27.11.08

Cabanaconde - Colca Canyon

Far south in Peru, near Bolivia,there is the Colca Canyon, which is claimed to be the deepest Canyon(about 1300m deep), twice as deep as the Grand Canyon.

In order to view the Colca Canyon, I went to the small town Cabanaconde(3287m), usually the people just come here for a day, but I stayed here for 3nights, mainly attracted by its tranquility.

The folding of the mountain range creates the Colca Canyon.

Condors searching for food during lunch time in Colca Canyon.




Oasis deep down the canyon.


No matter how small a town is, they still have a BIG church.




The incredible magic hour in Cabanaconde. At first, it was yellow.


Gradually changed to orange red.


Purple...


Finally deep orange.


Every city or region of Peru has their own kinds of indigenous people. They have their own traditional costume and habits. I found the costume of women who are living in the Colca Canyan district is by far the most fancy and the details are the most complicated.

Indigenous women express themselves in their beautiful costume.










Machu Picchu

The first string of sunshine which reached Machu Picchu.

Sunshine finally reached the ruins before I left.

Machu Picchu (means old mountain) has already become the symbol of Peru. Before I went there, when I was studying in Ecuador, whenever I told the local people like my teachers and my homestay families that I was going to Peru. They would respond," Machu Picchu?"

Undoubtably, Machu Picchu is famous all over the world. But judging Peru by Machu Picchu is really unfair. Though Machu Picchu is really amazing in human history and the whole site is so massive and incredible, it didn't carve importantly in my mind. Maybe because of the weather (cloudy in the morning), the unreasonable price or the crowd (1000 tourists per day in low season and 2000 per day in high season) or my expectations......

The fame of Machu Pichu made me experience the unreasonable pricing in the site, the nearest town, Agua Caliente and the transportations connecting with it.

First, the entrance fee for foreigners is 122Soles (about 40USD), after that, I think the entrance fee (about 13USD) of Potala Palace in Tibet is comparativly cheaper, given that there are so many valuable jewellery inside and it is also the spiritual centre for Tibet.

Second, the train connected to the site is pricey, the cheapest return ticket is 73USD, while the most expensive one is 113USD. But it is just a 4hours ride and the scenery along is not super magnificent. Besides, tourists need to take the 30mins bus ride from Agua Caliente to Machu Picchu, which costs an extra 12USD for a return bus ticket.

The expensive Peru Rail

Third, if you want to walk there, says trekking on the Inca trail or other alternatives, which cost you at least 250USD or 150USD.

In order not to be wipe off by Machu Picchu, I chose to use 2 days to take the bus to Santa Maria, then Santa Teresa, then Hidroelectrica and finally walked 2.5hrs on the railway to Agua Caliente.

Walking on the rail.


By this way, even including the accomondation I needed, the cost is just around 35USD, which is half the price of the train. And I even bought my own food from Cusco, so I didn't bother to go to the pricey restaurants there (which are the prices of HK middle range or even expensive restaurants).

As everyone definitely will not miss Machu Picchu, so they can charge as much as they can.

Anyway, please enjoy my photos.

After climbing the super steep (some steps are 90 degree) Huayna Picchu(means the young mountain) for 1hour, we were rewarded with the overview of the Machu Picchu.

Just like lego.

The Intihuatana (hitching post of the sun).

The agriculture terraces.

Descending from the steep Huayna Picchu.

The llama is just like king kong who can destroy Machu Picchu as its will.

Or the llama can eat the whole Machu Picchu just like crackers.

I didn't do anything to attract the llamas come to this perfect spot for photos, they just came here naturally to enjoy the supereme view of Machu Picchu.

Besides the tons of mosquitoes, this little resident show his face to us.

Gateway to Machu Picchu - Cusco

Day and night of the magical Cusco.



Except serving as a gateway to Machu Picchu, Cusco(3310m) in itself is also very interesting and beautiful. As it was the capital of the former Inca empire, the whole region also preserve many ruins of for people to explore.

The Cathedral and the circle rainbow above Plaza de Armas.

Soldiers were guarding on the street during the opening ceremony of the Tourist Festival.

Performing Peruvian kids.

Little soldier.

Doctor with Pink sunglasses!

Who are you?

Cute little bee.

Which one is more attractive? The sun flower or the little fairy?


Hey little man, you look so serious.

Traditional costume of Cusco.

Though Cusco is very beautiful, it is very touristic also. While I was taking a slow pace enjoying the atmosphere here, I was always bothered by people who were selling handicraft, clothes or even massage service.

The beautiful fountain in the Plaza.

Do you believe here is Peru?





Lima

Everyone told me Lima was ugly, dirty and no need to stay too long, especially the city centre. So for the first time I arrived, I chose to stay in Miraflores, a region which is 25mins away from the centre and much affluent.

As Miraflores is close to the Pacific Ocean, it is popular for Paragliding.



The romantic Parque del Amor, where couples kissing everywhere.



However Miraflores is too far away from the city centre and bus station, as a result I didn't visit the city centre for the first time. As I needed to go back Lima to take the flight after travelling in Bolivia, so I finally had chance to see the city centre when I arrived for the second time.

I went to the China town in Lima and went "yam cha" in a HONG KONG tea restaurant.

Interesting translations into spanish.

Wrong translation of the BBVA bank.

To be honest, though Lima is really dirty, because of the prolonged foggy weather and pollution, the colonial buildings are beautiful, especially the Plaza de Armas. So it still worth to spend a day or half here to explore the city centre.

The Peruvians are enjoying the rare sunshine in front of the Cathedral.


The super old fountains in Plaza de Armas,which was built in 1651.

Because of the coming APEC meeting in Lima, the government house was guarding heavily.

Plaza San Francisco in Sunset.