Peru is an archaeologists dream. Everywhere you go there are remnants of the mighty Inca empire. And nowhere more so is this true than of the beautiful colonial town of Cusco. Cusco is the longest continuously inhabited town in the whole Americas. The street layout was set by the Incas more than 500 years ago and is unchanged. Virtually every building is built on top of original Inca foundations. It is truly amazing.
Cusco was our welcome base for a week as we explored Southern Peru. Before we engrossed ourselves too deeply in the local Inca architecture (and the brilliant bars, clubs and restaurants.) we caught a plane into the Amazon rainforest for a jungle adventure.
Arriving in the small Amazonian town of Puerto Maldonado we boarded a small wooden boat and journeyed deep into the rainforest to an eco-friendly lodge surrounded by jungle flora and fauna. All around us was life. Monkeys climbed through the trees, Parrots screeched at our arrival and somewhere lurking in the watery jungle swamps were crocodile-like Cayman and Anacondas we were told. Also there were Mosquitoes, tons of the bloody things, buzzing and biting all over the place. Luckily our tropical-strength insect repellent held out and we survived almost bite free. Although we didn’t escape creepy-crawly encounters that easily. On our second day at the lodge, while resting in hammocks and sipping cocktails, the rain pouring outside, we were slightly more than shocked to look up and find that three giant tarantulas had also decided to shelter from the rain in the straw roof right above our heads. We were out of the hammocks like a shot and back to the safety of the lodge bar - but only after we had taken some snaps of the incident of course.
The highlight of the jungle trip was by far feeding bananas to wild monkeys. There were monkeys of all sizes, including very cute, fluffy, baby ones, clinging to their mum’s backs and reaching out for our fruit offerings.
With the memory of the monkeys still fresh in our minds we boarded a boat in torrential rain and were soaked through by the time we reached the airport for our journey back to Cusco.
With our jungle adventure complete we were ready to explore one of the world’s most famous archaeological sites - the abandoned city of Macchu Picchu.
After two days journeying from Cusco and after very little sleep we awoke at 4.30am to make the final steps to Macchu Picchu.
Even the lengthy queue for a bus to the World Heritage Site in the cold and the rain was more than made up for by the view that greeted us as we stepped through the ticket booth and into the ruined city.
Macchu Picchu is breathtaking. A vast, sprawling stone city built on the top of a rocky pinnacle in the clouds. Adding to the wow factor is the mystery that surrounds the complex. No one knows why it was built, no one knows what it was used for and no one really knows why it was abandoned in 1537. Everything from disease, war and aliens has been used to answer each of these questions.
When American archaeologist Hiram Bingham stumbled across the site in 1911 he was blown away by its size, how intact it was and by the treasure it contained. He and his team found hundreds of mummies adorned with gold trinkets. Macchu Picchu has remained a cash cow ever since. Millions of tourists visit the city every year, bringing in plenty of dosh for the Peruvian government. Thankfully our early arrival that day paid off and we were rewarded with a coveted ticket to climb to some more ruins, high up on a nearby peak. Only the first 400 visitors out of the tens of thousands who arrive each day are given this privilege. Although privilege might not be the correct word. The unbelievably steep climb involves almost sheer rock faces at times and even more sheer drops of hundreds of metres, but the view from the top was well worth it. Macchu Picchu was spread out below us in all its glory as were the surrounding forests and waterfalls. The view left us speechless and silent as we made our way back down, stunned by the beauty of our surroundings.
Could anything else in Peru beat this experience? We were to find out on our journey to the capital Lima, which took in a desert adventure, Condors and of course the mysterious Nazca Lines.