What do you immediately think of when you hear… “Peru?”
Can I take a wild guess? I’ll bet you thought of Machu Picchu. It is totally acceptable! Machu Picchu is one of the seven Wonders of the World and is one of the best preserved ancient sites ever. But I am here to tell all you readers that Peru is WAY more than Machu Picchu.
After burning rubber through northern Peru
(absolutely nothing to see there) we finally made it up to the Cordilleras Blancas mountain range. Elevation took a huge toll on us all but boy, was it worth it. The Cordilleras Blancas is by far the most beautiful mountain range on the trip so far. Snow peaked cliffs wrap their huge craggy bodies around dazzling turquoise lakes pretty much sums it up (man, I’m starting to sound like my dad)! It is renowned in the trekking community across the globe.
We hiked many trails in the Cordilleras Blancas, but the most notable was called Laguna 69. We woke up at 5:00 am but, lo and behold, swarms of hikers were still huffing and puffing their way to the trailhead after us. The reason I say there were huffing and puffing is because almost every person on the hike under 30 were literally JUST doing the hike for instagram. (Therefore many were not very… outdoorsy)
The hike was extremely beautiful and difficult the whole way. But the payoff at the end was SO worth it. We turned a corner and boom! A perfectly placed, vibrant blue lake greeted us. The best part? No people were there with us. And yes, Elias and I swam in it (not a very smart idea).
After spending plenty of time in the Cordilleras Blancas, the whole family was absolutely sick and tired of the altitude. Even though we were fully acclimatized, the altitude felt like someone was constantly tailing you around in the sense that you could always feel it.
So, as a result, we made headways to a desert oasis called Huacachina.
For many of us, Huacachina is up there on our top 5 lists for places on this trip. The reason? Huacachina is absurdly amazing. Surrounding the (supposedly man-made) oasis, are tons of tacky tourist shops and dirt cheap hostels all connected by a nice path circling the oasis. But surrounding THAT nonsense is miles upon miles of pure, soft sand. The sand has been rearranged into enormous dunes by the wind, which makes for some pretty awesome sledding and snowbo… er… sandboarding.
I am willing to bet that not many of you readers have ever heard about these phenomenal dunes (unless you are an overlander). Which goes to show just how much Peru has, lying right underneath the surface that is Machu Picchu.
Another Peruvian gem is the Rainbow Mountain. Only a two hour hike up makes this the Instagrammers haven which really took away from the experience. It was definitely one of those places, to us at least, that once you see the pictures, the thrill of it diminishes significantly.
Many towns and cities in Peru are quite grimy and ugly. However, one town called Chacas, made us all reconsider our view of this country. Chacas was actually a mission location for an Italian Jesuit priest. He wanted to teach young men the art of woodworking. And that he did, and quite successfully I might add. It seems the town of Chacas is now practically perfect. Every single building of this approximately 1000 resident town is ornately decorated with wood carved window, doors and art all beautifully placed. Woodworkers from this town create enormous wall carvings for many major churches in many major cities around the globe, including one enormous one for Vegas (like usual). Having this clean and beautiful town gave the people visible pride and that is sadly quite rare in Peru. Sometimes for us though, a little TOO enthusiastic, like when we were woken up at seven am to an enormous event in which children marched around the square and sang along to loud marching bands.
Chacas was just another example of what might be discovered if people would stray a little off the beaten path in Peru.
Pretty soon after, we were on our way to Cusco. The city where we would wait in anticipation for the highly coveted hike called “the Inca trail” (which is a hike leading to Machu Picchu for all you people not immersed in travel know-how.) During the week, we spent time exploring the city. We visited famous markets, huge cathedrals and many, many parades. We also took the liberty of getting some pre-Machu haircuts. Jonah and Elias visited a barbershop while I got a cut from a fellow overlander, Josh, from the Okanagan (he owns a barbershop there.)
And then… It was time. We woke up at 4 am in the morning, dragged our meticulously packed bags into a tour bus and drove off to the famed Inca trail.
I think it is safe to say that Machu Picchu lived up to the hype. We eased into the trip with a nice and easy 6 hour day of up and down hiking.
This was promptly followed by a 9 hour day of extreme uphill. Along the way, we crossed over the highest point on the trip, Dead Woman's Pass. Apparently, every tour guide has their own story as to how it got its name (most of them being gruesome stories that they save until 10pm to scare the living daylights out of young children).
The next day was appropriately named the “formidable day”. We hiked for 11 hours and descended down to what the guides call “the gringo killer” because of the two to three foot steps that go on for, seemingly, forever. To keep the boys and I going, our guide took the liberty of giving us some energy in the form of Coca leaves. Coca leaves are notoriously known for being used to create Cocaine. But here on the Inca trail, in its raw form, it can be used to fend off altitude sickness and even provide spurts of energy. Don’t worry, it doesn’t alter your state of mind if it isn’t chemically processed with gasoline in a lab!
The “payoff” day (quite self- explanatory) started off with a harsh wake up at 3 am and a four hour hike to the sun gate where…
Sorry, pause.
Before getting to the part you have all been waiting for, I would like to give a huge shoutout to everyone involved in getting us travellers up to Machu. Firstly, Yi- Yo, our guide, was the master at explaining literally everything and gave birth to a memorable nickname for Elias, “Waa Waa” (ask me about it when I get back). Next, Aremenio, the chef-porter, created absolutely phenomenal and professionally presented food the whole way up and never failed to blow minds. And finally, all the porters, who carried ENORMOUS bags the entire way and showed us how to chew Coca leaves. These people are the real legends of the Inca trail.
Back to the topic. Many say the Inca trail itself is much better than Machu Picchu and I can definitely say that this is a valid opinion. The trail is 70 percent original Inca stones, you go through many ancient temples and strongholds along the way, and you are able to breathe nice, clean air the whole way (which is sadly quite rare in Peru). However, seeing the real Machu Picchu, from the famous Sun Gate, all lit up and majestic, was just so surreal and nothing on the trail could honestly beat it. The combination of the spearhead shaped mountain (Wayna Picchu), behind a vast amount of turrets, agricultural fields and palaces was incredible.
We spent long hours wandering around the greatest archeological ruins in the world, and after hiking a total of around 30 hours, we felt quite satisfied with our entire Peru experience as a whole.
Our whole family has a mixed feelings about Peru. We all deeply felt the poverty and desperation (mostly in northern Peru, which felt like a dystopian book setting). At the same time, we were able to see what makes Peru such a great destination to explore. This is all thanks to the people who have worked so hard, without much government help I might add, to maintain all of Peru’s natural beauty. My advice if you are visiting Peru? Try going a little deeper than Machu Picchu. I guarantee you will be pleasantly surprised.
-Nathaniel Fast
Sandboarding sound really fun!