What a strange feeling saying good bye to Katie and Shay last week as they headed off to Chile and London, leaving us alone together! They have been great parents to us as newbies in South America; but it was time for us to leave the nest! The phrase book is being used much more now and we seem to be lapsing into school French.
We have been in Cusco since last Thursday. Its a big city of terracota buildings - very old, extremely narrow streets which are cobbled with a deep drain in the centre. Lots of steps everywhere and we keep discovering new streets. It is the old Inca capital with lots of historical sites, walls etc and right in the middle of the Andes.
Tourism is huge here and we are continually hounded by locals trying to sell us massages, inca pots, woven belts, paintings or take photos of them with their babies tied to their back and clutching a cute lamb or alpaca wearing a colourful head band.
Spent the last few days relaxing and getting used to the altitude of 3400 metres. Haven't had any problems with it, though we do gasp for air when walking up the steep hills. Mark even went for a short run up to a viewpoint before breakfast today and didn't do too badly.
Lst night we weakened and ate a lovely classic roast followed by PG tips tea at an English cafe. They even had copies of some UK newspapers.(The Sun!) Also watched the Barcelona v Manchester united game in a pub with some very enthusastic spanish supporters.
We have been surprised that there are not many Kiwis in Peru. Most backpackers seem to be French. The Peruvians are lovely people and very interested in NZ, though you have to watch you back pocket due to some light fingered folk!
We're heading into the jungle tomorrow, 4 days in an eco-lodge surrounded by a huge range of wild animals and insects - even Tarantulas and snakes - I'm not sure quite why we are going?????
Then onto the Sacred Valley of the Incas and onto the famed Machu Picchu by bus and train - in July it is the centenary of the American discovery of the site.
One surpise about Peru is the food - its is very varied and good quality. A drink of lemonade is freshly squeezed lemons with a topping of egg white on top. The cereals and varieties of corn are very tasty.
We learnt about the local 'Coca' leaf which we often drink as a tea or chew on at breakfast time.. It tastes very pleasant and is very high in vitamins and minerals, helps digestion and wards off altitude sickness plus is one of the original ingredients of Coca Cola. Once treated with various chemicals it becomes cocaine !
Thanks for your emails and messages. Great to be able to keep in touch.
Monday 30 May 2011
Sunday 22 May 2011
Canyons, Condors and a Mule
Characterised by old colonial buildings, plazas and courtyards all built in white stone, Arequipa is Peru´s second city. Situated beneath several huge snowcapped volcanoes the city is surrounded by poor slums and the streets are packed full of tooting smelly taxis all day long.
We are still enjoying being with Katie and Shay, and have based ourselves here for quite a few days. Amongst other things we all visited the rather macabre museum display of the frozen body of a 12 year old Inca girl who was sacrificed on the summit of a nearby volcano over 500 years ago and discovered in 1995!
Yesterday (Sat) we completed a 3 day trek into the Colca Canyon some distance north of here - at over twice the depth of the Grand Canyon it is reputed to be the worlds deepest. We travelled by mini van over a high pass at a breathless 4900m and arrived at the canyons edge in a place where Condors nest, and were lucky enough to see half a dozen or more at close quarters as they rode the morning thermals. This was real Peru, with pre-Inca field terracing and the locals working the land in their traditional dress...and only traditional food available comprising of vegetable soup followed by diced vegetables with a few scraps of Alpaca amongst it if you were lucky. Anyway, this seemed sufficient to power us down the horribly loose and rocky paths into the base of the canyon and then onwards to travel between basic huts blessed with wonderful comfy beds.
Sarah did brilliantly well but the huge haul out back to the village on day 3 would have been very demanding so once we saw a mule was on offer she recognised this as a good option. At first light she joined a few others in setting off up the hill behind the rest of us who were on foot. It was a fantastic moment when she caught up with us and then tore ahead up the steep, rocky and exposed path ahead compltely at the mercy of this powerful beast! We weren´t sure who was more shattered when we reached the canyon rim!
Now having a few easy days and will head down the Cuzco Coffee Company (a Starbucks rip-off) for a coffee and a cake....
We are still enjoying being with Katie and Shay, and have based ourselves here for quite a few days. Amongst other things we all visited the rather macabre museum display of the frozen body of a 12 year old Inca girl who was sacrificed on the summit of a nearby volcano over 500 years ago and discovered in 1995!
Yesterday (Sat) we completed a 3 day trek into the Colca Canyon some distance north of here - at over twice the depth of the Grand Canyon it is reputed to be the worlds deepest. We travelled by mini van over a high pass at a breathless 4900m and arrived at the canyons edge in a place where Condors nest, and were lucky enough to see half a dozen or more at close quarters as they rode the morning thermals. This was real Peru, with pre-Inca field terracing and the locals working the land in their traditional dress...and only traditional food available comprising of vegetable soup followed by diced vegetables with a few scraps of Alpaca amongst it if you were lucky. Anyway, this seemed sufficient to power us down the horribly loose and rocky paths into the base of the canyon and then onwards to travel between basic huts blessed with wonderful comfy beds.
Sarah did brilliantly well but the huge haul out back to the village on day 3 would have been very demanding so once we saw a mule was on offer she recognised this as a good option. At first light she joined a few others in setting off up the hill behind the rest of us who were on foot. It was a fantastic moment when she caught up with us and then tore ahead up the steep, rocky and exposed path ahead compltely at the mercy of this powerful beast! We weren´t sure who was more shattered when we reached the canyon rim!
Now having a few easy days and will head down the Cuzco Coffee Company (a Starbucks rip-off) for a coffee and a cake....
Wednesday 18 May 2011
Culture shock in Peru
We are now in a lovely old city, Arequipa, at 2300 m altitude at the foot of some huge mountains and 5800m high volcano. Feels like we are on holiday at last and were grateful to have our first proper 8 hr sleep.
Lima was a shock -after our city of 45 000, a city of 9 million, most of them taxi drivers tooting their horns. Food was excellent and fortuneately avoided eating the great delicacy of guinea pig as they had run out !!
We were keen to leave Lima but had to stay an extra day as the bus was cancelled due to a labour protest on the main road south.
Eventually arrived in an oasis in the middle of a real desert with massive sand dunes, no camels but two giant tortoises in the garden of our hostel. We did a sand buggy tour which was very exciting, being driven at high speed up and down the dunes and then stopping to sand board down the dunes. Katie and i came a cropper and were covered in sand but fortuntely not injured.
Its great having Katie and Shay with us - they are both able to communicate well in Spanish which has been most helpful as everyone is so friendly and it is frustrating not being able to say more then gracias and hola.
We re heading to a big canyon tomorrow to do a 3 day trek involving a 1000 m ascent to altitude of around 5000m.
We are now feeling more like backpackers as we survived an overnight bus ride, did our washing in a bucket and are typing on a keyboard with most of the letters rubbed off!
Still can t believe we{re in Peru!
Keeping in touch by Mark s phone when we can get free internet at hostels.
Lve from us in Peru ; ))
Lima was a shock -after our city of 45 000, a city of 9 million, most of them taxi drivers tooting their horns. Food was excellent and fortuneately avoided eating the great delicacy of guinea pig as they had run out !!
We were keen to leave Lima but had to stay an extra day as the bus was cancelled due to a labour protest on the main road south.
Eventually arrived in an oasis in the middle of a real desert with massive sand dunes, no camels but two giant tortoises in the garden of our hostel. We did a sand buggy tour which was very exciting, being driven at high speed up and down the dunes and then stopping to sand board down the dunes. Katie and i came a cropper and were covered in sand but fortuntely not injured.
Its great having Katie and Shay with us - they are both able to communicate well in Spanish which has been most helpful as everyone is so friendly and it is frustrating not being able to say more then gracias and hola.
We re heading to a big canyon tomorrow to do a 3 day trek involving a 1000 m ascent to altitude of around 5000m.
We are now feeling more like backpackers as we survived an overnight bus ride, did our washing in a bucket and are typing on a keyboard with most of the letters rubbed off!
Still can t believe we{re in Peru!
Keeping in touch by Mark s phone when we can get free internet at hostels.
Lve from us in Peru ; ))
Tuesday 3 May 2011
Inspiration for the final week
"To dare is to lose foothold for a while
Not to dare is to lose oneself"
Soren Kierkegaard
Not to dare is to lose oneself"
Soren Kierkegaard
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