On the trail to Machu Picchu

The dot matrix tune of the Hummingbirds filters through dense jungle, their small frames dart between flowers, feeding and hovering, never staying still for long. They're good luck reputedly, seeing five as they feast bodes well for the next four days.


Jungle surrounds us on this the first day of the Inca Trail. The trail is hot and dry, the Vilconta River swollen and nasty. All around us are the sounds of birds and insects, amplified by the heat from the earth, calling out for moisture - a prayer answered most days, this being the wet season.

To the navel of the Inca

A city masquerading as a friendly village. Cobbled streets, Inca walls, Spanish cathedrals, adobe walls, rugs, jerseys and hats in all the colours of the rainbow.

Five days here, perfect. Food from every corners of the Earth, three course meals for $US6 and hostals kitted-up solid to cater for the gringo onslaught.

travel bites: Lima

Stay

Pariwana Hostel. Secure hostel, laid back vibe, great roof terrace, (mostly) friendly staff in the chilled out area of Miraflores. 

See 

Wander rounds Miraflores, walk along the coast to bohemian neighbourhood Barranco. Make sure you wear sunscreen, the sun's mighty hot.

Eat

Panchita Casual cool dining around the corner from Miraflores. Try the swordfish skewers, baby goat, steak on the grill...and much much more. I know some people who went back three times...Mouthwatering food, fantastic service. 

Cebiche / ceviche. Try it at La Canta Rana in the Barranco district. Italian owned, football paraphenalia-covered walls. Laid back family vibe and superb service. We sat next to a Limeno who owned a ceviche restaurant in Miami, and he said the restaurant was so creative he had never seen some of the dishes they came up with. One of my top 5 meals.

Choclo (corn). Served with everything. Apparently the giant kinds are only grown in teh Sacred Valley. 

Camote (sweet potato). Pretty similar to kumara.

Chicha morada A super sweet, non alcoholic, purple drink which locals down by the bucketload. Made from corn, pineapple, cinammon, cloves, lime and sugar. Invented by the Incas.

travel bites: Cusco

Do

The Inca Trail of course. An amazing four day hike to the main attraction, Machu Piccu. We trekked with Peru Treks. Friendly, responsible, professional, great guide and amazing food .

Sacsayhuman  (pronounced ´sexy woman´) Check out the fantastic Inca site at the top of the hill behind Cuzco. About a 10 minute walk from town, it's good training before the big hike.

Sacred Valley After trekking around Machu Picchu, come down (in altitude) in the beautiful Sacred Valley. Spend the night relaxing in the beautiful village of Ollaytaytambo.

Get a massage from one of the ubitiquous places around the main plaza. All totally legit.

Eat

Best burger ever at Los Perros. Deeeelicious mango lassi too.

Amazing value, delicious vegetarian food at Posada. Try the amazing value 3 course lunch meal at the restaurant on a little avenue off Choquechaca (run by the husband) or the hole in the wall on Choquechaca, about half way up the street.

Stay

Ecopackers. Hostel in a refurbished colonial building close to the main square in Cusco. Super comfy mattresses, helpful staff, relaxed vibe.

We also stayed a night at the Adventure Brew hostel. Huge kitchen, good breakfasts and friendly staff. Pretty close to the bus station if you have an early or late arrival.

Welcome to the jungle

We're motoring through swollen rivers, thick with a brown, oily substance from the rotting vegetation underneath. Jungle slides by us, either side a dense and foreboding green. Herons take flight, cormorants sit and stare and these odd, pheasant / chicken looking things  (jungle turkeys we shall call them) hiss and squawk as we coast by. 


Every turn brings new creatures, mostly birds but many times turtles, three to a log roasting their shells in the midday sun. The air rushing past is blissful, when we stop the dense humidity sits on us like a fat man.

Deathroad

Omar looks like Jackie Chan. His eyes peer out from behind a full face helmet. Can't tell what he's saying, but he's grinning. Always grinning. I imagine him doing karate kicks.

He's our guide, he says don't look at the butterflies when you`re on the bike, you'll follow them unwittingly. We laugh, I don't later when I look and do. The 1,000ft cliff edge rares up close. Adrenalin floods the system. Christ... I hug the opposite side of the road, waterfalls be damned.

Ridiculous sights

I write this in a haze of coca leaves. Not mine, the Argentinians on the tour love the stuff. Mouths full of green pulp they still manage to fit their metallic straw and sip mate all day long. There's a Frenchie too and a couple of Israeli Jews, and we're all packed sardine tight into Land Cruiser jeeps with the Mack 10 by the seat.

We're in south-west Bolivia and it's incredible. Staying well above 3,000m we've cut our way up gravel switchbacks, past cacti with stunning red flowers, past Llamas clinging to precipitation-eaten cliffs standing like multiple anthills ready to drop. The vistas go on for miles. Every crest of a hill is met with 'ooos' and 'ahhhs', the camera is working hard, I'm editing in the backseat so as not to swamp the memory card.

Round and round the plaza we go

Still in Tupiza. Dirt roads, cobbled roads, Italian restaurants and small wrinkly old women carrying fridge-sized bundles on their bent backs. Eyes that speak a life, shuffly dirt encrusted feet, loose tights, missing teeth, wrinkles like valleys, smiles that crack a thousand lines at the eyes. Shy and so very small.

And round and round the plaza with them we go. Recorders, flutes play an incessant tune as a snare drum triplet cracks on top of a solid bass drum. Women in costume, men drunk on fermented corn. The same tune over and over, and over and over. Lines form, crash into each other, make concentric circles, the corn drink is passed overhead, under arm, everyone gets a sip.