I started to write this blog post over two weeks ago, and finished now. Only this means I still have a lot of catching up to do from Colombia where I am now. And let's see if I will elaborate my time in Peru later, being it a longer one than the other countries I have visited up to now.
Staying in Peru such a long time has a simple reason. For me it seemed a traveller´s paradise: great food, nice people, plenty of activities and sights you get nowhere else. Not that the previous countries did not have these, but somehow Peru just has a way of making you forget the pass of time. Without noticing I kept extending my stay in every city I visited. And also somehow it made me forget to write the blog...
Staying in Peru such a long time has a simple reason. For me it seemed a traveller´s paradise: great food, nice people, plenty of activities and sights you get nowhere else. Not that the previous countries did not have these, but somehow Peru just has a way of making you forget the pass of time. Without noticing I kept extending my stay in every city I visited. And also somehow it made me forget to write the blog...
To sum up what I have been up to these weeks, I made a list of my personal highlights, which turned out to be 16. Here we go.
1. Seasickness at lake Titicaca
Last place I visited in Bolivia was Lake Titicaca which is the highest lake of the world´s large lakes, and the largest lake in South America. I was recommended by many to take a tour to Isla del Sol. I can tell you that I do not recommend that tour to anyone, at least with the agency I went. In the end we did not have a tour guide, so we were on our own on the island. On the way back we spent almost two hours in the boat getting to the Isla de la Luna, with the waves throwing the boat
2. Walk on floating islands. One of the most impressive places I've been to was on the islands built on reed. How amazing is that people still live there, and even the houses are made of reed! And just like anyone, the kids take the boat to get to school on the main land every day... It was real fun to listen and see the "president" of the island demonstrating how the island is built. This tour was exactly what I needed after the horrible experience at the Isla del Sol.
3. Hospitals and some more hospitals. I personally think you only know a country after you see how the health care functions. In that sense I have been lucky to see hospitals in Bolivia and Peru. Then again, I have not been so lucky in staying healthy. Due to different kind of stomach problems I have had the pleasure to visit several doctors. In Bolivia they diagnosed me with a bacteria that would need antibiotics for several weeks and might take months to recover from. How thrilling...I was sure it was the milk shake - I should not have taken that milk shake two weeks ago. Or was it that one steak I had that was not well-done and I almost sent back to the cook but then changed my mind...?
In the end, it turned out they had made a false diagnosis. Only this I found out in Peru, as I went to do a re-check... Not many weeks after though I got a rotovirus and some other stomach bacteria, which this time was handled with only a couple of day's antibiotics. Might have been something I ate, or simply the sea water when I went surfing... But as the doctor said, at long travels like mine it is usual that you get traveller's diarrhea more than once. So, if hospitals would be on the top sights to be seen, I would have that covered.
In the end, it turned out they had made a false diagnosis. Only this I found out in Peru, as I went to do a re-check... Not many weeks after though I got a rotovirus and some other stomach bacteria, which this time was handled with only a couple of day's antibiotics. Might have been something I ate, or simply the sea water when I went surfing... But as the doctor said, at long travels like mine it is usual that you get traveller's diarrhea more than once. So, if hospitals would be on the top sights to be seen, I would have that covered.
4. Alpaca. Visiting Bolivia and Peru it is a must to eat an Alpaca steak (delicious!), be able to differentiate the living ankmal from llama (although very similar) and buy something made of alpaca wool. I myself bought a llama sweater in Bolivia and an alpaca sweater in Peru, hoping they will also serve me in Finland.
5. American tourists. The greatest insult I have felt is when somebody takes me for an American tourist. I hate to generalize, but the majority of the Americans have been rude or inconsiderate, either to other tourists, the locals or simply the environment. And they are loud. And oh my god their spanish accent...I do not know if I am more offended by tje fact that I would be considered a rude person or that I sound like them... Luckily, it has only happened to me once or twice that I have been asked if I am from the States. To conclude, I have to say I have real nice American friends myself, but somehow it seems that it is in South America that I happen to meet the most inconsiderate individuals...even one native American girl I met in Bolivia said the same thing, so it is not just me I guess.
6. Getting soaked at carnaval. In Cuzco I was happy to meet up with one of my friends from Finland and her boyfriend. Together we went around town on a Sunday that was a carnaval day. It did not take many blocks before we were sprayed, spray-foamed and attacked with water balloons. What did we do? Buy our own bottle of spray-foam, of course. It was war, be it children or adults, no one would be saved. The culmination was that I actually wrestled with one peruvian guy over my bottle of foam. This was after I ran after him, to revenge the fact that he had had a two-litre bucket full of water with which he ambushed me. The carnaval has no mercy. I returned to the hostel soaked down to my underwear, foam and spray colours all over. At least I got a sympathetic smile from the receptionist.
7. Macchu Picchu. Oh, this cannot be explained. The ancient and abandonded city of the Incas (or the Guechuas, to be precise). My favorite spot so far in South America.
8. Waynapicchu. Waynapicchu definitely deserves its own point, although it was part of my Machu Picchu tour. I spent three hours climbing up and down, plus taking pictures. Amazing view of Machu Picchu, although my feet were pure jelly after trekking the stairs. Which of course did not have any safety rails. Why would it? If you wish to jump, what would be a better place to do it :P
9. Date invitations. This is a thing that keeps surprising me. Whistles and remarks on the street are a thing you cannot avoid, but getting so many date invitations, especially from the taxi drivers, is just weird. What is wrong with these people?? The funniest invitation happened in Lima, where a 60-year old man tried to set me up with his son, who he described to be "tall as a viking", smart, considerate and loving. I don't know what went into me, but for some reason I rejected the invitation. A part of me will always wonder that would that six feet tall, smart and loving peruvian guy have looked like...
10. Traffic. All over South America the traffic can be described crazy, but I feel like in Peru for the first time I started to adapt to it so much, hat even I started to cross the streets where you shouldn't or run against red lights. Many times it matters more to keep an eye on the traffic and the vehicles than the green lights... But than again, I was startled by a campaign add in Lima, where it said that three quarters of the traffic accidents happen to pedestrians. Sadly, caution seems to be underrated here.
11. Peruvian cuisine. Not more needs to be said. You just have to try it. Be it ceviche, anticuchos (beef-heart slewers, my favorite! ), limeños or many of the other dishes or desserts, there is something for everyone.
12. Miraflores, the staged scene of Lima. When I arrived in Lima amd Miraflores, I felt like I had walked into a movie set up. No sign of poverty, clean streets and beautiful suburbs. Almost like the american dream, in miniature size only. It was striking, knowing how much there are poor people in Peru and even in Lima, in other districts. The fact that the hostel personnel adviced me not to go to a certain district I was planning to walk through (for it being unsafe even during the day) shows that it indeed is not as rosy everywhere. None the less, it was nice to relax for a moment and to enjoy the clean streets since don't know when...
13. Huanchaco and Trujillo. I did not make it more north than Trujillo in Peru in the end, but it definitely was a great place! Trujillo is a nice place with ots colonial style buildings, but I truly enjoyed Huanchaco, which was a small village right at the sea front. I did a couple of surfing lessons, enjoyed the relaxed atmosphere at the beach and made some friends with some locals. After Miraflores it was a wake up again to how the real people live. It is not as rosy, but nonetheless they enjoy their lives. The highlights of the area, however, were the excavations on the several Moche temples there are. Well-preserved paintings that are 2000 uears old, not to mention the "Lady of Cao", a mummy of a female ruler.
14. Peruvian music. If Buenos Aires has its tango, Bolivia and Peru have their traditional folklore music. And although Cumbia is from Colombia, it seems to be deeply rooted in these countries too. The great thing was that in Huanchaco some of the people I got to know were part of a modern folklore band, and they had a live performance one nightin one of the pubs.
15. Islas Ballestas, sandboarding and pisco tours. I could write a whole blog post I think of each place I've visited, including Ica. Staying a night in a lagoon in the iddle of the desert, seeing sea lions and a humoungous amount of birds at the Islas Ballestas, sandboarding (ok, even if it was on my stomach, but I call it sandboarding if it is down a dune at a 40 km per hour!), and getting to know the real pisco drink, how it is done and howit shshould be drunk.
16. Nazca lines. One of the things that still remains to be resolved: the huge drawings on the ground, in the desert of Ica. Be it the Guechuas/Incas or aliens, they are amazing. These can only be seen from a small aircraft that takes you up for an hour or so. Even a bit costly for a backpacker, I felt it was worth the money.
11. Peruvian cuisine. Not more needs to be said. You just have to try it. Be it ceviche, anticuchos (beef-heart slewers, my favorite! ), limeños or many of the other dishes or desserts, there is something for everyone.
12. Miraflores, the staged scene of Lima. When I arrived in Lima amd Miraflores, I felt like I had walked into a movie set up. No sign of poverty, clean streets and beautiful suburbs. Almost like the american dream, in miniature size only. It was striking, knowing how much there are poor people in Peru and even in Lima, in other districts. The fact that the hostel personnel adviced me not to go to a certain district I was planning to walk through (for it being unsafe even during the day) shows that it indeed is not as rosy everywhere. None the less, it was nice to relax for a moment and to enjoy the clean streets since don't know when...
13. Huanchaco and Trujillo. I did not make it more north than Trujillo in Peru in the end, but it definitely was a great place! Trujillo is a nice place with ots colonial style buildings, but I truly enjoyed Huanchaco, which was a small village right at the sea front. I did a couple of surfing lessons, enjoyed the relaxed atmosphere at the beach and made some friends with some locals. After Miraflores it was a wake up again to how the real people live. It is not as rosy, but nonetheless they enjoy their lives. The highlights of the area, however, were the excavations on the several Moche temples there are. Well-preserved paintings that are 2000 uears old, not to mention the "Lady of Cao", a mummy of a female ruler.
14. Peruvian music. If Buenos Aires has its tango, Bolivia and Peru have their traditional folklore music. And although Cumbia is from Colombia, it seems to be deeply rooted in these countries too. The great thing was that in Huanchaco some of the people I got to know were part of a modern folklore band, and they had a live performance one nightin one of the pubs.
15. Islas Ballestas, sandboarding and pisco tours. I could write a whole blog post I think of each place I've visited, including Ica. Staying a night in a lagoon in the iddle of the desert, seeing sea lions and a humoungous amount of birds at the Islas Ballestas, sandboarding (ok, even if it was on my stomach, but I call it sandboarding if it is down a dune at a 40 km per hour!), and getting to know the real pisco drink, how it is done and howit shshould be drunk.
16. Nazca lines. One of the things that still remains to be resolved: the huge drawings on the ground, in the desert of Ica. Be it the Guechuas/Incas or aliens, they are amazing. These can only be seen from a small aircraft that takes you up for an hour or so. Even a bit costly for a backpacker, I felt it was worth the money.
