Hello all,
We are now in Ecuador. We´re botth pretty knackered, it was a bit of a gruelling 15 hour journey on crappy buses to arrive here at 4.30 in the morning, but it is all good. We are currently in a small town called Loja. So far, everything seems pretty similar, although the internet here is a pish and people so far speak in an accent that my limited spanglish cannot comprehend, which is a bit of a nuisance. Really chuffed to finally be in Ecuador however, looking forward to some more adventures, possibly some scuba diving, whale watching, more trekking over mountains and most exciting of all is the supposedly amazing Jungle. Can´t wait to get to the Oriente, as it is known, and have a good lengthy adventure into the unknown. Will be very cool indeed.
Peru was great. We did some really cool things, but were both just ready to see somewhere new. I will fill you in on the last week of Peru at a later date. Today is a day to catch up on sleep and food and water, in no particular order of preference.
Hope all is well.
Rob
Monday, October 29, 2007
Friday, October 19, 2007
Reborn
Well friends, there is nothing to update you on yet. We have still done nothing, although i do have good news for those who have commented on my unruly appearance the past weeks. Not only have i had a good, thorough shave but i also have now had a haircut and somehow managed to not wind up looking like Forrest Gump. Its a miracle!!!
Anyhow, we´re still just hanging about for the Rugby tomorrow. It will be a bit odd tho, as there is some election/ census type thing which prohibits the sale of alcohol for the whole weekend. Apparently there quite strict about the whole thing, so we´ll just have to wait and see what happens.
Hope all is well.
Rob
Anyhow, we´re still just hanging about for the Rugby tomorrow. It will be a bit odd tho, as there is some election/ census type thing which prohibits the sale of alcohol for the whole weekend. Apparently there quite strict about the whole thing, so we´ll just have to wait and see what happens.
Hope all is well.
Rob
Wednesday, October 17, 2007
A day in the lives of two tight wanderers
Ay up,
Its a change of pace for todays update. It kinda of has to be really as nothing has happened.
We are still in Lima and we will be until Monday solely for the purpose of being able to watch the rugby final on Saturday. Before England triumphantly gubbed the french we were planning to leave for Huarez tomorrow (Thursday), but what with their being a english pub on our doorstep here we thought it might be worth hanging around a little longer. The only problem is there is nothing, or at least very little to do here. Well i´m sure there´s probably plenty to do but we have no money to do any of it, so that is why todays blog is aptly titled, A day in the lives of two tight wanderers.
The title does lie slightly as it will actually be two days in the lives of skint wanderers, but that is a mere techniacl point that i´m sure all you kind people will forgive me for. The day starts in our hostel. Which is a good sign; i´m not too fond of that panic awakening you get when you realise you have no idea where you are or how you got here. Thankfully that hasn´t occured in a while hence why i was aware of where i woke up the past two mornings to be described in this blog. So as i was saying the day begins in our hostel. A reasonable place that is actually quite useful at helping us to pass the time as it has its own internet, pool table and even a collection of dvd´s that you can freely watch on a big telly as and when you please. Facilities that will be mentioned later after we have been to the cafe below to claim our free (or at least included in the price of the room) breakfast which consists of egg on toast, tea or coffee and the juice of the day, which was pineapple today and yesterday. All in all its a sufficient start to a meaningless day.
From there, we left at about 9.30am. Not a bad time i reckon for two dossers with nothing to do. We even showered and everything before we left just to keep up appearences. Our main task for yesterday was to accomplish a laundry. Clean clothes had ran out long ago. Doing a luandry simply meant finding a launderette, haggling for a reasonable price, then leaving it in their capable hands and hoping for the best. A task that was accomplished by 10am, meaning we had a free day until roughly 6.30pm when we needed to back to pick up our clean clothes.
So what to do we ask each other.
"What do fancy today doing chucka", said Rob to his beloved, Maya. To which she replied "I don´t mind chucky, what do you fancy doing¨. "I don´t really know" said Rob, "What do you reckon we should do" and so it goes on and on and on and on, until we have passed at least 30 mins sat in the cafe (where we ate breakfast, for those of you struggling to keep with the break neck speed of events). Eventually we came to the grand decision we should walk somewhere. "where do you fancy walking" said Maya. "I don´t mind, where do you fancy wlaking" said Rob. And you see how things go from there.
Anyhow, all funny jokes aside, eventually we walked about 5km along the coast of Lima, to another area called Barrancho. This is actually quite a picturesque area with lots of colourful houses and a famous wooden pedestrian bridge. It is lovely, but there is nothing to do there but sit in the square and watch the world go by. Which we did until the time came where we had to have the great converstaion once again, "What do you fancy doing now then chucks", said Rob to his beloved, Maya. "I don´t mind", she replied. "What do you fancy doing". And so it goes. Eventually the great plan is to walk back. Which we did. And a lovely walk it was to.
On the way back we stopped at a cookie type sandwich place and each picked up lunch, which was to be a salami and cheese sandwich and a cookie each, and a shared bottle of Inca Kola, which is bright yellow in colour but tastes abit like Dandelion and Burdoch and Vimto combined. Despite its description it is actually quite nice.
So, we are back in Miraflores (where are hostel is), and the time on the clock is reading roughly 3pm. So far we´re doing pretty well. Thats half a day past already, but we are now entering the dangerous hours. Late afternoon to early evening is always the hardest time to fill as the easiest and most tempting thing to do is just to go to the pub for a few early drinks. The problem is not only expense, but also the fact that two drinks inevitably becomes three and when you drink with Maya, three swiftly becomes six and the night disintegrates from there.
So to avoid temptation we swiftly head for the most depressing of modern institutions, the internet cafe. We have become quite adapt at killing time in these darkened rooms, me with this kind of drivel (God knows why), and Maya does what ever she does for so long on bebo and the likes.
After an hour or so we decide to head back out to the living world and re-enter the darkening streets of Lima, making sure to stare only at the pavement or each other on the 50metre walk back to the hostel which is laid with tempting drinks offers from lively bars all the way to the hostels front door.
This time we make it safe and sound. The hours of 4 to 6/7 have become nap time and reading hour. I tell you this, travelling lifestyle can really take it out of you. For those of you who like details, I´m currently reading a really good thriller called Firewall by a swedish author, whilst Maya is reading The Alchemist, by Paulo Couello. In 12 weeks of travelling we have probably read at least 10 books each, so you can see we have a lot of time to kill.
At some point we have to venture back out onto the streets to find some supper. There isn´t really any take-aways as such and we havent yet found any kitchen facilities in the hostel, facts which combine to mean we have to do one thing; eat at a restaurant. We fancy pasta so find a wee Italian called Glorietta´s on a street known as pizza street because of all the italian restaurants that exist in the one place. Its kind of the South American way in that you get a whole cities quota of Italians all sitting next to each other in the one street, competing for the same custom. Why not just spread out a little. But its just the same with all other outlets. Just as a you get a street with off-licences, printers, shops selling solely light bulbs, whatever it may be. Their motto is stick together.
So we find a nice place anyhow, get some free manky Sangria and enjoy a nice meal with little to say other than comment on the passers by that are of interest. As time passes we decide to leave and head for the English bar, just for one mind, and then we make it back home for about 9pm. We enjoy a quick game of pool and then decide between a film or reading time once again. As i currently have a good one, i choose reading for an hour or two before bed. Plus there are people sat on the sofas by the dvd collection and neither of us can be bothered socialising. I know you´ll all be reading this and tutting, but believe me we do a hell of a lot of scoialising with some very lovely people as well as some very bizarre people; we do not discrimate. But when you are in the situation every night there are inevitably occasions when we just look at each and go "i can´t be arsed tonight luv, can you?".
And that is it my friends. The exciting lives of two skint wanderers in its sheer beauty. I´m only joking at how mundane it can all be at times. I wouldn´t swap it for anything just now.
Today it is much the same, only i had the misfortune of seeing England effectively elimate themselves from the European Championships with a dismal performance against the ruskies. I at least have the consolation of seeing that Scotland are currently 1-0 down as i type. From here, back in the internet cafe, todays task is solely going to the nearest supermarket to buy fruit. I miss good fruit.
After that who knows what wil adventures we will encounter. Rest assured i let you know what happens in every pain staking detail i can muster. Although i can probably save both of us the bother and tell you that we will return to the hostel after the supermarket. Read a little. Maybe have a game of pool and then snooze a little. Then re-check internet then find soime cheap grub for tea. Read a little more then go to the land of nod early in preparartion for another hectic day tomorrow. Which actually, i just remembered, is going to be slightly eventful. I´m probably going to try and get a haircut that is different from the seemingly óne size fits all´mentality that appears to exist here. I will do my best to avoid a short back and sides but a feel my fate is inevitable.
Anyhow, be sure to check out here again soon for a humerous picture of me proudly displaying my fabulous new barnet. I here they love it in the army.
Chau for now amigos.
Rob
Its a change of pace for todays update. It kinda of has to be really as nothing has happened.
We are still in Lima and we will be until Monday solely for the purpose of being able to watch the rugby final on Saturday. Before England triumphantly gubbed the french we were planning to leave for Huarez tomorrow (Thursday), but what with their being a english pub on our doorstep here we thought it might be worth hanging around a little longer. The only problem is there is nothing, or at least very little to do here. Well i´m sure there´s probably plenty to do but we have no money to do any of it, so that is why todays blog is aptly titled, A day in the lives of two tight wanderers.
The title does lie slightly as it will actually be two days in the lives of skint wanderers, but that is a mere techniacl point that i´m sure all you kind people will forgive me for. The day starts in our hostel. Which is a good sign; i´m not too fond of that panic awakening you get when you realise you have no idea where you are or how you got here. Thankfully that hasn´t occured in a while hence why i was aware of where i woke up the past two mornings to be described in this blog. So as i was saying the day begins in our hostel. A reasonable place that is actually quite useful at helping us to pass the time as it has its own internet, pool table and even a collection of dvd´s that you can freely watch on a big telly as and when you please. Facilities that will be mentioned later after we have been to the cafe below to claim our free (or at least included in the price of the room) breakfast which consists of egg on toast, tea or coffee and the juice of the day, which was pineapple today and yesterday. All in all its a sufficient start to a meaningless day.
From there, we left at about 9.30am. Not a bad time i reckon for two dossers with nothing to do. We even showered and everything before we left just to keep up appearences. Our main task for yesterday was to accomplish a laundry. Clean clothes had ran out long ago. Doing a luandry simply meant finding a launderette, haggling for a reasonable price, then leaving it in their capable hands and hoping for the best. A task that was accomplished by 10am, meaning we had a free day until roughly 6.30pm when we needed to back to pick up our clean clothes.
So what to do we ask each other.
"What do fancy today doing chucka", said Rob to his beloved, Maya. To which she replied "I don´t mind chucky, what do you fancy doing¨. "I don´t really know" said Rob, "What do you reckon we should do" and so it goes on and on and on and on, until we have passed at least 30 mins sat in the cafe (where we ate breakfast, for those of you struggling to keep with the break neck speed of events). Eventually we came to the grand decision we should walk somewhere. "where do you fancy walking" said Maya. "I don´t mind, where do you fancy wlaking" said Rob. And you see how things go from there.
Anyhow, all funny jokes aside, eventually we walked about 5km along the coast of Lima, to another area called Barrancho. This is actually quite a picturesque area with lots of colourful houses and a famous wooden pedestrian bridge. It is lovely, but there is nothing to do there but sit in the square and watch the world go by. Which we did until the time came where we had to have the great converstaion once again, "What do you fancy doing now then chucks", said Rob to his beloved, Maya. "I don´t mind", she replied. "What do you fancy doing". And so it goes. Eventually the great plan is to walk back. Which we did. And a lovely walk it was to.
On the way back we stopped at a cookie type sandwich place and each picked up lunch, which was to be a salami and cheese sandwich and a cookie each, and a shared bottle of Inca Kola, which is bright yellow in colour but tastes abit like Dandelion and Burdoch and Vimto combined. Despite its description it is actually quite nice.
So, we are back in Miraflores (where are hostel is), and the time on the clock is reading roughly 3pm. So far we´re doing pretty well. Thats half a day past already, but we are now entering the dangerous hours. Late afternoon to early evening is always the hardest time to fill as the easiest and most tempting thing to do is just to go to the pub for a few early drinks. The problem is not only expense, but also the fact that two drinks inevitably becomes three and when you drink with Maya, three swiftly becomes six and the night disintegrates from there.
So to avoid temptation we swiftly head for the most depressing of modern institutions, the internet cafe. We have become quite adapt at killing time in these darkened rooms, me with this kind of drivel (God knows why), and Maya does what ever she does for so long on bebo and the likes.
After an hour or so we decide to head back out to the living world and re-enter the darkening streets of Lima, making sure to stare only at the pavement or each other on the 50metre walk back to the hostel which is laid with tempting drinks offers from lively bars all the way to the hostels front door.
This time we make it safe and sound. The hours of 4 to 6/7 have become nap time and reading hour. I tell you this, travelling lifestyle can really take it out of you. For those of you who like details, I´m currently reading a really good thriller called Firewall by a swedish author, whilst Maya is reading The Alchemist, by Paulo Couello. In 12 weeks of travelling we have probably read at least 10 books each, so you can see we have a lot of time to kill.
At some point we have to venture back out onto the streets to find some supper. There isn´t really any take-aways as such and we havent yet found any kitchen facilities in the hostel, facts which combine to mean we have to do one thing; eat at a restaurant. We fancy pasta so find a wee Italian called Glorietta´s on a street known as pizza street because of all the italian restaurants that exist in the one place. Its kind of the South American way in that you get a whole cities quota of Italians all sitting next to each other in the one street, competing for the same custom. Why not just spread out a little. But its just the same with all other outlets. Just as a you get a street with off-licences, printers, shops selling solely light bulbs, whatever it may be. Their motto is stick together.
So we find a nice place anyhow, get some free manky Sangria and enjoy a nice meal with little to say other than comment on the passers by that are of interest. As time passes we decide to leave and head for the English bar, just for one mind, and then we make it back home for about 9pm. We enjoy a quick game of pool and then decide between a film or reading time once again. As i currently have a good one, i choose reading for an hour or two before bed. Plus there are people sat on the sofas by the dvd collection and neither of us can be bothered socialising. I know you´ll all be reading this and tutting, but believe me we do a hell of a lot of scoialising with some very lovely people as well as some very bizarre people; we do not discrimate. But when you are in the situation every night there are inevitably occasions when we just look at each and go "i can´t be arsed tonight luv, can you?".
And that is it my friends. The exciting lives of two skint wanderers in its sheer beauty. I´m only joking at how mundane it can all be at times. I wouldn´t swap it for anything just now.
Today it is much the same, only i had the misfortune of seeing England effectively elimate themselves from the European Championships with a dismal performance against the ruskies. I at least have the consolation of seeing that Scotland are currently 1-0 down as i type. From here, back in the internet cafe, todays task is solely going to the nearest supermarket to buy fruit. I miss good fruit.
After that who knows what wil adventures we will encounter. Rest assured i let you know what happens in every pain staking detail i can muster. Although i can probably save both of us the bother and tell you that we will return to the hostel after the supermarket. Read a little. Maybe have a game of pool and then snooze a little. Then re-check internet then find soime cheap grub for tea. Read a little more then go to the land of nod early in preparartion for another hectic day tomorrow. Which actually, i just remembered, is going to be slightly eventful. I´m probably going to try and get a haircut that is different from the seemingly óne size fits all´mentality that appears to exist here. I will do my best to avoid a short back and sides but a feel my fate is inevitable.
Anyhow, be sure to check out here again soon for a humerous picture of me proudly displaying my fabulous new barnet. I here they love it in the army.
Chau for now amigos.
Rob
Monday, October 15, 2007
trekking, mummies, Lima and luxury
Ay up
Well, since the delights of Machu Picchu we have maintained a fairly steady flow of activity. We spent another three or four nights in Cusco and would have stayed longer but it was bleeding us dry financially. It is so expensive compared to anywhere else we have been and money was just disappearing at an alarming rate. So it was time to move on and Arequipa was to be our next destination. We took another night bus, only 9 hours long, not too bad by south american standards and arrived in the ´white city´ bright and breezy at 6.30 am. We have some friends who arrived here the night before us and told us of a cool hostel so we headed there and sure enough it was a nice place although more importantly for us, it was cheap. Arequipa itself is a fairly nice place, the centre is at least, which is dominated by a massive cathedral as well as a monestry. Its become quite clear to us on our travels that neither type of building holds much appeal to either of us. It seems every place we have been to has had an ummissable church or catedral that we simply must see, but we havent been in any yet and i can´t really see that changing any time soon. Maybe we´re just abit spoilt by them all.
What we did see tho was a frozen mummy named Juanita. She was discvered frozen in a recently extinct volcano in the early 90´s. It seems she was a Inca sacrifice 500 odd years ago, and the freexing temperatures had preserved her body. The museum itself that housed her was fairly interesting, just displaying other sacrificial pots and things that were beside her, but Juanita herself was really cool to see. She was in a glass case and is still largely covered in ice but you can clearly see her skin and what have you. She was very intriguing, i could have sat and looked at her for ages.
Anyhow, i was eventully dragged away in order organise a trip for the Colca del Canyon, which was our main reason for coming to Arequipa. The canyon itself is pretty much just as it sounds, just a big canyon, (ive no idea how it compares in size to the grand canyon), but apparently its pretty big. We decided upon a three day trek where you basically walk into the canyon on the first day. Walk about abit on the second and then walk / climb out on the third.
Day1
It was a bit of an early start, 1am, to be precise, followed by a five hour bus journey to a supposedly prime viewing spot for condors. We, being myself and Maya as well as our new friends Shaun and Maria and our guide Pepe, arrived there at about six am and waited until about 10am, but saw nothing in the way of condors. Would have been nice obviously but we weren´t too upset.
From there it was another 30mins or so on the bus to our starting point, a small town called cabanaconder, (I think). The firstday was supposed to be fairly steady although proved to fairly challenging. It consisted of a 1300m walk down to the floor of the canyon. The walk was steep and the surface was so dusty it was like walking on a beach at times. Once we reached the canyon floor it was a another couple of hours walking to our first nights accommodation which turned out to be an amazing bamboo hut type place which was situated at the meeting point of three valleys. The hostel was alone and as well as a cool hut for a bedroom it also had the delights of two hot springs to relax in. I can think of no better way to nurse tired feet than relaxing in a natural hot spring with a cold beer surrounded by incredible scenery. Quite a treat can tell you.
Day2
On day two we had to walk back to the top of the canyon, along its edge for a while and then back down to the base again to a place aptly named Paradise. It was another bamboo hut type place with its on swimming pool and what have you, out on its own in the middle of nowhere. Once again it was quite spectacular and ample reward. At night we managed to get some beer and rum and had a nice evening soaking up the atmosphere and enjoying the alcohol.
Day 3
The day began early once again, 4.30am to be precise, and it wasn´t a friendly start as the final stretchto walk was back up 1300m out of the canyon. Itwas hard going, the path was pretty much straight up and little else, but we managed it two hours and even overtook some people who left thecamp at three am.
I really enjoyed the trekking once again. Its nice to be doing exercise and feeling pretty fit. I´m thinking of finding a mountain over 6000metres and tackling it as my next challenge. There is one in Arequipa, Misti, but i was abit short on time, but hopefully soon i will find one to conquer.
The canyon itself was pretty cool, but what made the trip for was the accommodation and the company we shared. We had a good laugh on our way around and made sure we had a giggle to pass the nights away.
After the trek we arrived back in Arequipa pretty knackered but were soon to be rewarded as myself and Maya treated ourselves to a lovely luxury hotel for the night to celebrate our two year anniversary. Such luxury was very welcome.
The following day we packed our bags, and fled for the capital, Lima, which to be fair, has been better than expected so far. We arrived on Saturday and promptly found an english pub to watch the rugby. We made some new friends then ended up back at the hostel playing drinking games with put and take. Was a very drunken night and consequently Sunday was something of a write off.
Today we have done culture and low and behold we even stepped inside a cathedral. Not sure why. I didn´t really like it. Too much decadence and grotesque wealth for my liking. (ooohh get you i hear you all saying). After that we went into a monestery also, which was more of the same, apart from a really creepy crypty which is full of bones, which are on show in organised trough type things. Very bizarre but the best thing i saw today.
I think we will be here for another couple of nights before we head off to the north of Peru and probably find our way to Ecuador reasonably soon. We´re both ready for a new country now.
I will try to put up some photos soon of the canyon to illustrate my tales. I hope all is well back there.
Rob
Well, since the delights of Machu Picchu we have maintained a fairly steady flow of activity. We spent another three or four nights in Cusco and would have stayed longer but it was bleeding us dry financially. It is so expensive compared to anywhere else we have been and money was just disappearing at an alarming rate. So it was time to move on and Arequipa was to be our next destination. We took another night bus, only 9 hours long, not too bad by south american standards and arrived in the ´white city´ bright and breezy at 6.30 am. We have some friends who arrived here the night before us and told us of a cool hostel so we headed there and sure enough it was a nice place although more importantly for us, it was cheap. Arequipa itself is a fairly nice place, the centre is at least, which is dominated by a massive cathedral as well as a monestry. Its become quite clear to us on our travels that neither type of building holds much appeal to either of us. It seems every place we have been to has had an ummissable church or catedral that we simply must see, but we havent been in any yet and i can´t really see that changing any time soon. Maybe we´re just abit spoilt by them all.
What we did see tho was a frozen mummy named Juanita. She was discvered frozen in a recently extinct volcano in the early 90´s. It seems she was a Inca sacrifice 500 odd years ago, and the freexing temperatures had preserved her body. The museum itself that housed her was fairly interesting, just displaying other sacrificial pots and things that were beside her, but Juanita herself was really cool to see. She was in a glass case and is still largely covered in ice but you can clearly see her skin and what have you. She was very intriguing, i could have sat and looked at her for ages.
Anyhow, i was eventully dragged away in order organise a trip for the Colca del Canyon, which was our main reason for coming to Arequipa. The canyon itself is pretty much just as it sounds, just a big canyon, (ive no idea how it compares in size to the grand canyon), but apparently its pretty big. We decided upon a three day trek where you basically walk into the canyon on the first day. Walk about abit on the second and then walk / climb out on the third.
Day1
It was a bit of an early start, 1am, to be precise, followed by a five hour bus journey to a supposedly prime viewing spot for condors. We, being myself and Maya as well as our new friends Shaun and Maria and our guide Pepe, arrived there at about six am and waited until about 10am, but saw nothing in the way of condors. Would have been nice obviously but we weren´t too upset.
From there it was another 30mins or so on the bus to our starting point, a small town called cabanaconder, (I think). The firstday was supposed to be fairly steady although proved to fairly challenging. It consisted of a 1300m walk down to the floor of the canyon. The walk was steep and the surface was so dusty it was like walking on a beach at times. Once we reached the canyon floor it was a another couple of hours walking to our first nights accommodation which turned out to be an amazing bamboo hut type place which was situated at the meeting point of three valleys. The hostel was alone and as well as a cool hut for a bedroom it also had the delights of two hot springs to relax in. I can think of no better way to nurse tired feet than relaxing in a natural hot spring with a cold beer surrounded by incredible scenery. Quite a treat can tell you.
Day2
On day two we had to walk back to the top of the canyon, along its edge for a while and then back down to the base again to a place aptly named Paradise. It was another bamboo hut type place with its on swimming pool and what have you, out on its own in the middle of nowhere. Once again it was quite spectacular and ample reward. At night we managed to get some beer and rum and had a nice evening soaking up the atmosphere and enjoying the alcohol.
Day 3
The day began early once again, 4.30am to be precise, and it wasn´t a friendly start as the final stretchto walk was back up 1300m out of the canyon. Itwas hard going, the path was pretty much straight up and little else, but we managed it two hours and even overtook some people who left thecamp at three am.
I really enjoyed the trekking once again. Its nice to be doing exercise and feeling pretty fit. I´m thinking of finding a mountain over 6000metres and tackling it as my next challenge. There is one in Arequipa, Misti, but i was abit short on time, but hopefully soon i will find one to conquer.
The canyon itself was pretty cool, but what made the trip for was the accommodation and the company we shared. We had a good laugh on our way around and made sure we had a giggle to pass the nights away.
After the trek we arrived back in Arequipa pretty knackered but were soon to be rewarded as myself and Maya treated ourselves to a lovely luxury hotel for the night to celebrate our two year anniversary. Such luxury was very welcome.
The following day we packed our bags, and fled for the capital, Lima, which to be fair, has been better than expected so far. We arrived on Saturday and promptly found an english pub to watch the rugby. We made some new friends then ended up back at the hostel playing drinking games with put and take. Was a very drunken night and consequently Sunday was something of a write off.
Today we have done culture and low and behold we even stepped inside a cathedral. Not sure why. I didn´t really like it. Too much decadence and grotesque wealth for my liking. (ooohh get you i hear you all saying). After that we went into a monestery also, which was more of the same, apart from a really creepy crypty which is full of bones, which are on show in organised trough type things. Very bizarre but the best thing i saw today.
I think we will be here for another couple of nights before we head off to the north of Peru and probably find our way to Ecuador reasonably soon. We´re both ready for a new country now.
I will try to put up some photos soon of the canyon to illustrate my tales. I hope all is well back there.
Rob
Friday, October 12, 2007
Arequipa
Ay up,
Just a quick note to let you know that we are currently still in Arequipa, although we are getting a 14 hour bus ride tonight to Peru´s capital, Lima. The city itself isn´t supposed to be all that much fun, but i think we´re going to be arriving at a big festival time where everybody parades around in purple. I don´t really know much more than that, but it sounds pretty interesting all the same.
October is also a big month for bullfighting apparently. I might try and see a fight, match, game, tussle, event ....... i´m not really sure what you´re supposed to call such a cruel activity. Not sure that i agree with it, but i think as a spectacle the whole event, atmosphere might be an experience worth encountering.
We still don´t really have any plans for after Lima just yet. There´s a few coals in the fire to quote every cliche ridden football manager there has ever been, but we will just have to take one day / game at a time and see what happens.
Arequipa is a pretty cool city, or at least the center is. It is known as the white city and is pretty much dominated by a cathedral ( as most cities are here) and a massive monestery. Whilst here we undertook a three day trek to the Coca del Canyon, saw a 500 year old mummy named Juanita and stayed in a very posh hotel for our anniversary. But i will tell you all more about it very soon in my next installment which should appear within a day or two.
Hope all is well with you all
Rob
Just a quick note to let you know that we are currently still in Arequipa, although we are getting a 14 hour bus ride tonight to Peru´s capital, Lima. The city itself isn´t supposed to be all that much fun, but i think we´re going to be arriving at a big festival time where everybody parades around in purple. I don´t really know much more than that, but it sounds pretty interesting all the same.
October is also a big month for bullfighting apparently. I might try and see a fight, match, game, tussle, event ....... i´m not really sure what you´re supposed to call such a cruel activity. Not sure that i agree with it, but i think as a spectacle the whole event, atmosphere might be an experience worth encountering.
We still don´t really have any plans for after Lima just yet. There´s a few coals in the fire to quote every cliche ridden football manager there has ever been, but we will just have to take one day / game at a time and see what happens.
Arequipa is a pretty cool city, or at least the center is. It is known as the white city and is pretty much dominated by a cathedral ( as most cities are here) and a massive monestery. Whilst here we undertook a three day trek to the Coca del Canyon, saw a 500 year old mummy named Juanita and stayed in a very posh hotel for our anniversary. But i will tell you all more about it very soon in my next installment which should appear within a day or two.
Hope all is well with you all
Rob
Wednesday, October 3, 2007
From Bolivia to Peru
Hello people.
By now, i guess you will be all a little tired of my incessent drivelling, but fear not for today i have great tales of wonderous adventures through the famous Lake Titicaca, where the Inca´s believe the sun was born and life began. From there we will move onto Machu Picchu. A mysterious place that requires no build up. So get yourselves comfortable with a nice cup of hot cocoa, wine, Old Peculiar, buckfast (for the scottish readers), meths (for the scottish readers), what ever you are into, we all friends here......
Our journey began in La Paz upon a very untrustworthy bus which was to be our transport for the next three hours. Everything was tootling along just fine until we came to a large expanse of water that was not Lake Titicaca. We were a bit confused but we and all the other passengers were quickly ushered off the boat by a man in military uniform with a large machine gun. It soon became apparent that everything was standard procedure and we were to board a boat to the other side of the water. Simple enough for people, only the bus had to do the same. We weren´t allowed to take our ruck sacks off the bus before it boarded a rickety raft (it can be described in no greater terms), so we had to watch all our worldly possesions bob along side us across the water. It was an interesting experience although not one i would wish to repeat. We rejoined the bus at the other side and promptly resume our journey to the cheerfully named Copacabana without incident.
The town itself is quite interesting although is very touristy. It does however have a very bohemian hippy type vibe which Maya found very alluring. Our plan was to take a small hike the next morning further up the coast of Lake Titicaca to a smaller town, from where we would cross the water to a small island on the lake, Isla del Sol, or island of the sun. We left our ruck sacks with the hostel and just took bare essentials in our small bags. We had no map, but followed the coastal road, passing one or two small villages and little else along the way. The views were incredible. On one side we had the beautiful blue lakes and mountaneous terrain on the other. The joint was hard and hilly but great to be off the beaten track, free to wander where we please amongst small communities of Bolivia. The lives of some of these people are incredible. You see them farming by hand much in the same fashion in Britain in the times before the industrial revolution. We´re not talking twenty or thirty years behind but decades and decades. Anyhow i digress once again.
After about 3/4 hours of walking, we were suitably tired and arrived at another typically small town still about an hour from our planned destination of Yampuputra (or something similar). Just as we were coming out of the town a wee man came running up to us asking if we want to be rowed across the Lake. Floating along in a boat sounded better than walking further in the heat so we agreed. On first discussions i was under the impression he and a friend were going to row us across but it turned out to be just the one wee man and his wee rowing boat as our transport for the hour long crossing to the island. It was really cool just to be having a wee adventure. After about half an hour Maya decided to turn on her mobile to pass the time. We hadn´t really had any signal in Copacabana or while we were walking, but low and behold we had signal. And then just as we were half way across the lake where the Inca´s believe the sun was born and life began we got a wee beep beeep which turned out to be a message from me mum to let us know that i was now an uncle and my sister had had a wee healthy baby girl named Matilda. Obviously this didnt come as a total surprise. We did know she was pregnant after all but it had been a few days since the due date and it was still a nice coincidence.
Congratulations !!!!!!!!!!
After hearing the news it was time to start the celebrations so quickly found a place to stay on the island and headed to a restaurant which had beautiful sun set views over the Lake. We ordered a lovely bottle of Chilean wine and promptly wet the babies head in style. A very pleasant day and night indeed.
The island itself is just a lump of uneven rock. Everything is either steeply uphill or downhill, there or no paths going flat. We found this out the hard way as we spent the next day walking all the way around the island which in total took a very gruelling 9/10 hours. The views are incredible however and its difficult to stay mad at the hills for too long. We stayed there for a total of two nights just enjoying the atmosphere and the sheer blueness and beauty if the lake. But time was ticking and we needed to get to Cusco to prepare for our five day trek culminating in Machu Picchu.
We hopped on a motorised boat this time for the journey back to Copacabana where we stayed another night before embarking on a ten hour bus ride to Cusco. Before we left for Peru i did manage to treat myself to a couple of Bolivian football shirts. They are cool.
We landed in Cusco fairly late at night but managed to find our accomodation fairly quickly. We had a three nights to chill out and prepare before setting off and just planned to relax. Cusco is a beautiful city. Really old and charismatic with tiny wee streets and interesting buldings. It is obviously very touristy given its close proximity to Machu Picchu, but still retains sufficient credibilty to be considered very cool. It is however very expensive, especially compared to Bolivia, so we will have to be careful with our money while we are here. Luckily we have found an incredible bakery just near our hostel which has the best bread and pasties (empinada´s) you could wish for at a very reasonable price so we are happy.
We set off on our Salcantay Trey last Thursday morning at 4.30am. It was a crual time to start and one that we saw a lot of over the coming five mornings. We had a short bus ride to a small town in the middle of nowhere where we were introduced to the rest of our group of about 13, a quick breakfast before the walking began at about 7. The trek itself is four days of hard walking to a sacred mountain called Salcantay. The fifth day is spent at Machu Picchu itself. It soon became very clear that the trek wasn´t going to be just a simple walk in the park. It was hard going usually walking from 7 in the morning to at least 5 at night. The first day was spent covering the largest distance although was fairly steady going. We were always walking uphill but at a fairly steady incline so it didn´t feel too tough. The weather was hot and the bugs were biting which all contributed to feeling pretty knackered as we rolled out the sleeping bags for camp that night. The first night was spent at the base of some incredible scenery with many a snow capped mountain nearby for pleasant viewing, it was however bloody freezing. I donned all the clothes i had with me, resulting in two thermal shirts, a t-shirt, a woolly jumper, jacket, and woolly cardigan complete with two pairs of socks, boxers, shorts, and trousers, woolly hat and gloves. I was still freezing inside a sleeping bag and liner. Didn´t get much sleep but never mind. Oh i forgot we had also had a reasonable amount of rum to try and keep the cold out. It seems i didn´t drink quite enough.
Despite the cold we still awoke the next morning in fairly high spirits and set off for what was billed as the hardest days walking at about 6.30am. It was cold and the days target was to be our highest point of about 4600m at the base of the sacred mountain of Salcantay. That required a predicted five hours of severe uphill walking before another four down the other side to where our camp was to be based for the second night. The day was hard going. It was difficult to get warm after such a cold night and the sheer steepness of the terrain was difficult, but we powered on and actually made the ascent in about three hours. It was abit strange as we were supposed to be celebrating, but a i lacked a sense of achievement somwhat as we were nowehere near the highest point of the area. We were at he peak of a valley that had huge mountains surrounding it. I didn´t much fancy attempting to scale the mountains but clearly our highest point felt a bit unsubstantial when dwarfed by its surroundings. Once we got to the other side of the valley the weather warmed up and camp wasn´t so bad the second night. The third and fourth days were more like jungle treks. The terrain completely changed from harsh mountainous rock, to lush green flowers and fauna. And the heat!! Phew it got hot and consequently the walking became hard er and harder. The tiredness began to tell with the heat and lack of sleep and the waling became harder and harder as the days went by. The fourth day wasn´t helped by a stinking hangover from a really cool party on the third night. We had a good group to walk with and enjoy a drink with which made the trip a really cool few days. On the third night we had a treat with a trip to some hot springs. We got there at dusk and were left splashing around with our first taste of hot water surrounded by stars and distant mountains. Really quite cool. It was that the put the group in a good mood and hence why we all set off walking on the fourth day with stinking hangovers.
The fourth night was spent in a small town at the base of mountain Machu Picchu called Aguas Calientes. Its where everybody stays before they had up to the ruins and is just a town established purely for tourists. Our camping days were over and we provided with a nice hotel for the night although it was another 4am start on the fifth day. Our early start was to incorporate a gruelling hour long hike up steep inca steps to Machu Picchu in time for the sun rise. Bearing in mind we had spent the past 4 days covering at least 90km, this was a hard hard climb, but it was soon to be worthwhile when we finally arrived at the Lost city at about 5.30am. Machu Picchu is an unbelivable place and an incredible experience. The ruins itself are obviously amazing but it is the setting that is just awe inspiring. The whole sity is on the point of a mountian with drops either side and spectacular views of other pointy mountains all around. We had a wander around the ruins and then headed up another nearby hill called waymapichhu which was a great point to get a great view point of Mach Picchu. It was an incredible day spent just gazing at the ruins and their surroundings. We were all really knackered just from the previous days exursions but just sat and chilled and basked in the beauty of the place. The Inca´s were clearly nuts to build such a place in such a remote spot but it makes for cracking tourist attraction now. The ruins itself are about 70% original and 30% repaired, but that doesn´t diminish the impressiveness of the place at all.
We got back to Cusco late on Wednesday night and have just slept for about 12 hours. I´m still tired but am off to meet our trekking group for a few celebratory drinks tonight. The Salcantay Trek was a demanding alternative to the Inca Trail and was a pretty testing experience. The final day is the reward for both and Machu Picchu as a spectacle is worthy of many a hard days trekking. Unfortunately I think of few words to describe it, but it is indeed an incredible sight that everyone must try try to see at some point.
As for me and Maz, with no have no plans. Since we arrived that only mark on the calender has been this trek so now we´re footloose and fancy free. I think we´re probably going to head around the south of Peru for the next couple of weeks ending up in Lima, hopefully in time for a big festival/ carnival which i think takes place on the 18th October. From there who knows, but that is a lovely freedom to have. We can probably have a couple more months travelling about but then it will probably be time to try and find some work. We have been very busy doing lots of stuff for the past six weeks and it is probably time now to just chill and enjoy travelling without doing too much stuff.
Anyhow its all good. Travelling life is suiting us both well and its exciting to hjave no idea of where we might be in a week or two.
I hope all is good back there, and i hope to hear from you all soon. Feel free to pass a comment on anything you´ve read (all you need to do is click the comment button at the bottom of the text). It´s nice to hear your news as well as me blabbing on about my´n.
Best wishes
Rob
p.s. I think Maya has promptly whacked up some photos on her site of Machu Picchu so you can get a good gander on there. I will try and put some up on here as soon as possible.
By now, i guess you will be all a little tired of my incessent drivelling, but fear not for today i have great tales of wonderous adventures through the famous Lake Titicaca, where the Inca´s believe the sun was born and life began. From there we will move onto Machu Picchu. A mysterious place that requires no build up. So get yourselves comfortable with a nice cup of hot cocoa, wine, Old Peculiar, buckfast (for the scottish readers), meths (for the scottish readers), what ever you are into, we all friends here......
Our journey began in La Paz upon a very untrustworthy bus which was to be our transport for the next three hours. Everything was tootling along just fine until we came to a large expanse of water that was not Lake Titicaca. We were a bit confused but we and all the other passengers were quickly ushered off the boat by a man in military uniform with a large machine gun. It soon became apparent that everything was standard procedure and we were to board a boat to the other side of the water. Simple enough for people, only the bus had to do the same. We weren´t allowed to take our ruck sacks off the bus before it boarded a rickety raft (it can be described in no greater terms), so we had to watch all our worldly possesions bob along side us across the water. It was an interesting experience although not one i would wish to repeat. We rejoined the bus at the other side and promptly resume our journey to the cheerfully named Copacabana without incident.
The town itself is quite interesting although is very touristy. It does however have a very bohemian hippy type vibe which Maya found very alluring. Our plan was to take a small hike the next morning further up the coast of Lake Titicaca to a smaller town, from where we would cross the water to a small island on the lake, Isla del Sol, or island of the sun. We left our ruck sacks with the hostel and just took bare essentials in our small bags. We had no map, but followed the coastal road, passing one or two small villages and little else along the way. The views were incredible. On one side we had the beautiful blue lakes and mountaneous terrain on the other. The joint was hard and hilly but great to be off the beaten track, free to wander where we please amongst small communities of Bolivia. The lives of some of these people are incredible. You see them farming by hand much in the same fashion in Britain in the times before the industrial revolution. We´re not talking twenty or thirty years behind but decades and decades. Anyhow i digress once again.
After about 3/4 hours of walking, we were suitably tired and arrived at another typically small town still about an hour from our planned destination of Yampuputra (or something similar). Just as we were coming out of the town a wee man came running up to us asking if we want to be rowed across the Lake. Floating along in a boat sounded better than walking further in the heat so we agreed. On first discussions i was under the impression he and a friend were going to row us across but it turned out to be just the one wee man and his wee rowing boat as our transport for the hour long crossing to the island. It was really cool just to be having a wee adventure. After about half an hour Maya decided to turn on her mobile to pass the time. We hadn´t really had any signal in Copacabana or while we were walking, but low and behold we had signal. And then just as we were half way across the lake where the Inca´s believe the sun was born and life began we got a wee beep beeep which turned out to be a message from me mum to let us know that i was now an uncle and my sister had had a wee healthy baby girl named Matilda. Obviously this didnt come as a total surprise. We did know she was pregnant after all but it had been a few days since the due date and it was still a nice coincidence.
Congratulations !!!!!!!!!!
After hearing the news it was time to start the celebrations so quickly found a place to stay on the island and headed to a restaurant which had beautiful sun set views over the Lake. We ordered a lovely bottle of Chilean wine and promptly wet the babies head in style. A very pleasant day and night indeed.
The island itself is just a lump of uneven rock. Everything is either steeply uphill or downhill, there or no paths going flat. We found this out the hard way as we spent the next day walking all the way around the island which in total took a very gruelling 9/10 hours. The views are incredible however and its difficult to stay mad at the hills for too long. We stayed there for a total of two nights just enjoying the atmosphere and the sheer blueness and beauty if the lake. But time was ticking and we needed to get to Cusco to prepare for our five day trek culminating in Machu Picchu.
We hopped on a motorised boat this time for the journey back to Copacabana where we stayed another night before embarking on a ten hour bus ride to Cusco. Before we left for Peru i did manage to treat myself to a couple of Bolivian football shirts. They are cool.
We landed in Cusco fairly late at night but managed to find our accomodation fairly quickly. We had a three nights to chill out and prepare before setting off and just planned to relax. Cusco is a beautiful city. Really old and charismatic with tiny wee streets and interesting buldings. It is obviously very touristy given its close proximity to Machu Picchu, but still retains sufficient credibilty to be considered very cool. It is however very expensive, especially compared to Bolivia, so we will have to be careful with our money while we are here. Luckily we have found an incredible bakery just near our hostel which has the best bread and pasties (empinada´s) you could wish for at a very reasonable price so we are happy.
We set off on our Salcantay Trey last Thursday morning at 4.30am. It was a crual time to start and one that we saw a lot of over the coming five mornings. We had a short bus ride to a small town in the middle of nowhere where we were introduced to the rest of our group of about 13, a quick breakfast before the walking began at about 7. The trek itself is four days of hard walking to a sacred mountain called Salcantay. The fifth day is spent at Machu Picchu itself. It soon became very clear that the trek wasn´t going to be just a simple walk in the park. It was hard going usually walking from 7 in the morning to at least 5 at night. The first day was spent covering the largest distance although was fairly steady going. We were always walking uphill but at a fairly steady incline so it didn´t feel too tough. The weather was hot and the bugs were biting which all contributed to feeling pretty knackered as we rolled out the sleeping bags for camp that night. The first night was spent at the base of some incredible scenery with many a snow capped mountain nearby for pleasant viewing, it was however bloody freezing. I donned all the clothes i had with me, resulting in two thermal shirts, a t-shirt, a woolly jumper, jacket, and woolly cardigan complete with two pairs of socks, boxers, shorts, and trousers, woolly hat and gloves. I was still freezing inside a sleeping bag and liner. Didn´t get much sleep but never mind. Oh i forgot we had also had a reasonable amount of rum to try and keep the cold out. It seems i didn´t drink quite enough.
Despite the cold we still awoke the next morning in fairly high spirits and set off for what was billed as the hardest days walking at about 6.30am. It was cold and the days target was to be our highest point of about 4600m at the base of the sacred mountain of Salcantay. That required a predicted five hours of severe uphill walking before another four down the other side to where our camp was to be based for the second night. The day was hard going. It was difficult to get warm after such a cold night and the sheer steepness of the terrain was difficult, but we powered on and actually made the ascent in about three hours. It was abit strange as we were supposed to be celebrating, but a i lacked a sense of achievement somwhat as we were nowehere near the highest point of the area. We were at he peak of a valley that had huge mountains surrounding it. I didn´t much fancy attempting to scale the mountains but clearly our highest point felt a bit unsubstantial when dwarfed by its surroundings. Once we got to the other side of the valley the weather warmed up and camp wasn´t so bad the second night. The third and fourth days were more like jungle treks. The terrain completely changed from harsh mountainous rock, to lush green flowers and fauna. And the heat!! Phew it got hot and consequently the walking became hard er and harder. The tiredness began to tell with the heat and lack of sleep and the waling became harder and harder as the days went by. The fourth day wasn´t helped by a stinking hangover from a really cool party on the third night. We had a good group to walk with and enjoy a drink with which made the trip a really cool few days. On the third night we had a treat with a trip to some hot springs. We got there at dusk and were left splashing around with our first taste of hot water surrounded by stars and distant mountains. Really quite cool. It was that the put the group in a good mood and hence why we all set off walking on the fourth day with stinking hangovers.
The fourth night was spent in a small town at the base of mountain Machu Picchu called Aguas Calientes. Its where everybody stays before they had up to the ruins and is just a town established purely for tourists. Our camping days were over and we provided with a nice hotel for the night although it was another 4am start on the fifth day. Our early start was to incorporate a gruelling hour long hike up steep inca steps to Machu Picchu in time for the sun rise. Bearing in mind we had spent the past 4 days covering at least 90km, this was a hard hard climb, but it was soon to be worthwhile when we finally arrived at the Lost city at about 5.30am. Machu Picchu is an unbelivable place and an incredible experience. The ruins itself are obviously amazing but it is the setting that is just awe inspiring. The whole sity is on the point of a mountian with drops either side and spectacular views of other pointy mountains all around. We had a wander around the ruins and then headed up another nearby hill called waymapichhu which was a great point to get a great view point of Mach Picchu. It was an incredible day spent just gazing at the ruins and their surroundings. We were all really knackered just from the previous days exursions but just sat and chilled and basked in the beauty of the place. The Inca´s were clearly nuts to build such a place in such a remote spot but it makes for cracking tourist attraction now. The ruins itself are about 70% original and 30% repaired, but that doesn´t diminish the impressiveness of the place at all.
We got back to Cusco late on Wednesday night and have just slept for about 12 hours. I´m still tired but am off to meet our trekking group for a few celebratory drinks tonight. The Salcantay Trek was a demanding alternative to the Inca Trail and was a pretty testing experience. The final day is the reward for both and Machu Picchu as a spectacle is worthy of many a hard days trekking. Unfortunately I think of few words to describe it, but it is indeed an incredible sight that everyone must try try to see at some point.
As for me and Maz, with no have no plans. Since we arrived that only mark on the calender has been this trek so now we´re footloose and fancy free. I think we´re probably going to head around the south of Peru for the next couple of weeks ending up in Lima, hopefully in time for a big festival/ carnival which i think takes place on the 18th October. From there who knows, but that is a lovely freedom to have. We can probably have a couple more months travelling about but then it will probably be time to try and find some work. We have been very busy doing lots of stuff for the past six weeks and it is probably time now to just chill and enjoy travelling without doing too much stuff.
Anyhow its all good. Travelling life is suiting us both well and its exciting to hjave no idea of where we might be in a week or two.
I hope all is good back there, and i hope to hear from you all soon. Feel free to pass a comment on anything you´ve read (all you need to do is click the comment button at the bottom of the text). It´s nice to hear your news as well as me blabbing on about my´n.
Best wishes
Rob
p.s. I think Maya has promptly whacked up some photos on her site of Machu Picchu so you can get a good gander on there. I will try and put some up on here as soon as possible.
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