Already 2 months...

Here we go, today is the second month of our trip. We don´t know yet how we´ll celebrate it, but we are in a city having one of the best nightlife of Peru and it´s saturday, so...

Since last time, we went from Arequipa in Canyon del Colca. One of the deepest canyon of the world with 1200 from the bottom to the top. To appreciate it fully, we went for a 3-day trek. From 3500m to 1300m, sleeping in the valley where villages are 5 hours away from any road... After spending to much time enjoying the wonderfull views of the canyon, we got a bit late and had to do the last part of the first day by night. Well, it turned out that the moon, even with a cloudy sky was of a greater help than our night lights (it´s funny not to always know where we put our feet, it adds a bit of risk to our adventure :). The day after, we reached a village full of natural swimming pools where we enjoyed resting before starting the long long way up to our bed for the night. People on the way have been all very nice with us. We are still appreciating the kindness of the Peruvians. nd last, but not least, we enjoyed the next morning the peaceful and impressive Cruz del Condor mirador, where we saw massive condors (as large as 2.8m) flying over our heads and following the moutain streams to get higher in the sky.

But as if we were not even exhausted after this trek, we took the same evening a night bus to Nasza. After a tough sleep (I love babies, but I won´t tell you the morbid ideas that come into my mind sometimes...), we found ourselves in this city at 6am with 3 guys screaming at the same time, suggesting us (well, they call that suggestions!!) to use their company to fly over the mysterious Nazca Lines. These represents very large shapes, from an astronaut to a condor. They still remains a secret for most scientists: how did the Nascas to build so huge and perfect figures only observable from... the sky! So we flew over them in a small Cessna. But another question is raising out of my mind... where is coming from this magic there? Indeed, the first thing Amance told me when getting out of this tiny little plane was:
¨It was awesome. And I don´t know why, but I felt like I wanted to jump out of the plane during all the trip".
What!!!!? You justed needed to be in a small plane to feel that? You couldn´t have done that before so that I hadn´t lost so much energy to convince you!!?
At 11am, we headed straight to Ica, or to his close neightbourhood: Huacachinna, an Oasis surrounded by huge dunes, filled of sandboarders. And I eventually got reassured. After having met so many Israliens in Patagonia and no one since, we eventually found them back!
A night there to enjoy the swimming pool of the hostel and a micro-trek at the top of a dune, and we were already going to Lima. This was the first big change of scene since we arrived in Peru. The capital reminded us the streets of Shangai, with small stores everywhere, a amazing mess in the streets, with cars honking all over the place and a .5 probability to arrive safely at destination by cab. Taken in this fast moving stream since we are in Peru and also following a tight schedule (we need to be in Brazil in a month and half, from where I´ll go to Israel for 2 weeks), we just stayed a day and a half in Lima. We cannot do everything, which in a way is a good thing in that trip. We realize that we´ll have to come back here later!

And after waking up at 3.45am (absolute record so far), we took a flight to Cusco (ancient capital of the Inkas, 3500m high) . This city is really cute, with is colonial architecture everywhere, from the main plaza to the small and charmful pedestrian streets. It is also the Peru nightlife capital. After having danced salsa all friday night, we are very curious to see what´s going to happen tonight...!

Tomorrow, new destination: Machu Picchu that we´ll deserved after the 4 days trek to get there! So, in the middle of the pampa for 4 days, does anyone have any idea of how to communicate us the results of the elections??

¡¡Hasta prompto para las nuevas aventuras!!
Matias

Nous voila donc au Perou…Comme on avait deja pu vous le signifier, nous avons franchi une frontiere, mais aussi tout un monde, tant le contraste avec le Chili est saisissant!!

Apres quelques jours dans le ville coloniale d’Arequipa, pleine de caractere, nous sommes partis pour le canyon de Colca, un des plus profonds, si ce n‘est le plus profond, au monde. La question est toujours sujette a debat…La vallee qui y mene s’est ouverte a nous telle un manuel de geographie, ou le bouquin de Yann Arthus Bertrand (mais vu du sol): cultures en terrasses, monts abruptes et verdoyants, autochtones en costumes traditionnels, majestueux vols de condors (moi qui croyait qu’ils etaient en voie d’extinction, ils sont au moins aussi communs et nombreux que les pigeons sur la place des Terreaux!!! Ceci dit il y a carrement plus a manger que sur un pigeon…A considerer pour la volaille de Noel prochain…). La descente dans le Canyon s’est averee splendide, la nuit passee au fond du Canyon dans un village approvisionne par des anes nous a confirme une nouvelle fois la relativite du temps. A noter ceci dit que chaque conducteur d’ane a son “ane-radio” portable crachant du reggaeton a plein volume!! La remontee fut eprouvante malgre une bonne performance, saluee humblement par les locaux, qui nous ont cependant avoue qu’ils bouclaient la meme ascension en une heure de moins…Ca calme…

Nous avons ensuite fait route pour Lima avec une petite halte a Nazca, le temps de prendre un Cessna et d’admirer les geoglyphes qu’a pu nous laisser la mysterieuse civilisation Nasca, avant d’etre fondue dans l’empire Inca. Il s’agirait d’une cartographie celeste a grande echelle, si magique vue d’avion, les sensations aidant dans notre boite a oeuf volante!! Apres une derniere escale a Huacachina, petit oasis entoure de dunes geantes, soit un des temples mondiaux du surf des sables, nous arrivons a Lima. Sans dire ouvertement que c’est le foutoir integral, qu’est-ce que cette capitale peut paraitre Latina!! Malgre son “smog” quasi permanent, l’activite et le trafic de la ville sont impressionnants, ses musees riches en enseignements pour comprendre le passe mais aussi l’actualite des 20 dernieres annees du pays, exactions du sentier lumineux oblige…

Nous vous ecrivons actuellement de Cuzco, ancienne capitale Inca. Ses rues pavees, ses pentes, ses eglises coloniales, ses UV et son manque d’oxygene!!! Le temps de s’adapater a l’altitude, qui peut avoir l’effet d’un gros petard (jamais je n’ai autant ri dans une creperie…) ou d’un bon gros coup de massue, nous avons retrouve le “fantome” de notre voyage, on ne vous la presente plus: The Ball!!! Ici pour donner de son temps a un projet d’encadrement d’enfants peruviens, notre dorenavant accolyte d’aventure nous a offert le privilege d’un apres-midi en compagnie de sa troupe. Un grand bol de spontaneite, de rires et de souvenirs d’ecole. Il y a fort heureusement des evenements qui ne sont pas couverts par notre appareil photo, mais les images de cet apres midi nous resteront.

Demain, c’est le grand depart pour le Macchu Picchu, un des incontournables de notre periple, meme si nous sommes tres loins d’etre les seuls sur le coup cette fois-ci!!!

Hasta luego!!
Amancio