Bike Tour

I thought I would give my walking legs a break today and go on a bike tour. A few people at the hostal had done it and it came very highly recommended. The tours are run by Mike, a US journalist who has reported all over South America.

Emeralds embedded in the stone

We started by going to the main square, but we were stymied because a relic of Pope JP II was at the cathedral so the place was cordoned off to accommodate the hordes of nuns, priests, and other papal enthusiasts. We then went off to where the emerald traders were. There were heaps of people gathered on a corner, many of them were carrying hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of emeralds. A couple of them came over to our group and showed us their wares - some absolutely gorgeous stones. I just couldn't get over the fact that all this was done out in the open!

It says, "Don't turn the other cheek"

 We rode on, down the street, dodging cars that only very loosely follow the road rules. Mike showed us some great graffiti along the way to the market. There's a lot of graffiti in Bogota and some of it is really impressive.

Once we arrived at the market we tried all sorts of weird and wonderful fruits. Many of them I had never heard of nor seen before and most of them were very tasty...but there were a couple that were unbelievably sour - all of us had a grimace when we lied and said, "mmmmm good!" After navigating through the lovely, colourful fruits, we ventured into the meat section - which made me want to become a vegetarian. Whole pig skins hanging from hooks, intestines, innards, cow legs complete with hooves, and even a cow's head. It's truly gruesome when you are confronted with what it means to eat meat: DEATH. Naturally, after the death we went to the flowers. Did you know that cut flowers are one of Colombia's four main exports? Can you guess what the other three are?

Onwards we went, riding through some industrial areas to the red light district. Prostitution is legal in Colombia, as long as the ladies (or gentlemen) stay in designated areas. I have no pictures of this particular area - apparently the ladies don't like to have their photographs taken...go figure. Besides prostitutes look pretty much the same in most countries I reckon.


Hmmmm what's good after a red light trawl? How about a look at a micro coffee roasting facility? The roaster took up the most of a fair sized room and as we arrived the beans were released into the pan. Now, I'm not a coffee aficionado, but the smell was fantastic. All of the grade A coffee in Colombia is shipped overseas so it's actually quite difficult to get a decent cup of coffee here. We were given a grade A bean to chew on as well as a Grade C...you certainly tell the difference! We were also given cacao beans...how something so repugnant can become something so magical as chocolate, I don't know.

The grave on the left is the old president...

After our little coffee break we went on to the Central Cemetery of Bogota. This is a massive cemetery where 17 former presidents are buried along with various other notable persons such as famous scientists, poets and writers and the German migrant who brought beer to the shores of Colombia. The story goes that if you whisper your wishes into his ear (ok, the ear of his statue) he will grant them for you. There are also regular people who, for some reason, have become "sainted" by the people. These tombs are visited and prayed to by people who are hoping for miracles. There was one near the entrance that was quite impressive and BIG! People had placed flowers and other small gifts in order to prove their worthiness (I guess). Right next to this tomb was a small grassy grave...of a former president. The difference was quite striking.

We went on to see some other sites (don't want to give it all away in case you go), but the skies were threatening - we had all seen what the afternoon storms were like and we did not want to get caught out. We made it back just in time.

Bogota, Colombia

The last stop on my journey is Bogota, Colombia.  Most people's initial reaction to this was, "Why would you go there?! Its so dangerous!" Well, I did do some research and it's a little dangerous in that there are some really desperate people there, but the whole getting kidnapped by FARC is pretty unlikely in the centre of Bogota.

My first surprise was the sheer magnitude of the city - there are over 8 million people living here - I thought this was going to be just a medium sized town. My second surprise was the temperature. I don't know why, but I thought it would be warm in Bogota...it's in Colombia; Colombia is full of jungles...no? Well, Bogota is 2625m above sea level, so it's wee bit chilly, especially compared Nicaragua! Third surprise: my hostal. This is by far the coolest hostal I have ever stayed at. It is located in the Candelaria neighbourhood, which is where Bogota's history began. Outside it's just a big iron gate and a hall. When you open the inner door you enter into a court yard with colourful hammocks and flowers. There are 3 courtyards in all, and the rooms line the outside. In the middle, between the first and second courtyard is the kitchen - with a great big wood stove keeping the room warm. Then, in between the second and third courtyard, is the dormitorio (where I stayed). Its an adobe building with pristine white walls on the inside. The covered hallways are cobblestone, the ceilings are exposed beams, and the floors in the rooms are old wood planks. Beautiful. The staff were always smiling and happy to lend a hand and there was an unlimited supply of tea and coffee. But back to Bogota...

Palace of Justice

After dropping off my bags and putting on a sweater, I tentatively ventured out...it does have a bad rap after all! The ladies at the hostal gave me a map of the area, and it was still light out, so I did my standard recon mission of the surrounding area - starting with the main square, Plaza de Bolivar. The plaza has the Palace of Justice (where the supreme court is) faced by the Congress building, and on the other 2 sides we have the Mayor's seat (called the Liévano building) and opposite that, dominating them all, is La Catedral Primada. There is a sad and ironic story to the Justice Palace, it is the 3rd building that has been built there - the other 2 were destroyed; once in 1948 during a riot and again in 1985 when guerrilla group M-19 took hostages there. The building was destroyed when the army was called to free the hostages. The irony is that the current mayor of the city, working in the building right next to the Palace of Justice, was once a member of the M-19 guerrilla group.

That artist I don't remember..

After wandering the streets for a while the skies opened up and there was a massive deluge (these were an almost daily occurrence I would soon learn). I stood under an overhang for 15 min with many others who had been caught without their umbrellas. I checked my map and saw that I was not too far from the Botero museum so I ran between the raindrops to see what Botero had to offer the world of art.  Fernando Botero is known for painting fat things. No matter what the subject matter his figurative style is fat. I have to admit that although his colours are beautiful and the work is clean - it just doesn't float my boat. As an aside, I did see some of his earlier works in the National Museum and I preferred that. Luckily for me there were other artists in there as well, Picasso, Chagall, Monet, Degas, Dali...you know all the big names! There were a few rooms dedicated to South American artists - one in particular that I couldn't tear away from...did I take a picture of his name so I could remember it? No. sigh. I wandered the gallery for a few hours and when I left the rain had stopped and the sun was saying goodnight.

I went back to the Hostal, hoping I could find someone who wanted to come out to dinner with me, as I was told not to wander the streets alone at night. Luckily, there was a British lady there who was hungry enough and who knew a great Mexican restaurant around the corner. There we had a lovely dinner and no mishaps to or from. Was all this just fear-mongering? Was it all just exaggeration?

Catedral Primada

Nicaragua

I left paradise the next morning. I was on my way to Nicaragua to visit my parents and see my brother who was coming down from Canada. For those of you who don´t know, my parents have retired to Nicaragua. They have a house near the town of Granada, which is close to the border of Costa Rica and at the foot of the Mombacho volcano. Now, I shan´t bore you with the details of my family reunion, but I´ll let you know about the things that I saw when I was there.

Granada is a lovely little town that was founded in 1524. It has colourful colonial houses which are very Caribbean-like (not surprising when you consider the location!). Here you can still see horse or ox pulled wagons alongside the new 4X4s. There are money changers in the streets with massive wads of cash that they wave at gringos as they pass. I bought a hammock from an organisation that teaches street kids how to make them - I wasn´t sure how I was going to fit a 2kg hammock in my already bulging bag, but....


Nicaragua is known as the country of lakes and volcanoes. It has a string of 13 volcanoes that make up a back bone of sorts on the Pacific side. We visited 2 of these; Mombacho and Masaya, as well as a laguna that used to be a crater, Laguna de Apoyo.

Coffee beans drying on Mombacho

They grow coffee on the Mombacho so half way up we stopped to have a taste and to have a glimpse of how they dry the green coffee beans. Every morning the neat, covered piles of beans are spread out with a shovel and then carefully raked into perfect rectangles. We continued up the volcano in the back of a pickup truck and the going was so steep that I feared that we would all fall out of the back. The temperature was dropping quickly as well - we were driving into the clouds that often hover over Mombacho. 


We had come prepared to do the 4 hour hike around one of the 4 craters, but when we got there we found that we were not allowed to go forward without a guide, due to potential Puma encounters. So we contented ourselves to a hike around the smaller crater. The cloud cover did not lift so we did not get a clear glimpse, but it is unknown when the last eruption here was and the inside of the crater is completely overgrown now with a lush, green forest. 



Masaya volcano

Volcan Masaya is a huge contrast. This volcano is still active and it last erupted in 2003. When you drive up towards the volcano, you can see that there isn´t much growing around here -the ground is littered with giant volcanic boulders.   The crater is grey and desolate. There´s a steady stream of noxious sulfur dioxide that slowly drifts up from the crater´s depths. Curiously there are birds (vultures I suspect) that float about in this stinky plume. When you climb up to the top - they recommend staying no longer than 20 min in case the fumes make you pass out. You can see the wide circle of devastation all around it.

Laguna Apoyo

Laguna de Apoyo  is the crater of a volcano that erupted 23000 years ago (how they figure this stuff out, I dunno) and is now filled with water. It´s a very popular local weekend destination as the views from the top are spectacular...and they sell sugar cane (makes my teeth hurt when I eat it, but I can't help myself!). You can go swimming there (we didn´t though) and I´m told that since its a volcano crater there is no slope - you jump in and its deep. You never touch bottom....well, not without special gear at any rate!

Nicaragua

Last Call

So what does one do on one´s last day in paradise? Well, I started with a trip to the hospital.

Three days had passed since my last dive and my left ear had still not "popped" so I still could not hear properly out of it. I was getting on the plane the next day and I feared what would happen with the pressure of going up and back down. So, to assure myself that all was going to be ok I went to the hospital, which was conveniently only 2 blocks away.  The lovely doctor there checked out my ear and said that there was no damage and that all would be alright eventually. Thus assured, I rented a snorkel and mask and went to the beach at Punta Estrada.

To get to Punta Estrada I had to take a water taxi across the small harbour, it literally takes 3 minutes, because there is no other way to get there. I shared my taxi with a lovely Italian couple who I kept running into that day. They had rented an apartment in Puerto Ayora for a month...for $500! I wish I had thought of that!

When I got to the beach it was low tide and when I went in with my gear I saw some more colourful fishies and even saw a sting ray. As a lake swimmer I´m used to not really worrying what´s in the water with me...its mostly harmless stuff down there. Seeing something that could potentially hurt you, if you disturb it, in relatively shallow water certainly gives one pause when swimming in the ocean!





There was another little place to see a little farther along called Las Grietas. It was a little bit of a hike to get there and I was wearing my flip-flops. Normally this would be alright, but it was really hot (again) and I had already busted 2 blisters - that hurt! The walk was over volcanic rock which made the straps really rub the raw meat of my poor feet.

Las Grietas

Las Grietas is a fissure in the volcanic rock that has filled (partially) with some briny water - its about 15m deep. I had envisaged a quiet, peaceful place - but it was Saturday and everybody and his brother was there. The water was notably colder here since the sun rarely had a chance to warm it. Again I donned my mask and snorkel and set out. 


I swam to the end where there were less people and I noticed that beyond some rocks, the water continued. I climbed over the rocks, with great difficulties - volcanic rock is pointy - and continued swimming. There were three more rock obstacles and yes, there were some pretty sizable fish in there. At the end of Las Grietas was silence. I could hear nothing of the chaos at the other end. 


After swimming back and putting on my flip-flops, I realised that there was a problem - feet slide right off flip-flops when they´re wet. I nearly fell over trying to climb over the rocks. The walk back was not as painful as the walk in - I guess my feet became numb to the pain - and when I got back to the beach high tide had come in. The beach had almost completely disappeared! I went in for another swim and lazed in the sun while chatting with the Italians again. I used to be able to spend the better part of the day on the beach, but I must say that this doesn´t appeal to me anymore. So, after a short while I took the water taxi back to Puerto Ayora.




This was my last night here, and I spent it wandering the main street, watching the pelicans and sea lions vying for the fishermen´s leftovers (so much for not interfering with the wildlife!) I stopped for a fantastic passion fruit and blackberry gelato and I savoured it while watching the waves come into the port.

I´m definitely coming back here!

Bahía Tortuga

I had to be at the dive shop sometime after 3 to get fitted for my gear for the next day´s diving. What to do til then? I checked my map of the town and saw that there was a Baia Tortuga (Turtle Bay) not too far from where I was staying. It was a nice 2.5k walk so why not. I set off with just my hat, my purse and a 500ml bottle of water...it was 9:30 and the sun was already beating down.


The path to the bay is paved with volcanic pavers and you are not allowed to stray from the path - not that you would want to...the surrounds are not very hospitable. It is not yet the wet season so the vegetation is looking quite dry and well, dead.  There are some impressive cacti here though, they grow like a normal tree; they have a trunk and their flat, round, spiky "leaves" grow from the top...its quite peculiar and only found in the Galapagos.  Darwin´s finches are all over the place, and I probably could have taken one in my hand. They were that close to me, and completely unafraid.








As I crested a hill I could see the ocean was near and when I finally reached the beach proper all I could see was the beautiful turquoise water and white sand. There was also some outcroppings of black volcanic rocks - I walked towards those...there are always interesting things on  rocks. 

I wasn´t wrong. There were brilliant red crabs all over the place. They scuttled over the volcanic past of the islands to avoid the surf. They were also sharing the rocks with some dark land iguanas who were lazing about catching some rays. They didn´t seem to mind that they were the rock stars du jour - let the plebs take their pictures of us; we know we´re hot!

I kept walking along the beach with a great big grin on my face. After all I was wandering a beautiful beach on one of the world´s most unique places! And I had seen iguanas...and red crabs! How cool is that??!
Well, about 20m further I caught sight of my first water iguana...GADZOOKS! What a monster! They´re massive compared to their land brothers. The land iguana is about the size of my forearm, the water iguana is the size of my entire arm.



Water iguanas

The sun continued to beat down - I had told myself that just because I was feeling much better, it was best that I not go swimming - the sun continued to beat down...the water was warm on my feet...the crystal clear waters beckoned...You can understand why I caved in. The grin just got bigger and bigger as I played in the warm waves.

After playing for a little while I continued walking down the beach towards another bunch of rocks near some mangrove trees. There was a heron there - I waded in up to my knees and waited for him to finish preening before I took my picture.  A man near me, who I thought was also taking pictures of the heron said, "Oh, he`s coming right for you!" I looked down and there was a big water iguana  swimming straight towards me. They are very elegant swimmers - he swam within one metre of me.

I continued past the mangrove trees, and there was the actual bay of turtles. There was a guy there renting kayaks so I took one out for a paddle. It was so quiet and peaceful on the water. Every once in a while a small head would bob out of the water and inhale - its called turtle bay for a reason. I managed to follow one for a few for short periods - they are really magnificent creatures - flying through the water.





I had spent the better part of the day out in the sun and I was begining to burn - I ran out of sunscreen earlier in the day. The walk back, with the sun at my back...searing the already burned backs of my knees was not pleasant...neither was dragging the wetsuit over them when I finally got to the dive centre!

Farewell to the Jungle

On our last day we went out to the Amazon River. Again we were amazed at it's size and this was just the beginning of the wet season; Raul informed us that it would get a whole lot bigger. We were there to see if we could catch sight of some pink dolphins. Tribes of the Amazon believe that the dolphins were once people and so they hold the dolphin in high regard. There is also a legend that says that the dolphin knows what is in your heart, so if you have malice there for the dolphin, it will inflict you with a painful stomach ailment that will get worse and worse. Only a Shaman can get rid of such inflictions.

We were lucky enough to see two dolphins - they are quite shy - but like most dolphins, most marine creatures for that matter, they popped up and then disappeared. Near impossible to catch on camera. So we enjoyed playing, "get a picture of the dolphin" for a little while, but the sun was beating down on us so we moved up river a little more to a protected place in the middle. Raul explained that under water was a sand bank that his village uses in the dry season to plant rice. There was still the roof of a building sticking resolutely out of the water. Because of the sand bank there was very little current there, and Raul said we could go for a swim if we wanted. I didn't really feel like it so I declined.
...yeah, right.
The water was brown. Visibility was less than zero - less because the silt would make you close your eyes even harder. I don't know what else swims in the Amazon and I didn't ask, I jumped in. Ahhhh the water was beautiful on such a hot day. Its a little disconcerting to swim around in such an opaque liquid, but after a little while you just kinda go with it. Raul and our boat captain suspiciously stayed on board. When we asked why they didn't want to come in they laughed. It was "way too cold" for them! Everything is relative I guess.

We went back to the lodge for our last lunch and then we headed back to Iquitos. It was New Years Eve and I had a flight the next morning at 7:30 in the morning. I'd like to be able to tell you that I partied like it was 1999, but no, I didn't. Quite frankly, the very prospect of that scared the living bejezuz out of me. Iquitos never inspired security in me, I was always very wary and a little on edge there, so being out at night with the majority of the population of this place...while they were getting completely smashed....well...no. I stayed in my little square of a room (literally a square) and watched movies.

The alarm on my $10 watch was broken and I was paranoid about not waking up on time and subsequently missing my flight, so I tried to stay up all night. That didn't work. And of course you don't kinda drop off at 11 and get a reasonably decent night's sleep, nooooo, at times like these you eventually start dropping off at around 4:30.

The fear of missing my flight kept me just at the edge of sleep...the continuous firecrackers didn't hurt either, so I did make it to the airport on time - no thanks to the mototaxi which broke down on the way.

It just really sucks that they decided to cancel my flight to Lima.

The 3 "S" es



During our paddles in the canoe, Raul pointed to various blobs in trees and said to us, "Oh look, I think its a ________." We would look and we would see nothing. He would then hand us the binoculars and guide us. OH! We were completely blind without him. I don't know about you, but my preconceived notions about the jungle included vast quantities of animal life, insect life, and reptile life - so much wildlife that one needs to duck and dodge it at every turn! But no....well, maybe - but you can't see it because they're so well camouflaged. Thanks to Raul we were able to spot the ever-so-slow three toed sloth -  

Spot the wildlife

They don't move much so they look like termite nests up high in the trees. After a rain storm we (by we I mean Raul, of course) saw big iguanas sunning themselves on the tips of the tree tops. The most impressive bit of spotting by Raul was a massive red amazonian boa. Yeah, a big red snake should stand out against green foliage, right? Well, no. It doesn't. We struggled to see this one even with Raul's direction. When we finally did though we were enthralled. This thing was impressive to see, and it was watching us...or so it seemed.  We never felt threatened because we were in the safety of our canoe.

We also sent some time piranha fishing - now, I've told you the story about me and fishing, right? So, you know how I feel about this particular activity but, I decided to give it a go - 'coz piranha are evil creatures that eat people right? No, not really. They're actually quite tiny and helpless when you catch them on a hook. And I did catch one...I quickly took a picture and begged Raul to take it off and put him back in a hurry. I stopped after that. I felt guilty.



That's me in the middle

Later that afternoon I gave them a chance for payback and I went for a swim in the same river...they didn't bite.

One morning, we found a visitor inside the dining room, hangin' out on one of the screen doors. He was a big fella - a tarantula! One of the guests insisted that it be removed, so one of the staff members coaxed it into his hand to put it outside...but offered us a go at holding it first. Uh, yeah...right. As you can see by the picture, I did come round. There was a very tense moment initially when he placed it in my hand...but she had such soft, cotton bud toesies...that it just made me smile! The other guest wasn't as taken by her - you can see her on the other side of the room...

Welcome to the Jungle

Can't say that I'm a big fan of Iquitos. It is a loud place - like someone turned up the volume and forgot. Cars are a luxury so there's a constant scream of motorcycles and mototaxis, much honking and, to compete with all this is people playing loud music. I kept hearing the voice of the Grinch in my head saying, "Noise, noise, noise"...I like quiet.



Amazon river

So, I quickly arranged to be taken away into the jungle! One day after my arrival I was being whisked down the Itaya river, which then connects to the mighty Amazon. And it is mighty...mighty brown - it looked like chocolate milk. It is huge and quite impressive, yes. The vast expanse of sky above it helps add to the grandeur - I'm glad that there are no skyscrapers to take away from its greatness.

After about 45 minutes, we turned left at at distributary river (it flows away from the main river) Rio Tapira. This river only exists during the wet season. It is here that the lodge that would be our home for the next three days is located. The lodge is a series of buildings on stilts that are connected by covered walkways. The common rooms, the dining and hammock rooms (oh yeah, you need a hammock room!), do not have walls - there is only mosquito netting so that you can look out.

The first thing you notice when the boat engine turns off? The silence. Well, the almost silence...The Bocho Locho bird is a bright yellow bird that makes nests shaped like giant drops of water - but that isn't why I dubbed it the Drop Bird. The male has a distinctive song that sounds like an amplified drop of water dripping into a deep well. Its very hypnotic.

When we arrived we got right down to business - we donned our standard issue rubber boots, in case of snakes...and mud - and went straight into the jungle. As soon as we passed the tree line we were assailed by a mass of mosquitoes. We had put on our 80% DEET insect repellent, but that didn't stop them from buzzing in our ears, that horrible whine that makes all humans flail their arms in panic. It wasn't so bad while we were moving, but Raul, our guide, stopped to tell us about the medicinal uses of many of the plants and when we stood still it seemed like all the mosquitoes of the jungle descended on us. Raul hadn't put any repellent on and he was basically the buffet at this banquet - it was quite frightening to see the back of his tshirt.

We caught sight of some squirrel monkeys, high above us in the trees. They are a small monkey so we were glad that Raul had brought some binoculars so we could get a "closer" look...those trees are TALL. We stood and watched them and they watched us as they passed way above our heads - they're very cute. We also saw some spider monkeys, who have really long arms, but they weren't as curious about us as the squirrel monkeys so they moved on rather quickly. Closer to the ground we saw some industrious leaf cutter ants all in a row with their leaf bits, and some massive army ants. Raul explained to us that the jungle people would use the army ant's very powerful mandibles as sutures...they just had to cut of the venomous segment of it's body first - he even demonstrated.

That night we did it all again; boots into the jungle to see the night creatures...which include mosquitoes. This time, in addition to the insect repellent, I put a scarf around my head so that at least I wouldn't have to listen to that sound. It was very effective, although a wayward moth, attracted to my headlamp, did get caught up in it.

scorpion spider

Raul wanted to find us a nice tarantula - sadly, we didn't see one, but we did have the pleasure of meeting a very big and long legged scorpion spider. Raul even picked it up with his bare hands! Yeech! As we turned around from that encounter, I saw a pair of glowing eyes in the dark...what the heck?? It was a giant bull frog! He didn't care one whit about us as we photographed him - he was huge - came up past my ankle.

Bull frog - That's Raul's foot in the upper left

When I got back to my room that night, I had a visitor attached to my door...it was a tree frog with his big eyes and sucker type toes. Awwwww!

Aguas Calientes

I had booked a "fancy" hotel in Aguas Calientes - the town at the bottom of Machu Picchu - as a special treat after 4 shower less days of sleeping on the ground and sweating all day. And it sure was a fancy place! So, can you guess what I did after check in?

OHHHH GLORIOUS HOT SHOWER!! My hair was so nasty, it had started moving as one solid mass. Four days of sweat and grime scrubbed away in just a few blissful minutes. AHHHHH!!!

I went to the meet the rest of the trail group at the designated restaurant in town, I was squeaky clean. They were all green with envy at my nice smell and clean appearance.

After a nice lunch, some of us decided to try the hot springs that Aguas Calientes is named for...the downside (if you´ll pardon the pun) was we had to go up more stairs...UGH.

When we finally got there it was a little like stepping back into the 60s. Pink Floyd was being pumped out of the speakers. We walked through a bar area that over looked the open air hot spring tubs like a psychedelic balcony. The bar was full of trippy paintings, dream -catchers, comfy couches and wooden lamps. You can call up to the bar from the springs and they bring you down your drink.

The baths themselves were a grey murky colour, and the bottom was gravelly, and they smelled like, well...pee.There were several baths of varying temperatures - the hottest one was the busiest. There were tourists and locals alike in there - some seemed to be asleep. After 4 days of lugging heavy baggage on one´s back, the heat was fantastic and the tension melted away almost instantly - despite the smell.

There was one fella in the baths who really stood out - he was a rangar (a red head) and he spoke to the locals in Spanish...but that wasn´t what made him stand out. It was when he got out that we really noticed him...he was wearing his tighty-whities in the baths...Oh no you didn´t...
We watched in horrified fascination as he walked towards the showers. That was when we saw the most horrifying thing of all. The skid marks.
DAMN!

...no, we didn´t get out. It was too nice in the baths.

When we finally did emerge with our raisin fingers, we stopped on our way down the hill at one of the many bars that offered happy hour. We had a quick mojito and then I walked the group to the train station to bid them all adieu - I was the only one spending the night.
I slept like a log that night...

Inca Trail - Day 3

Day 3 is classified as the long day (Christ, you mean to tell me the other days were somehow short??)

We had an extra 3kms to do; 15kms in all. Up, and down - and the down bit included something called "the gringo killer"...awesome.

We sat down to a hearty breakfast (after the tea in sleeping bag of course); porridge, pancakes, toast, coca tea...apparently we were going to need all the help we could get. I was completely exhausted, I had not slept much that night and my shoulders were so tense from hauling the backpack and having them hunched all night in an effort to stay warm. The backpack had to go back on. I swear that thing put on weight every day.

We started the day with stairs. Oh joy. I was so tired, I don´t think I was conscious for most of that morning. At least the sun had decided to join us that day. By the time I got to the lunch spot I was a mass of sore shoulders, legs and delirium. Ahhhhh soooooouuuuuuuuup. mmmmmmmm. Every meal was a massive 3 course extravaganza - but this day I could only handle the soup. I snuck away and lay down on a rock, overlooking a magnificent valley, surrounded by majestic mountains...and I fell asleep. I had 15 min before the group left - Juan wanted to show us some ruins not far away before we dispersed.

My eyes opened exactly 15 min later - how? I dunno. I was so tired I`m surprised I didn`t wake up at 4! I got up completely refreshed, went to the portaloo with the best view ever, got my pack and I started my second to last segment of the Inca Trail...the gringo killer.

This section was basically all down hill, steep steps - I`m talking as high as my knee. Again, the runners would speed by, skipping along the stones while we lumbered cautiously along. Once you got into a rhythm though it was better - although after about 30 min the knees were making a very convincing protest and the thighs were shaking - the views were spectacular though.

All this downward motion brought us to the cloud forest - its considered part of the jungle - it was quickly getting hotter and hotter. Now, because that morning and the night before had been so cold, I had put on 2 pairs of leggings, my woolen socks, 2 sweaters, and my polar fleece jacket. At one point I had to stop and take some stuff off. I took off my leggings, sweaters and jacket and I should have changed my socks while I was at it - but I didn`t. HIKING TIP: Don`t wear woolen socks when its hot and humid and you`re sweaty.
When I arrived at our campground I had a 5cm rash around my ankles - complete with heat blisters...those things hurt when you accidentally scratch them, you know.

That night there was much feasting. It was Christmas eve. We thanked all our porters and wished them all a Merry Christmas, as the next day after breaking camp, they would be on the next train home. And we would finally set eyes on Machu Picchu.

Inca Trail - Day 1

It was a rainy morning - I waited outside the Hostal at 5:30 in the morning for the bus to pick me up. I was closest to the office so I was the last one. As I got on I could see some very tired looking people. We drove to Ollantaytambo to grab some breakfast (another scenic drive, but I was sleeping, and it was still dark, and it was raining...did catch it on the way back)

the motley crew

After breakfast (I had 2) we got back on the bus and drove a little more to the "start" of the Inca Trail - technically it´s called km82 - it was still raining. Once there we organised our gear, the trail operators gave us our sleeping bags and mats. Then off we went. There were 13 of us in all (yes, I was the odd man out) and all of us were from one place, but living in another, and all but 4 of us had opted to carry our own gear.

- you do have the option to hire an extra porter to carry your gear for you as long as it doesn´t exceed 4 kgs -

There were 24 porters (runners they prefer to be called) to carry all of the stuff we would need - tents, tables, chairs, food, gas (wood fires are not allowed), etc. That´s a lot of people.

The first day is classified as "easy", meaning mostly flat - mostly because nothing is flat in these parts. We were moving from 2600 - 3100m above sea level. After an hour, my pack was already heavy - what was it going to be like for the next 3 days?! The rain subsided and we did get some sunshine - how quickly temperature changes, one minute you´re wet, cold and miserable, next you´re sweaty, hot and miserable. We had 12kms to do this day and there were some very steep "flat bits", but the scenery was beautiful - the mountains kept us all in line.

We did have lunch along the way that day, but quite frankly I can´t remember it at all. When we stopped that evening at our campsite we were all pretty wiped out - we had walked from about 9 to 4:30. Food never tasted so good and the hot soup that kicked off dinner was a huge success. During our after dinner tea, Juan, our guide, mentioned that this was the last opportunity to hire a porter....and that day 2 was going to be harder. Gulp. It rained through our dinner and then it rained all through the night. But I think that we were all so tired that we all slept like logs.

Hangin´ in Cusco

We spent the next couple of days enjoying Cusco, which, although very geared towards tourists, it still has a very nice feel to it.

We visited a convent with a very surly gatekeeper! The Convento de la Merced was built in 1650 and it had some fabulous old paintings that, for once, we were allowed to photograph! There was also a very cool dungeon type place which still had intact the original frescos (no pics allowed there I´m afraid) - One room had plenty of angels and the other was full of skulls, depictions of damnation, fire and brimstone - Cool!



Inka structure in front - convent behind...
yes, that is the real Inca building- not fake



We also visited Qoriqancha which was originally an Incan site - known as Inti Kancha or Temple of the Sun, but was then built upon by the church (made into another convent - Convento de Santo Domingo in 1534) in an effort, I think, to show that they were more powerful...couldn´t beat the stone masonry however! It was an interesting place with one foot in on century and culture and one foot somewhere completely different. Actually, it had a third foot because they had converted the upper floor into a modern art gallery. It was a really odd combination that somehow worked.



Pepino



During our Cusco wanderings we at one point found ourselves in the market where we saw this weird round thing - it was light yellow in colour with some purple striations on top - neither of us had ever seen anything like it. I picked one up and sniffed it, no smell. The lady who kept the stall came over and Encarna asked her what it was - Pepino, she answered. Hmmmm a pepino is a cucumber...this did not look like a cucumber at all. The lady explained that this was a sweet cucumber. Oh. I put the cucumber down and never in my life have I ever gotten a dirtier look than the one I got from this lady. Apparently, you mustn´t touch the produce in markets. Only the proprietor can do that. Oh. Oooops.

We ran into this cucumber again on our second visit to Pisaq (sometimes its nice to get out of town), this time I bought one and asked the woman to peel it for us. It was a light yellow in colour on the inside as well...and it had no pits - I wonder how it propogates. It tastes like a cross between a cucumber and a melon - not too sweet, very refreshing! Two thumbs up from me!

Speaking of  fruits...one of the other things I enjoyed in Cusco were the cactus pears. There were ladies who sold them from their wheelbarrows in the city. They peel them for you and put them in a bag - how they did this with their bare hands I don`t know...those things hurt! They are a nice snack while you´re walking around. There are many such people on the streets selling their wares - everything from cactcus pears, to fragments of rock crystals, to hangers (?! yeah that was a weird one). These people are eeking out their living doing this.

Cusco wins a championship against arch rival Lima.
Party in the streets!

Cusco

Alpaca was upset that I was wearing wool - tried to eat my sweater

We caught the night time Bikram bus to Cusco that arrived at 5am. Usually they offer blankets on these buses because they are not well heated. This bus didn´t offer that and we were worried that we would be cold....HA! It was so hot in there it was like a sauna! That coupled with the 2 mellifluous men behind us, with their wondrous range of  symphonic sound...I didn´t sleep much.

We were a little worried that we would run into some difficulties finding a place so early in the morning, but there were people at the station offering lodgings - we figured, they´ll let us check in now with no extra charge - why not? If it was crap we could move on the next day.

After settling (settling = taking a hot shower) in our room with no window, we headed out in search of breakfast. You would think that this would be an easy thing in a touristy town, but no. At 6:30 it was asking a bit much apparently. We did eventually find a place an hour later. I must say that we did enjoy the early morning wander though, there weren´t many people around and no one selling us souvenirs as we walked past.

Now, I had booked a place before leaving Australia starting the next night and for 3 days. I wanted to check the place out and get my bearings from that place. After some difficulties we found it. It was quite a distance from the centre and it was in a dark and questionable area - there were still drunk people about and it was almost 9am by the time we got there. The room itself was very sparse and the place was very basic - especially for the price they were asking. We asked if they had a double room for one night in order to accommodate Encarna for the one night, but they didn´t. We would have to find a place for her, but we decided to figure that one out later. Today, we were headed to Pisaq

Pisaq

Pisaq is a small village with some Inca ruins. We caught a collectivo van through the lush green mountains (ok, I was sleeping on the way there, but I caught most of it on the way back). It was interesting to note that these beautiful green mountains were from the same mountain range as the dry, barren mountains I had seen in Bolivia. When we got to Pisaq we found..uh oh...a market. We both bought way too much stuff. My back pack had already gained over 3kgs...I wondered where was I going to put all this stuff. We enjoyed a fancy lunch in a fancy restaurant that was all organic, and grew their own stuff...Pisaq has it`s yuppy side where now rich hippies come to enjoy life in rural South America...an interesting mix.

The next morning we found a place for Encarna 2 doors down from the place we were in - it was much nicer, had a little balcony that I love, the all important hot shower....and it was cheaper! I decided to cancel my other accoms and stay with Encarna in this new place (better location too - felt safer). With that all settled we had time to now explore Cusco

Isla de Sol - North side

 
First some factoids about Lake Titicaca: It is at 3800m above sea level. It sits both in Bolivia and Peru and can get as deep as 135m deep. Its also cold, as. Although the origin of the name is unknown, it is believed that Titi means puma and Caca means stone (I know what you were all thinking there..). We were headed to one of the 36 islands that are on the lake: Isla de Sol. There are 2 main ports on the island, north and south. Encarna and I were spending one night in the north part and one night in the south part.

It was raining when we left Copacabana, but it made the water nice and still. The sun started breaking through as we arrived an hour and 45 min later.

one horse town

Encarna found us a place to stay while I stayed with the bags. There were only the most basic accommodations here so our room was quite spare; 2 single beds and one small table. There were shared showers/toilets available down the stairs - this is where Copacabana´s shower was out done. There were wires coming out of the shower head and they were joined with electrical tape, then the wires continued on to the light fixture. I passed on the shower - I prefer to live.

Inca ruins

Once settled in we slogged ourselves up the hill (up and down, up and down) to see the Inca ruins that were there. The sun was pounding and it was very hot when there was no wind. The most impressive of the ruins was some sort of townhouse complex (for lack of a better comparison). It sat on top of a hill overlooking a beautiful bay- these Inca sure knew how to pick their real estate! From the top of the island the lake was a deep blue and it looked like we were on the Mediteranean coast somewhere. It was so tranquil and lovely to watch the sun sparkle on the water. We really should have put sunscreen on though.

By the time we came back down the hill, my face was on fire, and my lips were swollen. I´ve never sunburned my lips before...its not pleasant.

We had trout for dinner (surprise) and after that there was not much to do - this is a very small village and we had circled it twice already, so we hung out in our room and read...it was an early night.  Perhaps the south side of the island, which was more populated, would be more lively...

Isla de Sol - South side

Storm coming in

 

We caught the 8am ferry to the south side - it was raining.

When we had passed the south side port the day before, where we noticed a great many stairs leading to the top of the hill...there was nothing down near the dock. When we disembarked we saw that there was no other option - we would have to get up that hill somehow...with our bags...in the rain.

The path going down - at least it was dry-ish

Then, a guy appeared - he had seen the boat come in - and made us an offer on a place for the night at his hostal, so we followed him, not up the stairs, but up a cobblestone path. At first we thought we had escaped the stairs from hell, but as this path went on we noted the particularly nasty angle, coupled with the rain and donkey poo made it possibly worse than the stairs! Thankfully, buddy´s place was only half way up the hill. His hostal had a fantastic view over the bay and it was all very new (part of it wasn´t done yet). There were people still occupying the room we were taking so buddy´s wife made us a cup of tea while we waited and enjoyed the view...in the rain

The sun struggled to come out and in the end it did prevail. We climbed to the top of the hill to the little village there and we could hear that there was a big party going on...well, at least it was a big band - high school style. We learned that it was the last day of school so the whole village was celebrating.

There were some Inca ruins to be seen on this side of the island as well, but we were contented just walking around the hill, sitting in the sun (with plenty of sunscreen). We did eventually find the ruins, but seen from the top they did not look too impressive so we just walked on by...when we passed them by boat the next day we saw just how big they were! ooops!

We got back to our room relatively early, round 5,  and on our way down the very steep hill we ran into our hosts - but we didn´t recognise them because they were in their Sunday best. They were on their way to the fiesta that we could still hear going on. He was carrying a massive box full of beer on his back...it looked bloody heavy. She told us that she had left candles in the room for us. We were tired so we didn´t think too much about it at the time. We bade them farewell.

When we finally made it back, we understood...there was no electricity. Then we remarked that there were no streetlights (on the nasty cobblestone path). Encarna and I were not game to go back up the hill, nor were we prepared to come back down the hill with no light.We stayed in our room with out dinner that night - under the thick blankets, reading our books. It was cold...and rainy.

Tomorrow, we were going to Peru, hopefully the weather was going to improve.