SOUTHBOUND
Christy
and I have taken a big hiking trip somewhere exotic every year since we met in
1999. Aside from one brief visit to New
England, we’ve always traveled west.
This year, we decided to try a different direction.
Initially
we intended to visit Europe. Christy has
always wanted to see the Tour de France, and the Alps offer some of the finest
hiking on the planet. It seemed like a
great idea until I started researching the costs involved. Flights to pretty much anywhere in Europe
were all well over $1,000, and I didn’t have enough frequent flier miles to get
us anywhere. Combine that with the costs
of lodging, food, and transportation for a month, and I didn’t see any way that
we could pull it off.
I
shifted my focus from east to south. For
years now I’ve wanted to visit Peru.
Peru contains the second-highest mountains on Earth, a vast swath of the
Amazon rain forest, the world’s deepest canyons, and hundreds of fascinating
archeological sites. The most famous,
Machu Picchu, is perched on a mountaintop at the end of the 30-mile Inca
Trail. That hike is considered by many
to be among the most spectacular treks in the world.
A
bit of research revealed that flights to Lima, Peru, cost roughly half of those
to Europe. Even better, using frequent
flier miles was an option. That, along
with the promise of relatively cheap lodging and transportation, convinced us
to make our first trip to South America.
The fact that we don’t speak Spanish didn’t dissuade us.
Initially
I was concerned that traveling south of the equator in June might be a
mistake. Technically, it would be winter
down there. However, a bit of research
revealed that our summer was actually the best time to go. Because Peru is close to the equator, there
isn’t a big difference in temperature between summer and winter. However, most of the country has distinct wet
and dry seasons. In the mountains and
jungle, the wet season generally runs from November or December through March
or April. The weather is usually dry
through the remainder of the year. The
only exception to this is in the coastal desert, which includes the capital of
Lima. There, our winter months bring
sunshine and heat. The rest of the year,
the coast is hidden under a blanket of persistent fog.
I
started researching Peru in January. I
quickly realized that planning a month in Peru was going to be lot more
complicated than the typical hiking and camping trip in the Rockies. In fact, it turned out to be nearly a
full-time job.
There
are a few ways to approach a trip to Peru.
One option is to let a travel agency handle everything. This approach is expensive though. The other extreme is to plan everything
independently, or simply figure it out when you get there. We opted for something in between. We planned most of our trip on our own, but
we did use some travel agencies to assist with certain parts of the trip. Having local assistance was certainly helpful
at times. On the other hand, we were on
our own for the most part.
Peru
is a big country. So how did we decide
on what to do? Trekking the Inca Trail
to Machu Picchu was a must. That would
only take 4 days though. Even with an
extra day at Machu Picchu and a few days in Cuzco prior to the hike, we still
had 3 weeks to plan.
I
have a coffee table book titled “Classic Treks” that I picked up on clearance
at Barnes and Noble for $2. It describes
30 hikes that it considers to be among the best in the world. That book has proven to be invaluable, and it
really came in handy for this trip. In
addition to a chapter on the Inca Trail to Machu Picchu, it also describes a
long hike through the Cordillera Huayhush in the
Andes of central Peru. The Huayhush, along with the Cordillera Blanca nearby, contains
the second-highest mountains in the world.
The hike described in the book sounded compelling. We’d spend 10 days or so wandering past
alpine lakes and glaciers, and cresting passes over 16,000’ high. We’d also pass through rural villages and
farms largely untouched by civilization.
That
left us with about a week. Originally I
considered visiting Arequipa, Peru’s second-largest city. Just outside Arequipa is a group of active
volcanoes, including El Misti. El Misti, at an
elevation of 19,101’, offers a challenging but non-technical ascent. However, the mountain is very high, and the
climb (featuring 8,000’ of elevation gain) is grueling. Since there is no water on the volcano, all
of it must be carried.
The
more I thought about climbing El Misti, the less
appealing it sounded. Climbing a 19K foot
mountain would be cool, but would it be enjoyable? Plus, acclimating for the climb would be
difficult. Christy has had problems with
altitude sickness in the past, and a climb of this nature would be asking for
trouble. We decided to skip it.
We
considered a number of other areas, but ultimately passed on them. We strongly considered visiting Paracas and the Isla Ballestas to
view the wildlife. This area is
sometimes referred to as the poor man’s Galapagos. In the end though, we weren’t able to squeeze
that area in. Not far from Paracas is Nazca, which is famous
for the Nazca Lines.
The Nazca Lines are one of the world’s great
archaeological mysteries. They consist
of rocks organized into hundreds of straight lines, geometric figures, animals,
and plants. However, the lines can only
really be seen from above. Viewing them
requires taking a tourist flight. We
didn’t include that in our budget, so we left the Nazca
Lines out of our trip. If we return to
Peru, I’ll consider them a priority.
Since
we didn’t visit Arequipa, we missed out on Colca
Canyon and Cotahuasi Canyon. These canyons, which are nearly 11,000’ deep,
are considered to be the deepest in the world.
We also didn’t make it to Lake Titicaca, South America’s largest lake. Aside from its fantastic name, Titicaca is
also considered the world’s highest navigable lake, at over 12,000’ in
elevation. Lake Titicaca certainly
would’ve been worth a visit, and it will be high on the “to-do” list if we
return to Peru.
We
also didn’t visit northern Peru. There
are some interesting attractions and nice beaches in northern Peru, but getting
around in Peru isn’t easy, and we had limits on our time and budget.
After
much debate, we decided to spend our remaining time in Peru in the Amazon rain
forest. Visiting the rain forest
entailed some additional expense, but we felt that missing it after traveling
all the way to Peru would be inexcusable.
In hindsight, I feel like we made a good choice. We enjoyed some unique experiences and saw
some amazing sights in the jungle.
The
challenges of traveling within Peru are worth highlighting. Peru is about the size of California, but the
highway system isn’t exactly on the same level.
The mountainous terrain makes road construction and maintenance
difficult and expensive. In fact, some
areas of the mountains and jungle can’t be reached by road at all. Those that are typically involve long,
tedious journeys. For example, there are
two ways to get from Lima, the capital, to Cuzco. The first is a 30-hour bus ride that costs
about $60, one-way. The other option is
a one-hour flight that costs about $100, one-way. We decided to fly.
We
used a travel agency (http://www.traficoperu.com/english/default.asp)
to book our flights within Peru. Oddly,
booking the same flights directly with the airline resulted in higher
fares. Ultimately we booked three
one-way flights, starting and ending in Lima.
Initially I booked the flights through the travel agency on South
America’s premier airline, LAN. The
total cost – for both of us – was only $324.
I was feeling pretty good about this until I received an email from the
travel agency a few hours later. The
subject of the email was DONT ACTION, which didn’t sound encouraging. The message stated that they couldn’t book
our flights, because the quoted price was only for Peruvian citizens. The price for foreigners? $890.
I
was astonished. Was that even
legal? I guess maybe in Peru it is. For a little while there, it looked like we
might be taking the bus after all. As
for the jungle, that would be out of the question.
After
my temper cooled I checked back with the agency. They suggested a similar itinerary on a
low-cost airline, Star Peru. The total
cost through Star Peru was $470. That
was a bit more than the $324 we were originally quoted, but a lot better than
$890. We booked it.
Over
the next several months I exhaustively researched all the places we would
go. I made hotel reservations and booked
several nights at a jungle lodge. We got
our vaccinations and made a feeble attempt at learning Spanish. Most importantly, we purchased permits for
our trek on the Inca Trail to Machu Picchu.
Due to the popularity of the trek, the government now enforces a quota
of 500 people starting the trail each day.
Going independently isn’t an option, either, as all hikers must be
accompanied by a guide and porters. As a
result, trekking to Machu Picchu is now quite expensive – the trip we booked
cost about $450 each.
In
the end, our plan looked like this:
Part
I: Fly to Lima and spend 2 days and 3
nights exploring Peru’s capital.
Part
2: Fly to Puerto Maldonado and spend 3
nights at a jungle lodge on the Madre de Dios River – a tributary of the
Amazon.
Part
3: Fly to Cuzco and spend 3 day
exploring the city and the nearby archeological sites (and 3 nights
acclimatizing to the altitude). Then
spend 5 days hiking the Inca Trail and exploring Machu Picchu.
Part
4: Fly back to Lima, and then take an
overnight bus to Huaraz. Spend a couple of days doing dayhikes to
further acclimatize to the altitude before embarking on a 10-day backpacking
trip around the Cordillera Huayhush. Afterwards, we’d return to Huaraz, and then Lima, and then home.
It
was a good plan, as far as plans go. Of
course, international travel rarely goes according to plan. To be honest, our plan was more of a
suggestion than a set itinerary. In
fact, it changed multiple times before we even left home. The times on our flights within Peru changed
twice after we booked them. The second
change forced us to completely rearrange the fourth part of the trip.
Learning
Spanish was also part of the “plan”.
Unfortunately, Christy and I have to work for a living, and neither of
us were able to dedicate much time to learning a
second language. By the time we
departed, we had some of the basics down, but not much more.
I
had two major concerns going into our trip.
One was robbery. I’d read too
many stories about travelers getting mugged or having their bags snatched. The other was simply staying healthy. We visited a travel health clinic in April,
where we discovered that diseases in Peru can be classified in one of two ways:
1)
Blood-borne
diseases transmitted by mosquitoes or animals
2)
Diseases
transmitted by dirty food or water that result in continuous projectile
diarrhea
We
spent a small fortune getting vaccinations.
Vaccinations for Hepatitis A, Typhoid, and Yellow Fever cost us
$715. We also picked up a traveler’s
diarrhea kit, which included our old friend, Imodium, as well as a broad-based
antibiotic. Not included in this cost
was Malaria pills. There is no vaccination
for Malaria, but there are pills available that offer some protection against
the disease. We each got a prescription
for these, and quickly discovered that there’s a big difference in the
prescription drug benefit between Christy’s insurance and mine. Through her plan, the pills cost about $30,
while mine were $90. After Christy got
her prescription filled, I called the clinic back and told them that the drug
store lost it. They called it in again,
and Christy picked up a second bottle for another $30.
When
we decided to visit the jungle, we didn’t really know what we were getting
into. In Peru, Yellow Fever, Typhoid,
and Malaria are only present in the jungle.
We could’ve skipped all of the vaccinations except Hepatitis A if we’d
left the jungle out of our trip. Of
course, we didn’t realize the full costs involved when we planned it. By the time we discovered how expensive the
vaccinations were, we’d already booked our lodge and flights. At that point, we didn’t want to attempt to
change everything. Was it worth it? I don’t know.
The jungle was really cool though, so maybe it was.
By
mid-June, almost everything was in place.
Food for our 10-day backpacking trip was dehydrated. Our gear and clothes were organized, and only
awaited final packing. Most importantly,
we’d found a teenager to house and dog sit while we were gone. Despite all of our preparations, I wasn’t
looking forward to the trip like I should’ve been. Instead, I was more worried about what might
go wrong. Would our inability to speak
Spanish cause problems? Would we get
robbed? Would the house still be
standing when we returned home?
Unfortunately, this was my mindset the night before our trip.
Back to Peru
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