The weather was a blessing whilst we were out in this huge city. Its a lot hotter than Mexico city because its a good 5 hours closer to the coast and we made the most of it, taking walks through the square and parks and of course the supermarket. (We cooked in the kitchen for most of the time to nurse our dwindling funds back to health!) There was corn growing on the cathedral front there - quite appropriate really! Our quiet hostel with the pottery tiled terraces, was full of Americans and other English speaking nationalities who were there for a botonay conference! They were a little dull compared to the company we'd had in Lima, but friendly enough! The place had much more of a holiday feel to it, and we met quite a few other couples who were visiting for a week or two. It was strange to have people be surprised that we'd been away for so long, rather than have the length of time compared and commented on.
We had lots of lazy mornings, reading (I FINISHED Shataram!! The best book I have ever read!), listening to music and sunbathing until I had to dash under a cold shower to stop myself from melting in the 36 degree heat! We decided to head back to Mexico City a few days early though, so that we could watch the England vs. USA world cup match with English supporters! Gutted that we drew, the yanks here wont let us hear the end of it - "We don't even PLAY football!" or "Why do the Enligh keep inventing sports that they aren't even any good at?!". We had a wild celebratory night in last night, before we go back to stay at Monica's house, with the local DJ starting up the music that I'm beginning to actually recognise at 11pm.
That's really all there is left to tell you of my travel tales! I can't believe it has come to an end so quickly. Gutted in some ways but really excited to get home and see you all! It was the best decision I ever made to take a gap year and travel. That much I'm certain of.
Over and Out
X
Saturday, 12 June 2010
Lima --> Mexico
We headed to Lima the next day, arriving in the rain! Hostel Loki, that we had our hearts set on after we'd fallen in love with its sister hostel in La Paz, Bolivia, was fully booked. Rookie error we hadn't made reservations. Instead we stayed in a much quieter "Hitchiker Hostel" and spent the evening in the Loki bar meeting people who had strangely just started their trip! Seemed like a cruel joke as we were more than aware that we only had 2 weeks left away. The chicken caeser salad made up for it though. The best I'd had whilst being away - its rediculously hard to find a good salad in South America and you are often warned to avoid them as the leaves are washed in the tap water which you shouldnt drink if you aren't local! Anywho, we had a fantastic night, going to see the casinos in Miraflores in a massive group, and leaving dissapointed that you had to gamble in american dollars. I hadnt been anywhere so "classy" and modern since....well London! It felt very foreign having been in Cusco for almost 2 weeks, where the country's wealth is a litte less great. We met some great people as always though and left them the following night, mid-party at about 2am to catch our flight to Mexico. We were devestated to be leaving SA that we'd fallen head over heals in love with, and also Milly who we'd had as a fellow traveller for 2 weeks! The flights were hellish, though Lima's airport was surprisingly pleasant! We were tired from the night before, I picked up a stomach bug, leaving at 2am and having to stay awake till we got on the plane was a real strain. We woke up after about 3 hours sleep, to a aeroplane breakfast we just didn't want and had to change planes at local time 10am. The sunrise I saw over the clouds from the plane window was a pocket of delight though in the lengthy trip. We then waited in the longest immigration que I have ever encountered, hungry and surviving on crackers, and finally arrived in Mexico City on edge from all the things you hear about mugging and worse. All in all it was not a great experience from A to B, BUT we were greeted with tea and beds and HOT showers which was a difinate novelty after travelling through Peru and Bolivia where they just don't exsist! Being in a house was a huge contrast to what we were used to. It felt wrong! But we took advantage of it and managed to get out into the city over the next week to see: the Cathedral and Palace, go on a turibus, visit the anthropology museum, enjoy starbucks, see a movie, without any hitches. The city was a lot cleaner and more modern than I was expecting, but it made sense as Mexico is the interim between SAmerica and the USA, so it was bound to be a step up towards westernisation. However, we still didn't go out after dark, to be safe!
Wacachina's Sand Dunes
Leaving Cusco was soo sad. Didn't want to leave all the friends we'd made there behind BUT we were out to go sandboarding. After an overnight bus on which Milly got foodpoisoning from the meal she was served, we arrived in the hot sunshine, back to a normal level of altitude that didnt leave you panting!! Barely recovered from our hours on the road we hopped into a dune buggy and blasted up the hill in the afternoon heat with the sandboards slung in the back. We flew off the tops of the dunes and crashed down the other sides of the peaks. Was so much fun just being a passenger! The wind whipped sand into our eyes but it was a small price to pay for being pushed over the edge of a ridge to speed down on your stomach, bouncing all the way. The sand was so soft, compared to the sand in England and we rolled around in it as the sun set around us lighting up the sky red and casting an amber glow over the dunes. I tried it with a snowboard too but completely wiped out half way down as I lost my balance and tumbled down the slope in cartoon cartwheel style. It was a lovely landing, the sand cushioning every part of my body that made contact with the hill. It was harder than just taboganing it down the hill though so I reverted to the faster option. Had the most incredible pancake with fruit and plentiful chocolate sauce afterwards, it rivaled the one Id had in New York years ago. I'd reccommend sandboarding to anyone, snowboarder or not though!
Wednesday, 9 June 2010
Machu Picchu & Cusco
Cusco was stunning, I had the best week of my life and met and made friends that I know I'll keep in touch with, or even plan a future trip with! The inca buildings had simplistic beautifully cut stones to make up the bases, but intricately carved fronts that overlooked the square we came to be so familiar with. There was actually a McDonalds looking out with an imitated inca style front and a Brown M, there, much to our horror! The nightlife was vibrant and going to clubs was an interesting affair. Once they spotted you walking across the plaza towards them, the club promotors would rush out and surround you, throwing free drink vouchers at you to persuade you that their club was the one you would have the best night at. At one point they actually picked us up and had us arm in arm, a bouncer either side of each of us! A little unnerving!! We lost our little llama finger puppet that we'd had with us throughout Peru and had featured in lots of photographs, in one of these almost violent moments and we grieved (for a moment) when we finally got into the safety of the club. His proudest moment had been reaching the top of Machu Picchu and climbing a plant to survey the view. Which was stunning, easily the best view I've laid eyes on in my life. When we got to the top, we just sat and absorbed for hours. We had some of the best weather too so we were lucky we could see as far as we could - there are often clouds of mist that hang around over the valley but the day we were there it was clear.
The climb up was epic. We began, (Nick & Grant -the kiwis- and Ash, Dick & I - the English) in the pitch black, at 4am, barely able to see the dirt track infront of us. The rugged edge of the sheer inky mountainside above us was barely visible. Just the absense of stars told us it was there. We strode ahead alongside a roaring river and nearly jumped out of our skins when a streak of black leapt out of nowhere and circled us. Puma!! Oh wait no, just a dog! We continued in determined silence - the 3000 stairs we had to climb ahead of us would take us 2 hours, we'd been told. We crossed the bridge and began the first set, after scrambling around in the dark to find our tickets which we were told we had to fill in. We did so on eachothers backs & the rocks , squinting to see, and were finally let through! They were alot steeper than i was expecting. I had to take a kindof run at some of them to get the momentum to get up them. Even the boys with their longer legs struggled a little. We were all panting and soaked through with sweat in minutes. The altitude made breathing a lot less effective and we had to stop for Grant, who felt sick at about 2000 steps in. He'd hammered it a little too hard striding ahead of us - that'd teach him! We'd stormed up most of the way with a few brief water breaks, the path lit only by a keyring torch and Dick's trusty Nokia! We stopped for breakfast in a conveniently placed mud hut, rushing down our oreos as we were passed by a few groups, determined not to get any further behind! About 10 minutes later we could here whoops and shouts above us and we knew we must be near the top. We rounded the last corner (the path snaked its way up) having been able to turn off our toches for the last stretch as the first hints of sunrise arrived. Exhausted, but having expected a longer treck, we tagged onto the bunch of people waiting for the gates to open. I reckon we were about the 75th people to arrive. The night's cold shook off our hot sweats and we began to shiver as we waited, being wet didn't help! The sun began to illuminate just the peaks of the mountains across the valley from us. The que grew and grew behind us and we got through the gate just after the first buses began to arrive and the girls got off to be reunited with team Shelly!! We met our guide - Pedro - and he dubbed us the spice girls in his thick accent. He took us round the site, always pointing out the "condor" shaped rocks. We were exhausted after 2 hours of history and step climbing, and flopped down with our backs against the ruins at the end of the tour. It wasn't even 9am yet. We ate "lunch" and regrouped to climb our next challenge - Wanapicchu. I've never climbed so many steps in one go in all my life. But the view at the top made it worth it. We had clear skies so we could see 360 around us, including the river winding below us on one side, Machu Picchu shrunk down to postcard size on the other and the snaking scar of the dirt track up to the gate that we'd cut through that morning. It seemed impossibly far below us. "Dinner" on the flat rocks at the top was just wonderful. The air was filled with our laughter and chatter. Eventually, reluctantly, we climbed down the precariously steep stone stairs perched at random angles, clutching at the rocks beside us. Our legs were complete jelly by the bottom and each step down sent a new spasm off. We were ravenous by this time. We'd been surviving on biscuits and fruit and plastic cheese and ham bread rolls. We tore into the rediculously overpriced burgers and quiches gratefully. Refreshed with the whole afternoon ahead of us, we climbed to the top of the Machu Picchu area to the little stone house where we sat and absorbed another gobsmacking view. I watched the Llamas nibble on the shelves of grass below us and the maintenance staff milling around watering the land. Some tour groups were just beginning their rounds and we looked on at them pitifully. They wouldnt have time to climb Wanapicchu for that spectacular view of the velvety gree mountains around us. We collapsed down on one of the shady shelves, all 8 of us, not wanting to leave but too tired to go anywhere else! Finally we plucked up the energy from who knows where to power down the last 3000 steps to return to our "hostel". We'd stayed there the night before, 8 of us packed into 4 beds because they didn't have enough room! But they refused to let us shower when we got back!! We argued them down and a few of us had icy cold ones. We were so filthy from all the dust and sweat but without fresh clothes to change into it seemed a little pointless!
Team Shelly (our friend Ashely had his name mispelt on his ticket and team Shelly was born) went out in search of a large replenishing meal accompanied by free drinks. We were gravely dissapointed when the huge portions of enchilladas we were promised turned out to be less than a starter sized portion each. I don't think I've ever seen such angry faces. We stormed out (not before wolfing them down) and onto the next place where we were won over by free garlic bread and 8 beers for 35 sol (9 pounds). We had a great train ride home, our spirits lifted again by the food, we joked our way back, chatting to the yanks sat next to us periodically. That day, one of the longest too, was a sure highlight of the trip.
The climb up was epic. We began, (Nick & Grant -the kiwis- and Ash, Dick & I - the English) in the pitch black, at 4am, barely able to see the dirt track infront of us. The rugged edge of the sheer inky mountainside above us was barely visible. Just the absense of stars told us it was there. We strode ahead alongside a roaring river and nearly jumped out of our skins when a streak of black leapt out of nowhere and circled us. Puma!! Oh wait no, just a dog! We continued in determined silence - the 3000 stairs we had to climb ahead of us would take us 2 hours, we'd been told. We crossed the bridge and began the first set, after scrambling around in the dark to find our tickets which we were told we had to fill in. We did so on eachothers backs & the rocks , squinting to see, and were finally let through! They were alot steeper than i was expecting. I had to take a kindof run at some of them to get the momentum to get up them. Even the boys with their longer legs struggled a little. We were all panting and soaked through with sweat in minutes. The altitude made breathing a lot less effective and we had to stop for Grant, who felt sick at about 2000 steps in. He'd hammered it a little too hard striding ahead of us - that'd teach him! We'd stormed up most of the way with a few brief water breaks, the path lit only by a keyring torch and Dick's trusty Nokia! We stopped for breakfast in a conveniently placed mud hut, rushing down our oreos as we were passed by a few groups, determined not to get any further behind! About 10 minutes later we could here whoops and shouts above us and we knew we must be near the top. We rounded the last corner (the path snaked its way up) having been able to turn off our toches for the last stretch as the first hints of sunrise arrived. Exhausted, but having expected a longer treck, we tagged onto the bunch of people waiting for the gates to open. I reckon we were about the 75th people to arrive. The night's cold shook off our hot sweats and we began to shiver as we waited, being wet didn't help! The sun began to illuminate just the peaks of the mountains across the valley from us. The que grew and grew behind us and we got through the gate just after the first buses began to arrive and the girls got off to be reunited with team Shelly!! We met our guide - Pedro - and he dubbed us the spice girls in his thick accent. He took us round the site, always pointing out the "condor" shaped rocks. We were exhausted after 2 hours of history and step climbing, and flopped down with our backs against the ruins at the end of the tour. It wasn't even 9am yet. We ate "lunch" and regrouped to climb our next challenge - Wanapicchu. I've never climbed so many steps in one go in all my life. But the view at the top made it worth it. We had clear skies so we could see 360 around us, including the river winding below us on one side, Machu Picchu shrunk down to postcard size on the other and the snaking scar of the dirt track up to the gate that we'd cut through that morning. It seemed impossibly far below us. "Dinner" on the flat rocks at the top was just wonderful. The air was filled with our laughter and chatter. Eventually, reluctantly, we climbed down the precariously steep stone stairs perched at random angles, clutching at the rocks beside us. Our legs were complete jelly by the bottom and each step down sent a new spasm off. We were ravenous by this time. We'd been surviving on biscuits and fruit and plastic cheese and ham bread rolls. We tore into the rediculously overpriced burgers and quiches gratefully. Refreshed with the whole afternoon ahead of us, we climbed to the top of the Machu Picchu area to the little stone house where we sat and absorbed another gobsmacking view. I watched the Llamas nibble on the shelves of grass below us and the maintenance staff milling around watering the land. Some tour groups were just beginning their rounds and we looked on at them pitifully. They wouldnt have time to climb Wanapicchu for that spectacular view of the velvety gree mountains around us. We collapsed down on one of the shady shelves, all 8 of us, not wanting to leave but too tired to go anywhere else! Finally we plucked up the energy from who knows where to power down the last 3000 steps to return to our "hostel". We'd stayed there the night before, 8 of us packed into 4 beds because they didn't have enough room! But they refused to let us shower when we got back!! We argued them down and a few of us had icy cold ones. We were so filthy from all the dust and sweat but without fresh clothes to change into it seemed a little pointless!
Team Shelly (our friend Ashely had his name mispelt on his ticket and team Shelly was born) went out in search of a large replenishing meal accompanied by free drinks. We were gravely dissapointed when the huge portions of enchilladas we were promised turned out to be less than a starter sized portion each. I don't think I've ever seen such angry faces. We stormed out (not before wolfing them down) and onto the next place where we were won over by free garlic bread and 8 beers for 35 sol (9 pounds). We had a great train ride home, our spirits lifted again by the food, we joked our way back, chatting to the yanks sat next to us periodically. That day, one of the longest too, was a sure highlight of the trip.
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