The Oldest Civilisation in the Americas

We've spent the last few days getting to know a bit more of Peru's history, from the oldest civilisation in the Americas to the turbulent recent past.

Ayacucho

From Ica, we set off for the less-visited city of Ayacucho, back up in the mountains. Ayacucho was the main base for the Sendero Luminoso (Shining Path) communist organisation. Starting in the early 80s, it waged a guerilla war against the military government that, predictably, responded with violence. This left much of the populace caught between the two sides with thousands of casualties, the majority poor people from the countryside. Sendero Luminoso declined in activity from 1992 when its leader was captured, but there are still sporadic bursts of activity.

The remains of the powerful Wari empire

We used Ayacucho as a base to visit the ruins of the Wari civilisation's capital city. This was a city of an estimated 50,000 people and was the centre of a pre-Inca empire extending over much of Peru between the years 500 and 900. There isn't much left of it today; although there are some remaining buildings and walls still standing, it's hard to imagine a city that big in the abandoned cactus-covered desert.

The main square in Lima

After Ayacucho, we took another night bus back down to the coast for a brief stay in Lima. We're planning to return here in about a month, so we just visited the main sites - the park filled with stray cats in Miraflores (which Jo loved), and a walk around the historic colonial-era centre. It felt a bit depressing as Lima is famous for being covered in white mist for half of the year. We cheered ourselves up by finding one of the first places in which pisco sours were made.

5,000 year old pyramids at Caral

We left Lima to travel further north along the coast to Barranca, the closest town to the ancient ruins of Caral. This is an astounding site - it dates from 5,000 years ago so is one of the cradles of civilisation. It's the oldest such site in the Americas, and was founded at the same time as the Egyptian pyramids were being built. There are remains of pyramids and residential buildings centred around a large square that are in amazing condition considering their age.

Being gluttons for punishment, we've now returned to the mountains, where we're hoping to do some more trekking from Huaraz.

The Nazca Lines - One Of The World's Great Unsolved Mysteries

We arrived in the desert city of Nazca with one intention - to see the famous Nazca Lines. These are a complex series of ancient lines, geometric shapes and stylised motifs, all drawn in the desert and encompassing a huge area. The figures include several designs based on animals and plants, including for example a monkey, a hummingbird and a spider. They are on such a large scale that they can only really be appreciated from the air  - most of the animals are 50-100m long, while the lines are often several km long and 1-3m wide.

The hummingbird figure

The Nazca Lines were created by the Nazca culture and its predecessor, the Paracas culture, between around 500 BC and 500 AD. It would have been a huge undertaking. All the figures and lines were made by clearing away the top layer of dark pebbles and revealing the whiter ground underneath. The lines are so straight that they must have been painstakingly planned and measured - some even theorise that the Nazca must have had hot air balloons to be able to create such precise designs that only become clear from the air. Despite being so old, the geoglyphs have remained in good condition due to the extreme aridity of the desert environment.

Our tiny plane for the Nazca Lines flight

Kev had always wanted to take the flight over the lines, but I was less sure and was very nearly put off by the horror stories of poor safety, horrific air sickness and general very bad organisation! At the last minute I decided to go for it, and was very glad I did. The flight was simply incredible: one of the top experiences of the trip so far. We were in a 6 seater plane with another couple plus pilot and co-pilot. The pilot flew round 12 of the most famous figures, banking first left and then right so that people on both sides of the plane could see. We had amazingly clear views of every figure and could better understand their layout and the sheer immensity of the lines. And no air sickness!

A pair of hands - also sometimes known as the frog

While various theories have been propounded, the purpose of the lines remains unknown. Most experts agree that they probably had some religious significance, perhaps intended as symbols to be seen by the gods above: archaeological evidence shows that ceremonies and festivals may have taken place along them. Other theories link the lines to astronomy and some suggest that they were used as some sort of huge celestial calendar. They could also have been paths leading to water sources - vital when living in such a dry environment. One of the world's enduring mysteries.

In the Cantalloc aqueducts

While in Nazca we explored some ruins from the Nazca civilisation. Firstly the Cantalloc aqueducts, a sophisticated system of subterranean water channels that the Nazca designed for irrigating their crops. They look like interconnected terraces, spiralling down to wells at the bottom, and are still used today. Next the slightly gruesome Chauchilla Cemetery, a burial site from the later Nazca period, still containing mummified human remains in open graves. Interestingly, many of the mummies had headdresses or very long hair styled like dreadlocks. We also visited Cahuachi, the remains of an important ceremonial centre and pilgrimage destination for the Nazca. The ruins here were in excellent condition despite being built of mud bricks, again thanks to the extreme conditions here.

Nazca mummies in the Chauchilla Cemetery 

From Nazca we moved on to the small coastal town of Paracas. We had a long walk around the desert peninsula, admiring the beautiful marine scenery and seeing more flamingoes than anywhere else we've been. The next day we took a boat trip out to the nearby Islas Ballestas, 'the poor man's Galapagos', as many descriptions put it. The wildlife here was stunning - the sky became thick with birds as we approached, and the islands themselves are simply covered in colonies of cormorants, Peruvian boobies and Inca terns, among others. They're also home to Humboldt penguins, sea lions and pelicans and we saw all of these at close proximity. Not the Galapagos, but a pretty good alternative for now!

Playa Roja (Red Beach) - part of the Paracas peninsula 

While in Paracas we happened to be discussing what would happen if a tsunami hit .. and lo and behold the next day after the earthquake in Chile there were tsunami warnings throughout coastal Peru. Fortunately we'd moved on by then 60 km inland to the desert town of Ica, where we enjoyed some wine tasting. Yes, Peru's major wine region is in the desert! There's no comparison with Chilean wine, but the 2012 Petit Verdot was surprisingly good actually. We also visited Ica's excellent museum, and will leave here tonight heading for Ayacucho, up in the central highlands.

So many birds! Peruvian boobies at the Islas Ballestas

Trekking to Machu Picchu

A few weeks ago, after hearing about the less-visited Inca ruins at Choquequirao, I looked at my map and saw a very wiggly, mountainous trail that continued on towards Machu Picchu. I remember saying 'that looks ridiculous'. We've just returned from hiking that trail, and the 8 days it took have been some of the hardest, and most rewarding, trekking of our lives. There was very little walking on the flat, and relentlessly steep descents and ascents into and out of canyons:

Day 1: down 800m;
Day 2: down 700m; up 1500m;
Day 3: explore Choquequirao ruins; up 300m; down 500m;
Day 4: down 700m; up 1100m;
Day 5: up 1300m to 4150m San Juan pass; down 700m;
Day 6: up 1100m to 4660m Yanama pass; down 1800m;
Day 7: down 700m;
Day 8: up 500m; down 500m;

The main square at Choquequirao

We'd chosen this trek to avoid the crowds on the other trails in the area and we weren't disappointed. On the first couple of days we saw just a handful of people making their way to, and from, the Choquequirao ruins. We felt privileged to have this remote hilltop city to explore almost to ourselves. This site is also host to the unique 'Llama Terraces' - white stone depictions of llamas making their way up the dizzyingly steep hillside. We were also lucky enough to spot a condor soaring past.

Llamas climbing up their steep terrace

Nobody else continued on past Choquequirao as we did though - we didn't see any other hikers until day 7. This part of the trek contained some of the hardest days - clambering up to passes above 4000m in both sun and snow. The views (when it was sunny) were incredible - of adjoining canyons bordered by mountains topped with glaciers. On one day we also had the unforgettable experience of camping on Inca terraces, looking down to a foaming river far below.

Camping on Inca terraces

On the 7th day we joined the more popular Salkantay trek and were dismayed at the large groups going the same way as us. We managed to find more solitude on the final day, however, when we left at 4:30am to climb to some more Inca ruins at Llactapata. This gave us our first view of Machu Picchu, on the neighbouring peak, although it still seemed a long way away. From there, we made our final descent of the trek, where we had lunch while waiting for a train to take us the short distance to Aguas Calientes - the (tourist trap) entrance town to Machu Picchu.

Our group at the end of the tough, snowy, ascent to the Yanama Pass

During our trek, we were accompanied by a mule train that carried tents, food, cooking equipment and spare clothes for us. It was hard enough with this assistance; it would have been absolute torture to have attempted it without. We were also joined by two amazing chefs - they prepared miraculous food throughout, given that we were camping and they only had two gas hobs to prepare it on. It would have made chefs in many restaurants in Cusco jealous.

Our mule train crossing a stream near Choquequirao

Machu Picchu itself more than lived up to expectations. It's an amazing feeling to see the view that is instantly recognisable across the world. As predicted, it was incredibly busy during the morning, despite getting one of the first buses into the site. After we were given a tour of the main points of interest though, we found a quiet place to have some lunch and read for a while before venturing back. This proved a good strategy as by the afternoon many people had left and we had a much more relaxed time exploring the rest of the ruins.

The culmination of our journey - Machu Picchu

We thought that we'd had the end of hard trekking, but had decided to ascend the mountain behind the city, Machu Picchu mountain. This was another hour of climbing up steep steps, but the view from the top was worth the pain. As well as a fantastic look at the city, it gave a great perspective of its precarious perch atop the famous ridge, surrounded by steep cliffs, glaciers and other mountains.

Machu Picchu from the top of Cerro Machu Picchu

We feel we've had a good introduction to the Inca civilisation now, following our time in and around Cusco, and we're now going to head back down towards the coast and another ancient civilisation - the Nazca and their famous Lines.