Peru Diary
Day 1 – 26/09-2004 Sunday
Departure from Denmark to Peru. We had a stopover in Amsterdam with plane shift, and another stopover on a small island Bonaire, part of the Dutch Antilles offshore from Venezuela. Landed in Lima in late evening. Our Hotel (Continental) was not far from Plaza San Martin. The area near the airport is slum but the centre of Lima looks like any other great city.
Day 2 – 27/09 – 2004 Monday
Went to see the city in the morning. Jette had her gold necklace robbed on Open Street near the hotel Kirsten tried to run after the robber but she stumbled. I went to the Plaza de Armas where I saw the Cathedral with the tomb of Pizarro.
In the afternoon we flew to Arequipa. Our hotel was close to a major road around the city. We went on a late tour of the city before we had dinner in a good restaurant.
Day 3 – 28/09 – 2004 Tuesday
Stayed in Arequipa. The beer is called Arequipeña and it tastes good. We spent the morning in Santa Catalina Nunnery, which is a whole city within the city. In the afternoon I went on a city tour alone. Visited the Catholic University where a mummy of a 12 year old Inca girl is exposed. She was sacrificed on the top of a volcano and was discovered by American archeologist Johan Rinehard. She has been baptized Juanita and lies in a shrine conserved at -30 degrees centigrade.
Day 4 – 29/09 – 2004 Wednesday
Stayed in Arequipa. In the morning we went on a trip in the neighborhood. View to the volcano El Misti. Visit on a rebuild Mansion for one of the local squires. Visited cooperative making wool and wool knitting’s from all four lama species. In the afternoon some of us went wild water rafting. We passed one category 4 waterfall.
Day 5 -30/09 – 2004 Thursday
Went on bus to Chivay. We passed the highest point on the tour 4970 m. Niels suffered from altitude sickness when we arrived into town and later had to go to a hospital. We were bathing in the hot springs outside town.
Day 6 – 1/10 – 2004 Friday
We were up very early. We had to be at the canyon at seven o’clock. There were many tourists and some (about 20) Condors. We were back in Chivay at noon. In the afternoon we went on a walk in the lower end of the valley across the river and not far from Chivay.
Day 7 – 2/10 – 2004 Saturday
Long bus drive from Chivay over Juliaca to Puno. We drove over the Altiplano where we saw wild vicuñas We had lunch at Lake Lagunillas. Puno is situated at the shore of Lake Titicaca.
Day 8 – 3/10 – 2004 Sunday
We rented a pair of bicycle taxis to get to the harbor and the boat which took us to the islands. We visited the floating islands of Totora and Khana Uru. Later we arrived at Amantani where we stayed as guests at the local Indians. Børge Inge and I lived at Cesar, Juli and their 5 children. In the afternoon we walked to a viewpoint called Pachatata (Father Earth). The other hill on the island is Pachamama (Mother Earth). Lake Titicaca is situated 3800 m above sea level and the air is thin.
We had dinner at over respective families and later in the evening was a dance, where we were to dress up like Indians. I needed only a poncho over my regular clothes, but the girls had to wear 6 skirts one over another. We danced to a local orchestra. Outside the house it was a beautiful night with shining stars. I did not see the Southern Cross but there was a thunderstorm in the Bolivian mountains across the lake.
Dag 9 – 4/10 – 2004 Monday
Goodbye to the family and the island and welcome to a daytrip to the new island Taquile We walked across the island to the other side and took our lunch at a restaurant in the middle of the walk. After this visit we sailed back to Puno.
Day 10 – 5/10 -2004 Tuesday
Just after leaving Puno we visited Sillustani archeological site with Inca and pre Inca burial towers. Our goal today was Cusco. Before entering the city we visited Inca ruins at Raqchi. We stayed at Munay Wasa Inn.
Day 11 – 6/10 -2004 Wednesday
We had a change in program today. We were now to start directly on the Inca trail and visit Cusco later. First we drove to Ollantaytambo where we had a short stop before we drove to the starting point at the 82 km stone. The first days walk ended at Tres Piedras (three feet) where we had our first camp. The tents were set by our Indian carriers even before we reached the place.
Day 12 – 7/10 – 2004 Thursday
Today we went over 2 passes. The first was Warminwañusca 4200 m the highest spot on the Inca trail. It was hard because of thin air. We passed Runkuracay ruins before reaching our campsite.
Day 13 – 8/10 – 2004 Friday
From this camp the trail goes down passing the Inca tunnel ending in Wiñay Wayna. Here are ruins and terraces. Wiñay Waina means forever young and is also the name of an orchid.
Day 14 – 9/10 – 2004 Saturday
We were up very early in order to be at the Inktipunktu (The Sun Gate) at 7 o’clock to see the sunrise over Machu Picchu. It was foggy and cloudy in the morning. We stayed 5 hours in Machu Picchu. Some of the group climbed the top at the end of the site but I did not. Later we took the bus to Agua caliente where we had lunch. We waited a long time on the train, which should bring us to Ollaytaytambo. From there we had a bus to Urubamba where we slept. My camera was stolen during the travel but I did not realize it till the next day.
Dag 15 – 10/10 – 2004 Sunday
It was my Birthday. The group was singing the birthday song and I received a small bottle of alcoholic content. It was the day where we passed through the holy valley to Cusco. We started driving back to Ollaytaytambo an saw the ruins outside the town. Now I was without camera. From there we went to Calca where there was a giant market. We had lunch there before we went to the ruins at Tambomacay Saqsaywaman just outside Cusco. Later in the evening I bought beers for everybody.
Day 16 – 11/10 - 2004 Monday
First day in Cusco. I spent most of the time with the Tourist Police reporting the theft of my camera. A tax has to be paid for the document issued. The money was payable at the national Bank (in the other end of town). I needed the document for my insurance. I did have time to see the Inca museum and do some shopping.
Day 17 – 12/10 – 2004 Tuesday
Second day in Cusco. Picked up my document at the police station. The rest of the day I went searching for the Sun temple. I went in the wrong direction and came almost out of town before I realized my error. The temple is in the middle of town and the Catholics build a church and a convent on top of the ruins of the old Inca holy place.
Day 18 – 13/10 – 2004 Wednesday
Now we started our tour into the jungle. First we saw more burial towers at Niñamarca. We had several stopovers in various cities. Among them was Paucartambu with funny statues around a fountain at the central place. We had lunch at the border of Manú National Park. There were a memorial stone for the Swede Sven Erickson, a wealthy man who helped the economic development in the Madre de Dios area. We drove along the edge of the park to Pillcopata. We were walking on the road part of the way as we were tired of sitting in the car. At sunset we saw Cocks of the Rocks a big red bird. In Pillcopata we had mosquito nets on our beds. The tropical heat started here.
Day 19 – 14/10 – 2004 Thursday
In the morning we went directly to the harbor Atalaya, where we started the river cruise. We were divided into two boats and sailed on Rio alto Madre de Dios to the first camp. It happened to be a building site where the houses were unfinished. We put up our inner tents as mosquito net on the floor of the houses. We went on a tour in the forest after dark, and we saw a giant tarantula.
Day 20 – 15/10 – 2004 Friday
We had another trip into the jungle, but we didn’t see very much. It started raining and all we saw was tracks from a tapir. We left the camp and continued along the river. We visited an Indian settlement in the jungle and saw their coca and pineapple plantation. We ended in a small village called Bocca Manú. Here we slept in the village guest house which was like the previous camp. We put up our tents on the floor. On our way we saw a Capybara, and we visited a place where they made canoes. In the evening we went fishing after piranhas and we caught two.
Day 21 – 16/10 – 2004 Saturday
We had a short way to our next camp which was a very fancy lodge. Here we had separate rooms with a bed equipped with mosquito nets. In the afternoon we were climbing a high tower build in a huge tree. At the top there was a look-out platform. In the afternoon we went to a lake to watch birds in the sunset. One of our guides caught a baby Cayman (crocodile). I saw a whirl in the river, and it was interpreted as a giant otter.
Day 22 – 17/10 – 2004 Sunday
Up very early in order to sail and walk to a lookout for parrots eating clay out of an escarpment. The breakfast were carried to this spot and served here.
After a couple of hours watching birds we moved on to the end of the boat trip. This was a sleepy small gold digger town called Colorado. From here we went by taxi 4 hours at really bad roads to Puerto Maldonado. This was the first civilization since we left Cusco, and we were staying in a hotel. There is no internet café’s here.
Day 23 – 18/10 – 2004 Monday
I went out for shopping before we had to leave for the airport. Flight to Lima with a stopover in Cusco. We stayed at a hostel in the suburb of Miraflores. Security is better here in this area which looks more like an European town.
Day 24 – 19/10 – 2004 Tuesday
Extra day in Lima. We wanted to see the Gold Museum but it was not open till 11 hours. We went to the National Museum first where we saw the archeological discoveries from the last 10 years. Then we went back to the Gold Museum in a taxi. In the evening we started our journey home.