Ancient city of Chan-Chan, The Andes and a fortress at 3 KM, The Amazons, and Swimming with Pink Dolphins

Peru with VegiVentures tour 2 Amaru 19 days during September 2003. Page created: 19-10-03, Updated 16/09/09, 14/09/09

Note:- Most of the pictures are larger than you see them

Alison's Pictures More pictures http://groups.msn.com/alisonatlargewithcamera    David's Pictures

More photos

The stay in the wonderful old colonel hotel in Lima was most enjoyable.


Unfortunately the weather was uncharacteristically poor. The mirror of our uncharacteristic heat in Europe, put down to climate change. Apparently people, who generally don't have heating are dying of cold in Cusco. + Market in Huanchaco.

Dinner at Huanchaco.
The stay in Huanchaco was a friendly family run hotel, and we eat at another family business. A feature of this holiday was the use of small local business, so therefore more of the money we spent presumably stayed in Peru - that seems quite good eco tourism, but with all the air miles eco tourism could not really be claimed.

 
Moche Moon temple at one time            Michael showing us the Moche Sun Temple
contained 10 million tons of gold
  
Touched up section of wall.              
     
Back outside - Humming Bird

Behind one painted wall was another older painted wall and behind.......
 
Picture from  http://www.peru.org.pe City of chan-chan (unfortunately photos did not come out very well)

       
Dig down and spring water surfaces   The wall is earthquake proof having trapezoid shape mud bricks with the short side on top. - The things that look like loudspeakers amplify naturally when faced and spoken at.

Chan-Chan and arround - ancent city 22 mile long, 3,000 years old Mix of modern concreate, tarmac, and traditional mud brick (adobe)

 
Some more photos taken by David. more of David's Pictures
 
 
                                                          Trujillo  - spanish influence

4) The city of Chan-Chan is a mixture of old and modern with people living in mud brick or fired brick houses has temple with gold painted walls and natural sound amplification Michael's Peruvian wife was so well informed amateur archaeologist. Michael previously talked us around the Sun & Moon Temples, these temples have layers of painted walls, I took more photos those days.

 
Crossing the Andes, lots of rice grown, on the way to Chachapoyas

Chachapoyas - Warriors of the clouds
 
Huachos (pronounced wankers) - Andes test walk about above 2,500M above sea level to see how we do.

On the way to Kuelap - Paddy fields - Fortress at 3 KM above sea level
   
 
Short easy looking walk to Kuelap was breathtaking due to the high altitude.


Entrance                    On top (inside)                                                         Little chap on a door pillar
 

Crossing the Andes with all the patterns in the rocks chunky in stile like peruvian art, was wonderful (I think Oda thought this connection a silly idea). Kuelap at 3 KM, an almost invulnerable fortress, but for its Achilles heal just sit around outside until there food and water runs out. At Chachapoyas seeing fair skinned Peruvians was interesting - it is possible that these people are ancestors of Vikings? remember Konteki. The journey was as we could see was through bandit country.

   
Water Fall                                                                                                      Pond After the Waterfall
 
White Water Rafting

The actual white water rafting thanks to Alison for taking these photos..

Hospitality  (from the hammock) - Food - Taxi service
 
Shoes Polished - Type a letter - Change Money - Buy a Newspaper - Fly to Iquitos by Leonov Antnov 24RV (Areocontinental let us down so we did not fly BOEING)

The hospitality at Tarapoto was just wonderful. We had opportunities to swim here and on the way, the power shower in the Waterfall and the White Water rafting was probably the best of all. Could this holiday get better? We then went to the Amazons Region 4 minutes from the equator.

 
Amazon from outside The Real Hotel Iquitos
 
 Buses & Taxis in Iquitos

Texan Bar (there is a good story here) Bar waiter & waitress

    zoom
Isn't it big - the Amazon - Rowing the bananas 70 miles to Iquitos - Down stream fishing on the Amazon

Stick Insect Muyuna lodge                               Enormous termite mound at Octavia's feet

Muyuna is participating in the World Travel Mart on November 10-13rd, 2003.  You can find us in the LA 1035 booth, with or without appointment. Phone:  (51-65) 24-2858, 163 Putumayo St., Main floor, Iquitos, Perú, www.muyuna.com

 
Along the river - Football in a village next to the Amazon

A Village 70 miles down the Amazon from Iquitos near where we stayed. The women are sitting on a floating log, so how do they manage not to fall in the water? No beads for sale they just liked visitors.

   
Monkey up a tree
 
Upstream from Muyuna Lodge               Water Lettus floats down stream

7) The Amazons, 70-80 miles from Iquitos the People are still living in a place like Eden where they wake play and work from 5:30AM to 6:30PM, have medicine for everything. It seemed that we should not have gone there bring are poorer western ways with us.


Muyuna Lodge -  Trees all around - last picture of Victor at the Lodge taken by David.

The lads at http://www.muyuna.com/ Lodge looked after us well, the wildlife was astonishing, birds, spiders, monkeys, leaf cutter ants.

Sharman's assistant with Amelia               Rice and Bananas for lunch after ayahuasca

Its said that Radio has better pictures but peruvians have ayahuasca and these pictures can be vivid 3D patterns trees with moving colour dots on them become green patterned snakes sliding over each other, become orange ants moving in horizontally and vertically, side by side in opposite directions. The snakes slid horizontally. The pictures return to patterns joined by fine straight filaments starting at the corners of the image square with an imaginary origin at the centre of the picture. The choice of white ayahuasca administered by Amelia Oda's friend made the environment safe. Amelia stayed with us for meals until mid day or so the next day. DOS Program Patterns Alternatively Try this

Swimming in the Amazon with Pink Dolphins photos taken by Alison.
Chinese Restaurant in Iquitos before we visited the Market (photo Alison)

Market Iquitos                      Victor holding piece of Ayahuasca vine

David's tattoos were popular with the children.


Iquitos Muyuna Lodge lads chaperoned us through a market in a poorer district, and a floating raft on a river. This was good and made best use of the time available before our flight to Lima, unfortunately flights to Iquitos had been messed up by the airline but Oda was able to negotiate the best for us.

During the evening in Lima Oda provided an opportunity for us to analyse the holiday. This was a good opportunity to feedback consequently my comment form would just say - do the holiday again.

Alison's pictures above illustrate drinking beer etc. but we choose not eat meat.

Oda suggested that Peruvians would not understand us eating vegetables, and drinking beer etc., particularly the brown rice and chick peas one day and nothing at all the next before the Ayahuasca Experience. I uniquely got a vegan meal on the internal flights booked by JLA in Peru (I had specified vegan meal be put on the invoice at the time of paying for the flights).


Alison & Oda around the pool, picture of Oda & Ameila by Alsion, Back home Autumn tints were very good this year

My first meeting with the VegiVentures Peru Leader Oda, was like meeting a good friend. Oda worked hard to ensure are holiday was safe and good. She seemed to manage our Vegan and Vegetarian needs where that should not have been possible. Finally the best bit must be swimming with Pink Dolphin's (don't pee in the Amazon because of catfish), the visit to the little village which really was not geared to tourism but the people liked to see visitors, it has a foot ball pitch and beer. Seeing kingfishers, parrots, dusky titi monkeys, larger raptors like the turkey vultures and the rare King Vulture

Thanks for your various parts in my wonderful holiday in Northern Peru, and Alison Panton and David Webb for there photos.


Past Vegi Ventures - St. Davids at Christmas (Ist picture dad took before I discovered Vegi Ventures for myself) Pen Rhiw

Centre for Alternative Technology (Eco Cabin)

Present Vegi Ventures - Croydon Hall at Christmas.

        
Turkey Autumn 2001 - Yova (4) - Kabak (2) - Road between Kabak, Yova & Oludeniz (3) with Atila (Nigel's Partner) and Emily - Walk - Paragliding at Oludeniz - Fettia (2) - The Village we stayed at for one night, carpet weaving at that village (2).

Here is an except of the email I received 5 weeks before the holiday from Nigel Walker telling me about:- the following tour, led by VegiVentures' tour manager and anthropologist Oda Seedhouse:
Tour 2 'Amaru', 13 September - 1 October 2003

Lima - Trujillo - Chan Chan - Chachapoyas - Kuelap - Tarapoto - Iquitos - The Amazon.
A journey well off the beaten track, to northern Peru and the Amazon basin. From Lima we fly to
Trujillo, Peru's northern capital, and stay for 3 nights in the beautiful beach resort of Huanchaco. There is time to relax by the sea, and visit the largest adobe pyramids in the Americas, sacred sites of the Mochica culture. And we visit Chan Chan, capital of the Chimu Empire, one of the most impressive archaeological complexes of Pre-Inkan civilisation, well preserved by the dry desert climate. Our drive from Trujillo to Chachapoyas is one of the most scenic in Peru, leading us through mountains covered with carob trees, lush rice fields and deep canyons. Here we visit the dramatic ancient ruins of Kuelap, fortress city of the Chachapoyas, the 'warriors of the clouds'. Then on to Tarapoto, where we stay at the friendly, family run Hostal El Mirador, with beautiful views over Tarapoto and the jungle covered mountains, our base for 4 nights. Here we have the opportunity to rest, acclimatise to the jungle, and experience shamanic jungle medicine at the Takiwasi Centre. From Tarapoto we take a flight to Iquitos, the largest and most exciting of Peru's jungle towns. This is our departure point for a 3-night jungle experience, staying in thatched dwellings at Muyuna Lodge, on the Yanayacu River 120km to the south-west. Here we explore the rainforest, observe the wildlife, swim from sandy beaches and visit an indigenous village. We return to Iquitos for one night, before our flight back to Lima.


And a snippet of my immediate reply:-

I'm interested but will have to check with work doctor for inoculations
etc. Please advise air line it's price etc., visa's? I have a US
indefinite on an old passport. I will also need cash do I get that
before I go or better bought in Peru?