26-09-2024

Entering Bolivia and Isla del Sol

So on high altitude of 3800 the first Inca Manco Capac is said to have emerged from a prominent crag in a large sandstone outcrop known as Titi Qala. Manco Cápac is the son of Inti the Andean deity identified as the sun. In one version of the myth, the ancient people of the province were without light in the sky for many days and grew frightened of the darkness. Finally, the people saw the Sun emerge from the crag and believed it was the Sun’s dwelling place.
This island offered us a sunny beautiful day and views around the peninsula of the highlands and other islands.
Small communities of people still live there !!!

And a greek section :
Δεν θέλουμε να το παίξουμε Ελληνάρες, αλλά υπήρξε μια αίσθηση ότι είμαστε χειμώνα στις Κυκλάδες παρά την δροσιά που επικρατούσε.
translation :
we got a small nostalgia or homesickness – the landscape reminded us of greek central islands….

24-09-2024

Puno and Peruvian part of lake Titikhakha (not Titikaka…)

A small city on the shore of lake Titikhakha. Lake Titikhakha has a surface elevation of 3812 m above sea level, is often called the highest navigable lake in the world. The lake has quite a lot of artificial islands the Urus Islands and local communities of Aymara speaking the local language and keeping their local traditions.

20-09-2024

Colca Canyon and Yanque,

We arrived late at night in a very quiet area of the highlands, and an even more quiet hotel (close to the small village of Yanque). Colca canyon is the second deepest canyon on planet earth. We hiked around and seen the ancient abandoned village of Uyo Uyo and from there we landed on the busy thermal baths. In our way we had the chance to meet a local dog that accompanied us for some km and a local school excursion where kids were fascinated and happy to talk to us 🙂
We had a day tour at a mirador (view point) of Condors (yes we saw three of those emblematic birds) and some astonishing view points.
On the way to Puno we had several stops (one at 4910m) where we saw an active volcano and we had the best coctailed-tea :p

16-09-2024

Arequipa !!!!!

Imagine a city on an altitude of 2400m – loads of history – SUNNY – surrounded by high volcanos (one is active!!!).
The vibes are really chill and vibrant at night – full of nice restaurants and cafes and queso helado (a famous ice cream to be found all over the city) – the amalgamation of the architecture between Spanish, French and British influences (historical fact : people of Arequipa preferred to be attached with the new regime and colonisation of the Spaniards). We also visited the sizeable old monastery of 16th century of Santa Catalina.

We also took a day tour to the plateau of San Antonio de Chuca. There we visited the waterfalls of Pillone and a stone forest (quite astonishing site) of Pillone.

14-09-2024

Rainbow Mountain and Red Valley.

we had a one day trek up up up to 5045 meters!
What a treasure of mountains, sceneries and colours. They told us, that these mountains have been recently touristic. We had a blast from the views, also reaching this high altitude made once more our breathing and mind struggling every step we made – but we did it !
First the view of the Rainbow Mountains and continued to the more incredible Red Valley.

07-09-2024

The Salkantay Trek and Machu Picchu

well this is a long one 🙂
5 and a half days, 5 nights and 75km of walking high above sea level.
We started with a long bus drive towards the Glass cabañas houses where we stayed at night. The ride was promising on what was about to come, high mountains high expectations.
The houses were at Soraypampa at 3800 meter high. At 20:00 the generator turned off and the sky was amazing. From our glass roof we could see the night sky!!!

Day 2: We started early on on a hike that we have never done before – meaning at this altitude every step feels many times heavier on our breath. This walk took about 1,5 hours and we reached the blue water of Humantay Lake – no words to describe the feeling – glazier mountain tops many sky limit mountain tops!!! (and we were early so that meant no other tourists beside our small group).
We continued our trek for a couple more hours and we reached the Salkantay Pass at 4,650 meters !!!
At our memory will stay the astonishing views of high mountains – the sound of the braking glaziers, avalanches falling from the opposite  high mountains,  some small lakes along the trek and once again the difficulty on our breath that on such high altitude became a hard mind game.
During our whole trip we had A LOT of EXCELLENT food. Thanks to Alpaca expeditions!
That night we stayed at tents.

Day 2 : The morning coca-tea and coffee combined with the early (5:30) view on the mountains was amazing. This day we walked downhill for about 7-8 hours, taking the time to see how the altitude affects the climate going closer to jungle / cloud forest surroundings (inclusive waterfalls, rivers, bridges and stip passes).

Day 3: We are in a tropical forest ! We had a morning in a coffee farm where we collected and prepared some coffee. Ancient Inca ruins of Llactapata followed and a part of the famous Inca Trail brought us to amazing views of the Santa Teresa valley, going high up to Llactapata. WOWOWOW – standing on that high mountain and breathing into this amazing landscape -also far away was to see Machu Picchu (thanks Thanos for the binoculars !!!)
We slept on a private camp site and we watched the sunset and the :

Day 4: SUNRISE !!! one of the most astonishing moments of the trip !!! afterwards we had a two hour downhill hike to Hydroelectrical Station – we were lucky enough to go on our way into the river :p
The day continued with a walk along the train tracks for about 3h. Beautiful high trees / lakes / bridges and rivers that is hard for someone to describe in few sentences.

Day 5: Here we go, Machu Picchu one of the 7 wonders of the world. Early in the morning where the sun goes up, every part of this historic monument was a fantasy – an alive cart-postal. How about some Inca stories… !

05-09-2024

A day in Sacred Valley, Cuzco

We decided to book a tour (F_ early in the morning) and visit an Alpaca Farm (yes we saw many of those wonderful animals – we saw even a Condor but she didn’t pose for us) , in that park they introduced us to old textile techniques and we saw their work.

Pisac Inca site : a great masterpiece of architecture and agricultural techniques – the size of this monument and its placement in the mountains gave us the chills.

Maras salt mines : How about  a community in the mountains that retains an old tradition of collecting salt (not any salt ; Maras Salt ; to be found in pink and white colour) through water channels that dry in different land segments and create a huge park of salty pools !!!!!

Moray : impressive agricultural terraces with different microclimates and amazing landscapes

OLLANTAYTAMBO : despite the tourism (and Peruvian school excursions ) we entered a massive historical Inca town with a Temple of Sun. There are few words to describe this monument, big mountains surrounding the old city and hidden gems (old constructions) where to be found all around.

03-09-2024

Arriving to Cuzco.
our friends talked about a strange sense going to a city located at 3399 meters. And that was totally true. Every step uphill made our breath heavier but it was totally insane. The energy of the city despite the elevation is unique. Food is amazing, views are great !!! History of the city and architecture is everywhere – great coffee too!!! Amazing how this old stones stay in the same place, revealing the continuation of civilisation throughout the old city.

01-09-2024

Arriving to Peru, Lima.
after a long 12 hours flight (A: without missing nicotine), we arrived in a grey city called Lima – El panza de burro; the belly of the donkey – meaning is always grey and cloudy.
Lovely parents of a friend came to pick us up and brought us to a neighbourhood called Miraflores. Same night we had our first Peruvian Ceviche and started discovering how great the cuisine of Peru is !!! Lovely to have Valeria (friend of good Peruvian friend Luciana) taking us for a walk and talking about almost everything 🙂 besitos Valeria.
Our special guest to our trip the first two weeks was querido Stratos_PE_Major_Mountain hiker_Manari (you will see him in the next post 😛 #stratoswasalsohere).