
View from the bungalow

	Paracas
Pelicans on the jetty

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Next day, our journey to the Ballestas Islands by speed boat.

	Ballestas Islands
but first we paused at this promontery - full of pelicans.

	Ballestas Islands
and an ancient drawing in the sand of a candelabra cactus

	Ballestas Islands
Further out to sea, our destination. An island group, home to thousands of seabirds and their guano.

	Ballestas Islands

	Ballestas Islands

	Ballestas Islands

	Ballestas Islands
including this group of penguins

	Ballestas Islands
and baby sealions

	Ballestas Islands
and not so baby sealions

	Ballestas Islands

	Ballestas Islands

	Ballestas Islands

	Ballestas Islands

	Ballestas Islands
And yes, the boat did drive through this arch - and unlike a boat in the week of 8 May 04, didn't hit a rock and eject its passengers.

	Ballestas Islands
sealion beach

	Paracas
Back to the hotel - the private jetty (composite photo)

	South of Pisco
And then we continued South - down this road which needs to be constantly swept for sand.

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even here, the shanty towns spring up

	Ica Museum
Lunch was a picnic in the grounds of the museum. We borrowed the chairs from the museum cafe - to which the surplus food was given! Note the Inca Cola - Peru is the only country in the world where Coke isn't the market leader.

	The road to Nazca
Fellow traveller Pete videos where we're about to go.

	The Road to Nazca
Yes, this really was the main road! And we haven't changed to the bus with the strengthened suspension yet.

	Nazca
It's all right we'd pre-booked

	Nazca
our trip on a light plane to view the Nazca Lines.

	Nazca
The Nazca lines are scratched into the surface of the desert and are only visible from the air. The weather is such that despite being hundreds of years old, the lines are still visible.

	Nazca

	Nazca

	Nazca
Back at Nazca, these holes go down to underground water channels.

	The drive South East to Arequipa
Next day, our journey continued South - pausing for a walk along the beach.

	The drive South East to Arequipa

	The drive South East to Arequipa
and Howard went for a paddle in the Pacific - warmer than off Half Moon Bay in January!

	The drive South East to Arequipa
coffee (or coca tea) stop

	The drive South East to Arequipa

	The drive South East to Arequipa
and lunch - another picnic, this time by the sea. (We think that this picnic might have been responsible for the food poisoning outbreak on the trip!) We can't be sure, but we suspect this was the cause of rampant food poisoning in our Bales tour group. It wasn't helped by the intense sun, lack of any shade and no facilities!

	The drive South East to Arequipa
But it did have a tremendous view of the Pacific Ocean

	The drive South East to Arequipa
if very little shade from the intenense sun. The coach park had lots of room.

	The drive South East to Arequipa
Jean and cacti

	The drive South East to Arequipa
More cacti and the Pacific behind.

	The drive South East to Arequipa
This is where the road went (enhanced photo)

	The drive South East to Arequipa
(enhanced photo)

	The drive South East to Arequipa
(enhanced photo)

	The drive South East to Arequipa
Thankfully we were driving by day.

	The drive South East to Arequipa

	The drive South East to Arequipa

	The drive South East to Arequipa
Now where's the RAC when you want them. We broke down due to a hydraulic fault which our two drivers repaired. It really was in the middle of the desert and a long drive in any direction to the nearest town. We'd been giving a lift to two policemen most of the day, but they deserted us for the police vehicle that stopped to assist.

	Arequipa - Misti volcano
The breakdown meant it was after dark, so our first view of the volcanoes surrounding Arequipa was the next morning. This is Misti. We changed in Arequipa to a different bus - with a strengthened suspension.

	Arequipa

	Arequipa

	Arequipa
Street vendors ignoring the attempts to move them on

	Arequipa - Santa Catalina Convent
The Santa Catalina Convent is almost a city within a city. Initially more of a finishing school than a convent it is now in a very small part still a convent. Tourists are shown the older parts as they would have been in the 17/18th century. http://www.cusco-peru.org/cultural-cusco-museum-cusco-santa-catalina-convent-museum.shtml

	Arequipa - Santa Catalina Convent

	Arequipa - Santa Catalina Convent

	Arequipa - Santa Catalina Convent

	Arequipa - Santa Catalina Convent

	Arequipa - Santa Catalina Convent

	Arequipa - Santa Catalina Convent

	Arequipa - Santa Catalina Convent

	Arequipa - Santa Catalina Convent

	Arequipa - Plaza des Armes
The main square in Arequipa.

	Arequipa
La Compania church, just off the Plaza des Armes

	Arequipa
La Compania church, just off the Plaza des Armes

	Arequipa
La Compania church, just off the Plaza des Armes - close up of detail of carving

	Arequipa
La Compania church, interior

	Arequipa
La Compania church, interior - back chapel being restored

	Arequipa
Cloisters next door to the church, now mainly up-market alpacca shops.

	Arequipa
Collonade covering pavement round Plaza des Armes

	Vicunias on road to Colca Canyon

	Refreshment stop on the way to Chivay
This is where the metalled road stopped and the dirt roads began. We stopped here for coca tea (made by infusing coca leaves in hot water - not to my taste and not legal in the UK!) We also picked up these 4 policemen who wanted a lift for about 50 miles.

	Our hitchhikers take their seats

	The road to Chivay

	The inevitable tourist trap with alpacca

	We went the other way
Our hitchhiking policemen leave on foot for the rest of their journey!

	Spot the rabbit

	Spot the main road

	Chivay market

	near Chivay
A stop on the way up the Colca Valley to the Colca Canyon

	near Chivay

	near Chivay
They were breakfasting on a porridgey drink and bread.

	Colca Valley
Terracing for cultivation

	Waiting for the condors
We had a two hour stop at the point where Andean condors regularly soar in the thermals above the Colca Canyon.

	Andean condor
They turned up for the last 15 minutes!

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	IMPG3330A

	IMGP3335

	IMGP3340

	IMGP3346

	The journey back

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	The Colca Valley

	The Colca Valley
Looking down to the river at the valley floor

	Road and valley
The road was fairly exciting at times - local drivesr were quite happy to overtake in sections like this.

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	The highest point
The highest point of our journey back down to Arequipa from the Colca Valley. In fact it was higher than 16,000 feet.

	Dorking holds the bus together
The door window of the bus was held together entirely by the stickers of Bales and Kuoni - both based in Dorking.

	Cusco
The next day we flew from Arequipa to Cusco. This is the view down into Cusco from the mountain drive to Yukay.

	Near Cusco
On the way to our hotel we visited these ruins of an Inca staging post. They were built at intervals along the Inca Trail from Cusco to Machu Pichu.

	Inca engineering
This water channel sends the water in exactly the right direction. (Jean adds scale)

	Photo opportunity
On the way to Ollantaytambo we stopped to look at the burial tombs . . .

	Burial tombs
. . . built into the mountainside.

	Ollantaytambo
Our visit to the impressive Inca ruins of Ollantaytambo coincided with this film crew shooting a film on the Inca/Spanish war.

	Ollantaytambo
I did say impressive - and all at around 10,000 feet, so climbing was slow going.

	Ollantaytambo
We struggle up the ruins

	Ollantaytambo
But the view is well worth the climb

	Ollantaytambo

	Ollantaytambo
Not for those with a fear of hights.

	Ollantaytambo

	Ollantaytambo

	Ollantaytambo
In the village below the ruins.

	Village house
This house is still lived in in the traditional way (mainly for tourists).

	Village house

	Village house
Lunch - guinea pigs are a popular local food.

	Village house
The pigs lived outside - in the rubbish tip.

	Pisac Market
A very large market combining genuine local needs (meat, fruit, vegetables, bakeries) and handcrafted tourist souvenirs.

	Pisac Market

	Pisac Market

	Pisac Market
Outside the church traditionally dressed boys blow conch shells to herald the loocal mayors. I suspect the main reason they do this is to charge the tourists for photos.

	Pisac Market

	Pisac Market

	Pisac Market
Butchers

	Pisac Market
Bakers

	Pisac Market

	Pisac Market

	Pisac Market

	Sacsayhuaman
The ancient city of Cusco, Peru, was laid out in the shape of a stylized puma, and Sacsayhuaman is at its head. As a matter of fact, another name for Sacsayhuaman is Saca Huma, which means the head of a puma. Sacsayhuaman is Quechua for "satisfied falcon," a name that refers to the carrion-eating birds that feasted on the dead after a hideous battle was fought here in 1536, when Spanish invaders annihilated the defending Inca forces. Three parallel walls, built in a zig-zag pattern, were part of the defensive fortress, and correspond to the teeth of the puma.

	Sacsayhuaman
Sacsayhuaman is noted for its irregularly-shaped, gargantuan stone blocks, one of which weighs more than 300 tons. They are fitted together without mortar, and the ones now remaining have withstood not only attempts by the Spanish to knock them down, but also more than half a millennium of earthquakes and other natural forces.

	Sacsayhuaman
You can just see the film crew again - filming more about the Incas.

	Sacsayhuaman

	Sunday Lunch
This shows the traditional Peruvian restaurant overlooking Cusco. The next table did have guinea pig - skinned and gutted then roasted and served whole (head and legs included).

	Santo Domingo Church,
Santo Domingo Church, Koricancha (Inca Temple of the Sun). Koricancha (Inca Temple of the Sun) CuscoSanto Domingo was built in the 17th century on the walls of the Koricancha Temple of the Sun. The uninspiring Baroque decoration of Santo Domingo makes a poor contrast to the superbly crafted Inca masonry - in fact much of the cloister has been gutted to reveal four of the original chambers of the great Inca Temple.

	Santo Domingo Church,
The finest Inca stonework in existence today is the curved wall beneath the west end of the Church. In Inca times the walls of the Koricancha were lined with 700 solid-gold sheets weighing two kilos a piece. There were life-size gold and silver replicas of corn, golden llamas, figurines and jars. All that remains today is the stonework; the conquistadors took the rest - unfortunately all the exquisite treasures ended up being melted down; nothing survived. However the fist conquistadors to arrive did not remove the holiest religious symbol of the empire, the golden sun disc, though they reported its existence. This solid gold disc, far larger than a man, mysteriously vanished before the main party of Spaniards arrived. It has never been found to the present day. The disc was positioned to catch the morning sun and throw its rays into the gold-lined temple, filling it with radiant light and bathing the mummies of the dead Inca rulers in sunshine which were seated in niches along the walls. The entire temple complex was also an intricate celestial observatory. Every summer solstice, the sun's rays shine directly into a niche - the tabernacle - in which only the Inca was permitted to sit. Along with the main temple dedicated to the Sun, there were others for the adoration of lesser deities - the Moon, Venus, Thunder and Lightning, and the Rainbow.

	Santo Domingo Church,

	Santo Domingo Church,

	Santo Domingo Church,

	Cusco Plaza des Armes
The large square at the heart of Cusco

	Cusco Plaza des Armes
Surrounded by cloistered pavements on 3 sides.

	Cusco Plaza des Armes
With traffic police

	Cusco Plaza des Armes
and lots of first floor restaurants where you can sit and look out whilst paying very little for a coffee.

	Yucay
Our hotel near Cusco

	Yucay

	Yucay

	Yucay

	The train to Machu Picchu
Yes, it was as chaotic as it looked. The station was down a narrow lane and the coach from the hotel was stopped at the top for some time whilst traffic came up from the station. Our driver and guide were getting very concerned that we might not catch the train!

	Machu Picchu
The rail line finishes at Machu Picchu station in the town of Aguas Callientes at the foot of the mountain - or rather several hundred feet short of the station as the track (and part of the town) had been washed away by a landslide the previous week.

	Machu Picchu

	Machu Picchu Station
The not-too-high tech train indicator board. (because the track just ended they couldn't board different trains on different platforms, so stacked them down the line in order of departure.)

	Machu Picchu
The landsllide

	Machu Picchu

	Machu Picchu

	Machu Picchu

	Machu Picchu
Our guide tells us a facinating fact about something

	Machu Picchu
Looking towards the watchman's hut

	Machu Picchu

	Machu Picchu

	Machu Picchu

	Machu Picchu

	Machu Picchu

	Machu Picchu

	Machu Picchu

	Machu Picchu

	Machu Picchu

	Machu Picchu
Llamas on the upper terraces

	Machu Picchu

	Machu Picchu
The view up to the Sun Gate

	Machu Picchu
The road up from Aguas Calientes, with Machu Picchu and our hotel at the top. No, the buses didn't slow down for blind bends, yes it was exciting when two buses met.

	Machu Picchu
Howard, somewhat exhausted having walked up from Machu Picchu (in distance in the middle).

	Machu Picchu

	Machu Picchu
Our hotel from the entrance to the site

	Aguas Calientes Market
Just the gift for an arachnaphobe. The market was the inevitable retail opportunity just before boarding the train back to Cusco.

	Aguas Calientes Market
Pan Pipes (the sound of which we were thoroughly sick of by this time)

	Aguas Calientes

	Aguas Calientes
The end of the line.

	Aguas Calientes
Walking through the landslip area back to the train.

	Aguas Calientes
Boarding the train

	Train journey back to Cusco
The train runs alongside the Urubamba river though a high sided gorge.

	Train journey back to Cusco

	Train journey back to Cusco

	Train journey back to Cusco

	Train journey back to Cusco

	Train journey back to Cusco

	Train journey back to Cusco

	Train journey back to Cusco

	Train journey back to Cusco
For the final descent into Cusco, the train goes forwards and backwards with the points changed between each reverse. The last section of this was in the dark through the streets of the city.

	Cusco
Our hotel - The Monasterio

	Cusco
The hotel lobby!

	Cusco
The hotel conference room/lounge converted from the old monastery church.

	Train journey from Cusco to Lake Titicaca

	Train journey from Cusco to Lake Titicaca
The first half of the journey is dominated by magnificent Andean mountains, towering over the deep valleys of the meandering Huatanay River.

	Train journey from Cusco to Lake Titicaca
The observation car

	Train journey from Cusco to Lake Titicaca
Highest point of the journey

	Train journey from Cusco to Lake Titicaca
GNER isn't quite up to this standard. (NB Single PeruRail 1st class all day trip incl lunch US$90. Tourist/backpacker class US$14!)

	Train journey from Cusco to Lake Titicaca

	Train journey from Cusco to Lake Titicaca
Passing through Juliaca.

	Train journey from Cusco to Lake Titicaca

	Train journey from Cusco to Lake Titicaca

	Train journey from Cusco to Lake Titicaca
Looking back as we cross the shores of lake Titicaca at dusk.

	Lake Titicaca
Looking towards the reed islands

	Train journey from Cusco to Lake Titicaca

	Train journey from Cusco to Lake Titicaca
Floating reed islands.

	Lake Titicaca
Villagers living on the floating reed islands. Note the solar panels for electricity to power the telly etc. Although the Uros Indians of the floating islands have intermarried with Aymara Indians and no pure-blooded Uros exist, many of the inhabitants of the islands still practice the old traditions of fishing, trapping birds and living on the lake plants. The totora reeds which grow abundantly in the shallows of Lake Titicaca are used for their boats, houses and to build the very islands on which they live. The result is a strange springy surface which requires care when walking - it's easy to put your foot straight through! This strange way of life began over 500 years ago when the Uros built the islands in an effort to isolate themselves from the Collas and the Incas.

	Lake Titicaca
Reed islanders' typical reed boat

	Lake Titicaca
The reed boats are of course nothing to do with extracting dollars from tourists.

	Lake Titicaca
Our hotel connected to shore by a causeway. This amazing deep blue lake, 195 km in length with an average width of 50 km, is the largest lake in South America and the largest in the world above 2,000m. Lake Titicaca was, according to Andean legend, the birthplace of civilization. Wiracocha, the creator god, brought light into a dark world by directing the Sun, Moon and stars to rise up out of the lake and take their place in the sky. With time the Sun and Moon had children who also rose from the depths of the lake. These new people were sent out from Titicaca to the four corners of the earth, with Manco Capac and his sister-wife Mama Ocllo and their family clan being sent off to inhabit the Cusco region. Inca legend believed that Manco was the first Inca and a direct descendent from the Sun.

	The Altiplano
Agriculture at 12,000 feet.

	The Altiplano
Resident of farming community.

	The Altiplano
Another resident

	The Altiplano

	Chullpas of Sillustani
32 kms form Puno are the Chullpas (pre-Columbian funeral towers) of Sillustani, beautifully set on a peninsula in Lake Umayo surrounded by stark altiplano. The Chullpas were built by the Aymara-speaking Collas - a tribe that dominated the Titicaca region before the Incas. Each tower contained the remains of Colla nobility accompanied by their riches. Grave robbers have since removed their contents, although the towers are well preserved and well worth seeing. The engineering involved in their construction is more complex than anything the Incas built. Two of the towers are unfinished: one with a ramp still in place to raise blocks; the other with cut stones ready to go on a very ambitions dome.

	Chullpas of Sillustani

	Chullpas of Sillustani
Our guide for the Puno area

	Lake Umayo

	Chullpas of Sillustani

	Lima
The Indian Market

	Lima
All credit cards accepted

	Lima
Shoe shine and pavement art gallery

	Lima
Typical bus with conductor leaning out calling to encourage more passengers.

	Lima
The posh cliffside shops and restaurants of the Miraflores district of Lima

	Lima
View from Miraflores

	Lima

	Lima
Side streets in Miraflores

	Lima
Miraflores

	Lima

	Lima
Local power distribution

	Lima

	Amsterdam
View from the plane

	Amsterdam

	London
Holding over Romford

	London
Approach via Windsor

	London
On the outskirts of the airport