Home » Peru » Yo yo peru

Peru turned out to be two things for me: a country full of incas and full of parties. i had a good time seeing ruins and doing some great hiking to get there and after my adventures in ecuador, i was ready to relax and have a good time.

Yo yo peru

Andy Wunder
2007-04-19 22:22:36

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canyon ended up being a great little trek. colca canyon is notable for three reasons: it is the second deepest canyon in the world, it is twice as deep as the grand canyon (man it was deeeep), and it is home to
couldn't pick up the animals drawn into the sands. However, it got the big "landing strips" that align to the stars.
huge condors. myself and the coloradan girl had a great time climbing around that canyon. our trek was thee days and we went all the way down it and all the way back up. man, we walked a lot. we were also able to stay in some really cool places. both nights we stayed in these little huts that lacked electricity. the little settlements were right next to hot springs which made for some good relaxation after a long days hike.

we got back from the hike on thanksgiving day. it was my first big family holiday ever away from home. it was kinda sad, but over all it wasnt to bad. you really just dont realize it is a holiday. we had alpaca meat for lunch and because we were unable to find a traditional dinner we decided to settle on some really bad mexican food. after arequipa we headed to cusco.

cusco served as the base for my inca trail to machu pichu. cusco is a big party town and is pretty rich due to the huge tourist industry for machu pichu. i had a few days in cusco before i was to start on my inca trail trek so i took a day trip to a local market, partied, and got myself ready to go. the inca trail was amazing. it was a four day hike to machu pichu where we would pass by random incan ruins on the way. at nights we would camp at beautiful place with some beautiful vistas. i ended up, due to a lack of knowledge, going with a fairly expensive company that catered to older people with money. at first i was bumbed, but, i soon realized it was a great break from the stoner backpacker conversation and ... the three course meals were amazing. my group was awesome. i got to know some really interesting people with amazing stories and amazing careers. we had south africans and english turned israeli, an argentine turned american who's father knew el che and castro, and two awesome girls that i had a blast with. we also had a pretty intelligent group with grads from cambridge, USC, columbia, and washington u. it made for good conversation and good fun. we arrived at machu pichu and spent the whole day exploring the site. it was agreat time.

after cusco i headed down to lake titicaca ... the highest navigable lake in the world ... also the lake where incan mythology states that the human race came from. my first day i took a tour to the floating islands called the uros. there people live on man made reed floating islands as they have for thousands of years. sounds cool? kinda, but it was pretty touristy. the second day i headed out to some islands,taquile and amantani, that were farther into the lake, islands that almost straddled the bolivian-peruvian boarder. i stayed at a locals house with a few other tourist that headed out. these islands, with the exception of a few tourist, are pretty much stuck in the far past. tradition rides strong and most houses are still mud brick and dirt floor with out electricity. andean indians are known for there traditional and highly regional dress and amantani proved no different. every man on the island wore a santa clause type hat. if you are single your cap was solid red. if you are married then your cap was solid red with a large white band across the middle. it was a cool little excursion.

i returned to puno, my base for exploring the lake and i got some sleep and then headed out for bolivia the next day. i was filled with excitement for bolivia. i was begining to regain my excitement for travel, an excitement that had been worn thin after months on the road. i had high expectations for bolivia and bolivia did not fail me. to be continued ....
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