Day 2.

We start this second day of our river rafting tour in Peru, at 6.30am, getting up and packing away our tent before breakfast.  For breakfast we get bread, porridge, fresh fruit, cereal and yoghurt – and I make an effort to eat as much as I can to give me strength for the day ahead!  We get going at around 8am, running a few ‘friendly’ level III rapids before meeting our first level IV.  I feel a little nervous about running it, but the guide explains exactly what to expect and how we will maneuvre the raft through and after that I feel excited.  We stop for lunch around 12.30, the guides serve a buffet on a beach by the river.  After this we all take an hour to relax in the sunshine before continuing.  In the afternoon we run a level V rapid.  Peru is such a beautiful country, I am so happy to be here!

This rafting trip is one of the best experiences on offer in Peru. It is 3 days of rafting on rapids between levels II to V on the River Apurimac near Cusco. The Apurimac is one of the top 10 rivers for white water in the world, and the section we run flows through a huge canyon offering spectacular scenery. Each night we camp by the side of the river on beaches, these places within the canyon can only be accessed by the river – there are no signs of people anywhere.  It is a true wilderness, a rare thing in the world today.

Day 1.
We meet to leave Cusco at 8.30am. The journey to the ‘put in’ is around 4 hours, first by road then by dirt track, and we stop in the town of Izcuchaca on the way to pick up supplies. On the way we will also get some amazing views of the deep valley the river flows through, and the surrounding mountains.

“Last week it was confirmed that Peru Rail will be running the route from Km82 to Machu Picchu Pueblo as normal from April 1st. Work on the train tracks – which suffered serious damage due to heavy rain falls and mudslides during the last week of January this year – will be continuing throughout February and March in order to meet this deadline. However, once the line is open services will be running with a lower capacity than normal – we are expecting train services to transport just 1,000 passengers per day as opposed to the normal 2,500 daily passengers. This reduced capacity is likely to cause some problems due to the already large list of people who were unable to travel to Machu Picchu in February and March and as such have rescheduled their trips for April and May. It is important that clients understand that all services to Machu Picchu during April and May are likely to be very busy and/or fully booked. One solution will be to operate more car tours to Machu Picchu in order to take the pressure off the train services. Priority will be given to those passengers whose tour reservations are already confirmed.
Looking further ahead, we expect train services to be running as normal from Ollantaytambo by May and from Cusco itself by June.”

Prolonged periods of serious rain have led to severe flooding and landslides in the province of Cusco. Although much of the press has been focused on Machu Picchu, other low lying areas as the Sacred Valley area have also been affected. The city of Cusco is operating as normal – virtually no damage was suffered within the city. All flights to Cusco are operating and most road links too. Key damages in the surrounding areas include all road and rail links with Aguas Calientes, which left 2,000 tourists stranded in the town. All tourists have now been evacuated safely, but Machu Picchu remains accessible only by helicopter. Therefore all train excursions and treks to Machu Picchu are closed until further notice. The Inca Trail will not be open until 1st March at the earliest, and all other tours and treks will open once a transport link between Cusco and Aguas Calientes is established. Please not that all other tours – independent of Machu Picchu – are running as usual.

DOS MANOS takes you to a unique folkloric festival, high up in the Andean Montains, in the small village of Paucartambo, in the south east of Peru.  Paucartambo means: flowered tavern.
During the month of July there are incredible sunrises in this area, well worth a visit.

But there is another reason to visit Paucartambo this month: on July 15th and 16th of July Paucartambo celebrates the festivities of La Virgen del Carmen, or  Mamacha Carmen. There is a great gathering which initiates this big festival on the plaza de Armas with music bands play and different choirs sing in Quechua. This way introducing beautiful choreographies which tell parts of Peru’s history.

AND LEARN HOW THE INCAS BUILT A BRIDGE!
This is an absolutely unique tour. The Q’eswachaka bridge is located across the Apurimac river, at about 13.000 feet, in Canas province. This imponent bridge spans 120 feet, and is rebuilt every one or two years as communal effort by all the local indians of the region. About 700 men and women form the communities Huinchiri, Ccollana come to Q’eswachaka to the Festival of the Construction of the Bridge. The weaving and construction techniques have passed from generation to generation since the bridge was first built by the Incas, probably in the 15th century. Impressive scenery, unique possibility to be inmersed in local Peruvian culture.

Unique opportunity to learn about the Inca people in amazing scenery in the Ausangate region (Cusco)

DOS MANOS PERU offers this unique three day trip for all people really interested in Peruvian culture. “Quylloriti” is a quechua word and means “Snowstar” or “Shining Snow.” This is an old religious procession, a pilgrimage, only practiced by the inhabitants of the big Andes. The ritual, associated with the fertility of the land and the worship of Apus (the spirits of the mountains), forms part of the greatest festival of native Indian nations in the hemisphere.

Every year all the small village or clans of this zone send a delegation with colorful dancers and “pauluchas” to the Capilla del Senor Qoylloriti, situated at the foot of the mountain Sinakara, at 4600 meters above sea level, at approx. 300 kilometers from the city of Cusco. Qoylluriti is an important manifestation of religiosity in the Andes where you can observe the he blending of Spanish and Indigenous elements  (the Apus or “mountain-gods” and the crosses).

After our first “lazy” day in Cusco, having drunk lots of “mate de coca” (coca tea) in order to prevent the “soroche” or altitude illness from hitting us, we were ready for our first excursion in the Cusco region: the Sacred Valley of the Incas. We had bought some notebooks and pens at a local store in Cusco so that we could hand them out to the kids that we would meet along the way. In fact, at our first stop along the road somewhere outside Cusco, children dressed up in traditional clothing were already waiting for us.

The kids try to draw the tourist’s attention with their colourful costumes in order to earn some soles in exchange for having a picture taken with them, while their parents sell handicrafts or clothing. You will come across many small markets along the route of the Sacred Valley, some only consisting of a few plaids on the side of the road with all kinds of craft products; others more “ structured” in the hope to attract big groups of tourists.

Whenever one thinks of the mountains, they either think of something majestic, mysterious and tremendous in terms of sites, nature and esthetic impressions or they just grin reminiscent of a sweat-abundant and strenuous walk they would rather avoid. For me mountains were like this, a nice but a rather tiresome place to hike for a day or two. Well, people change. Opinions change. Now that I live in Peru I cannot imagine living far away from these outstanding artifacts of nature. Whenever possible, I set off for a weekend-hike to discover new places “off the beaten track” around Cusco.

After a few days enjoying Cusco and its surroundings, we were ready to see one of the world’s most impressive cultural sites: Machu Picchu. Early in the morning we took the backpacker’s train from Cusco to Aguas Calientes, a small town, full of hotels and restaurants, and famous for its hot baths. We had planned to go to Machu Picchu the next day, so on this first day in town, we walked around the village and visited the baths. As my purpose was to sunbathe and not to have a swim, the mosquitoes found pleasure in my pale skin. A tip for all visitors: put on anti- repellent, and loads of it!!.

But my itching legs could not retain my excitement for our journey to Machu Picchu. The bus ride, uphill to a height of about 2.350 meters above sea level, takes about 30 minutes. It is recommendable to take the bus early in the morning, in order to arrive at the site as early as possible, around 6.00 or 6.30 am. As our official tour was going to start at around 8.30, we had some time to discover the place on our own. We decided to get the tickets for the hike to Huayna Picchu (“young peak” in quechua, as opposed to old peak / Machu Picchu), for which there are only a limited number (400) per day given out.