CUENCA & RIOBAMBA: Shrunken heads

Before crossing the border we weren't really sure what to expect from Ecuador. Apart from the obvious (that it sits on the line between north and south), and the trivial (that its the world's biggest producer of bananas), we really didn't know too much.

Once we'd cleared immigration, the view from the bus changed rapidly from brown desert to lush green - plus flashes of yellow from all those bananas. Approaching Cuenca, a beautiful old colonial city, things seemed more prosperous than either Peru or Bolivia. There were lots of private cars on the roads - not just buses and taxis. There were even littter bins to keep the streets tidy, something we hadn't seen in months...

Cuenca is blessed with several old churches, leafy squares and cobbled streets - the Spaniards built the whole lot next to the old Inca capital, just to stress their domination. At the museum we were given an introduction to Ecuador's different indigenous people. They include the Shuar tribe who, until quite recently apparently, used to carry round the shrunken heads of vanquished enemies - several of them sat grinning in little display cabinets.

A rather less cruel form of torture was inflicted on us the next day - at the Banos steam baths. The thermal waters here are apparently the hottest in Ecuador. After enjoying ten minutes of warmth, a smiling lady came to throw buckets of cold water over us. Ten minutes later, with an even bigger grin, she ushered us out of our little wooden cabins to sit in an icy pool of water. After another ten minutes of steam, she returned once more, this time with a hose pipe. It was invigorating, to say the least.

From Cuenca we travelled north to Riobamba - planning to take a train ride through the mountains. Of course, it was only after we arrived that we found the track is under repair at the moment - so instead we took a ride by horseback. Although it was pretty cloudy on the mountain tops, the views were still spectacular. So far at least, Ecuador seems like a very green and pleasant place to be.

Moelgi'r Moche a Thrysorau'r Tywod

O bell maen nhw'n edrych fel bryniau o fwd. Serch hynny nid ffurfiannau naturiol yw'r rhein ond pyramidau gafodd eu creu cyn cyfnod yr Incas. Diwylliant y Moche oedd yn gyfrifol amdanyn nhw, ac fe addurnon nhw'r welydd a lluniau lliwgar o'u duwiau, corrynod anferth, a darluniau cosmic. Draw ym mhyramidau diweddarach pobl y Chimu yn Chan Chan, mae'r addurniadau yn llawn delweddau o'r lleuad, y mor a'i chreaduriaid.

Ond pe baech chi'n gobeithio gweld mummies yn y pyramidau ger Trujillo, byddech chi'n cael eich siomi. Cafodd unrhyw gyrff ac unrhywbeth gafodd eu claddu gyda nhw eu dwyn o'r beddrodau hyn flynyddoedd nol. Roedd pobl yr ardal hon yn gwybod yn iawn nad bryniau o fwd oedd yma.

Un lle oedd wedi twyllo'r bobl leol oedd Sipan, tu fas i Chiclayo. Dyma lle bu'r uchelwr, Senor de Sipan yn gorwedd yn ei feddrod am dros 1,800 o flynyddoedd - fe, ei wraig, ei ddwy concubine, dau warchodwr, dau llama, ci, digon o fwyd i'w borthi yn y byd nesaf, a digon o wisgoedd ac aur ac arian i'w gadw'n hapus hefyd.

O'i amgylch roedd 11 beddrod brenhinol arall, pob un yn llawn trysorau. A'r tro 'ma, yr archaeolegwyr gafodd ddod o hyd iddyn nhw. Cafodd y cyfan ei amddiffyn rhag dwylo blewog unrhyw ladron, gan bod El Nino a'r elfennau wedi erydu'r pyramidau i edrych yn union fel y bryniau naturiol o'u hamgylch.

Rhwng yr adfeilion, ynghanol yr anialwch, mae cwn arbennig yn byw. Cwn moel Peru - Viringo. Maen nhw wedi byw yn yr ardal yma ers cyfnod y pyramidau a'n dal i grwydro'r strydoedd. Mae rhai'n dywyll, ac eraill yn binc ac ambell un yn trotian heibio mor gloi, ei ben mor isel a'i gynffon rhwng ei goesau, fel pe bai yn cywilyddio ei fod yn noeth! Ond mae gallu ganddyn nhw i iachau... medden nhw...

'Falle na welwn ni ragor ohonyn nhw nawr, achos ry'n ni ar fin gadael Peru.

O'r diwedd ry'n ni wedi gadael cwmwl niwlog y garua ac wedi dod i'r lle mae'r cerrynt Humboldt yn cwrdd a'r cerrynt El Nino yn y mor. Mae'n hyfryd gweld y tonnau unwaith eto, heb unrhyw wylan i'w gweld yn unman. Yn lle hynny, mae heidiau o belicaniaid mawr yn hwylio heibio, a nifer o adar hugan (gannet) yn plymio fel bom i'r tonnau i bysgota....

Ecuador nesaf.

LIMA: El Infierno

In the end, it all comes down to Ryan Giggs. Wherever you are in the world, whatever team the taxi driver supports, you can always explain that you're Welsh with that name, thanks to the international language of football.

I'd been keen to go and see a match in South America since we arrived in April - but somehow we were never in the right place at the right time. Until we got to Lima. Few people actually look forward to coming here - it has a pretty bad reputation amongst backpackers for petty theft and pollution. True enough, a constant grey fug hangs over the city, and large menacing birds of prey swoop over its sea front. The biggest tourist attraction are the human skulls and bones on display in the catacooms of San Francisco monastary....

Enticing, eh?

Thankfully our hostel was in a nice part of town, and came complete with a friendly chocolate Labrador called Bingo. The owner was an even friendlier Peruvian called Pierro, whose gregariousness extended to getting us on the guest list for a gig at a nearby club on Saturday night. All was well, until we realised that the after-show party was also being held at the hostel, on the roof of our room.

But anyway, back to the football. Our date was with Alianza Lima - according to FIFA rankings officially the 248th best team in the world. Almost inevitably their stadium was in a bad bit of town that required an escort to come with us from the hostel. Our pre-match drink was in a caged bar with riot police in view. In the south stand, under a banner marked El Infierno, around six thousand hardcore fans spent the entire match bouncing, singing and pumping their fists, regardless of events on the pitch.

Which is just as well, as much of the actual game was a bit dull - a lot like watching Cardiff City on a cold wet Wednesday night in fact. After 79 minutes of wasted possession, substitute Juan Carlos Fernandez finally found the back of the net to give Alianza a 1-0 victory, and make the riot police's job a little easier that evening. And at the final whistle, we were safe to make our way back home to Bingo, and tell more taxi drivers about our friend Ryan Giggs.

Adar mawr, moch bach a merched pert

Do'n i erioed wedi meddwl y bydden i'n rhannu bws 'da oen, heb son am llama. A do'n i erioed wedi meddwl y bydden i'n bwyta bochdew chwaith. Yn eglwys gadeiriol Cusco, mae 'na lun o Iesu yn bwyta bochdew yn ei swper olaf. Mae e hefyd yn yfed, nid gwin, ond chicha. Mae Cuy yn bryd traddodiadol yn Peru, ac roedd Hywel yn edrych mlaen i'w flasu ers cyrraedd y wlad.

Yn Arequipa daeth ei gyfle. Daeth y creadur i'r ford yn ei gyfanrwydd, ei wyneb bach ffriedig a'i ddannedd miniog yn edrych bron fel cartwn. Yn ol Hywel, mae'r cuy yn blasu fel rhywbeth rhwng ffowlyn a physgod. Ar ol blasu tamaid bach fy hunan, sai'n bwriadu blasu rhagor.

Nid cuy ond merched crefyddol sy fel arfer yn denu ymwelwyr i Arequipa. Merch ifanc yw 'Juanita,' ond bu farw 500 mlynedd nol. Cafodd ei lladd ar gopa llosgfynydd lleol fel aberth i geisio plesio duwiau'r Inca. Ar ol i'w bedd rhewlifol gael ei ddarganfod ym 1995 mae hi bellach yn gorwedd mewn rhewgell hirsgwar yn nghanol y ddinas, ac mae ymwelwyr fel ni yn dod i syllu arni bob dydd. Os mai anfarwoli'r ferch hardd oedd bwriad yr Incas, anodd credu mai dyma beth oedd ganddyn nhw mewn golwg.

Merched crefyddol o fath gwahanol sydd wedi gwneud Monasterio Santa Catalina yn enwog. Ar un adeg, fe ddisgrifiodd y Pab y lleiandy fel clwb elite i fenywod. Penderfynodd Pab arall ddyrchafu un o'r chwiorydd yn Santes. Nawr, mae awyrgylch arbennig i'r safle, sy fwy fel dinas fach na lleiandy; a chyfle i fwynhau 'temtasiynau melys pechadurus' wedi'u paratoi gan y lleianod presennol....

Tu fas i Arequipa, negeseuwyr nefol yw'r atyniad. Roedd adar y condor yn sanctaidd i'r Inciaid, ac yn y Colca Canyon, un o geunentydd dyfna'r byd, mae nifer ohonyn nhw'n byw. Mae'r ceunant hefyd yn enwog am y terasau hynafol sy'n creu patrwm cylchog o'r tir. I gyrraedd yno, rhaid eistedd mewn sedd gyfyng ar fws gorlawn am bump awr gyda gwragedd mewn gwisgoedd traddodiadol pert yn cario eu llamas a'u hwyn adre gyda nhw yn eu breichiau!

Am ryw reswm, fe gerddodd Hywel a fi dros fil o fetrau lawr i waelod y ceunant a nol lan eto mewn diwrnod. Tasg flinderus tu hwnt, yn enwedig o ystyried bod y ceunant fod ddwywaith mor ddwfn a'r Grand Canyon yn America. Ond fe gethon ni'n gwobr, wrth wylio adar y condor yn esgyn i'r awyr a chyhwfan fel ysbrydion y fall uwchben.

A very long walk...

The trek to MACHU PICCHU

Very far up a mountain, eight hours from anywhere, sits an old lady. She has one eye fixed on her small herd of llamas, and the other on us. Three times a week, a small group like ours passes by on the 42 km trek towards Machu Picchu - huffing and puffing onwards at high altitude. The old lady wants to know if we have some coca leaves for her, and of course we oblige. Its the least we can give for a glimpse of life high up in the Andes.

Our four day trek was tough going, crossing mountain passes up to 4,650m above sea level and camping out in sub-zero conditions. There were seven of us walking, alongside Aldo, our guide, and a team of cooks, horsemen, and Raul - or 'Yellow Socks' as he was known, for no apparent reason.

This isn't the most popular way to get to Machu Picchu (the famous Inca Trail gets booked up a year in advance), but the reward is in getting to walk through isolated valleys where life doesn't seem to have changed much for centuries.

The children we met along the way lived on farms - having to walk an hour to school, where they are given an education only until the age of eleven. Most speak a little Spanish, but the main language up the mountain is Quechua, showing little has changed here since the time of the Incas. Its hard to know what they must make of the trekkers who make it up here, all clad in expensive walking gear and woolly hats.

Our final day started with a 4am wake-up, so that we could climb the thousand steps that lead up to the ruins of Machu Picchu as the sun rose. Determined to make sure we were among the first to arrive, Aldo started overtaking other walkers, leading to even more huffing and puffing than usual. But, once again, the reward was worth it.

It isn't hard to see why Machu Picchu is considered one of the new wonders of the world. Perfectly carved stones form temples and palaces long since abandoned since the Spanish invasion in the 16th century. The more recent tourist invasion is yet to spoil the atmosphere - although the site is apparently sinking slowly. Glutton for even more punishment, we walked the extra 90 minutes up Huyana Picchu. From there we could look right across the valley, catch our breath, and see just how far we'd come.

La Isla del Sol