CEVICHE, ALPACAS AND INKAS
- rouletout608
- Mar 14
- 14 min read
We were really excited to visit Peru. We heard so many good things, the amazing food, the impressive mountains, mysterious historical sites … and here we were, at the quiet border town of Tumbes and it all started quite differently than expected.
As we had already seen at the coast of Ecuador, this year brought much heavier rain falls than usual and Tumbes was no exception. The streets were flooded with mud and water, partly knee deep, and buying a local SIM card cost me my Crocs that I had to leave behind in the mud when crossing the street. Tuktuks hitting hidden objects in the water fell over leaving their passengers in the muddy waters and taking smaller roads was completely impossible. Never mind, we had our SIM card and were ready to go but not without getting a taste of our first real Peruvian ceviche. Heading to Mancora, a famous kite and surf spot, we stopped at a simple food stall at a beach to be taken away by the flavours (and amounts) of the local ceviche. Freshest raw fish, delicious limes and onions with the right amount of spices and roasted corn - we had eaten ceviches before but this was a different league. We also learned that it is better to order one dish for two people - the amounts are just incredible and Berna was afraid that we end up with a protein shock.
The windy season hadn’t started yet up north and so we continued down the coast, not without getting our first taste of real Pisco Sour - Peruvians just know how to prepare good things. The problem with Pisco Sour is just that it is too good and you quickly order a second one which typically means the “end of the day”. As for the moment we enjoyed the coast so it wasn’t too bad. Desert, miles of sand, and rocks slowly led us to the westernmost point of South America, Punta Balcones.
Due to the bad road conditions caused by the rain we hesitated to go there but in the end we were rewarded with a completely lost spot full of sea lions, blue footed boobies and all sorts of other birds - it reminded us a lot of Galapagos. One morning a couple of surfers came to ride the impressive waves amongst the sea lions. It looked scary to us but they only checked out the surfers on their boards and left them alone.
It was time to leave the coast. We had planned to visit a small national park but access was closed due to the rains. A little further up the mountains we found a beautiful spot near a lake, the ground was pretty soft and we decided to stay a bit further away from the shore. Towards the shore we saw a small car and it didn’t take long and a few guys showed up in a tuktuk and explained that their car was stuck there and asked if we could help. Ulf tried to explain to them that we can’t approach the shore due to our weight but they convinced us to follow the tuktuk on a “safe” and rocky path. Maybe Ulf was tired and believed the locals so we didn’t check the path but needless to say that after less than a 100m or so we sank Rouletout in the mud, really deep. The friendly locals tried to help with digging but Ulf already saw that this is of no use, we need something to pull us out here, the complete axle was sank in the mud. They made a few phone calls but as it was late afternoon we decided to sleep where we were. The local guys also went to the next village for the night, complaining that this would be their most expensive fishing trip so far.
In the morning we woke up surrounded by lamas and beautiful scenery. We observed the locals from our bedroom window as they tried to pull out their car with the help of an ox cart, it didn’t move. Shortly after that we heard the sound of a tractor, an old Landini tractor came to our rescue but unfortunately the tractor got stuck as well. It was just the front wheels, so we dug it out but then the starter died. We put new cables on and soon the tractor was ready to pull us out. First Rouletout and then the car of the locals, all in beautiful morning light, surrounded by lamas and amazing scenery. Victory photos were taken, social media accounts traded and everyone continued on their respective ways. For us this meant our first experience with the Peruvian mountains and mountain roads.
Winding roads brought us up to over 4000m, endless hills, small lakes, a mine - mostly Chinese owned - here and there but not much going on. We hiked a bit and made our way back down to Cajamarca where we had our first Trio: a typical Peruvian dish, or better three dishes of your choice but normally ceviche, a fried rice with fish and fried octopus or something similar. Delicious and again more than enough to feed two people.
We wanted to reach the coast in Pacasmayo where you can find the world’s longest and most consistent wave, a dream destination for surfers and wave kiters. We were too early in the season as this years rain delayed the onset of the winds in the north but it was still a nice place to visit.
We followed the coast further south. Some places are really dirty, but others offer beautiful beaches. We accidentally stumbled on the archeological site of El Brujo, a recently discovered pre-Inka civilisation (probably more than 5000 years old) about which we know close to nothing. The combination of ocean, desert and some green combined with the remnants of buildings are truly impressive and one wonders why a civilisation would choose such a difficult place to live and settle…
Before reaching Trujillo we visited another pre-Inka historical site called Chan Chan. There is a little more information than about El Brujo but as no written records were found the same applies. Most what happened here is a mystery and it seems that the Inkas absorbed them and used their exceptional construction skills for their purposes. Still, there is no explanation why these structures made of “sand” withstand the test of time while the ones re-built now with the same materials fall apart in years.
Our next goal was Huaraz, the world famous mountain town nestled amongst the highest peaks of Peru. We knew that it was early in the season but we wanted to check a few things before coming back later again. Reaching the town located just above 3000m ASL wasn’t that easy. The smaller roads up to the mountains that we tried to take first were all badly damaged by the rains but in the end we made it. The advantage of being in Huaraz off season is that the town is almost void of tourists and that you can enjoy it with all the locals, selling all sorts of vegetables and fruits, corn with cheese or walk around with their lamas. After having visited the town we visited our main goal, Hatun Machay. Hatun Machay is one of the highest sport climbing crags in the world, located at more than 4200m ASL and we wanted to be prepared for our time there later in the year. A lot of rock was still wet when we passed but we spent time strolling through the impressive rock formations and across the high altitude meadows and soon we were sure that we want to spend time here. For now however it was time to reach the coast again, kiting was on the list and the season in Paracas was still on but not before visiting the capital of Peru, Lima.
While Lima has the reputation of being a grey city covered by fog for many months of the year we were lucky enough to experience it with blue skies. A great spot by the ocean made our time there even more enjoyable but the best part of Lima is its gastronomy. Some of the world’s best restaurants are located in Lima and we enjoyed food from all levels, from simple but delicious street food to fancy gastronomic menus. The fusion of Japanese and Peruvian culture (Japanese migrated to Peru in the late 19th century) combined with the exceptional quality of all ingredients really make the Peruvian kitchen one of the best for our taste.
Another milestone in Lima was that we received our Starlink. At the time we didn’t realise the level of freedom it was going to add to our travels. Unlimited high speed internet wherever we stay, remote beaches, secluded mountain valleys or just the next stop after a new border where we normally had to struggle to get a new local SIM card for our phones to connect to the world.
Just a few hours drive south of Lima is the national park of Paracas, a desert like peninsula with breathtaking coastlines and birdlife and a famous kite spot. Not to forget that it is located just next to Pisco, the town where the spirit of the same name originates. On our first day on the beach we saw giant colourful jellyfish. Berna got a bit scared but the locals said that these are not dangerous. Still it was a bit weird to kite over these colourful monsters. Luckily they disappeared after a few days. We enjoyed the wind, the beaches and explored the surroundings with our motorbike but when Semana Santa hit with its crowds we decided to move back to the mountains. From Lima we drove up to over 4800m in direction of Huyanco. Driving through so many climate zones in just a few hours can make you tired but also shows you why Peru offers all sorts of vegetables and fruits in best quality. There is not much that does not grow in Peru.
We woke up to fresh snow but still went hiking near Huaytapallana watching glaciers and turquoise glacier lakes surrounded by Alpacas on our way.
Our way led us to beautiful Ayacucho where we drank our first Chilcano - another famous cocktail on the basis of Pisco - we visited lost archeological sites on our way and soon we dropped down on the other side of the Andes into the Amazon basin where tiny roads along wild rivers brought us closer and closer to world famous Machu Picchu.
The plan was to drive as close as possible to Machu Picchu and hike the last part into the village with our doggies to then visit the archeological site. The last 30km or so were quite extreme as a new road was being built through this extremely mountainous terrain - needless to say that it was being done by Chinese companies. At one point we slid sideways on an oncoming truck and there was no forth or back for any of us. The locals didn’t wait long and lifted the other truck to the side with a huge excavator.
We were rewarded with an amazing spot by a small river just a 10km hike away from Aguas Calientes, the village that resembles Zermatt and is typically reached by most tourists using the train from Cusco. The hike was beautiful and we had found a really nice hotel room to leave our dogs while we made our way up to Machu Picchu early morning. The recent unrests in Peru had led to travel warnings and thus most tour operators were not operating, resulting in a unique experience for us. First we were able to get tickets for Machu Picchu just a couple of days before arriving and then we were able to visit the whole site by ourselves in the lifting morning fog, making the whole experience even more mysterious. We also decided to hike up to the steep mountain of Machu Picchu which offers an amazing view of the site and the surrounding mountains from 650m above. We enjoyed the place so much that we decided to stay another night and only hike out the next day.
The road to Cusco led through Ollantaytambo where we ate our first Cuy (guinea pig, a famous dish in this area) and soon we found an amazing spot high above Cusco where we stayed a couple of days. Again taking advantage of the fact that there were fewer tourists than normal we enjoyed this colourful historic town with its markets and its great food.
The road brought us further south and high up into the mountains. Pitumarca was our next destination. A tiny village made up of some stone houses located at about 4000m and one of Peru’s climbing hot spots. The few villagers live a simple and hard life, have hundreds of alpacas and grow delicious potatoes. On our first afternoon on the only flat space in the village someone knocked at our door and invited Ulf to dance. Two women in their colourful dresses and two men with music celebrated something and enjoyed the presence of a gringo and his fancy dance moves. Pitumarca is very special, everyone not from the village is considered a “gringo” - we met a local climber coming from Cusco and he was being considered a gringo as well. Every morning and evening our truck was surrounded by hundreds of alpacas and whenever we went to the cliffs nearby the curious animals looked at us and our dogs.
Climbing at this altitude can make you really tired and sleeping is much less of a recovery than at lower altitudes. We met a German couple that also stayed for quite a while in the only room for rent and everyone was making use of our Starlink in this otherwise isolated village. One morning we woke up to 30cm of fresh snow and Berna was really worried about the alpacas getting cold… Only once we bought an alpaca blanket Berna understood how they can lay in the snow or on the frozen creek. From time to time we made our way down to Pitumarca for some shopping. We enjoyed the Chicha Morada (a traditional drink made from red corn and fruits) and the delicious potatoes. On another rest day we decided to head to a hot spring that was like 50km away with our German friends. We hiked down into the valley, took the mini bus full of locals with all their luggage, sheep and chicken and dressed in their beautiful traditional clothes, eating corn and cheese out of their handkerchiefs to the next town and a taxi to the hot spring. Blue eyed and blond, Ulf was the biggest entertainment in the van for the locals. The advantage of the taxi was that it didn’t play the quite strange local music that was played on the mini buses at high volume. Actually these songs in Quechua reminded us more of some Chinese music than anything you would expect in Peru. We tried to Shazam some of the songs but the app failed completely :-).
The hot spring was quite impressive. Located at over 4000m there were outside pools of different temperature but most interestingly were the saunas. They were heated by almost boiling water passing under the wooden floor on which all sorts of herbs were placed. Due to the altitude it was really quite hard to breathe but all of us felt really good but also super hungry after this experience. For once we found it quite hard to find decent food as the whole region was famous for cuy (guinea pig) and not much else was on offer, especially for our vegetarian friend. A rest day definitely should look different than this and we all fell tired in our beds once back in the village.
We climbed some more, made a few nice hikes but after three weeks it was time to move on. Another long hike to one of the colourful Peruvian mountains was on our list, completely remote and not a soul in sight.
We continued through the highlands, passed burned down toll booths and remnants of road blocks (reminders of the recent riots) and reached another magical destination, lake Titicaca in Puno. The picture was the same with almost no tourists, just the view of the dark blue lake with its floating islands and the Bolivian snow covered mountains in the background. We could sit hours there and take in the view, watching the passing alpacas, lamas and the waving locals.
Peru granted us a stay of 90 days, by far not enough to experience this vast country and at the time of our visit there was no official way to extend. So we tried our luck at the border to Bolivia. We arrived at the border and tried to figure out if we could go back to Peru because it was a very big country and we had a lot to do. One of the officers said yes and we walked to Bolivia on the shores of lake Titicaca. A short discussion with an officer on the Peruvian side and she suggested that we go to Bolivia, stamp in and out there and come back. We left Rouletout in Peru and walked into Bolivia where the whole process took a bit longer than anticipated as the computer systems do not process entry and exit on the same day but a friendly officer promised us to finish his job the next day and sent us back to Peru only to find out that the officer we previously talked to went home for lunch. The new one now on duty was less inclined to just give us a new period and it took a lot of convincing and begging until he gave us another 60 days. We were happy and in full action mode because we had to cover a lot of kilometres very quickly to do just half of what we wanted to do. Huaraz and its mountains were waiting for us. We took small roads through incredible mountains, passed high altitude lakes full of flamingos and headed towards Arequipa and from there down to the coast where it is much easier to make progress.
We stopped in Nazca where we met up with Rafa and Corina from Switzerland again for a night to drink more Aperol Spritz and exchange travel stories. Of course we took the famous flight on a small plane to see the Nazca lines - countless huge figures left by an earlier civilisation and best seen from high above. It was quite a challenge for the stomach but definitely worth seeing, really a puzzle for what purpose and how this was done ages ago.
Further north along the coast we took a small detour to drive the loop through the desert of the Paracas national reserve where we enjoyed remote beaches and wild sections of roads (and off roads) to end up in Lima again. We stayed again at Javier’s place at the beach, this time it was typical Lima weather, grey and foggy and for once we really didn’t want to go swimming in the wild ocean.
From Lima it was time again to drive back up into the mountains. By now we were used to the drop of Rouletout’s (and our) power at high altitude (at 4000m Rouletout looses at least 30% of its power). Soon we were up above 4000m and our next stop was Huayllay. An incredible stone forest and almost unexplored climbing area on a high altitude plateau. Just lamas, alpacas and a few curious locals joined us on our hikes to the climbing area. Unfortunately Ulf got sick up there and after a few days of easy climbing and relaxing we decided to go to lower elevation for a quicker recovery. We rested a bit in Huanuco and once recovered we made our way towards Hatun Machay, the climbing area we had explored earlier. Small roads through beautiful valleys and tiny villages with colourful festivals brought us closer to our destination where we met up again with our friends Adam and Rosella. The hikes and climbs above 4000m are slow and the body needs a lot of recovery but the scenery, the otherworldly rock formations and the clear skies make up for all the efforts. Nevertheless we had to move on, we had planned for a few hikes to more glacier lakes in the mountains around Huaraz. Mutlu and Posh enjoyed the smells, the snow and the cold waters but were also scared away by the strange noises of the alpacas when they decided to chase the dogs.
For a last time we followed the Cordillera Blanca north and dropped down into the lowlands and the coast. It was time to leave and we had thousands of kilometres ahead of us. We drove south along the coast, discovered a beautiful village with an unexplained archeological site (La Gramita) where we stayed a few days and enjoyed the local ceviche and then pushed on. You don’t see any green along this arid coast for a few exceptions when a river runs down from the Andes. At one of these oasis the locals grew olives, lots of olives and we were delighted to find such delicious olives and olive oils in this part of the world and stocked up as much as we could. The further south we came the more interesting the coast became, so we decided to go almost to the Chilean border before heading East. A last night on a beach with golden sand and once again it was time to climb up into the mountains with their impressive colours, snow capped peaks, lakes full of pink flamingos and pastures full of alpacas and lamas. Berna took hundreds of pictures in order to not forget these beauties. A few days later we reached the border at Kasani on lake Titicaca again and it was time to say goodbye to Peru, its alpacas and llamas, its snow capped mountains, its deserted beaches, its countless archeological sites, its incredible food and its diverse culture and friendly locals. Five months is not enough for Peru but the next country was waiting. As always more on that in our next blog entry. Thank you Peru!
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