Deepest, darkest...

During our exhaustive flight across from Auckland via Santiago to Lima we were full of giddy excitement - our first time in South America. What could we expect? Our mate Rich describes it as ´like Spain in the 70s´- so we were half expecting beefy sideburns, tight leather jackets and miniscule miniskirts...but no such luck. What we did find however in Peru, was a country of magnificent diversity: vast and sweeping deserts, lush alpine mountains and brooding jungle. Since we had used up all our superlatives during our time in stunning New Zealand, I had to consult the thesaurus for synonyms of the word ´amazing´. It gives: awesome, fascinating, incredible, marvelous, stunning, shocking, surprising, unbelievable, wonderful. If I could create one hyperlative from all of these words, it would only just about come close to what it is to see, experience and travel through Peru - a beautiful, life-affirming country - landscape and people. What´s more, we had our great mate Carolyn with us during the whole adventure - what a treat to share this time with such a dear friend.

After spending a couple of days in Lima recovering from the 17 hour time difference, we headed down the coast to Pisco - a small town and the jumping off point for the wonderful ´Ballestas Islands´. Given our preference for the Rough Guide over the Lonely Planet, our information was a few years out of date and the fact that the town had suffered a devasting earthquake just over a year ago had not hit our radar. It was both fascinating and sad to see such a destroyed corner of Peru - eighty per cent of the town had been affected, several hundred had been killed and only a few buildings (including our hostel) remained. We will never forget wondering around the local cemetery and seeing the crushed concrete stacks that housed the dead - all untouched (the Peruvians are very supersticious about death) - with some coffins smashed open, decaying corpses left visible. A lack of government investment and will and the reluctance of aid agencies to pump funds into an area that sits on fault lines meant that little had changed since the day the earthquake had struck eighteen months ago. A community in limbo.

After finding out what we could about Pisco and its story, we headed on a tour to the Ballestas Islands - a kind of mini Galapagos. We spent an amazing few hours by speed boat, spotting birds, penguins, pelicans and seals - it was an avian extravaganza and a great return for our ten dollars spent. Back in Pisco we gorged on a ´menu del dia´, knocked back a couple of the local tipples and indulged in the first of many gloriously gaudy cakes - bright pink and purple everywhere - we were truly sugared up by the time we hit the sack.

Once safely on land again, we headed further down the coast to Ica - a town famous for bodegas (wineries) and mountainous sand dunes. We stayed in the very surreal ´resort´of Huacachina - a small settlement carved into the bottom of giant sand dunes and existing purely for the purpose of travellers so that they could indulge in various sand dune activities. And indulge we did - face curling, hair-raising, eye-watering buggy rides up and down the giant dunes, the driver spinning, swerving, jolting, turning for maximum effect and crazy injury-inducing sand boarding down the dunes...it was a minor miracle that only one of our party suffered facial injuries on these kamakazi runs. After all the adrenaline, we chilled in the glorious sunshine by the tropical oasis that had formed naturally from the undeground water and indulged in a bottle of Pisco Sour. Talking of which, the following day we enjoyed a much gentler experience, touring the local bodegas - sampling the borgoño wine (insanely sweet and rather head-numbing)and the many varieties of the local Pisco spirit (kind of like Grappa but a little sweeter) - followed by a visit to the regional museum to see pre-Inca mummies preserved in foetal position and elongated skulls...freaky.

We also had the opportunity to go to the ´Pueblecito de Brujas´- the witches town. One of the most bizarre ´experiences´of our trip so far. Basically, they drive you to one of the dodgiest areas of town (to quote the driver - ´you´re not allowed to leave the vehicle here as there have been several tourist kidnappings recently´), drive you around the area and show you a statue of a ´witch´(apparently several centuries ago a mute child was brought to the local witches to cure his inability to speak - the head witch deemed that this child would go on to acheive great things for the country. The child eventually became President, sealing the witches infamy in Peruvian history forever.) How much of this was actually true was hard to fathom, as the guide could barely mask his laughter whilst recounting the tales of the witches sorcery, finishing his story by pointing out the only remaining son of the witches - an insanely senile octogenarian flailing in his wheelchair half-shouting, half-muttering obscenities in our general direction. How did Father Jack make it to Peru??

We were to see more skulls and bones at the next town of Nasca - famous for the Nasca Lines - giant figures etched into the sand hundreds of years ago by the Nascas - including a humming bird, a spider, and a lizard (whose hand is cut in half as the Pan American Highway runs through it - they hadn´t realised this when they built the road!). We took a tour of ancient citadels, aqueducts and open burial grounds - many of whose graves had been pilfered by robbers searching out ancient treasures - it was truly amazing to see such well preserved bones (skulls, teeth, spines and hair even) from bodies that were buried over eight hundred years ago scattered in the open sand...some of them had more hair on them than I do now! And of course, we flew over the giant enigmatic figures - a fantastic experience witnessing the etchings in all their glory spanning over many kilometres and only visible in full from the air. The mystery remains as to how and why the Nascas created these lines - a map to underground aqueducts? An offering to the Gods for water in this parched land? Or as Carolyn would have us belive - blatant evidence of alien life!

After all the heated discussions and debate it was time to head down the coast and inland to the wonderful city of Arequipa - high up in the mountains at over 2500m above sea level. The bus journey there was terrifying - not just for the dodgy martial arts film, but for the death-defying driving and hair-raising hairpin bends. We were sat at the top, at the front and on the right hand side. Less than a couple of metres from us was a sheer drop several hundreds of feet down into the crashing, unrelentless ocean. The driver's tactic was to take each corner at maximum speed, getting more and more daring every time. As the bus swerved dangerously from side to side, he went for his final audacious move - overtaking a lorry on a tight corner - the revs screamed up, the bus swerved to the left and then sharply to the right, the counter-swerve jolted us right on the edge of the cliff and lifted the left hand side of the bus up - passengers screamed, yelped and gasped - we clutched each others hands as tighly as possible before the bus reajusted back to the centre of the road. This terror continued for another hour. It was genuinely the closest we had come to death in the last 10 and a half months - a fine effort considering we had survived the Chinese roads!

Anyway, once we arrived safe and sound in Arequipa - we were delighted to find a beautiful, charming, self-assured city with stunning mountains as a backdrop - we fell in love with it instantly. We then headed on a two day tour to the wonderful Colca Canyon - driving over the highest road in Peru (almost five thousand metres), spotting vicuñas, llamas and alpacas along the way, marvelling at soaring Condors as they circled gracefully around the canyon´s chasm, and enjoying our first true taste of both Andean and rural Peruvian life - wonderful garments, story-board faces and a simplicity that warms the heart.

With a tinge of sadness, we left Arequipa, heading for even higher pastures in the shape of Puno on the shores of the famous Lake Titicaca, the highest navigable lake in the world. Arriving in a blaze of sunshine, we headed straight for the most important thing on the list - lunch. Having satisfied our growing Alpaca steak addiction, we sorted out our tour for the next few days, then headed straight for yet another great cake shop - this was becoming a problem.

The next day we set off for two days of island-hopping, Peru style, starting with the floating Uros islands 20 minutes from Puno port. The islands are constructed entirely from reeds, which have to be replaced every ten to fifteen years, and still house whole communities, who use their reed boats to hop across to neighbours and barter goods in Puno city for everything else they need. Of course, tourism is the main income now, but jumping up and down on the reeds, climbing the watch towers and chatting to the families cooking lunch was a lot of fun - and we got to ride on a reed boat, the helm scuplted into the shape of a cool puma head!

Next stop was a more substantial three hour boat ride to the fixed island of Amantani, our home for the night. Met at the port by our smiling host Marlene, dressed to the nines in beautiful traditional embroidered skirts, we were led to the house and our first home-cooked lunch. After a great bowl of hearty quinoa soup, we were slightly fazed by the dish of ten huge potatoes and a slab of fried cheese, but we did our best to eat it all up, gratefully slurping the herby muña tea as a dessert.

A successful game of football (locals vs tourists) was played at almost 4,000 metres above sea level, during which B scored a memorable goal, helping restore tourist pride, but certainly needing a short rest afterwards! The evening continued with some ridiculous dressing up for Carolyn and I in traditional dress for the evening´s dancing. We did our best, but were no match for our sweet host, who was the catch of the island and a great dancer. Making our excuses early, we spent a while gazing at the stars in the fabulously clear night sky, even spotting a shooting star - it was magical.

The next day we awoke to clear skies and headed for the neighbouring island of Taquile, probably one of the most beautiful spots in Peru: fantastic walks, beautiful views, friendly locals and a plentiful supply of Inca Kola - which most Peruvians seem to drink gallons of. It's a yellow-coloured, tartrazine-filled, sweet pop and we loved it!

After the delights of Puno, it was time for one of the highlights of the whole trip - a memorable train journey on the ´Andean Explorer´through stunning countryside to Cusco and the start of our Inca Trail adventure. The train was like something from the thirties era of glamourous train travel, with beautiful wood panelling, upholstered armchairs as seats, a sumptous bar and observation carriage and complementary Pisco Sour cocktails - we were in heaven! We gorged on a la carte food, gazed for hours at magical scenery, waved at countless enthralled children (hardly any trains run in Peru currently aside from the tourist ones)sat back and enjoyed the luxury for the day.

Once in Cusco, we took in the fabulous churches, imposing plazas and multitude of well-preserved Inca ruins in preparation for the Inca trek - and enjoyed the countless good cafes and restaurants the city had to offer. After a few days of acclimitizing, we were ready to head out on the four day Inca trail, delighted that our group would be just the three of us and a lovely Swedish student, Maria. The first morning started with no hot water and a late pick-up, but improved from then onwards, as we got our first taste of the breathtaking scenery that would accompany us for the next few days - the turbulent Urubamba river, imposing glacial mountains and giant cactii. After a manageable first couple of hours, we stopped at the temporary camp for lunch and were in awe at the scenes of frantic organisation from the crack teams of porters and chefs accompanying each group of walkers as they prepared the first of many amazing meals - a fabulous three course lunch, that wouldn´t have looked out of place in a swish London restaurant, appeared magically from the small cooking tent, each course better than the last. We were well and truly stuffed, the pain coming only when we tried to start walking again, the lack of oxygen for both walking and digesting a major problem!

After a tough second day of almost 1000m ascent, followed by almost the same downhill, we had a gentler third day, on our own as a group on the trail for much of the time, a fabulous way to enjoy one of the most beautiful hikes we've been on without a doubt, camping in almost unbelievably picturesque sites. Rising at 4am on the final day for the last push to Macchu Picchu, we were excited and tired, but the views of the stunning Inca citadel as the sun rose over the mountains, did not disappoint. The ruins we had visited along the way were magnificent, but nothing could compare to the scale and beauty of this place, perched on the top of a mountain and surrounded by protective peaks, it was stunning. We spent several hours taking hundreds of photos and exporing the well-preserved ruins, before heading back, tired but triumphant, for our final couple of nights in Cusco.

Back in Lima, we reminisced over our time in Peru, struggling to find words to best describe our experience. Suffice to say...Peru is simply hyperlative.