After three weeks in Colombia and a massive underestimate of
finances, we had to reign in both time and money as we raced our way through
Ecuador and into Peru.
Although we only spent six nights there, Ecuador started
something in our South American tour that has stuck right until the end –
spontaneity. Having spent the night in the quaint but not too lively Quito, we
were heading to Banos (a six hour bus journey north) when we first ‘flipped our
coin’.
Having been told a venture to “one of the most beautiful
sights in the country” was an impossibility on our time scale, we became
intrigued to try. Sat on the floor of a bus terminal in central Ecuador, we
tossed the coin and the rest was history. Heads would have had us boarded a bus
directly to our destination, but as it was, tails had us riding in the back of
a local truck to a Crater Lake more than two hours off course. The snow-capped
mountains surrounding the lake added to its natural beauty and the adventure
getting there and back itself was worth adding to the travel bucket list.
Banos was a backpacking playground of rental buggies and
motorbikes. We spent two days playing dot-to-dot with waterfalls along the
winding countryside roads. Ecuador was flying by but we were doing it in style.
I’d hazard a guess that out time in Ecuador was spent 33% on
transport, and that includes sleep. Our crossing into Peru being the most
dangerous, lucky and ridiculous of those journeys. Travelling to the border at
11pm, we weren’t sure if we had time to cross that night. Dumped in a town that
straight away we all felt unease with, we had to trust instincts and jump into
a taxi with an Ecuadorian that said he could get us across the border that
night – we had little other choice.
Even the local looked on edge as we swept the town for a
sign of a Peruvian bound bus but, true to his word, he had us on a coach heading
south that night. The entire experience probably summed up our time in Ecuador –
frantic but after all was said and done, lots of stories to tell and a great
deal of fun.
Deserving of some rest the three of us travelling together
decided that a few days at a beach town was a great way to introduce ourselves
to Peru.
Mancora is a place that parties 23 hours a day. Not at all a
bad thing for three young lads but the batteries were anything but charged when
we tore ourselves away from the fun of this surprising beach town. If you have
a stereotypical view of what a South American party house might be like you
aren’t too far away from the scenes of Mancora. We spent the days wallowing on
the sun drenched sand before our tight timescale had us moving on again three
days later. (You really appreciate the size of countries when you know that a
16 hour bus journey will only get you two thirds of the way to your next
destination!)
A trait that resurfaces a lot in South America is arriving
off a bus to completely contrasting natural surroundings to the ones you left
10 or more hours previously - it’s the
beauty and fascinating aspect of it being such a diverse continent. We got to
Huaraz, a mountaineering and climbing hot bed, freezing cold and in countryside
littered with the snow peeked mountains of the Andes, it felt like we should
have been in a new country compared to the heat and ethos of Mancora.
Without the experience or days to spare to do a climb, we
were still keen to get high into the Andes and see the mountain range from
above - that ended up as a downhill mountain bike experience with a descent from
5200m to 2000m. At the beginning the cold froze my hands to the bike, the rough
road (which is apparently used as an ‘A’ road by drug smugglers) rattled and
shook my entire body – it was tough work. 45 minutes later and 2000m lower, the
layers were off and the sweat began to be the produce of the hard work we were
putting in – somehow the scenes of glaciers, sky blue lagoons and knife edge
mountains make it all bearable.
After Huaraz, just a simple 8 hour ride to Lima followed
immediately by a 21 hour bus had us at
the start point for one of the main reasons many tourists visit the South
American continent – Machu Picchu.
From the colonial town of Cusco, Machu Picchu is a 4 day
trek. Zip lining through canyons, walking along Inca trails, rafting down rivers
and staying with indigenous families of the Inca region got us to the foot of
our temporary Mecca.
We rose at 4am to be at the front of the queue, but that
isn’t the front door. 1700 steps later let you into Machu Picchu - the physical
exertion seemed part of the satisfaction though when we sat at sunrise inside
the famously preserved archaeological site.
Glutens for punishment we conquered a further 1600 steps in
scaling Machu Picchu mountain – the highest peak surrounding the great City. For
three hours we looked down upon one of the Wonders of the World – smiling to
the point of laughter at how lucky we were to be in our position. I’m still
struggling to think of a better view I’ve ever had on my travels.
It’s often the case that truly heart stopping moments on your
travels are memories that can only be dug out from inside yourself; the
pictures from a piece of technology rarely do it justice. South America is
quickly filling up my brains capacity – keep it coming, bring on Bolivia!
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