www.peruschallenge.com

The mountain range of the Andes in Peru is a breathtakingly beautiful destination; however, amongst the beauty, life for many Peruvians is tough. For this reason, Jane Gavel from NSW, Australia and Selvy Ugaz from Peru created the not-for-profit / charity organisation Peru’s Challenge volunteer and travel program. The program allows travellers to experience the beauty of Peru through tours while also volunteering in rural communities. This is a record of their experiences… enjoy!

The start of yet another Peru's challenge... the Camino Inka... in the rain!

We can’t believe we actually survived the 45km Inka Trek…  everyone bought ponchos and we rarely had them off the whole time … it rained so much.

This is Peru what can you do!

Latest fashion for the Andes

a brief break in the rain reveals Gordon camping on an Andes terrace

Just try and picture Sonia and Gordon … such well known camping aficionados in a two-man tent being bombarded by unbelievable rainy weather for 3 days straight… and still being happily married!

The Inca's certainly like heights!

I love to go a wandering...

The porters are amazing... running down the hills carrying huge packs and wearing sandals made from old car tyres.

 The porters carry 10 times what we carry… they have a race each year to see who can do the 45kms the fastest. The current record holder did the entire 4 day trek in less than 4 hours!

cacti in the Andes...who would have thought

There were eight in our group and we had 11 porters to carry our gear including tents, kitchen etc etc.

Looking back down the valley track along Dead Woman's Pass... nearly lived up to its name... this is one tough trek!

The meals were unreal… amazing what can be produced using a very small gas stove in the middle of nowhere. We certainly did not starve!

Tetsuya and Michael Manners eat your hearts out!

Every meal started with some kind of welcome warming soup  followed by rice, potatoes with chicken or fish… we even had french fries and cauliflower tempura one night…all very tasty.

There was also always a cup of coca tea or coffee to finish and boiling water poured into bottle to settle us for a warm bed.. oh I mean tent mat.

What was produced on this little stove by our camp chef was so amazing!

Day two was the most challenging. We had to walk about five kms up millions of steps and then down another million. 

Sonia actually needed oxygen at the top of the pass… over 4000 metres up… a bit of a scary moment but we got through it.

I can't believe we've walked all that way!

Even the smallest things along the way were fabulous

The third day was magic although again because of the rain and cloud we didn’t see much of the views.

the Inka trail in the rain can be atmospheric!

down we go... only 1,000,000 steps to go.

looking into the valley from Machu Picchu

The Inka Trek is not for everybody and you certainly have to focus on the journey… we are glad we did it but for us that is trekking done and ticked off the ‘bucket list’.

a priceless moment

At the end of the trek Gordon and I hired swimmers (mmmm noice, different, unusual and totally unfashionable!) and took in the waters at the Aguas Calientes spa… a rather smelly experience but good to have one’s body totally immersed in hot water after 4 days of no bath or shower!

the 'spa' is a series of 'pools' tapped from the river... and did the trick!

Last blog entry before we are home… camera stuffed… we survived Inka Trek… pics to follow… three days and nights of rain… still having therapy but got to see sunrise over Machu Picchu so worth the pain!

Home on weekend… thanks again for everyone who responded MUCH appreciated!

xx sonia and gordon…

…off to buy more shoes, shirts and souvenirs and NO CAMPING shops!!!

Snow capped Bolivian Mountains with a single and married local... I can tell by their knitted hats!

Taquile Island is another step back in time. We strolled the cliff tops gazing across to Bolivia and the Cordillera Real mountains covered in snow… quite magic and even a bit mystical.

Clifftop Taquile Island walk with Amantani Island… where we stayed… in background

An island of male knitters!

The men on the island knit hats and these are tied up with intricate courtship rituals that are hilarious…  you can tell who is married by their knitted hat… and married men also wear belts woven with their wife’s hair… everything they wear seems to have a significant meaning… as well as looking fabulous of course!

off into town

The Islanders are so colourful against the stark rocky landscape. I really was inspired by the whole Titicaca experience.

bowler hat decorated archway!

 

Sunday best?! or trawling for a partner!!

All fascinating and unique and worth the nine hour overnight bus ride back to Cusco after a long day of endless steps and cruising Lake Titi.

...only 500 plus steps back down to the boat!

Amantani welcome committee

We stayed with Almondo and Rebekah, their three children Lise, Judith and Ryan… and 92 year old grandma who lived in a small house right next door.

Grandma

Our hosts Lise, Judith and Ryan

The three kids were so affectionate and the family very hospitable.

The walk from the port to their house took about 40 minutes as it was so steep and with altitude thrown in… exhausting.

our house with a balcony and view over the front garden

our comfy first floor room

 The room was comfortable although I made sure Gordon slept with me as it was very cold… frost on the ground in the morning and the loo a good 20 metres from our upstairs room. There was no electricity but candlelight dinners are so romantic anyway.

Gordon does the flying poncho jig with Lise

Sonia and friends still auditioning for Jenny Craig!

In the evening it was dress ups again and grooving to the pan pipe band in the communal hall.

Each host family provided a simple lunch of beautiful qunioa soup followed by grilled cheese, rice and home grown potatoes all cooked … from scratch using simple utensils… on a fire in the corner of the kitchen. Dinner was similarly delicious and for breakfast we ate yummy pancakes.

We have just so much to be grateful for…

vista on way to Pumamarca

Kids tossing twigs tied with old cassette ribbon... over the power lines... who needs WiFi here!

local one room home

 

good luck bulls on rooftops

two reluctant young farm workers

 

graffitii and one of the ubiquitous dogs that roam Peru

Very overloaded donkeys off to the fields to work

Pumumarca school... blue buildings in the distance

we made it! one and a half hours later... the front gate of the school.

Just in time for planting onions!

Spending two days on this exquisite Lake Titicaca is a glimpse into the past pre Incan times.

We took a tour, yes! another organised tour, of about 40 people… and Gordon survived yet again… Is it becoming a habit?

The first day we boarded a small chugalug boat and popped in to see the Uros families who actually live on these floating reed islands.

A new set for Gilligans Island perhaps?

These are manmade really truly floating islands built by the locals to hide from the Incas.  Spending your whole life walking on spongy reeds would definitely be a weird experience.

reed home sweet reed home

The Uros welcome visitors and encouraged us to look into their reed huts and capture images of their lives.

Inside a wee reed home

They even dressed us in their costumes… yes I know its a very tourist thing, but we did stop at buying some reed real estate… and it was actually quite fun… probably a laugh for them as well… seeing gringos donning their garb. I felt a bit like a before shot for weight watchers or Jenny Craig!!!

You know how we LOVE to dress up!

After our short snack on a reed… tasted a bit like celery… we took a short  reed ferry ride to another reed island… and yep we did pay the reed ferry man!

The second reed island hosted a whole reed infrastructure… including a reed post office, reed passport stamping station, reed school, reed shops and a reed restaurant.  We bought some reed designed mats from some reed ladies to top off a reeding day.

reed ferry

Lake Titicaca is HUGE! It is the worlds highest lake, is up to 284 m deep and covers over 8500 square km.

Hope you make it here one reeding day!

striker Muir moves in...

The away team consisted of a handful of Americans students, a couple of Spanish, the odd English, some Aussies of course, and one Scottish bloke who, until the final score, would not declare his nationality.

The extremely talented locals took it as a training exercise for their upcoming 15 day competition… they were GOOD! … the away mob were certainly disadvantaged as the Americans has never seen a game played, let alone taken part in one.

There were some interesting moments and the not quite capacity… crowd of 20, enjoyed several goals from both sides, including a hat trick from star striker Gordon, who skilfully manoeuvred his magnificent shots through the defence of the two foot tall six year old goal keeper.

What a star!

These goals were by far the highlight… you could tell by the raging applause from the 99 year old bloke sitting on the side line… 

The crowd raged... man on right is 99!

Please remember we were 4000 plus metres above sea level where just walking makes you catch your breath, so all things considered we thoroughly deserved the win…

before...

Cute little fellows aren’t they!

Well it was only a matter of time before curiosity got the better of someone in the group, in this case it was Liz, the Aussie with a cast iron constitution.

and after...

Apparently cuy tastes like greasy chicken, duck, pork… you name it!

I think the pic says it all… YUK!

A kitchen view where the cooking class was held

Together we made a simple banquet for 12 people and for lunch dined on the following three dishes…

Quinoa potato and cheese soup

Aji de Gallina a chicken pecan spice dish

blender vanilla cake

Housemate Jamie at the stove.

There were some quite unusual  ingredients…

 We are hoping Jamie who speaks Spanish will be able to get the recipe translated so we can try to recreate them at home.

Housemate Elisa a choppin for the Aji de Gallina