Colombia and Peru

After leaving the farm in Ecuador I spent time in the capital Quito and some of the other areas of the country such as Otavalo which has the biggest market in South America. There were lots of local women selling handmade crafts and clothes, plus an animal market where people were selling cows, sheep and pigs. There were also areas to buy live guinea pigs and putting them in sacks ready to eat

 From here I crossed the border into Colombia. To be honest I was reluctant to go to Colombia because of its reputation as being dangerous and full of drugs, gangland killings and guerillas but it turned out to be one of the best countries that I have been to. The scenery was amazing, the people were really friendly and helpful and the towns had so much to do. 

I took the bus from the border to the town of Popayan and there met people in the hostel that I travelled with throughout most of my time in Colombia. We went cycling around the countryside and from there took the bus to San Augustin. This place is famous for having lots of statues from the civilisation before the Incas. A local guy offered to take us around on his horses so we spent the day riding through the jungle hunting for the lost statues and found over 100, all representing different things, including images of different Gods and animals that were also found in Africa and Asia, possibly showing that there was contact between the different continents thousands of years ago. 

 

Our guide Jerry

From San Augustin we went to San Cipriano near the coast, despite travel warnings on that area, because we had heard that there was a train line that sounded interesting. On the old disused railway tracks the locals had found a way to keep it running as it was the only way to reach the village in the middle of the jungle. They had small wooden platforms with skateboard wheels on and attached a motorbike to it with the back wheel on the rail. We sat on it and went through the jungle so fast we could only see the trees going past in a blur! It felt like it was going to come off the rails any minute, especially over the bridges! 

        

We made it to the villlage in the jungle and spent a lot of time swimming in the rivers and waterfalls. 

After our return along the railway we went to the coffee growing region up in the mountains and hiked to find the valley where the tallest palm trees in the world grow. When we finally found them they were incredible and definitely worth the journey. 

After that I went alone to a town called Guatape where every house was covered in murals and near to it was a giant rock creatively called 'El Peñol' (The Rock). It had 740 steps to the top and from there the view of the surrounding lakes were amazing! 

                        

    

From there it was over to the regional capital Medellin, until recently the most dangerous city in the world as a result of the cocaine trade. It was a great city with lots of parks and buildings that were good to relax in. 

In a little town called Jardin fairly nearby I met up with some friends that I had met on other parts of my trip. We were there to see a local music festival where there was a lot of traditional dancing from different regions of Colombia. 

They were volunteering on a farm nearby so I decided to go back with them for a couple of days but ended up staying with them for over a week, working on the land in the mornings and then doing Spanish lessons and also teaching at the local college in the afternoons. We spent any free time in the village chatting to the locals to improve our Spanish, playing poker and hiking in the hills. 

The farm in Colombia

I finally had to leave to meet up with other friends in Lima, the capital of Peru. This meant a series of bus journeys through most of Colombia, back through all of Ecuador and then over half of Peru - over 2500 miles, along the way bumping into people I had met last time I was in Quito and spending a few days with them seeing more of Ecuador.

I met up with my friends and we left Lima as soon as possible! I was excited to go there as a result of a project about Lima when I was in primary school and since then have always wanted to visit. Unfortunately it was a terrible, unfriendly and grey city that we couldn't wait to get out of! 

The crypt underneath the cathedral in the centre if Lima

We travelled down the coast to the Ballestos Islands where we went out on a boat and saw sea lions, pelicans and thousands of birds nesting. 

That afternoon we went into the desert and spent the day dune buggying and sand boarding, reaching amazing speeds laying down on the boards headfirst. In the evening we camped in the desert, cooking on the campfire, drinking local spirit and camping under the stars. 

From the desert we went further inland to the town of Nazca. This area receives only 1 hour of rainfall per year and is so dry and dusty. During the day the heat is unbearable, made worse by the freezing temperatures in the night! We were there to see the famous Nazca lines which has always been an ambition for me. They were created by the pre-Incan civilisation 2000 years ago and are a giant calendar to chart the stars and the seasons. They also have images of monkeys, hummingbirds and other animals that can only be seen from above, so we went to the local airport and hired a plane to take us up to see them. 

We took a bus from Nazca to Arequipa where we relaxed in the old city which is surrounded by active volcanoes that smoke constantly.

We took a trip into the Colca canyon which is the deepest canyon in the world, going down 4200 metres! We chilled out in the volcanic hot springs and watched the massive condors gliding on the thermals and the wild llamas and alpacas on the plains. 

After a couple of days resting we went to the town of Cuzco, the old capital of the Inca empire. It has amazing old buildings and Inca architecture. We were there for the biggest festival of the year where over a thousand people in costume danced and held a procession through the town and sacrificed a llama. 

Cuzco is the main starting point for the Inca trail to Machu Picchu so we set off with a guide, four porters and a chef which I felt was maybe a little excessive and possibly a bit colonial but they proved to be invaluable! We walked through the Andes mountains for four days crossing desert, jungle and narrow mountain passes. 

Our porters, guide and chef

At the top of the highest pass on the trail

We came across a string of Inca forts, towns and villages that had been discovered after Machu Picchu which were great to explore. 

After four days of hard walking, struggling with the altitude and camping in freezing temperatures we arrived at Machu Picchu at dawn and had the place to ourselves to look around. The site was amazing and the workmanship was incredible. 

Reaching Machu Picchu at dawn. Look how happy our guide is!!!

We took the train back to Cuzco and spent a few days relaxing, now we are going to head to Lake Titicaca to see the reed islands and then into Bolivia. Hopefully after that I will get to Chile, Argentina and Brazil before I have to go home in August!