Simple test to make sure the site is functional befor we head off tomorrow
Looking forward to 5 weeks away, some warmer weather and another adventure.
Stu
Wednesday, 11 May 2011
Saturday, 19 June 2010
Inca trail and amazon jungle Late entry
Inca Trail
After a relatively early night in preparation for the start of our walk and a couple of repacks due to some dodgy scales that were reading light and the need to ensure that our packs were under 5 kg as the porters were weighed throughout the track and the company fined if they were carrying more than 25 kg each (more about that later), there was a spanner thrown into the works about 3am with Robyn feeling decidedly sick and gastro imminent..... Yep one very unwell young lady and certainly unable to eat breakfast. We finished up in the room and then met Elais our guide and onto another bus, this time headed for Ollyentatambo to pick up the remaining porters (18 in total) and any last minute supplies including drink bottle carriers and ponchos in case of rain. Ian negotiated the price down from 5 to 2 soles or 2 dollars down to 70 cents.
Back on the bus and heading for the start of the walk at Km 82, normally you get the train to here from Cusco but much of the track had been washed away in January and this first section was still under repair. At the start of the trail you must pass through the checkpoint and ensure that your passport matches the ticket etc and once this is achieved and your passport stamped you are then ready to set off for day 1 and the first of three nights in the tent.
Day 1 is supposedly the easy day for everyone with 11 kms of simple undulating tracks with obviously a few slightly bigger hills thrown in to make sure that you are up for the challenge of days 2 and 3. Robyn was still feeling unwell and there were a few moments when I really thought that the dream was going to end before lunch on the first day. We took it pretty easy and allowed the main group to push on ahead of us while we stayed towards the back with the assistant guide or Teresa. One of the other ladies, Jo who was travelling with us was even slower than we were but her problem was mainly due to fitness and she was not handling the uphill at all well so I suppose this made it a bit easier for us as we weren’t the last and could grab a few extra stops along the way to empty the stomach contents or moderate the breathing that was still affected by the altitude.(breathing here is certainly easier than Puno but still a bit difficult during prolonged exhaustion ) At one of these stops I was waiting for Robyn to recover when two horses just happened to pass each other on the track at the same point I was standing and one of them side-stepped into me catapulting me backwards and into cactus or prickle bush,,, OUCH! A few scrapes and half a dozen thorns later and we were back on our way. Slowly, slowly, slowly and just before lunch was a decent hill to climb and it was getting tougher but Robyn managed it and was able to rest at the top. I decided to go back down to try and encourage/help Jo as she was yet to start and we were running behind schedule. Managed to get her up but it was proving to be too much of a struggle and given that this was really the easy part of the track the decision was made for her to turn back and take the train up instead. Robyn was going to push on to the end of the day but if there was no improvement tomorrow we would have to back track. Reached the lunch site around 2.30 and everyone was waiting but could not believe our eyes when we were directed to some hot water and soap basins and then into the tent for lunch with tables, stools serviettes cutlery and a cold drink. Amazing to think that the porters had run on with all this gear and then set it up just for us. Great food and relax before heading off to the camp site about two hours away. Again the porters ran past carrying everything that is needed for the 4 days and after lunch Tony and I had tried to pick up some of the packs and believe me they were well over 25kg with some estimated at over 60kg so they must have a system worked out to sneak some of the equipment past the check points
The trail after lunch was fair with a mixture of hills and flats but I think we were all ready for the camp site by the time we got there. Robyn and I were the last in but not that far behind the others. Our camp was at .... and was on the side of a hill in the yard of some local who had somehow managed to build a residence in a national park where they didn’t even own the land; in fact all along the trail you are likely to meet horses, donkeys, bulls and the odd farm house selling drinks, chocolate cigarettes and beanies!
Dinner was amazing, great food and excellent company but there is only so much you can do without power and it took us a little while to work out that the porters were waiting for us to leave the tent so that they could have their meals. Early to bed at 8 and ready for a 5am start.
The porters wake you with a cup of coco tea in your tent and a bowl of warm water and soap. The expectation is that you are packed and out of the tent in 30 minutes and then the porters pull it all down while you have breakfast and are ready to walk by 6am. Thankfully Robyn was recovering and had stopped vomiting so she decided to push on; in the mean time Carol from England had spent the night vomiting and was looking a bit like Robyn the day before. Not much breakfast for Robyn as she still had gastro and strong stomach cramps but I enjoyed the fruit salad, porridge and pancakes. I have even started eating bananas and avocados on this trip!!!. Well they said it was going to be tough and we could see the first pass from our campsite which really didn’t look all that bad but it was relentless!!!! 5 hours of uphill, climbing from 3000m to 4215metres above sea level, our highest point on the trail. Eventually we reached the top, I had carried Carol’s bag for a couple of these hours but with frequent stops we managed to get there. Not quite sure how Robyn did it as she had not eaten for 24 hours and was still cramping up and feeling pretty miserable. Ian had to give his pack to his wife Joan and really struggled to get up to the top and Joan followed Robyn’s lead from the day before by putting one leg in front of the other. Tony puffed and panted behind Rach and I was able to hide behind Robyn’s illness allowing me to take plenty of stops along the way. Finally we reached the top for a group photo and a chance to look back on where we had come from. Thankfully Rach was taking plenty of photos as this was the last thing on our minds so we will be able to borrow a few of these for the album.
The downhill to lunch was equally as gruelling as it was quite steep - there were many steps and some quite large ones but the aim was to get us down to the campsite for lunch and some well deserved rest. As usual great food and tents ready for us to crawl into for an afternoon siesta. Elias taught us a new game of cards aptly known as “shithead” but a good game if you have large numbers of people and because it was his game he was able to make up new rules as required, the group seems to be bonding fairly well and everyone participated in the activities and conversation. The food continues to amaze us and is probably the closest thing to “real” Peruvian food that we have had on the trip to date.
Another early start but this time a bit of a sleep in getting up at 6 am and ready to tackle the second pass , this time only 3900 metres and a mere two hour hill climb to get us started! We passed another Inca ruin that had been used to provide rest en-route to Machu Picchu so stopped for a while to take a few photos and enjoy a short break then back to it. Once at the top we were able to soak up some sunshine and re-energise before heading down to yet another magnificent structure constructed by the Incans. It really is amazing how they managed to build and transport water to these places. Today was around 90% Incan built trail and was a contrast to the previous two days which consisted of both Incan and Peruvian Government, it is actually quite easy to tell the difference as the Government parts of the tracks followed the contours of the land and included steps with anything up to 400 mm rises, the Incans on the other hand built walls and laid stones that generally minimised the number of stairs. Some of these retaining walls would have been at least 8 metres high and have withstood the test of time remarkably well. Lunch was at the third pass but we still had another 2-3 hours before reaching our campsite so we pushed on with grit and determination. This day was close to 16 kms which doesn’t sound much but with all the hills and stops to look at ruins, flora or fauna it takes a long time. There are over 3oo types of Orchid in the park and Elias knows exactly where each of them is so it is nice to be kept informed. We have also seen humming birds, vultures and spent some time looking for a Toucan. Many of the flowers that we have at home are also recognisable in the bush and it is good to be able to compare them, I am sure that dad would love to see some of the huge Begonias that we came across. 20 minutes before we reached our camp we were given an option of the route, either a shot downhill on a non-Incan trail or an additional 45 minutes on Incan Trail via a farming site that we could see in the distance. We opted for the long route and I was pleased we did as the views were amazing and the scale of the terracing that they had constructed was hard to believe. Our camp sit included a lodge with hot showers, cervesa and vino tinto so we made the most of that before retiring to our tent ready for the 4am start.
Day 4 and yes it is 4am...... the porters were keen to get us up and out of the tents as they need to have fed us and packed up in order to get down the hill to the train by 5.30 am. (If they miss this train they need to walk out but apparently many of them load their packs on to the train and then run back to Km 82). We waited at the lodge for an hour watching all the other groups head off but were assured by Elias that he knew what he was doing. Should never have doubted him because we had a good 90 minute walk to reach the Sun Gate and arrived with 10 minutes to spare (all of those who left early were still sitting there waiting and looking fairly cold)
WOW! Walking through the Sungate, receiving a congratulatory hug from Elias and Teresa for completing the trail and then laying eyes on Machu Picchu for the first time. All the photographs that you have seen cannot prepare you for the real thing and you just stand there taking it all in. Tony had let everyone know that he would be performing the marriage ceremony at the Sungate and that Elias was to be best man and Teresa the flower girl. You should have seen our faces when Elias took off his jacket to reveal a perfectly pressed white shirt and his bandana tied as a red neck tie. Great for a laugh and a few daggy photos but I guess we will have to wait for the real thing in December.
There is a real sense of achievement to know that we have walked the Inca Trail and we now look forward to wandering around the site to discover it more closely. Elias takes us on a tour of the site to get the best photos and then we need to exit in order to re-enter?? Not sure why but a good chance to meet up with Ashlene and Tim who had done the Lares trail and Jo who had to return to the train and catch a lift on the first day. Now I am not sure quite what happened but Robyn stopped to take a photo and lost the rest of us, I assumed she was with Tony and Rach or that she was in the toilet but 30 minutes later and a missing persons report Elias found her and returned her to the group. We continued our tour before being set loose to explore on our own. The bodies were weary but we poked around here and there taking plenty of photographs and soaking up the atmosphere.
The bus trip down to Olliaentambo was like a long version of Jacobs Ladder at Ben Lomond but once at the bottom you could see the destruction that the floods in January had caused, nearly 4000 tourists were stranded there and the Peruvian government has done pretty decent job in repairing the rail so quickly. Before lunch we headed up the hill for a dip in the hot springs, we brought some cheap thongs on the way as we really didn’t fancy putting on smelly shoes and socks for a while, especially once they were clean, Baths were great and really relaxed the weary bodies to the point where they were once again ready for a Cevasa, or tow, or maybe even ten! Yep we had a ball even had tourists taking photos of us dancing and carrying on to the local band that happened to show up, play a few songs and then pass the hat to buy a CD or make a donation. Great afternoon really and then concluded with a train and the bus ride from hell before getting back to the hotel around 9pm all very tired and emotional. (Apart from the tight squeeze the main problem with the bus ride was if you could see out of the front window and it was better not to watch) tomorrow is a rest day and then off to the jungle.
Highlights of the day in Cusco included a religious holiday and a hundred thousand fanatical Catholics marching to the main square carrying large statues of their saints that required at least 16 men to carry and you could tell by the strain on their faces that it would be possible for them to drop one of these into the crowd at any moment. Apparently someone dying on the day is considered to be a good thing and means there will be a good year ahead!!!!! Guinea Pig for dinner, we just had to have one so Tony Rach, Robyn and I decided to share one as an entree it cost 50 solas and came out beautifully presented on a plate with a small red pepper in his mouth. The waiter did tell us that he used to be his pet and its name was Raoull. Not bad but not something you would have every day, flavours were strong but meat was a little bit hard to get from the bone and a fair bit of fat and skin to get past.
Time this morning for some water, money and repacking of the bags before heading to the airport in Cusco to fly to..... In the Amazon jungle. The flight was uneventful but 20 minutes longer than we thought, obviously Peru time. So this means some relief from the altitude (we had actually started to get used to it and certainly weren’t noticing it.
Landing in the jungle also meant heat and humidity so things were certainly different. We loaded our gear onto a bus for a short trip to the gecko office where we were going to store most of our luggage and non essential items for the next three days, another bus trip and then into the boat to travel up the river to the accommodation. The boat was about 5o foot long but only 5 feet wide with a 60 horse Yamaha on the back so was quite capable of some reasonable speed and had us disembarking about 40 minutes up stream after spotting a couple of Cayman on the banks and stopping for a photo or three.
The Cabins are basic with only three walls and a curtain for a door, the forth wall is left open on to the jungle to allow us to get the full wildlife experience. The walls to are paper thin so that you can hear your neighbours going to the bathroom etc. After settling in we head off for a late afternoon stroll with our guide to check out the views from the viewing platform and see if we can identify a few local flora and fauna exhibits. Plenty to see but most from a distance, the viewing platform was pretty cool scaffolding stairway up 35 metres and quite capable of getting up a decent sway if you weren’t careful. A nice sunset and very relaxing evening followed.
Up at 4am for a trip up river to see a family of otters amongst other things..... (Must stop all of these early mornings) following some breakfast we hit the boats for another 20 minutes up steam. On land we walked through the jungle and saw a colony of monkeys at reasonably close range as well as the usual explanation of the various plants and their contribution to the ecosystem. Now on to another boat, this time more of a floating pontoon, consisting of two wooden kayaks joined by a platform with seating for 20 people and powered by the guide on a single sculling oar at the rear. All was calm as we headed off and it was really quite relaxing sitting on board as daylight broke around us. We managed to locate an otter but there were really on fleeting glimpses from a distance so the guide turned our attention to the birdlife including parrots, McCaw’s and bush turkeys. Time for some Piranha fishing! We pulled into the side of the lake, baited some hooks with red meat and tossed them over board, plenty of bites and lots of hooks stripped before Jimn our guide finally hooked one in; they are quite small (under 5 inches ) but they do have fairly impressive teeth! We all had our photo taken and I pretended it was me who caught it before it decided to bite Jimn on the thumb and wow what a bite! We persisted for another 30 minutes but Ian was the only other person to catch one so unfortunately I am going to have to wait until next time before I can add this to my fishing quota. Time to head for the track back but the wind ha got up and was coming straight onto the nose, this proved to be quite a challenge for the two guides so they tried to head across the lake and this is where we stumbled upon a family of otters, feeding and playing just 20 metres from the boat, very lucky break and well worth seeing. Back to the paddle and this time one guide on a pole, one on the oar and me on a broomstick trying to assist, we were going backwards at times but eventually managed to reach the landing point despite Tony breaking the broom along the way.
Back to the accommodation for a rest and lunch then some free time before heading out to visit the local Sharman (medical doctor) here we learnt about their practise as well as some of the local plants used to treat a large range of conditions including impotence and cancer. We smelt, felt and tasted a variety of plants and then tasted a couple of the potions. The trip was all a bit of fun and quite interesting really. Back to camp for our last night and a few drinks with our tour mates for the last night together. Talk about jungle sounds..... 7 0f the team plus two others from another tour had some kind of food poisoning, (we think it was the fruit juice from lunch time) so their night was spent vomiting and shitting in rooms with paper thin walls! Rach reckoned it was kind of comforting to hear other up doing the same as her at 3 am in the morning! Lots of apologies for the bodily sounds were made the next morning and many of the crew including Rach were feeling pretty bloody ordinary for the rest of the day which included getting back to the office and flying out of the jungle for our final destination with the tour group at Lima.
Lots of farewells and offers to come and visit as well as promises to email and share some photos. They were a great group of people really and I am sure we will keep in touch with some of them, including a trip to Canada and the UK. Our next destination is Quito in Ecuador so we wait at the airport for 5 hours to catch the plane.
After a relatively early night in preparation for the start of our walk and a couple of repacks due to some dodgy scales that were reading light and the need to ensure that our packs were under 5 kg as the porters were weighed throughout the track and the company fined if they were carrying more than 25 kg each (more about that later), there was a spanner thrown into the works about 3am with Robyn feeling decidedly sick and gastro imminent..... Yep one very unwell young lady and certainly unable to eat breakfast. We finished up in the room and then met Elais our guide and onto another bus, this time headed for Ollyentatambo to pick up the remaining porters (18 in total) and any last minute supplies including drink bottle carriers and ponchos in case of rain. Ian negotiated the price down from 5 to 2 soles or 2 dollars down to 70 cents.
Back on the bus and heading for the start of the walk at Km 82, normally you get the train to here from Cusco but much of the track had been washed away in January and this first section was still under repair. At the start of the trail you must pass through the checkpoint and ensure that your passport matches the ticket etc and once this is achieved and your passport stamped you are then ready to set off for day 1 and the first of three nights in the tent.
Day 1 is supposedly the easy day for everyone with 11 kms of simple undulating tracks with obviously a few slightly bigger hills thrown in to make sure that you are up for the challenge of days 2 and 3. Robyn was still feeling unwell and there were a few moments when I really thought that the dream was going to end before lunch on the first day. We took it pretty easy and allowed the main group to push on ahead of us while we stayed towards the back with the assistant guide or Teresa. One of the other ladies, Jo who was travelling with us was even slower than we were but her problem was mainly due to fitness and she was not handling the uphill at all well so I suppose this made it a bit easier for us as we weren’t the last and could grab a few extra stops along the way to empty the stomach contents or moderate the breathing that was still affected by the altitude.(breathing here is certainly easier than Puno but still a bit difficult during prolonged exhaustion ) At one of these stops I was waiting for Robyn to recover when two horses just happened to pass each other on the track at the same point I was standing and one of them side-stepped into me catapulting me backwards and into cactus or prickle bush,,, OUCH! A few scrapes and half a dozen thorns later and we were back on our way. Slowly, slowly, slowly and just before lunch was a decent hill to climb and it was getting tougher but Robyn managed it and was able to rest at the top. I decided to go back down to try and encourage/help Jo as she was yet to start and we were running behind schedule. Managed to get her up but it was proving to be too much of a struggle and given that this was really the easy part of the track the decision was made for her to turn back and take the train up instead. Robyn was going to push on to the end of the day but if there was no improvement tomorrow we would have to back track. Reached the lunch site around 2.30 and everyone was waiting but could not believe our eyes when we were directed to some hot water and soap basins and then into the tent for lunch with tables, stools serviettes cutlery and a cold drink. Amazing to think that the porters had run on with all this gear and then set it up just for us. Great food and relax before heading off to the camp site about two hours away. Again the porters ran past carrying everything that is needed for the 4 days and after lunch Tony and I had tried to pick up some of the packs and believe me they were well over 25kg with some estimated at over 60kg so they must have a system worked out to sneak some of the equipment past the check points
The trail after lunch was fair with a mixture of hills and flats but I think we were all ready for the camp site by the time we got there. Robyn and I were the last in but not that far behind the others. Our camp was at .... and was on the side of a hill in the yard of some local who had somehow managed to build a residence in a national park where they didn’t even own the land; in fact all along the trail you are likely to meet horses, donkeys, bulls and the odd farm house selling drinks, chocolate cigarettes and beanies!
Dinner was amazing, great food and excellent company but there is only so much you can do without power and it took us a little while to work out that the porters were waiting for us to leave the tent so that they could have their meals. Early to bed at 8 and ready for a 5am start.
The porters wake you with a cup of coco tea in your tent and a bowl of warm water and soap. The expectation is that you are packed and out of the tent in 30 minutes and then the porters pull it all down while you have breakfast and are ready to walk by 6am. Thankfully Robyn was recovering and had stopped vomiting so she decided to push on; in the mean time Carol from England had spent the night vomiting and was looking a bit like Robyn the day before. Not much breakfast for Robyn as she still had gastro and strong stomach cramps but I enjoyed the fruit salad, porridge and pancakes. I have even started eating bananas and avocados on this trip!!!. Well they said it was going to be tough and we could see the first pass from our campsite which really didn’t look all that bad but it was relentless!!!! 5 hours of uphill, climbing from 3000m to 4215metres above sea level, our highest point on the trail. Eventually we reached the top, I had carried Carol’s bag for a couple of these hours but with frequent stops we managed to get there. Not quite sure how Robyn did it as she had not eaten for 24 hours and was still cramping up and feeling pretty miserable. Ian had to give his pack to his wife Joan and really struggled to get up to the top and Joan followed Robyn’s lead from the day before by putting one leg in front of the other. Tony puffed and panted behind Rach and I was able to hide behind Robyn’s illness allowing me to take plenty of stops along the way. Finally we reached the top for a group photo and a chance to look back on where we had come from. Thankfully Rach was taking plenty of photos as this was the last thing on our minds so we will be able to borrow a few of these for the album.
The downhill to lunch was equally as gruelling as it was quite steep - there were many steps and some quite large ones but the aim was to get us down to the campsite for lunch and some well deserved rest. As usual great food and tents ready for us to crawl into for an afternoon siesta. Elias taught us a new game of cards aptly known as “shithead” but a good game if you have large numbers of people and because it was his game he was able to make up new rules as required, the group seems to be bonding fairly well and everyone participated in the activities and conversation. The food continues to amaze us and is probably the closest thing to “real” Peruvian food that we have had on the trip to date.
Another early start but this time a bit of a sleep in getting up at 6 am and ready to tackle the second pass , this time only 3900 metres and a mere two hour hill climb to get us started! We passed another Inca ruin that had been used to provide rest en-route to Machu Picchu so stopped for a while to take a few photos and enjoy a short break then back to it. Once at the top we were able to soak up some sunshine and re-energise before heading down to yet another magnificent structure constructed by the Incans. It really is amazing how they managed to build and transport water to these places. Today was around 90% Incan built trail and was a contrast to the previous two days which consisted of both Incan and Peruvian Government, it is actually quite easy to tell the difference as the Government parts of the tracks followed the contours of the land and included steps with anything up to 400 mm rises, the Incans on the other hand built walls and laid stones that generally minimised the number of stairs. Some of these retaining walls would have been at least 8 metres high and have withstood the test of time remarkably well. Lunch was at the third pass but we still had another 2-3 hours before reaching our campsite so we pushed on with grit and determination. This day was close to 16 kms which doesn’t sound much but with all the hills and stops to look at ruins, flora or fauna it takes a long time. There are over 3oo types of Orchid in the park and Elias knows exactly where each of them is so it is nice to be kept informed. We have also seen humming birds, vultures and spent some time looking for a Toucan. Many of the flowers that we have at home are also recognisable in the bush and it is good to be able to compare them, I am sure that dad would love to see some of the huge Begonias that we came across. 20 minutes before we reached our camp we were given an option of the route, either a shot downhill on a non-Incan trail or an additional 45 minutes on Incan Trail via a farming site that we could see in the distance. We opted for the long route and I was pleased we did as the views were amazing and the scale of the terracing that they had constructed was hard to believe. Our camp sit included a lodge with hot showers, cervesa and vino tinto so we made the most of that before retiring to our tent ready for the 4am start.
Day 4 and yes it is 4am...... the porters were keen to get us up and out of the tents as they need to have fed us and packed up in order to get down the hill to the train by 5.30 am. (If they miss this train they need to walk out but apparently many of them load their packs on to the train and then run back to Km 82). We waited at the lodge for an hour watching all the other groups head off but were assured by Elias that he knew what he was doing. Should never have doubted him because we had a good 90 minute walk to reach the Sun Gate and arrived with 10 minutes to spare (all of those who left early were still sitting there waiting and looking fairly cold)
WOW! Walking through the Sungate, receiving a congratulatory hug from Elias and Teresa for completing the trail and then laying eyes on Machu Picchu for the first time. All the photographs that you have seen cannot prepare you for the real thing and you just stand there taking it all in. Tony had let everyone know that he would be performing the marriage ceremony at the Sungate and that Elias was to be best man and Teresa the flower girl. You should have seen our faces when Elias took off his jacket to reveal a perfectly pressed white shirt and his bandana tied as a red neck tie. Great for a laugh and a few daggy photos but I guess we will have to wait for the real thing in December.
There is a real sense of achievement to know that we have walked the Inca Trail and we now look forward to wandering around the site to discover it more closely. Elias takes us on a tour of the site to get the best photos and then we need to exit in order to re-enter?? Not sure why but a good chance to meet up with Ashlene and Tim who had done the Lares trail and Jo who had to return to the train and catch a lift on the first day. Now I am not sure quite what happened but Robyn stopped to take a photo and lost the rest of us, I assumed she was with Tony and Rach or that she was in the toilet but 30 minutes later and a missing persons report Elias found her and returned her to the group. We continued our tour before being set loose to explore on our own. The bodies were weary but we poked around here and there taking plenty of photographs and soaking up the atmosphere.
The bus trip down to Olliaentambo was like a long version of Jacobs Ladder at Ben Lomond but once at the bottom you could see the destruction that the floods in January had caused, nearly 4000 tourists were stranded there and the Peruvian government has done pretty decent job in repairing the rail so quickly. Before lunch we headed up the hill for a dip in the hot springs, we brought some cheap thongs on the way as we really didn’t fancy putting on smelly shoes and socks for a while, especially once they were clean, Baths were great and really relaxed the weary bodies to the point where they were once again ready for a Cevasa, or tow, or maybe even ten! Yep we had a ball even had tourists taking photos of us dancing and carrying on to the local band that happened to show up, play a few songs and then pass the hat to buy a CD or make a donation. Great afternoon really and then concluded with a train and the bus ride from hell before getting back to the hotel around 9pm all very tired and emotional. (Apart from the tight squeeze the main problem with the bus ride was if you could see out of the front window and it was better not to watch) tomorrow is a rest day and then off to the jungle.
Highlights of the day in Cusco included a religious holiday and a hundred thousand fanatical Catholics marching to the main square carrying large statues of their saints that required at least 16 men to carry and you could tell by the strain on their faces that it would be possible for them to drop one of these into the crowd at any moment. Apparently someone dying on the day is considered to be a good thing and means there will be a good year ahead!!!!! Guinea Pig for dinner, we just had to have one so Tony Rach, Robyn and I decided to share one as an entree it cost 50 solas and came out beautifully presented on a plate with a small red pepper in his mouth. The waiter did tell us that he used to be his pet and its name was Raoull. Not bad but not something you would have every day, flavours were strong but meat was a little bit hard to get from the bone and a fair bit of fat and skin to get past.
Time this morning for some water, money and repacking of the bags before heading to the airport in Cusco to fly to..... In the Amazon jungle. The flight was uneventful but 20 minutes longer than we thought, obviously Peru time. So this means some relief from the altitude (we had actually started to get used to it and certainly weren’t noticing it.
Landing in the jungle also meant heat and humidity so things were certainly different. We loaded our gear onto a bus for a short trip to the gecko office where we were going to store most of our luggage and non essential items for the next three days, another bus trip and then into the boat to travel up the river to the accommodation. The boat was about 5o foot long but only 5 feet wide with a 60 horse Yamaha on the back so was quite capable of some reasonable speed and had us disembarking about 40 minutes up stream after spotting a couple of Cayman on the banks and stopping for a photo or three.
The Cabins are basic with only three walls and a curtain for a door, the forth wall is left open on to the jungle to allow us to get the full wildlife experience. The walls to are paper thin so that you can hear your neighbours going to the bathroom etc. After settling in we head off for a late afternoon stroll with our guide to check out the views from the viewing platform and see if we can identify a few local flora and fauna exhibits. Plenty to see but most from a distance, the viewing platform was pretty cool scaffolding stairway up 35 metres and quite capable of getting up a decent sway if you weren’t careful. A nice sunset and very relaxing evening followed.
Up at 4am for a trip up river to see a family of otters amongst other things..... (Must stop all of these early mornings) following some breakfast we hit the boats for another 20 minutes up steam. On land we walked through the jungle and saw a colony of monkeys at reasonably close range as well as the usual explanation of the various plants and their contribution to the ecosystem. Now on to another boat, this time more of a floating pontoon, consisting of two wooden kayaks joined by a platform with seating for 20 people and powered by the guide on a single sculling oar at the rear. All was calm as we headed off and it was really quite relaxing sitting on board as daylight broke around us. We managed to locate an otter but there were really on fleeting glimpses from a distance so the guide turned our attention to the birdlife including parrots, McCaw’s and bush turkeys. Time for some Piranha fishing! We pulled into the side of the lake, baited some hooks with red meat and tossed them over board, plenty of bites and lots of hooks stripped before Jimn our guide finally hooked one in; they are quite small (under 5 inches ) but they do have fairly impressive teeth! We all had our photo taken and I pretended it was me who caught it before it decided to bite Jimn on the thumb and wow what a bite! We persisted for another 30 minutes but Ian was the only other person to catch one so unfortunately I am going to have to wait until next time before I can add this to my fishing quota. Time to head for the track back but the wind ha got up and was coming straight onto the nose, this proved to be quite a challenge for the two guides so they tried to head across the lake and this is where we stumbled upon a family of otters, feeding and playing just 20 metres from the boat, very lucky break and well worth seeing. Back to the paddle and this time one guide on a pole, one on the oar and me on a broomstick trying to assist, we were going backwards at times but eventually managed to reach the landing point despite Tony breaking the broom along the way.
Back to the accommodation for a rest and lunch then some free time before heading out to visit the local Sharman (medical doctor) here we learnt about their practise as well as some of the local plants used to treat a large range of conditions including impotence and cancer. We smelt, felt and tasted a variety of plants and then tasted a couple of the potions. The trip was all a bit of fun and quite interesting really. Back to camp for our last night and a few drinks with our tour mates for the last night together. Talk about jungle sounds..... 7 0f the team plus two others from another tour had some kind of food poisoning, (we think it was the fruit juice from lunch time) so their night was spent vomiting and shitting in rooms with paper thin walls! Rach reckoned it was kind of comforting to hear other up doing the same as her at 3 am in the morning! Lots of apologies for the bodily sounds were made the next morning and many of the crew including Rach were feeling pretty bloody ordinary for the rest of the day which included getting back to the office and flying out of the jungle for our final destination with the tour group at Lima.
Lots of farewells and offers to come and visit as well as promises to email and share some photos. They were a great group of people really and I am sure we will keep in touch with some of them, including a trip to Canada and the UK. Our next destination is Quito in Ecuador so we wait at the airport for 5 hours to catch the plane.
Saturday, 29 May 2010
Peru - Lima, Puno to cusco
Well obviously I have fallen a bit behind with the blog and this would have a little to do with the pace of things around here trying to take in as much as we can and fill our days with exploring the city and surrounds as well as participating in some fine dining and liquid refreshments. (It is the liquid refreshment that prevents me from maintaining a late night blog)
Interested to know if any of you understand this sign? The locals have no idea what it meansWe spent the best part of our second day on a city tour taking in some churches with fascinating history and catacombs as well as a brief history lesson. The tour guide was great with a good sense of humour and local knowledge. The girls managed to get us dropped off at the Inca Markets in Miraflores so we spent a lazy hour or so checking out what was on offer. Dinner was fairly interesting and not necessarily the greatest meal but Robyn did tackle the first Guinea Pig for the tour.......
Following day we went on another tour, this time out of the city and down to a pre-Inca settlement complete with pyramids and other amazing structures. The site, Pachacamac, was absolutely huge covering over 25 hectares and multiple areas including an area for preparing the virgins for human sacrifice. Scarily this site had been allowed to disappear over the years and was subject to numerous robbings, trail bike tracks and even a road and a shanty town built though the middle before they realised its significance. The trip also took us through numerous shanty towns, both old and new and many without the basics of water, electricity and hygiene. The Peruvian government is committed to improving the many aspects of Lima that make it such a third world country in so many ways. Huge infrastructure is going into roads, paths, bus networks and living conditions for the shanty towns in order to change the current situation. Central Lima is certainly cleaner than either Buenos Aries or Santiago and there are countless local people employed to keep the streets clean. Once you go out of the centre it is a different story and there is a lot more work to be done. Once again we were warned by locals or police if we were getting off the tourist route and heading into dodgy territory. (This showed the genuine concern that most Peruvian’s have for their country).
As the days go on in each of the cities we tend to get more and more adventurous, crossing the streets as the locals do and even catching the odd bus or taxi by negotiating a fair price and trusting that we will get where we want to go.
We have wandered in and out of museums, art exhibitions, and Parliament house often unplanned but also very lucky. We have also found some great restaurants and tried to experience the local food as much as possible. The Ceviche (raw fish marinated in lime/lemon and pepper) is a favourite and will be sure to try and replicate with the next catch of flathead back home. Peruvian wine is crap so we continue to enjoy the Pisco Sours or Chilean wine or local Cervasa (beer).
This is a pretty good graphic on how they drive in Peru.
Following day we went on another tour, this time out of the city and down to a pre-Inca settlement complete with pyramids and other amazing structures. The site, Pachacamac, was absolutely huge covering over 25 hectares and multiple areas including an area for preparing the virgins for human sacrifice. Scarily this site had been allowed to disappear over the years and was subject to numerous robbings, trail bike tracks and even a road and a shanty town built though the middle before they realised its significance. The trip also took us through numerous shanty towns, both old and new and many without the basics of water, electricity and hygiene. The Peruvian government is committed to improving the many aspects of Lima that make it such a third world country in so many ways. Huge infrastructure is going into roads, paths, bus networks and living conditions for the shanty towns in order to change the current situation. Central Lima is certainly cleaner than either Buenos Aries or Santiago and there are countless local people employed to keep the streets clean. Once you go out of the centre it is a different story and there is a lot more work to be done. Once again we were warned by locals or police if we were getting off the tourist route and heading into dodgy territory. (This showed the genuine concern that most Peruvian’s have for their country).As the days go on in each of the cities we tend to get more and more adventurous, crossing the streets as the locals do and even catching the odd bus or taxi by negotiating a fair price and trusting that we will get where we want to go.
We have wandered in and out of museums, art exhibitions, and Parliament house often unplanned but also very lucky. We have also found some great restaurants and tried to experience the local food as much as possible. The Ceviche (raw fish marinated in lime/lemon and pepper) is a favourite and will be sure to try and replicate with the next catch of flathead back home. Peruvian wine is crap so we continue to enjoy the Pisco Sours or Chilean wine or local Cervasa (beer).
This is a pretty good graphic on how they drive in Peru.On our last day in Lima we met the 9 other people who will be joining us on the Gecko tour to Puno, Macchu Pichu and the Amazon jungle. Thankfully they are all good people and will enjoy getting to know each other over the next couple of weeks. They had only just arrived in Lima the day before so they went on an organised tour and we did our own thing before meeting up that night for yet another Pisco Sour.
The next day we headed to the airport as a group for our flight to Juliaca at 4000 feet in the Andes. Had some trouble with my carry on luggage as a piece of metal sculpture was considered dangerous, despite already being through two previous flights! The guy gave me two options, one to put it in the bin and the other to go back to check in and send it as normal baggage. The problem with that was we only had 30 minutes until leaving and were due to start boarding very soon. I was informed that I would need to purchase a new ticket if I missed the plane and would also have to pay another departure tax. A quick decision and I decided to leg it down to the check in and hopefully get back through security before the flight closed, believe me I legged it, three steps at a time down the stairs, to the voice over of “this is a final call for passengers to Cusco boarding at gate 8” . I pushed my way through the queue with my best Spanish and then explained that I needed the bag to go on my flight. Raced back up the stairs through immigration and up to pay tax when I realised that my wallet, phone and computer were all in the backpack.... Oh my god, suddenly remembered I had some American Dollars in my passport wallet so paid the man and proceeded through security to find Tony, Rach and Robyn waiting with the tour guide. Turned out I had plenty of time but felt totally stressed about my wallet, phone and laptop that I no longer had any control over. This flight was one of the longest two hours in history but my prayers to the Incan gods were answered and the little blue backpack came around on the baggage carousel with all contents safely inside.
From Juliaca we had a one hour bus trip to Puno on the shores of Lake Titicaca. Now let me tell you nothing can prepare you for life at 4000 metres, your breathing is restricted and rapid movement is to be avoided at all costs, your head starts to tighten across the temples and limbs can feel quite lethargic. The strategy is to spend a few days coming to terms with the new conditions and allow the body to adjust so the first night was a light meal (Alpaca) and then off to bed. The Alpaca actually just tasted a bit like a steak but with a finer texture.
They warned us that one of the possible symptoms of Altitude sickness can be insomnia, now I never thought I would suffer from this but I would have been lucky if I had more than 1 hours sleep. Up early and off to Lake Titicaca for a boat trip out to a floating reed island that the local Indians create by cutting sections of the roots about 1 metre deep off the bottom of the lake, cleaning the dirt off them that then allows them to float to the surface. They tie all these sections of root together to from the island then lay another metre of reeds in a criss-cross pattern over the top and therefore create the floating island. These reeds have to be continually replaced as they break down. Some of the islands are probably close to an acre however the one we visited was more like the size of a normal ¼ acre block. There were 5 families living on the island in homemade reed houses and they showed us around, dressed us up in local costumes (The local women all had incredibly large hips that were not helped by the dresses that they wore.), and tried to sell us some of their craftwork. A very interesting experience but life would get a little boring after a couple of days. We also experienced a short trip in a reed canoe paddled by two of the locals from the island we visited. We were farewelled by the island women singing in their native tongue and then translated into English which happened to be “My Bonnie lies over the Ocean” and “Row, Row, Row your Boat”
After leaving the island we had a three hour boat trip out to Amantani Island where we were going to spend the night with a local family from the Quechua Tribe. We were met by a group of women again with very large hips; we were all assigned to one of the women and then walked up the hill to our home for the evening. The trip up the hill was bloody hard and we needed to stop several times to catch our breath, language was also going to be a problem as they have limited Spanish and virtually no English. Our “home” is very basic with a rather interesting climb up a “staircase” across a very dodgy landing and through a 4 foot door. There were four single beds that all smelt of wood smoke and had varying degrees of discomfort so it was necessary to try and find one that suited your body shape.
Once settled in we went down to the kitchen to see how our lunch was being prepared. Mmmmm another eye opener, our “mum” had lit the fire in a room that was probably 2 metres by 3.5m with a dirt floor and no chimney. You can imagine the smoke in the room but we were hungry and this was a new experience. We met the two children, Jimmy 8 and Mario 4, nice little kids really and they shook our hands said Hola and introduced themselves. Robyn helped with the potatoes (they are predominately vegetarian except for special occasions when the odd guinea pig, sheep or pig is included) Mum cooked our meal in front of us peeling the vegies, wiping her nose, transferring water from one bowl to another and washing our plates in some more water and then drying them with an old rag.... we were hungry and tucked in to a large bowl of veggie soup and then potatoes, yams and fried cheese. After our late lunch we went over to see the locals playing soccer but decided not to join in as I am still not up to physical exercise. It started to thunder and then rain so we took shelter in a small rustic shop/ bar and enjoyed a hot chocolate and baileys before attempting to climb to the top of the island. I say attempting because we managed to get a little over half way and decided to head back down for dinner.
Dinner was with Momma, Poppa, and a couple of other relatives in the semi darkness of the kitchen and two candles, we had a large bowl of maize soup followed by some more potatoes, diced and fried this time and rice (not sure if I could eat potatoes again and certainly we both struggled to get it all down.) after dinner they organised a “Fiesta” for us with dancing, music and a beer. Only one beer because I didn’t want to go down the stairs to the toilet in the middle of the night. It was a fun night, a little over tourist but we all had a dance and enjoyed ourselves (all dressed in their typical dress – very becoming).
Another of the side effects of altitude sickness must be needing to pee every 30 minutes because I had my second sleepless night and had to traverse the dodgy landing and staircase at least 4 times in the night and believe me it was bloody cold. Robyn and I shared a single bed for warmth but also because it had the least dips of any of them. An incredibly long night with very little sleep so we were up at 6 and headed down to another smoke filled room for pancakes and Coca tea.
After breakfast we were offered a small bowl of warm ware to wash our hands in but by this stage we were over the home stay and ready to get back to civilisation. An experience like this makes you appreciate running water, effective toilets, electricity and hygiene. If we survive this without getting gastro or a cold I will be very surprised. Said our thankyous and goodbyes, hopped on to the boat and settled in for the three ½ hour return, some sleep and sharing stories with the other guys on the tour. I think Robyn and I might have drawn the short straw as far as facilities and hygiene were concerned but it was an experience and we survived.
On the bus to Cusco now – 6 hour trip that take us up over a pass at 4338m then down to Cusco. Hopefully going down to 3500 metres might alleviate some of the stresses on the body and get us ready for the big walk on the Inca trail.
The next day we headed to the airport as a group for our flight to Juliaca at 4000 feet in the Andes. Had some trouble with my carry on luggage as a piece of metal sculpture was considered dangerous, despite already being through two previous flights! The guy gave me two options, one to put it in the bin and the other to go back to check in and send it as normal baggage. The problem with that was we only had 30 minutes until leaving and were due to start boarding very soon. I was informed that I would need to purchase a new ticket if I missed the plane and would also have to pay another departure tax. A quick decision and I decided to leg it down to the check in and hopefully get back through security before the flight closed, believe me I legged it, three steps at a time down the stairs, to the voice over of “this is a final call for passengers to Cusco boarding at gate 8” . I pushed my way through the queue with my best Spanish and then explained that I needed the bag to go on my flight. Raced back up the stairs through immigration and up to pay tax when I realised that my wallet, phone and computer were all in the backpack.... Oh my god, suddenly remembered I had some American Dollars in my passport wallet so paid the man and proceeded through security to find Tony, Rach and Robyn waiting with the tour guide. Turned out I had plenty of time but felt totally stressed about my wallet, phone and laptop that I no longer had any control over. This flight was one of the longest two hours in history but my prayers to the Incan gods were answered and the little blue backpack came around on the baggage carousel with all contents safely inside.
From Juliaca we had a one hour bus trip to Puno on the shores of Lake Titicaca. Now let me tell you nothing can prepare you for life at 4000 metres, your breathing is restricted and rapid movement is to be avoided at all costs, your head starts to tighten across the temples and limbs can feel quite lethargic. The strategy is to spend a few days coming to terms with the new conditions and allow the body to adjust so the first night was a light meal (Alpaca) and then off to bed. The Alpaca actually just tasted a bit like a steak but with a finer texture.They warned us that one of the possible symptoms of Altitude sickness can be insomnia, now I never thought I would suffer from this but I would have been lucky if I had more than 1 hours sleep. Up early and off to Lake Titicaca for a boat trip out to a floating reed island that the local Indians create by cutting sections of the roots about 1 metre deep off the bottom of the lake, cleaning the dirt off them that then allows them to float to the surface. They tie all these sections of root together to from the island then lay another metre of reeds in a criss-cross pattern over the top and therefore create the floating island. These reeds have to be continually replaced as they break down. Some of the islands are probably close to an acre however the one we visited was more like the size of a normal ¼ acre block. There were 5 families living on the island in homemade reed houses and they showed us around, dressed us up in local costumes (The local women all had incredibly large hips that were not helped by the dresses that they wore.), and tried to sell us some of their craftwork. A very interesting experience but life would get a little boring after a couple of days. We also experienced a short trip in a reed canoe paddled by two of the locals from the island we visited. We were farewelled by the island women singing in their native tongue and then translated into English which happened to be “My Bonnie lies over the Ocean” and “Row, Row, Row your Boat”
After leaving the island we had a three hour boat trip out to Amantani Island where we were going to spend the night with a local family from the Quechua Tribe. We were met by a group of women again with very large hips; we were all assigned to one of the women and then walked up the hill to our home for the evening. The trip up the hill was bloody hard and we needed to stop several times to catch our breath, language was also going to be a problem as they have limited Spanish and virtually no English. Our “home” is very basic with a rather interesting climb up a “staircase” across a very dodgy landing and through a 4 foot door. There were four single beds that all smelt of wood smoke and had varying degrees of discomfort so it was necessary to try and find one that suited your body shape.
Once settled in we went down to the kitchen to see how our lunch was being prepared. Mmmmm another eye opener, our “mum” had lit the fire in a room that was probably 2 metres by 3.5m with a dirt floor and no chimney. You can imagine the smoke in the room but we were hungry and this was a new experience. We met the two children, Jimmy 8 and Mario 4, nice little kids really and they shook our hands said Hola and introduced themselves. Robyn helped with the potatoes (they are predominately vegetarian except for special occasions when the odd guinea pig, sheep or pig is included) Mum cooked our meal in front of us peeling the vegies, wiping her nose, transferring water from one bowl to another and washing our plates in some more water and then drying them with an old rag.... we were hungry and tucked in to a large bowl of veggie soup and then potatoes, yams and fried cheese. After our late lunch we went over to see the locals playing soccer but decided not to join in as I am still not up to physical exercise. It started to thunder and then rain so we took shelter in a small rustic shop/ bar and enjoyed a hot chocolate and baileys before attempting to climb to the top of the island. I say attempting because we managed to get a little over half way and decided to head back down for dinner.
Dinner was with Momma, Poppa, and a couple of other relatives in the semi darkness of the kitchen and two candles, we had a large bowl of maize soup followed by some more potatoes, diced and fried this time and rice (not sure if I could eat potatoes again and certainly we both struggled to get it all down.) after dinner they organised a “Fiesta” for us with dancing, music and a beer. Only one beer because I didn’t want to go down the stairs to the toilet in the middle of the night. It was a fun night, a little over tourist but we all had a dance and enjoyed ourselves (all dressed in their typical dress – very becoming).
Another of the side effects of altitude sickness must be needing to pee every 30 minutes because I had my second sleepless night and had to traverse the dodgy landing and staircase at least 4 times in the night and believe me it was bloody cold. Robyn and I shared a single bed for warmth but also because it had the least dips of any of them. An incredibly long night with very little sleep so we were up at 6 and headed down to another smoke filled room for pancakes and Coca tea.
After breakfast we were offered a small bowl of warm ware to wash our hands in but by this stage we were over the home stay and ready to get back to civilisation. An experience like this makes you appreciate running water, effective toilets, electricity and hygiene. If we survive this without getting gastro or a cold I will be very surprised. Said our thankyous and goodbyes, hopped on to the boat and settled in for the three ½ hour return, some sleep and sharing stories with the other guys on the tour. I think Robyn and I might have drawn the short straw as far as facilities and hygiene were concerned but it was an experience and we survived.
On the bus to Cusco now – 6 hour trip that take us up over a pass at 4338m then down to Cusco. Hopefully going down to 3500 metres might alleviate some of the stresses on the body and get us ready for the big walk on the Inca trail.
Ch0w for now Will post again after Macchu Pichu as we leave in the morning(sunday) and return on Wednesday night.
Sunday, 23 May 2010
Lima Peru
Lima Peru
We arrived mid morning and once again managed to pass through customs without a strip search and even avoided paying any taxes which was more of a surprise after the last last two countries. Located the taxi and then headed for the city centre.
Well we thought the Chileans were mad drivers, then the Argentinians taught us how to make the most of the bitumen with the least amount of signalling but nothing really prepared us for the Peruvians. - These guys are simply crazy, every second car is a taxi and demolition derby is just one way of describing the trip in.
The hotel Mauey is very majestic and quite comfortable but our rooms are on the third floor facing the street and the sounds of traffic may be an issue during the night. The Peruvians have a rather nasty habit of blowing the horn on their cars, not once, but several times every minute and believe me this can get fairly annoying.
We spent the afternoon settling in and orienting ourselves including a couple of Pisco Sours to help us to acclimatise. This drink is the national drink and you need to be very careful just how many you consume as it can just sneak up on you and turn you into a blithering idiot if you are not careful.
We had a great Chinese Peruvian meal across the road before retiring for the night. Tommorow is a city tour
We arrived mid morning and once again managed to pass through customs without a strip search and even avoided paying any taxes which was more of a surprise after the last last two countries. Located the taxi and then headed for the city centre.
Well we thought the Chileans were mad drivers, then the Argentinians taught us how to make the most of the bitumen with the least amount of signalling but nothing really prepared us for the Peruvians. - These guys are simply crazy, every second car is a taxi and demolition derby is just one way of describing the trip in.
The hotel Mauey is very majestic and quite comfortable but our rooms are on the third floor facing the street and the sounds of traffic may be an issue during the night. The Peruvians have a rather nasty habit of blowing the horn on their cars, not once, but several times every minute and believe me this can get fairly annoying.
We spent the afternoon settling in and orienting ourselves including a couple of Pisco Sours to help us to acclimatise. This drink is the national drink and you need to be very careful just how many you consume as it can just sneak up on you and turn you into a blithering idiot if you are not careful.
We had a great Chinese Peruvian meal across the road before retiring for the night. Tommorow is a city tour
Friday, 21 May 2010
Argentina
Hola from Buenos Aires airport.
Nice early start this morning up at 5 am ready for the airport transfer at 5.30 and now sitting in the lounge waiting for the plane to take us to Peru.
Well we have just had a week in Argentina mainly around the Buenos Aries precinct, taking in the sites and meandering around the shops. This place is very different in many ways from Santiago although there is still a great divide between the wealthy and the poor. Food is big and rich and very affordable with the average meal for 4 people under $60 Dollars including beer and wine. A nice wine from the supermarket will cost around $5 and therefore 10 in the restaurant.(we even replaced our duty free gin with a $4 one from the supermercado) The travel guides warn you about the dress codes here and they are right as the people who can afford it go all out in ensuring they are wearing the latest fashion and spend plenty of dollars on the makeup and cosmetic surgery. This might be alright while they are young but I am not so sure that they age all that well.
After settling in on the first day we decided it was time for some dinner and nothing better than a steak to fill the belly.....hmm I ordered a Baby Bife which turned out to be two large slabs of meat, along with a plate of veggies and some papa fritz (chips) for the table, - far more than I could possibly eat in 1 session but thankfully Tony was able to help out and between us we did it proud, albeit we really didn’t need to eat for another 24 hours. Breakfast at our B&B is also a sight to behold and we had to take a photo of the table before we started. On offer was a large selection of cakes, pastries, breads and biscuits just to make sure that we kept our carbs up and prepared ourselves for the day ahead. By the end of our stay we had taken to purchasing Avocados and tomatoes to spread on toast in order to try and bring the diet back into some sense of reality. (This can be very difficult given the size of their meals and the endless supply of breads at every meal) I am surprised that this is not one of the most obese nations in the world given their diet and portion sizes but they must have very different metabolisms to us.
We have been trying to walk as much as possible to burn some calories and to avoid the public transport as they have this habit of squeezing as many people on to a subway or bus in a bizarre attempt to break a world record. Our first experience of this was on day 2 when we decided to head into the city and do one of the double decker tourist busses and hence get some bearings and identify areas where we wanted to return to during the week. Once working out which side of the track to stand on we waited a couple of minutes for the train and the doors opened onto a full car but to our surprise we were ushered/pushed in and wedged between a sea of bodies with nothing to hang onto but locked in to position by those around us. I managed to keep one hand on my pocket with the phone and wallet but had absolutely no control of the backpack for the next 20 minutes. Fortunately it survived although a couple of zips had been opened but nothing of value for them to take. Robyn was targeted by I young man but she wasn’t going to play his game so he got pissed off and moved on.
Off the subway and straight into the mall where you come face to face with market stands selling all sorts of souvenirs and trinkets so we spent a bit of time looking and buying various costume jewelry and taking a few photos. The bus trip was good and we stopped for lunch at La Bocca where there was yet another market, some tango demonstrations and some great people watching.
Day 3 we decided on a walk around the parks looking at some of the amazing statues and sculptures and of course we managed to get lost along the way and were slightly off the track but still in a very public area where we encountered our first serious attempt to scam us and pick the pockets. The scenario went something like this: tony was about 20 meters behind and was greeted by a lady with a map asking for some directions, we were also accompanied by a man with a map but he didn’t ask or say anything. We stopped to laugh at Tony and wait for him to catch up when Robyn felt something akin to bird poo land on her head, shirt and backpack..... It looked like bird poo and smelt like bird poo and the very helpful man near us jumped up offering some toilet paper to clean it off, next thing we know I had some on me, Rachel on her and even Tony who was 20 meters away had some on him. So here we were trying to wipe it off each other wondering what type of bird could possibly have that much crap and managed to get us all. Our new friends were being so helpful offering water and tissues and even assisting us to remove some of it. Her job was to distract us and get me to help Robyn while he tried to unzip my pocket and remove the wallet. This proved too difficult and he moved on to helping Tony and Rachel. The penny dropped and we realised that he had his hands on Tony’s money pouch and their scam was exposed, within a few seconds and a final check of Rachel’s back pocket they quickly left to a waiting taxi along with another woman who was obviously standing guard. The net result was that we lost a bottle of water but kept everything else and we learnt a very valuable lesson. It all happened so quickly and we were just a little bit too trusting to accept the offer of help from a total stranger.
In the evening we decided to take in a Tango show and were picked up at 9.30 and carried across town in another white knuckle taxi (they are seriously crazy behind the wheel of the car turning a three lane road into at least 5 and ducking and weaving using only the horn and no indicators) The show was spectacular with Spanish singing and some great dancing. Personally I am not sure what all of the fuss is about as I often dance like that after a few lagers. Seriously great footwork and some very elegant clothing including the dresses albeit a bit short for my liking given I was in the front row.....
Day 4 we decided to head north to the Delta at Tigre. This was a bus trip on a local bus followed by the Tren-de-Costa out to the coast. After arriving we wandered around and looked at the various boat options for exploring the river ways and islands that make up the delta. We settled on a private water taxi and spent the next hour on the river and a fascinating experience and insight into life on the islands. Housing is very cheap ($40,000 US) and much of our conversation was around which particular property we might purchase as a holiday home. On return to the jetty we headed off in search of a restaurant for lunch. Having learnt from previous experiences we settled on a smaller local restaurant and only ordered 1 plate of meat meant for 2 persons to be shared amongst us..... Gross, the meal consisted of some Chorizo sausage, Blood sausage, kidneys, intestines and a couple of steaks. Between us we tried it all except for the blood sausage as this was a real stomach turner and would have only ended in vomit and tears. There was quite a bit of food left at the end and the meal stayed with us for several hours after.
We needed a new battery for Robyn’s camera as the one she had would not hold its charge for the whole day so once back in the city we spotted a camera shop and asked in our best Spanish for a replacement, they sent us down the road across a few blocks and mission accomplished. Next an external hard drive to back up ALL of the photos that Robyn and Rachel had managed to download onto the computer. Again back a few blocks and into a major shopping mall. Robyn and I went to see what we could find and left Rach and Tony in a leather shop, on our return they were both wearing new jackets and Rachel a new handbag, Robyn joined in and also acquired a new Jacket.
Day 5 More shopping. We tackled the bus as we were feeling very brave and headed in to find the post office and see how we might get a metal sculpture (lunig) home that Tony and Rach had brought us in Valparaiso for a wedding present. On the bus Tony started talking to an older lady and was asking directions, I commented on her English being very good to which she replied “that is because I am English my dear” Doh! A massage for Tony and some lunch for us followed by a rather long walk home via the shops on Santé Fa road. Managed to find a few more things to add to the luggage.
Day 6 and we decided a bit of culture was in order however first we needed to find an “apple’ store to see if we could get Tony’s phone repaired. Finally, we found someone who could understand us despite not being able to speak any English and using the map they located some directions and away we went. Mission accomplished so now a walk to the national Museum. Not much of a museum really although there were some great old photos and paintings with all the descriptions in Spanish. Lunch then a subway back to the B&B to pick up the laundry and get ready for this morning. Meal times by now are starting to align with the locals who normally eat after 2 and again after 9pm so this has taken some getting used to but we are getting into it and enjoying the cheap food and inevitable wine and beer that must accompany these meals. A bit of fun picking up the laundry as our washing had been combined (no problem there) but it was also spread across two other peoples so required a little exercise in sorting. Someone had obviously beaten us there as a pair of Tony’s socks had gone missing and a single sock of the same brand left behind. The lady in the shop eventually found its mate behind the machine and unwashed so Tony settled for this one as there was little else we could do and the lady in question spoke no English and our little Spanish was not enough to keep up with her.
And so here we are on the plane and heading for the next part of the adventure in Lima Peru. I will try to write again soon.
Love to all Stu and Robyn
Nice early start this morning up at 5 am ready for the airport transfer at 5.30 and now sitting in the lounge waiting for the plane to take us to Peru.
Well we have just had a week in Argentina mainly around the Buenos Aries precinct, taking in the sites and meandering around the shops. This place is very different in many ways from Santiago although there is still a great divide between the wealthy and the poor. Food is big and rich and very affordable with the average meal for 4 people under $60 Dollars including beer and wine. A nice wine from the supermarket will cost around $5 and therefore 10 in the restaurant.(we even replaced our duty free gin with a $4 one from the supermercado) The travel guides warn you about the dress codes here and they are right as the people who can afford it go all out in ensuring they are wearing the latest fashion and spend plenty of dollars on the makeup and cosmetic surgery. This might be alright while they are young but I am not so sure that they age all that well.
After settling in on the first day we decided it was time for some dinner and nothing better than a steak to fill the belly.....hmm I ordered a Baby Bife which turned out to be two large slabs of meat, along with a plate of veggies and some papa fritz (chips) for the table, - far more than I could possibly eat in 1 session but thankfully Tony was able to help out and between us we did it proud, albeit we really didn’t need to eat for another 24 hours. Breakfast at our B&B is also a sight to behold and we had to take a photo of the table before we started. On offer was a large selection of cakes, pastries, breads and biscuits just to make sure that we kept our carbs up and prepared ourselves for the day ahead. By the end of our stay we had taken to purchasing Avocados and tomatoes to spread on toast in order to try and bring the diet back into some sense of reality. (This can be very difficult given the size of their meals and the endless supply of breads at every meal) I am surprised that this is not one of the most obese nations in the world given their diet and portion sizes but they must have very different metabolisms to us.
We have been trying to walk as much as possible to burn some calories and to avoid the public transport as they have this habit of squeezing as many people on to a subway or bus in a bizarre attempt to break a world record. Our first experience of this was on day 2 when we decided to head into the city and do one of the double decker tourist busses and hence get some bearings and identify areas where we wanted to return to during the week. Once working out which side of the track to stand on we waited a couple of minutes for the train and the doors opened onto a full car but to our surprise we were ushered/pushed in and wedged between a sea of bodies with nothing to hang onto but locked in to position by those around us. I managed to keep one hand on my pocket with the phone and wallet but had absolutely no control of the backpack for the next 20 minutes. Fortunately it survived although a couple of zips had been opened but nothing of value for them to take. Robyn was targeted by I young man but she wasn’t going to play his game so he got pissed off and moved on.
Off the subway and straight into the mall where you come face to face with market stands selling all sorts of souvenirs and trinkets so we spent a bit of time looking and buying various costume jewelry and taking a few photos. The bus trip was good and we stopped for lunch at La Bocca where there was yet another market, some tango demonstrations and some great people watching.
Day 3 we decided on a walk around the parks looking at some of the amazing statues and sculptures and of course we managed to get lost along the way and were slightly off the track but still in a very public area where we encountered our first serious attempt to scam us and pick the pockets. The scenario went something like this: tony was about 20 meters behind and was greeted by a lady with a map asking for some directions, we were also accompanied by a man with a map but he didn’t ask or say anything. We stopped to laugh at Tony and wait for him to catch up when Robyn felt something akin to bird poo land on her head, shirt and backpack..... It looked like bird poo and smelt like bird poo and the very helpful man near us jumped up offering some toilet paper to clean it off, next thing we know I had some on me, Rachel on her and even Tony who was 20 meters away had some on him. So here we were trying to wipe it off each other wondering what type of bird could possibly have that much crap and managed to get us all. Our new friends were being so helpful offering water and tissues and even assisting us to remove some of it. Her job was to distract us and get me to help Robyn while he tried to unzip my pocket and remove the wallet. This proved too difficult and he moved on to helping Tony and Rachel. The penny dropped and we realised that he had his hands on Tony’s money pouch and their scam was exposed, within a few seconds and a final check of Rachel’s back pocket they quickly left to a waiting taxi along with another woman who was obviously standing guard. The net result was that we lost a bottle of water but kept everything else and we learnt a very valuable lesson. It all happened so quickly and we were just a little bit too trusting to accept the offer of help from a total stranger.
In the evening we decided to take in a Tango show and were picked up at 9.30 and carried across town in another white knuckle taxi (they are seriously crazy behind the wheel of the car turning a three lane road into at least 5 and ducking and weaving using only the horn and no indicators) The show was spectacular with Spanish singing and some great dancing. Personally I am not sure what all of the fuss is about as I often dance like that after a few lagers. Seriously great footwork and some very elegant clothing including the dresses albeit a bit short for my liking given I was in the front row.....
Day 4 we decided to head north to the Delta at Tigre. This was a bus trip on a local bus followed by the Tren-de-Costa out to the coast. After arriving we wandered around and looked at the various boat options for exploring the river ways and islands that make up the delta. We settled on a private water taxi and spent the next hour on the river and a fascinating experience and insight into life on the islands. Housing is very cheap ($40,000 US) and much of our conversation was around which particular property we might purchase as a holiday home. On return to the jetty we headed off in search of a restaurant for lunch. Having learnt from previous experiences we settled on a smaller local restaurant and only ordered 1 plate of meat meant for 2 persons to be shared amongst us..... Gross, the meal consisted of some Chorizo sausage, Blood sausage, kidneys, intestines and a couple of steaks. Between us we tried it all except for the blood sausage as this was a real stomach turner and would have only ended in vomit and tears. There was quite a bit of food left at the end and the meal stayed with us for several hours after.
We needed a new battery for Robyn’s camera as the one she had would not hold its charge for the whole day so once back in the city we spotted a camera shop and asked in our best Spanish for a replacement, they sent us down the road across a few blocks and mission accomplished. Next an external hard drive to back up ALL of the photos that Robyn and Rachel had managed to download onto the computer. Again back a few blocks and into a major shopping mall. Robyn and I went to see what we could find and left Rach and Tony in a leather shop, on our return they were both wearing new jackets and Rachel a new handbag, Robyn joined in and also acquired a new Jacket.
Day 5 More shopping. We tackled the bus as we were feeling very brave and headed in to find the post office and see how we might get a metal sculpture (lunig) home that Tony and Rach had brought us in Valparaiso for a wedding present. On the bus Tony started talking to an older lady and was asking directions, I commented on her English being very good to which she replied “that is because I am English my dear” Doh! A massage for Tony and some lunch for us followed by a rather long walk home via the shops on Santé Fa road. Managed to find a few more things to add to the luggage.
Day 6 and we decided a bit of culture was in order however first we needed to find an “apple’ store to see if we could get Tony’s phone repaired. Finally, we found someone who could understand us despite not being able to speak any English and using the map they located some directions and away we went. Mission accomplished so now a walk to the national Museum. Not much of a museum really although there were some great old photos and paintings with all the descriptions in Spanish. Lunch then a subway back to the B&B to pick up the laundry and get ready for this morning. Meal times by now are starting to align with the locals who normally eat after 2 and again after 9pm so this has taken some getting used to but we are getting into it and enjoying the cheap food and inevitable wine and beer that must accompany these meals. A bit of fun picking up the laundry as our washing had been combined (no problem there) but it was also spread across two other peoples so required a little exercise in sorting. Someone had obviously beaten us there as a pair of Tony’s socks had gone missing and a single sock of the same brand left behind. The lady in the shop eventually found its mate behind the machine and unwashed so Tony settled for this one as there was little else we could do and the lady in question spoke no English and our little Spanish was not enough to keep up with her.
And so here we are on the plane and heading for the next part of the adventure in Lima Peru. I will try to write again soon.
Love to all Stu and Robyn
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