After a week in La Paz I had a stinking cough and absolutely no appetite barely eating a slice of bread a day which has been good for the waist line but not for the health so it was time to leave to a new town. Last night in La Paz was meant to be an easy early night but Nick had other ideas so he got us drunk with Jaeger Bombs and we chatted the night away with Chris going to bed with the hump due to no girls chatting to him, of course Chris denied this but me and Nick knew the truth. We left La Paz first via a bus to Oruro in the morning and then via a train to Uyuni. The train transcends through the Andes and has some spectacular sights for the few hours of daylight you get on the train. I yet again have another chip on my camera lens and the buttons are not working but can not afford to buy a third one so photos will have a slight blemish.
The stress and strain of travelling for so long has started to get to me and my health with solid bowel movements being a rare treat for me and rash’s of all sorts and colours appearing on different parts of my body I envy people when they say they have been travelling for just a month as they are in that honeymoon period where you want to connect with everyone and do everything, I now feel like I can not be bothered drinking as the next day usually involves a hangover and a bout of homesickness.
Oruro is huddled on the bleak altiplano some 230km south of La Paz, the grim mining city of Oruro was once the economic powerhouse of Bolivia for much of the twentieth century due to its mineral wealth in the surrounding mountains. It’s fortunes have plummeted south over the last two decades making it a shadow of its former self thus we only spent a few hours there eating and getting ready for the train ride.
Uyuni again is set on the south Altiplano which when you get out the city is a spectacular sight, this railway town has very little to offer and when we arrived late Friday night absolutely nothing was happening with everything closed, its only usefulness is its proximity to the Salar de Uyuni (salt flats). Its streets are lined with a collection of shabby, tin-roofed houses and a semi-abandoned railway yard filled with decaying skeletons of trains. The only saving grace in this town is the minuteman pizzeria that is owned and run by a guy originally from Boston and to say the least these are the best pizzas in Bolivia if not the best I have ever tasted!
Once in Uyuni we met up with our friends who got to this town a day later than us but in the mean time I needed a haircut and since getting what can be compared to an ‘army cut’ in Arequipa due to my lack of Spanish I was very anxious about my next one. Cometh the hero of the hour…..Chris who told me that he trained to be a hairdresser before he enrolled in the police force, this was of course bull shit but still he couldn’t do any worse than what was already becoming an animal of some sorts home of hair on top of my head so I nervously agreed to let him cut my hair. To my amazement Chris did a fantastic job albeit very gay letting him do it, it did create a few laughs in the hostel with the chair put outside the towel around my neck and we even had a pink squirty spray bottle to wet my hair.
The gang all in the same hostel we booked our 3 day 4x4 tour of the salt flats and the Altiplano for 600Bs. The Salar de Uyuni covering some 9000km2 of the Altiplano west of Uyuni is by far the largest salt lake in the world. The Salar is not a lake in any conventional sense of the word though below the surface it is largely saturated by water, its uppermost layer consists of a thick, hard crust of salt, easily capable of supporting many cars. With the unbroken chains of snow-capped mountains lining the far horizon, it was easy to believe I was on another planet.
The death road gets all the attention as being a dangerous activity but truth be told more tourists die on this tour than the death road and it’s very easy to see why, as we embarked the fear levels grew and grew and I was more scared of this than the death road where I was in complete control! The tour started with the salt plains which we took a lot of kid’s toys, why you ask? Well the salt flats are flat (well they do have a slight gradient) and you can really mess around with perspective here for example you can get a picture of a friend holding another friend in his hand or in a hat or anything you want the possibilities are endless, my favourite is a picture of me holding a rubix cube with the picture looking like my friends are standing on it with me blowing them off. We also took a rubber dinosaur and we all have pictures of this massive dinosaur with the person looking like a tiny hobbit next to it. The thing that struck me about the salt flats was the brightness it could be compared to snow blindness so sunnies were a must from the outset. From here we venture through the desert in the 4x4 and with another vehicle in our group we were concerned when our guides were having a domestic in the front seat when it came to a fork in the road with it looking like we are going right then at the last second we go left cue hearts in mouths when the jeep perilously skirts onto two wheels and after that death defying act it turns out we did go the wrong way with the second jeep running parallel to us on the horizon getting further and further away. Eventually after our scenic route we meet up with the other jeep to carry on driving ‘carry on’ being the optimum phrase here! The scenery in this area is absolutely stunning with massive brown mountains, scattered vegetation, grazing llama with blue and red lagoons dotted around the area full of pink flamingos feeding around the edge oblivious to the masses of tourists arriving in many jeeps. Seeing all these wonderful places and all the different animals indigenous to each country it amazes me why people go to the same holiday every year usually Spain as there is a whole world out there to be explored, if the world was a book the people who don’t travel have only read the first page!
Carrying on with the tour on the last day we rise at 0400 leaving dressed all in winter gear as it is below freezing outside which means our jeep’s windscreen is frozen and virtually pointless so cue our driver driving like Ace Ventura with his head out the window and then a near miss head on collision that was not unlike that from Quentin Tarantino’s movie Death Proof where Kurt Russell’s character drives head on into a oncoming car but finally we get to 5000 meters above sea level and to a hot spring in the middle of nowhere where we then donned our bating suits and warmed up but after this at the altitude I found that I was seriously dehydrated and felt faint and sick but soon recovered after declining in altitude and drinking a serious amount of water. It was this journey home that got everyone’s bum hole puckered up as it seemed our driver had somewhere to be urgently so it was gun hoe the whole way hitting dips and bumps at speed with the driver swerving across the road and to me this was the most dangerous part as there are set tyre lines with no gravel but when you cross to the next set of lines you hit the piles of gravel which reduces the grip and the jeep starts to slide. To top it all off 50km from the town our driver fell asleep (micro sleep) but luckily nothing grave happened and we got home in time to enjoy another few slices of some delicious pizza before the fellowship of Bolivia broke up with most people going their own way.
So Fergal, Paul and I headed on a night bus towards Tupiza some 200km southeast of Uyuni the isolated mining town nestles in a narrow fertile valley that cuts through the harsh desert landscape with its cactus strewn badlands, deep canyons and strangely shaped rock formations and pinnacles. This town draws tourists largely because of its dramatic surrounding desert landscape which is ideal for hiking, horse riding or touring by jeep; I bet you can guess which one we didn’t want to do.
In the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, Tupiza was the home of one of Bolivia’s biggest mining barons. Carlos Aramayo, his mines were rich enough to attract the attention of the infamous North American gunslingers Butch Cassidy and the Sundance kid, who are believed to have died in a shoot-out in the town of San Vicente some 100km to the northwest.
So with every tour in Bolivia it gets progressively more dangerous so what could beat a jeep tour with a maniac driver? A trek on horse back! If my memory serves me well I think I spent 5 minutes on a horse thanks to a girlfriend’s sister’s horse and I think I got walked around the stables and that was it so I would say I was semi-pro. On this trek we HAD to gallop at full speed, this would not have been a problem if we were told how to control and what to do in English but it was Spanish so in the first hour a girl I met previously in Fiji came off her horse and cracked her head open and split her lip, she was taken to the hospital while we had to continue with our trek. Lucky for me we met this Belgium girl who was an experienced rider and she gave me some tips and after this I felt like a real cowboy and it was just like the death road I always wanted to go faster in a gallop so it was one hand on the rains and one hand hanging out and then leaning over the horse’s head jockey style to make it go faster! One of the best times ever but what would of made it better would have been Chris Pearson trotting out on his Shetland pony as he is only 5ft nothing. The scenery was straight out of the Wild West with looming red mountains made from sand stone to cacti littering the badlands, tunnels and rivers cutting through our path which we have to cross trying to control the horse. Fergal had quite a hard time with his horse blaming it for every fault but really I think he was to blame as he was too soft with her where as me and Buttercup had this mutual respect albeit peppered with hatred. There were a few daunting moments like when at full gallop my feet would come out of the stirrups but with my amazing control over the horse I could stop her and then get the feet secured but there were times when she would veer and cross terrain that was not fit for galloping but Buttercup would just lunge over any obstacle. So I survived horseback riding and now there is nothing more too dangerous to do in Bolivia.
The next day I can assure you that I have never felt as sore as that day even after a four day trek was nothing on seven hours of horseback riding.
At the last possible moment we decided to leave Tupiza and grab a bus to Potosi which was across one of the worst roads I have ever come across and to top it off we broke down add a raging hangover and it was the worst bus ride ever! Tupiza is not the best town to go out in but we stayed up to see our flirty Dutch friend Gerda who only obliged to come out after all day and night in a jeep so our last night and possible last time we will see each other. I don’t normally get vexed about bad food but we went to a restaurant recommended by the Lonely Planet but when the food came out cold that is when an establishment has failed royally in my eyes and to top that off he wouldn’t give us a discount saying that we are the only people who have ever complained.
Potosi is set on a desolate windswept plain amid barren mountains at 4100m above sea level it is the highest city in the world and it is difficult to see at first why this city was built in this isolated location, the answer lies in Cerro Rico (Rich Mountain), the conical peak that rises domineeringly above the city is quite simply the richest source of silver the world has ever seen. To put it in perspective in the 16th century the population of London was 600,000 and in Potosi it was a staggering 200,000 making it the most populated area in South America. One of the main attractions here is to take a tour down the mine and visit the miners who have awful lives with life expectancy reaching only mid 30s but it is a very dusty and claustrophobic environment and with that I have decided it is not something that I am interested in seeing. Over three centuries it is estimated that the death toll runs as high as nine million making the mines of Potosi a central factor in the demographic collapse that swept the Andes under Spanish rule.
So if I didn’t go to the mine what did I do in Potosi? Well I went to the highest stadium in the world to see Real Potosi vs. The Strongest. I also chilled out on my own a luxury that is rare these days in one of the squares with the sun beating on me reading my book about a man who swam up the Amazon river eating pasties and drinking fresh orange juice squeezed by ladies.
From Potosi I got a bus to Sucre where I decided I would take some Spanish lessons and after 20 hours I can tell you that it has not helped a bit. The only good thing is that I am slowly declining in altitude which means the weather is getting better and the effort needed to walk up a flight of steps is reduced dramatically. Sucre is a very pretty town with the centre consisting of many churches and whitewashed buildings that are required to be painted every year. I have not been to any of the tourist traps here instead I have chosen to relax and watch the world go buy in the square reading trying to swat away the numerous beggars or children trying to polish my white flip flops with black shoe polish!
Santa Cruz next
Sorry no photos again thanks to the wonderful Bolivian Interenet
Saturday, 27 November 2010
Friday, 19 November 2010
Bike Like I Told Ya
We left Peru heading toward Copacabana (Bolivia) with a troop of about 10 people, this has its advantages and disadvantages as its great to have a lot of company and many people to talk to but when we decide to do anything it takes many hours and changes of plans to make things happen for example deciding where to go to lunch took a good hour to deicide where. The boarder crossing from Peru to Bolivia was one of the friendliest that I have encountered with the staff being very buoyant and upbeat interested in where we were originally from but now I’m expecting it to slowly get worse.
Lake Titicaca at Copacabana is the highest body of water in the world resting at about 4200 meters above sea level and this was the first place we got to experience the cheapness of Bolivia with our room costing 20Bs which is about £2 with the room being of a generally good standard. With it being the highest I also believe that it has the most abundant source of trout fish in the world so for dinner trout was a must and I can say it is without doubt the freshest tastiest fish that I have ever eaten in my life. The next day we had to get up early to get the ferry across to Ile De Sole for a day trip where we would trek across the island, this trek was quite easy for me as I am now a pro trekking at altitude but for Fergal our Irish friend he found it quite difficult and at some points he was on all fours crawling up the steps wheezing and spluttering away. We were going to stay on the island but as I mentioned before these plans changed by the minute but I am glad that we did rush back and get to La Paz as I met some great people there that night I might not have met if we rested for a day, as I said before everything happens for a reason so I just go with the flow!
La Paz is a massive bustling city that is a party town for many a backpacker with its endless bars and massive drug problem lots of backpackers find it hard to leave and after 8 days there I can tell you that it hit me hard and I don’t really want to go back there. If you remember from the last blog the Molecular Biologist who done some creative work on my foot I met up with her again and her crazy Dutch friend Paul aka W man. Paul is crazy and reminds me of most the Dutch I have met on my travels but in La Paz I have met one Dutch person that I didn’t like but I wont go into the details I’m putting this here merely as a reminder to me for when I get home. Paul is quite a character and unfortunately I cannot describe him on this blog as it would bring the tone down quite a fair bit but I am sure I will remember him quite well and the laughs we enjoyed. So I could go into to details about the drinking and social life in La Paz like my quest for the sceptic or my out of control encounter with the Swede that I backed away from (massive regret) but you would have to be here to understand, instead I will tell you about some of the activities that I managed to do in La Paz.
Few highways in the world have as intimidating a reputation as the old road linking La Paz with Coroico in the north Yungas, it represents the end of the Andes and the start of the Amazon Rainforest. Widely referred to as the most dangerous road in the world (death road) it’s a rough, narrow track chiselled out of a near vertical mountainsides that descends more than 3500m over a distance of 64km. Dozens of vehicles tumbled off its edges every year with fatalities often reaching the hundreds. Recently however a new and safer road has been built meaning traffic on the old road is practically non-existent; instead travelling the road by mountain bike has fast become one of the top Bolivian tourist attractions. After booking this excursion I was quite scared to begin with but after the first 20km on tarmac racing down at speeds of 60kmph I became with one with the bike and once I got on the Death Road I was oblivious to the 3500m drop just 1-3 foot on my left as you are going so fast you have to concentrate at least 15 meters in front of you scanning the road and the dips bumps and even the type of gravel you are about to hit. I was one of the fastest down the mountain ever wanting to go faster and increase that adrenalin and as you can tell I survived but some don’t. The last backpacker to die was an Israeli girl who came off because her goggles steamed up during the bad misty weather, before that was a Canadian who was going too fast for a corner and just flew off the edge. We had one girl in our group that was not amazing on a bike and scared of heights and too be fair I don’t think she should have taken part as she was travelling at a snails pace constantly aware of the drop and going so slow that you have to turn the bike with the handles and not leaning. Paul’s enthusiasm on the 45 minute ride out there gave me a massive boost but gave one of the girls the opposite effect.
One Sunday in La Paz I decided to support the local side in a game of football so with another troop of 10+ we headed towards one of the highest stadium in the world. Bolivia have beaten top countries such as Brazil 6-2 and Argentina around the same figure and this is because the other countries are not used to the altitude so Sepp stepped in and Fifa have now banned this stadium from being used as it is seen as an unfair advantage to Bolivia. For 40bs we got to see two matches and for 30bs we got to purchase a replica kit NOT JERSEY as the American among us called it. I was like any hardcore supporter I bought the home and away kit but we noticed that they had over 15 different kinds of kit for sale. I was in vocal flight shouting support for Bolivar the home team whilst the others were like the prawn sandwich brigade sitting there barely watching the game. The players even come around the stadium after the game to sign any autographs. Bolivar drew 2-2 with Los Mamore and the players were then escorted off by riot police.
Chris and Nick arrived in La Paz which has now made it five countries that we have met each other in which is quite a feat so yet again I was forced to drink the cheap beer and socialise on the La Paz social scene. I took on tour guide and showed my friends around the city and the famous witches market where you can purchase talisman, charms, potions and even llama foetuses. Chris’s spirit for shopping rubbed off on me and I was tempted into buying some alpaca garments and t-shirts……my bag is now bursting at the seams!
Find out in the next blog how close we came to death again and when I finally left La Paz or also known as Las Paz! Don’t worry though I am ok its just this blog had to be split into two due to the lack of internet and the amount I am doing!
Lake Titicaca at Copacabana is the highest body of water in the world resting at about 4200 meters above sea level and this was the first place we got to experience the cheapness of Bolivia with our room costing 20Bs which is about £2 with the room being of a generally good standard. With it being the highest I also believe that it has the most abundant source of trout fish in the world so for dinner trout was a must and I can say it is without doubt the freshest tastiest fish that I have ever eaten in my life. The next day we had to get up early to get the ferry across to Ile De Sole for a day trip where we would trek across the island, this trek was quite easy for me as I am now a pro trekking at altitude but for Fergal our Irish friend he found it quite difficult and at some points he was on all fours crawling up the steps wheezing and spluttering away. We were going to stay on the island but as I mentioned before these plans changed by the minute but I am glad that we did rush back and get to La Paz as I met some great people there that night I might not have met if we rested for a day, as I said before everything happens for a reason so I just go with the flow!
La Paz is a massive bustling city that is a party town for many a backpacker with its endless bars and massive drug problem lots of backpackers find it hard to leave and after 8 days there I can tell you that it hit me hard and I don’t really want to go back there. If you remember from the last blog the Molecular Biologist who done some creative work on my foot I met up with her again and her crazy Dutch friend Paul aka W man. Paul is crazy and reminds me of most the Dutch I have met on my travels but in La Paz I have met one Dutch person that I didn’t like but I wont go into the details I’m putting this here merely as a reminder to me for when I get home. Paul is quite a character and unfortunately I cannot describe him on this blog as it would bring the tone down quite a fair bit but I am sure I will remember him quite well and the laughs we enjoyed. So I could go into to details about the drinking and social life in La Paz like my quest for the sceptic or my out of control encounter with the Swede that I backed away from (massive regret) but you would have to be here to understand, instead I will tell you about some of the activities that I managed to do in La Paz.
Few highways in the world have as intimidating a reputation as the old road linking La Paz with Coroico in the north Yungas, it represents the end of the Andes and the start of the Amazon Rainforest. Widely referred to as the most dangerous road in the world (death road) it’s a rough, narrow track chiselled out of a near vertical mountainsides that descends more than 3500m over a distance of 64km. Dozens of vehicles tumbled off its edges every year with fatalities often reaching the hundreds. Recently however a new and safer road has been built meaning traffic on the old road is practically non-existent; instead travelling the road by mountain bike has fast become one of the top Bolivian tourist attractions. After booking this excursion I was quite scared to begin with but after the first 20km on tarmac racing down at speeds of 60kmph I became with one with the bike and once I got on the Death Road I was oblivious to the 3500m drop just 1-3 foot on my left as you are going so fast you have to concentrate at least 15 meters in front of you scanning the road and the dips bumps and even the type of gravel you are about to hit. I was one of the fastest down the mountain ever wanting to go faster and increase that adrenalin and as you can tell I survived but some don’t. The last backpacker to die was an Israeli girl who came off because her goggles steamed up during the bad misty weather, before that was a Canadian who was going too fast for a corner and just flew off the edge. We had one girl in our group that was not amazing on a bike and scared of heights and too be fair I don’t think she should have taken part as she was travelling at a snails pace constantly aware of the drop and going so slow that you have to turn the bike with the handles and not leaning. Paul’s enthusiasm on the 45 minute ride out there gave me a massive boost but gave one of the girls the opposite effect.
One Sunday in La Paz I decided to support the local side in a game of football so with another troop of 10+ we headed towards one of the highest stadium in the world. Bolivia have beaten top countries such as Brazil 6-2 and Argentina around the same figure and this is because the other countries are not used to the altitude so Sepp stepped in and Fifa have now banned this stadium from being used as it is seen as an unfair advantage to Bolivia. For 40bs we got to see two matches and for 30bs we got to purchase a replica kit NOT JERSEY as the American among us called it. I was like any hardcore supporter I bought the home and away kit but we noticed that they had over 15 different kinds of kit for sale. I was in vocal flight shouting support for Bolivar the home team whilst the others were like the prawn sandwich brigade sitting there barely watching the game. The players even come around the stadium after the game to sign any autographs. Bolivar drew 2-2 with Los Mamore and the players were then escorted off by riot police.
Chris and Nick arrived in La Paz which has now made it five countries that we have met each other in which is quite a feat so yet again I was forced to drink the cheap beer and socialise on the La Paz social scene. I took on tour guide and showed my friends around the city and the famous witches market where you can purchase talisman, charms, potions and even llama foetuses. Chris’s spirit for shopping rubbed off on me and I was tempted into buying some alpaca garments and t-shirts……my bag is now bursting at the seams!
Find out in the next blog how close we came to death again and when I finally left La Paz or also known as Las Paz! Don’t worry though I am ok its just this blog had to be split into two due to the lack of internet and the amount I am doing!
Monday, 1 November 2010
Inca Time
Q. What do a journalist a pilot and a molecular biologist have in common?
A. They all performed minor surgery on me. Not sure if I have wrote about this but in Fiji I got some coral stuck in my foot and it got infected and after a day trek to an Inca ruin (Sexy woman) enough was enough so after a night out we went back to the dorm armed with scissors, alcohol wipes, bandages and a defribulator. The journalist held my foot the scientist cut away the bad tissue and the pilot held my hand and made inappropriate comments trying to reassure me. I was told that it would not hurt but then just before the dodgy medical team made the first incision they offered me something to bite down on for the pain! Foot now wrapped up and is 1000 times better. I was quite amazed at how keen everyone was to participate with me being the least enthusiastic which brings me on to quite a fitting quote:
“Travelling is a brutality. It forces you to trust total strangers and to lose sight of all that familiar comfort of home and friends. You are constantly off balance. Nothing is yours except the essential things – air, sleep, dreams, the sea, and the sky – all things tending towards the eternal or what we imagine of it.” – Cesare Pavese
Arrived in Cusco and now I am 3500 meters above sea level it feels like this altitude will never end and I still have Bolivia to contend with where everything there is the highest in the world “great”. Drinking at this altitude is takes some getting used too as three beers at lunch time nearly put me on my ass. I have been staying at the world famous Loki hostel which is famous for its wild nights and ‘social activity’ and for the week before my trek I have been participating in having a good time, dressing up and recovering. Great times and I have met so many different characters’ with the staff being the maddest!
Cusco is a very pretty city with cobbled streets lined with traditionally dressed Peruvian women with llamas posing for pictures. Cusco known to the Incas as the naval of the world is an exciting and colourful city built by the Spanish on the solid remains of Inca temples and palaces. This city is relatively untouched with its whitewashed streets and red-tilled roofs home to a wealth of traditional culture, lively nightlife and a seemingly endless variety of museums walks and tours making it a very popular tourist destination.
The world famous Inca trek is set in the Sanctuario Historico de Machu Picchu, an area of over 32000 hectares set apart by the Peruvian state for the protection of its flora, fauna and natural beauty. In recent years the government have set a limit to only 500 people per day on the Inca tour, this is why this had to be booked 6 months in advance.
Day 1:
This was when we met the rest of our group which was full of Argentineans, Chileans, Swedish, English (Tim and I), Brazilians and Dutch. The first day of the trek was very easy they eased us in and if anything it was too slow as we were having breaks every 15 minutes basically when you just get into your stride. I thought day 1 was amazing looking but the best was yet to come. We started off early with a drive to Ollantaytambo where we could buy walking sticks, ponchos and the like until we hit the start of the trek at Chilca where we had to cross the Urubamba River the start of this 45km hike has started.
Day 2:
This was the day everyone was not looking forward to it was the hardest day where we had to climb 1000 meters to the highest point at ‘Dead Woman’s Pass’ 4200 meters high and to be fair it was a long long day that took all the energy from my body and once you reach the peak and have the rest you have to go down 2 hours worth of stairs into the Pacamayo valley. I find going down worse than going up as the chances of popping a knee twisting an ankle or dropping your water bottle are greatly increased. There was not much to see this day it was all about getting to the peak then descending to the campsite.
Day 3:
This morning started with another, much shorter climb up a winding, tiring track towards the second pass – Abra de Runkuracay just above the circular ruins of the same name. Beyond the second pass a flight of stone steps leads up to the Inca ruins of Sayacmarca. From here we made our way gently down into the increasingly dense clouds forest. From here to the third pass I had a second wind and stormed through only to be faced with the ‘Gringo Killer’ – a very rough three hour trek down 3000 steps to the next ruin, a citadel almost as impressive as Machu Picchu, Winay Wayna (Forever Young). I spent a good hour sitting on the edge of this Citadel just gazing at the scene before me, almost feeling as if I was watching the biggest cinema screen in history as I could not believe the beauty of this place. Day three was marked ‘unforgettable’ and it certainly lived up to its name.
Day 4:
A well marked path from Winay Wayna takes a right fork for about two hours (although I did it in 1 hour) through sumptuous vegetated slopes to Intipunku (The Sun Gate) which is where we caught our first glimpse of Machu Picchu – a stupendous sight no matter how exhausted you are. This sight was quite eerie at first as the mist came rolling in it passed through the city like a horror film but as soon as the sun came out it burnt off all the excess cloud and the day was beautiful.
Words cannot describe the feeling of spending four days smelling absolutely awful, aching and hurting to finally get there and see it for the first time, this will always be a treasured beautiful moment in my life that whenever I still think of it tears roll to my eyes, truly one of the top things to do before you die. One gripe I do have is that as many tourists as possible can get the train to Machu Picchu and I felt that I deserved to be there more than they did and feel that the Inca trekkers should have a period of a few hours to explore it on our own.
Back to Cusco just in time for the Halloween party which was one of the best nights that I have had in the 13+ months I have been away. Again good to see Chris and Nick who I have now seen in 4 countries and about to make it 5!
So with Peru done a handful of friends we met at Loki decided to travel together from Cusco to Copacabana in Bolivia – cue extracts from Barry Manilows song along route. The bus ride was about as organised and successful as America’s attack on Vietnam with us arriving late and the retard behind the desk messing up all our tickets then claiming it was our thought, lucky for us 3 of the 10 travelling could speak fluent Spanish which helped no end!
I have spent nearly 4 weeks in Peru and it certainly has been a great experience with ever changing beautiful landscapes to gorgeous cities and amazingly different animals, this has been one of the top places I have visited and still in four weeks have not touched this country completely.
Again still at amazingly high altitude (4200 meters above sea level) with what I believe is the highest lake in the world – Lake Titicaca.
So what does Bolivia have in store for me? Partying in La Paz, taking Spanish lessons, jungle treks, cycling down the worlds most dangerous road, bribing my way into San Pedro Prison, Isla del Sol, Uyuni salt flats and basically living for a month at dirt cheap prices.
A. They all performed minor surgery on me. Not sure if I have wrote about this but in Fiji I got some coral stuck in my foot and it got infected and after a day trek to an Inca ruin (Sexy woman) enough was enough so after a night out we went back to the dorm armed with scissors, alcohol wipes, bandages and a defribulator. The journalist held my foot the scientist cut away the bad tissue and the pilot held my hand and made inappropriate comments trying to reassure me. I was told that it would not hurt but then just before the dodgy medical team made the first incision they offered me something to bite down on for the pain! Foot now wrapped up and is 1000 times better. I was quite amazed at how keen everyone was to participate with me being the least enthusiastic which brings me on to quite a fitting quote:
“Travelling is a brutality. It forces you to trust total strangers and to lose sight of all that familiar comfort of home and friends. You are constantly off balance. Nothing is yours except the essential things – air, sleep, dreams, the sea, and the sky – all things tending towards the eternal or what we imagine of it.” – Cesare Pavese
Arrived in Cusco and now I am 3500 meters above sea level it feels like this altitude will never end and I still have Bolivia to contend with where everything there is the highest in the world “great”. Drinking at this altitude is takes some getting used too as three beers at lunch time nearly put me on my ass. I have been staying at the world famous Loki hostel which is famous for its wild nights and ‘social activity’ and for the week before my trek I have been participating in having a good time, dressing up and recovering. Great times and I have met so many different characters’ with the staff being the maddest!
Cusco is a very pretty city with cobbled streets lined with traditionally dressed Peruvian women with llamas posing for pictures. Cusco known to the Incas as the naval of the world is an exciting and colourful city built by the Spanish on the solid remains of Inca temples and palaces. This city is relatively untouched with its whitewashed streets and red-tilled roofs home to a wealth of traditional culture, lively nightlife and a seemingly endless variety of museums walks and tours making it a very popular tourist destination.
The world famous Inca trek is set in the Sanctuario Historico de Machu Picchu, an area of over 32000 hectares set apart by the Peruvian state for the protection of its flora, fauna and natural beauty. In recent years the government have set a limit to only 500 people per day on the Inca tour, this is why this had to be booked 6 months in advance.
Day 1:
This was when we met the rest of our group which was full of Argentineans, Chileans, Swedish, English (Tim and I), Brazilians and Dutch. The first day of the trek was very easy they eased us in and if anything it was too slow as we were having breaks every 15 minutes basically when you just get into your stride. I thought day 1 was amazing looking but the best was yet to come. We started off early with a drive to Ollantaytambo where we could buy walking sticks, ponchos and the like until we hit the start of the trek at Chilca where we had to cross the Urubamba River the start of this 45km hike has started.
Day 2:
This was the day everyone was not looking forward to it was the hardest day where we had to climb 1000 meters to the highest point at ‘Dead Woman’s Pass’ 4200 meters high and to be fair it was a long long day that took all the energy from my body and once you reach the peak and have the rest you have to go down 2 hours worth of stairs into the Pacamayo valley. I find going down worse than going up as the chances of popping a knee twisting an ankle or dropping your water bottle are greatly increased. There was not much to see this day it was all about getting to the peak then descending to the campsite.
Day 3:
This morning started with another, much shorter climb up a winding, tiring track towards the second pass – Abra de Runkuracay just above the circular ruins of the same name. Beyond the second pass a flight of stone steps leads up to the Inca ruins of Sayacmarca. From here we made our way gently down into the increasingly dense clouds forest. From here to the third pass I had a second wind and stormed through only to be faced with the ‘Gringo Killer’ – a very rough three hour trek down 3000 steps to the next ruin, a citadel almost as impressive as Machu Picchu, Winay Wayna (Forever Young). I spent a good hour sitting on the edge of this Citadel just gazing at the scene before me, almost feeling as if I was watching the biggest cinema screen in history as I could not believe the beauty of this place. Day three was marked ‘unforgettable’ and it certainly lived up to its name.
Day 4:
A well marked path from Winay Wayna takes a right fork for about two hours (although I did it in 1 hour) through sumptuous vegetated slopes to Intipunku (The Sun Gate) which is where we caught our first glimpse of Machu Picchu – a stupendous sight no matter how exhausted you are. This sight was quite eerie at first as the mist came rolling in it passed through the city like a horror film but as soon as the sun came out it burnt off all the excess cloud and the day was beautiful.
Words cannot describe the feeling of spending four days smelling absolutely awful, aching and hurting to finally get there and see it for the first time, this will always be a treasured beautiful moment in my life that whenever I still think of it tears roll to my eyes, truly one of the top things to do before you die. One gripe I do have is that as many tourists as possible can get the train to Machu Picchu and I felt that I deserved to be there more than they did and feel that the Inca trekkers should have a period of a few hours to explore it on our own.
Back to Cusco just in time for the Halloween party which was one of the best nights that I have had in the 13+ months I have been away. Again good to see Chris and Nick who I have now seen in 4 countries and about to make it 5!
So with Peru done a handful of friends we met at Loki decided to travel together from Cusco to Copacabana in Bolivia – cue extracts from Barry Manilows song along route. The bus ride was about as organised and successful as America’s attack on Vietnam with us arriving late and the retard behind the desk messing up all our tickets then claiming it was our thought, lucky for us 3 of the 10 travelling could speak fluent Spanish which helped no end!
I have spent nearly 4 weeks in Peru and it certainly has been a great experience with ever changing beautiful landscapes to gorgeous cities and amazingly different animals, this has been one of the top places I have visited and still in four weeks have not touched this country completely.
Again still at amazingly high altitude (4200 meters above sea level) with what I believe is the highest lake in the world – Lake Titicaca.
So what does Bolivia have in store for me? Partying in La Paz, taking Spanish lessons, jungle treks, cycling down the worlds most dangerous road, bribing my way into San Pedro Prison, Isla del Sol, Uyuni salt flats and basically living for a month at dirt cheap prices.
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