Saturday, 5 December 2009
Sun, sea, surf...
We arrived in Mancora and found ourselves in paradise. Finally hot weather and beach. Holiday time. I've been amazed by how diverse Peru is. It's sooooo dry and barren along the entire length of the coast, but along the rivers and canyons they somehow manage to cultivate the rocky land and grow everything they need. Then you have the cold mountains and the jungle. So many different ways of life, it's amazing.
So, we're staying at Kimba's Bungalows. Best place in town. Just off the beach, we can hear it. Kimba is a surf dude who spent loads of time in Bali, and now he's made this beautiful little resort style bungalow village :) There are horses on the beach, a million surfers, yummy sea food, we have a pool, smoothies for breakfast. It's good. It's good to just be in one place for a while after all the buses. I had a surf lesson yesterday, it was amazing. As I was out sitting on my board waiting for waves, fish are jumping around out of the water all around me, then BOOM! A huge pelican dive bombs into the water after the fish, right next to me...I almost fell off the board. Pelicans flapping around all over the place, looking for breakfast. I'm going back to the beach later with the zoomy zoomy lens to get some pics. The water is warm, no wetsuit required. Went out last night, I think there were more dogs on the beach than people...it's really quiet here. Kirsty is sleeping it off today...
Went for a mild jog along the beach this morning. After the Inca Trail hike, I decided that it was time I tried a little run. Felt ok, just my calves were screaming. I think the beach is a good place to re-start the running, low impact etc. pretty happy about it. As I was running, I ran straight into two washed up animals...not sure if they are big seals or what exactly, but they may have been caught up in fishing nets or something....big birds circling above, they looked as though they had been baking in the sun for a few days :(
Time to go and lie by the pool!
Tomorrow we pack up again and head to Ecuador, another long bus. We don't have time to see much, but we're going to go to Coca and do a 4 or 5 day jungle trip into the Amazon, before heading to Colombia.
--
Isla McRae
6 Durweston Street
London
W1H 1EN
U.K.
0207 2244191
07908 571153
Trujillo and Chan chan
Trujillo is a cute little colonial-style town near the beach, 9 hours north of Lima. It used to be a Spanish walled city and they've now restored all the buildings within the old walls. We visited the Temple of the Sun and Moon, ruins of the Moche people (200-900 AD) then the ruins of Chan Chan, belonging to the Chimu civilization. The inca's then cut off their water supply and defeated them, along with the rest of Peru and beyond. These ruins are basically like big sand castles. It never rains here, hasn't rained for 12 years! They're expecting El Nino this year (lots of crazy rain) and they have scafolding and plastic all ready, just in case the rain washes everything away!
We jumped on another overnight bus bound for the beaches in the north. Next stop, Mancora.
--
Isla McRae
6 Durweston Street
London
W1H 1EN
U.K.
0207 2244191
07908 571153
--
Isla McRae
6 Durweston Street
London
W1H 1EN
U.K.
0207 2244191
07908 571153
Lima to the north
So, the crazy bus journey came to an end...21 hours of corners! The first thing that I did when I got off that bus was find a loo to vomit in...again. I think coming down from altitude and the zig-zag journey from hell combined to make me feel like death. We decided the best thing to do was to go and see a movie:2012. We were sure the movie would end in plenty of time for us to head back to the bus depot for our next bus up to Trujillo. Brilliant action-packed movie. Credits start rolling, check the watch...30 minutes before our scheduled departure...uh oh! RUN! Adrenaline still pumping from the excitement of the movie, we dash into the street to find a cab ready to zoom us rapido to the bus. First car started arguing over price...and had a tiny engine. Next! Big car, rapido? Big grin. let's GO! Craziest car journey of my life. The traffic in Lima is nuts at the best of times, never mind when you taxi driver thinks he's Jenson Button. Yikes. We made the bus and passed out.
--
Isla McRae
6 Durweston Street
London
W1H 1EN
U.K.
0207 2244191
07908 571153
Thursday, 3 December 2009
Inca Trail to Machu Picchu
>
> I'm currently stuck on a bus in the middle of the desert on my 21
> hour journey from Cusco to Lima. The road appears to be closed,
> everyone is out of their cars, they are playing U2 over the
> speakers. It's actually nice to be stationary after 12 hours of zig
> zag switch back roads coming down from 3000+ metres back to sea level!
>
> 6 of us from our Picolo Locanta Hostel were waiting to be picked up
> at 5:20am, the buzzer went and two cheery guides called out my name
> 'Izla' and Kirsty, the other 4 were going on a different bus. We
> zoomed around the sleeping city of Cusco picking up all the other
> couples, lots if couples! We had a group of 14. We all had breakfast
> together before we started on the 26 mile hike, just a marathon -
> nae worries! We got loaded up with our sleeping bags and camping
> mats and enough warm clothes for the arctic. Everywhere we've been
> there have been little ladies trying to sell us everything -
> massage, Mach Picchu, Lama photo, alpaca... there's no escaping it.
> Even at the start of the hike there are little ladies watching you
> load up - extra strap miss, water at 10 times the price miss,
> walking stick miss...
> Off we go. When you book the trek you have the option of hiring a
> porter to carry some of your luggage. Kirsty and I declined because
> we reckon we're hardcore and carried all our gear. The first day was
> nice and flat, our guide Cesar, pointed out all the other inca sites
> on the way, the sun was shining, we stopped every hour or so.
> We arrived at our first camp, surrounded by snow-capped mountains.
> The gringoes played football with the locals before dinner. The food
> on these treks is unbelievable...mountains and mountains, starter,
> soup, rice, noodles, meat, cake.... Also at the mini-breaks we'd
> have popcorn, biscuits, hot drinks on tap. Breakfast on day 2 was
> amazing - fresh mango, pancakes, porridge, toast, yoghurt...
> We slept pretty well the first night - too hot in all our alpaca
> gear. The tents were about 2 inches apart, but there was a roaring
> river to block out any other noises...snoring etc.
> Day 2 was to be 5 hours uphill, to the highest point 4200 metres-
> Dead Woman's Pass. After Cesar warning us about the climb, Kirsty
> and I decided to enlist the help of an extra porter for the climb.
> We paid a fair day wage but later discovered that our stuff had been
> split up between the existing porters, loading them up even more. We
> had 19 porters with our group and 2 chefs. The porters used to carry
> whatever weight they could, but the Peruvian government brought in
> regulations to make sure they carry a maximum of 25 kgs. They weigh
> the packs each morning...I'm sure some heavy ones slip through. It's
> crazy and so unnecessary. The porters carry up chairs, tables,
> tents, cooking utensils - all of which could be stored at each camp.
> The porters need the jobs and so they are against the construction
> of permanent structures and lodges in the mountains. Some of the
> porters really struggle though, wearing lama skin sandals instead of
> hiking boots, no rain gear. Crazy.
> Anyway, day 2 was tough, even without our packs, then the rain came.
> So much driving freezy rain. That night Cesar told us all the ghost
> stories related to dead woman's pass.
> We all went to the nasty bathrooms in groups!
The next day it was really cloudy, White all around. We missed all the
spectacular views and the rain came again. We had our full packs on
and had aching shoulders by the end of the day - started walking at
6am, finished at 4pm. This last camp was situated just an hour from
Machu Picchu, complete with hot showers and a bar. Civilisation felt
strange after a few days in the middle of nowhere. Showers were good
though!
We woke up at 3:45am and had breakfast. Then queued up at the first
gate. When the gate opened it felt like a gun had gone off...everyone
trying to get there first, jogging along the cliffs to see sun rise.
Crazy argy-bargy going on. The air was filled with anticipation: would
it be as magical as we all hoped?!
We finally climbed the monkey steps up to the sun gate and there it
was below us... and it didn't disappoint. Perfect weather!
Got all the postcard photos before hitting the cafe. Filled up on coke
and food that cost as much as central London's finest cafes. I turned
around to find Kirsty chatting up a fine looking lad from LA, she did
come away with a ticket up Huyna Picchu, the hill overlooking Machu
Picchu. They only give out 400 tickets a day. We joined the queue,
reached the front. Kirsty simply smiled and the wee man let us in with
one ticket. I didn't think it was even worth joining the queue. Good
work Kirsty. We climbed up the steep cliffs for an hour to the top, it
was the most amazing part of my whole trip so far. We saw a couple
getting engaged. The rain came, headed down into town. Met the jealous
group for lunch. Then back to Cusco to sleep! Shattered!
Still feel like I don't know enough about the Incas or Mach Pucchu, so
really looking forward to reading more about it.
Summary: Amazing experience, tougher than I thought it was going to be!!
>
> I'm currently stuck on a bus in the middle of the desert on my 21
> hour journey from Cusco to Lima. The road appears to be closed,
> everyone is out of their cars, they are playing U2 over the
> speakers. It's actually nice to be stationary after 12 hours of zig
> zag switch back roads coming down from 3000+ metres back to sea level!
>
> 6 of us from our Picolo Locanta Hostel were waiting to be picked up
> at 5:20am, the buzzer went and two cheery guides called out my name
> 'Izla' and Kirsty, the other 4 were going on a different bus. We
> zoomed around the sleeping city of Cusco picking up all the other
> couples, lots if couples! We had a group of 14. We all had breakfast
> together before we started on the 26 mile hike, just a marathon -
> nae worries! We got loaded up with our sleeping bags and camping
> mats and enough warm clothes for the arctic. Everywhere we've been
> there have been little ladies trying to sell us everything -
> massage, Mach Picchu, Lama photo, alpaca... there's no escaping it.
> Even at the start of the hike there are little ladies watching you
> load up - extra strap miss, water at 10 times the price miss,
> walking stick miss...
> Off we go. When you book the trek you have the option of hiring a
> porter to carry some of your luggage. Kirsty and I declined because
> we reckon we're hardcore and carried all our gear. The first day was
> nice and flat, our guide Cesar, pointed out all the other inca sites
> on the way, the sun was shining, we stopped every hour or so.
> We arrived at our first camp, surrounded by snow-capped mountains.
> The gringoes played football with the locals before dinner. The food
> on these treks is unbelievable...mountains and mountains, starter,
> soup, rice, noodles, meat, cake.... Also at the mini-breaks we'd
> have popcorn, biscuits, hot drinks on tap. Breakfast on day 2 was
> amazing - fresh mango, pancakes, porridge, toast, yoghurt...
> We slept pretty well the first night - too hot in all our alpaca
> gear. The tents were about 2 inches apart, but there was a roaring
> river to block out any other noises...snoring etc.
> Day 2 was to be 5 hours uphill, to the highest point 4200 metres-
> Dead Woman's Pass. After Cesar warning us about the climb, Kirsty
> and I decided to enlist the help of an extra porter for the climb.
> We paid a fair day wage but later discovered that our stuff had been
> split up between the existing porters, loading them up even more. We
> had 19 porters with our group and 2 chefs. The porters used to carry
> whatever weight they could, but the Peruvian government brought in
> regulations to make sure they carry a maximum of 25 kgs. They weigh
> the packs each morning...I'm sure some heavy ones slip through. It's
> crazy and so unnecessary. The porters carry up chairs, tables,
> tents, cooking utensils - all of which could be stored at each camp.
> The porters need the jobs and so they are against the construction
> of permanent structures and lodges in the mountains. Some of the
> porters really struggle though, wearing lama skin sandals instead of
> hiking boots, no rain gear. Crazy.
> Anyway, day 2 was tough, even without our packs, then the rain came.
> So much driving freezy rain. That night Cesar told us all the ghost
> stories related to dead woman's pass.
> We all went to the nasty bathrooms in groups!
The next day it was really cloudy, White all around. We missed all the
spectacular views and the rain came again. We had our full packs on
and had aching shoulders by the end of the day - started walking at
6am, finished at 4pm. This last camp was situated just an hour from
Machu Picchu, complete with hot showers and a bar. Civilisation felt
strange after a few days in the middle of nowhere. Showers were good
though!
We woke up at 3:45am and had breakfast. Then queued up at the first
gate. When the gate opened it felt like a gun had gone off...everyone
trying to get there first, jogging along the cliffs to see sun rise.
Crazy argy-bargy going on. The air was filled with anticipation: would
it be as magical as we all hoped?!
We finally climbed the monkey steps up to the sun gate and there it
was below us... and it didn't disappoint. Perfect weather!
Got all the postcard photos before hitting the cafe. Filled up on coke
and food that cost as much as central London's finest cafes. I turned
around to find Kirsty chatting up a fine looking lad from LA, she did
come away with a ticket up Huyna Picchu, the hill overlooking Machu
Picchu. They only give out 400 tickets a day. We joined the queue,
reached the front. Kirsty simply smiled and the wee man let us in with
one ticket. I didn't think it was even worth joining the queue. Good
work Kirsty. We climbed up the steep cliffs for an hour to the top, it
was the most amazing part of my whole trip so far. We saw a couple
getting engaged. The rain came, headed down into town. Met the jealous
group for lunch. Then back to Cusco to sleep! Shattered!
Still feel like I don't know enough about the Incas or Mach Pucchu, so
really looking forward to reading more about it.
Summary: Amazing experience, tougher than I thought it was going to be!!
>
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