Americas in 71 days - Peru

Following Inca Trails in Peru

Exec Summary

Peru can get very touristic. You can witness funny moments where natives on floating Titicaca islands demonstrate chewing stems of giant grass while 30 tourists eagerly snap pictures. Still, there are many good reasons why tourists get here. A day on Machu Picchu was magical as was our trip to Amazon. Sleeping in jungle lodges without electricity while counting seconds between lightning & thunder, drinking from lianas, spotting capybaras, flashing monkeys and annoying alligators were well worth the trip. 

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Bivaking on Buses

We would never thought of remembering Peru for what likely qualifies as the biggest portable fridge in the world. It was our overnight bus to Cuzco. I believe I woke up with a frosting on my face, unsure if I can still move my legs. Although the bus attendant was saying something about broken aircon, the buses here do get ridiculously cold also due to altitude of ~4,000m (~13,000ft). In Latin America, they divide buses into two key groups – camas and semi-camas. You ideally want to pick camas, as their service is often on par with a business-class flight. But sometimes, you simply don’t have a choice. Needless to say, our gear for further overnight bus rides on semi-camas reminded rather bivaking expeditions the civil traveling.

Foursome Incident

On accommodation front, we run extremes. One day we stay in the cheapest hostels often without private bathroom, the next in Sheraton suites waving my platinum club card (a very convenient perk from McKinsey times). While cheap hostel rooms help us truly appreciate 5-star comfort of Sheraton, they do have couple drawbacks - one of them is sound-insulation. Genius architect of our hostel room in Cuzco had an innovative idea of separating the adjacent rooms just via a built-in cupboard. Closing the cupboard doors prevented from basically hearing people breathing nextdoor. One night we came home firmly believing our neighbours left. After several-day starvation, we readily engaged into “related activities” with complementary sound effects. Our late-night performance stopped only after we saw the neighbour’s lights turning on through the open cupboard accompanied by mumbling that did not exactly sound like cheering ;)

Real Death Road

After rubbing elbows with hundreds of tourist on impressive yet a bit crowded Machu Picchu, we wanted to try something off-the-beaten trek. We decided, a trip to Amazon jungle in Manu would do. As usually, my Scottish frugality voted for a 12-hour minibus option over a flight. Our “Death-Road” adrenaline down-hill on mountain bikes in Bolivia turned out to be a breathe compared to this heart-stopping kamikaze drive. The Manu agent clearly forgot to mention minor facts like never-ending landslides, trucks stuck in mud and kilometer-deep abysses decorated by numerous RIP crosses. As a bonus on our way back, the driver who drove the whole previous night was falling asleep exactly in parts with the highest cliffs. As we were not too eager to experiment with bungee jumps without rope, we immediately took several precautions. Other than me almost killing the driver, river bath combined with caffeination and organizing “Eurovision” minibus competition in singing national songs did the trick.

 

Piggy Doggie

On the way to Amazon jungle, we stopped at the house where we found a team of well-synchronized pets. We were greeted by a beautiful yet angry parrot who did not seem to like us interrupting his afternoon siesta - clearly demonstrated by nagging us around the backyard while pinching our shoes. He was followed by a little super-cute wild pig, which acted exactly like a little dog. After vacuuming our feet and turning on his back, demanding belly rubbing, he started to chase cats. Both parties seamed to enjoy this game, though the cats appeared to be caught a bit off-guard once this Pluto started to throw them in the air with his nose.