Machu Picchu

We organised our train tickets to and from Aguas Calientes after a hearty breakfast of Pancakes at Jacks Cafe (if it wasn't for the dodgy Peruvian water I would definitly be fat) and then caught a 1 hour taxi ($10 for 3 people) to Ollayantabamba (?) to catch a glimpse of the Mega Avalanche bike ride. Unfortunatly we just missed it but Glen caught up with some of the riders. We walked around the Incan village of cobbled streets and then caught the train (post stealing of camera) to Aguas Calientes. We had a short sleep then got up at 4am to get to Machu Picchu at first light. The site was clouded in fog on arrival but as it lifted we saw the amazing jungle covered peaks surrounding the huge incan city. It was truly breathtaking, even after all the hype and photos we'd seen. Our swedish mate Kalle was kind enough to take more than enough great photos for us. We witnessed a marriage proposal and an english couple we'd met in Argentina also got engaged at the same time (the Eiffel Tower of South America me thinks). We took a look through all the ruins then hiked up WaynuPicchu peak which was hard work due to the altitude. The views were amazing and we were glad to get there early as by midday the place was swarming with tourists. We walked back down the mountain and chilled at Aguas Calientes before our 4hr slow train back to Cusco. Glens off on a ride today and I'm getting down to the buisiness of postcard writing and jewellery buying. Tomorrow we fly to Lima then head to the coast.

Bring on Cusco

Hey all, we are now in Cusco, Peru where the sacred valley of the Incas is located and nearby Machu Picchu can be explored. Since the 11hr Bus from Arequipa we arrived here, Faye in quite good spirits, me not so good due to the loss of my sleeping pill on the bus whilst watching the in bus movie Jaws. Dang! None the less, we had ourselves a good breaky and commenced our search for Amazon and Machu Picchu info. After much searching and insight, we opted for the more adventurous 5 day tour of Park National Manu about 300-400km north of Cusco. This area considered one of the most diverse areas of the amazon due to it being 100% virgin forest, so we handed over our money for this reason and also because they take very small groups which give a better chance of spotting wildlife.

Sunday i hooked up with Carlos, a top local lad who took me on some of the best mtbing i have ever had. 3 x 30min trails of inca steps, rock gardens, super steep, tight switch backed, cliff edged style riding right down into the sacred valley. Some of these trails passed several villages where the natives were living right down to bare basics. They also saw me get chased by several dogs wating to eat me for brunch. Sheeeeit! Anyway, Carlos is the Man and it looks like i will catch up with him in the next few days to do some more sweet trails hopefully on one of his mates good rigs (much better then the piece of crap i had to use before - RST forks anyone?).

So we took off on monday for the 10 hr van trip into Manu, of which we covered probably only 300-400km of windy, bumpy, cliff edged breathtaking mountains and forest, spotting the odd colourful bird on the way. Stayed in a hostel in a small community for the night, then took off the next day for a 3hr boat up the Rio Madre de Dios to reach the eco lodge. On arrival, we saw why all the travel was worth while, 1.5 days to reach a text book style jungle lodge with raised wooden platforms sheltered by A Framed palm leaf roofs. We spent the rest of the day chilling in hammocks, eating, and playing cards. The night saw us explore a nearby trail, on the way spotting creepy bugs and insects, amongst these were scorpions, a male tarrantula, and a dinner plate sized scorpion spider. I kept my distance, especially when Wil (guide) tried to entice the female Tarrantula from its nest! Yah!

On the following day we set out for the main hiker thru the forest for 11km, keeping as qiute as possible as to not scare the animals. Just out from the lodge we fed loadfs of squirell monkeys bananas, them set out (Calle and I with macchetes!) for more. On the way we spotted various coluorful macaws, more monkeys and heard a pack of 50 or so wild boars very close. We kept as quite as possible and heard them as close as 30m away snorting, growling and snapping branches thru the forest, pretty frightening actually, but unfortunate not to be able to see them thru the thick forest.

We arrived late arvo to fish at our camp site, Faye catching the most. Then the best thng appeared for the whole trip, firstly one giant otter, then about 5 mins later a pack of 4 snorted their way carefully past the river bed then thru the river togetther. An amazing site for sure. Come nightfall, we put n our rubber boots and hiked thru a rock bedded stream with up to waist deep water for hour and waited for complete darkness to find caimens (crocodiles). As crazy as this sounds, they are completely harmless and are scared of humans, so no probs there. Anyway, we were not too lucky there, on the way back only picked up one baby croc, god kmows how will spotted it.

Day 4, we woke up to lots of rain coming out of our tents, the tarpfor shelter even filled and dumped water into our breakfast! Pleasant stuff. So we took of to return for the 11km trek back to the lodge, spotting more monkeys, luckily we saw 2 woodpeckers (which you can only normally hear) and a female hairy assed tarrantula. Cool stuff. Returning to the lodge we chilled more in hammocks (i gotta get me one of these) and fished late in the arvo catching the odd catfish on handline and net. Good eating.

Friday we woke at the hellish hour od 4.30am ready for the 4hr boat back to the van, then 8 hrs back to Cusco. Getting back to the hostel to an actual bed and shower was the business.

Today we are going to check into Machu Picchu. We are not doing the inca trail cos we are a bit over trekking, and our guide says it is ripped off for what it is. So we are going to talk to Wil today cos he says he can hook us up with a mate who can drive us there to see it for the day, a much cheaper option. Wednesday should see us out of here for Lima, most likley flying because it is very cheap and a better option to the 25hr bus! Then up the coast for beach and surfing (chicama Scottboy, oh yeah!). Also the huge Andean mtn range od Corderilla de Blanca, loads of peaks all over 5000m.

So until next time, take it easy yall.

Eating our way to Cusco

We had good intentions of climbing a 6000m volcano.....but our stomachs got the better of us. We arrived in Arequipa after doing our most touristy thing to date: visiting the Lake Titicaca floating reed islands. Peruvians call it a Japanese tour as all people do is take photos (and photos of people taking photos: madness). So after Glen ate Alpacca in Puno, we headed to Perus eating capital of Arequipa. We looked into the colca canyon and El Misti Volcano expeditions but we were quite ratshit from 3 weeks on the move and dodgy Bolivian food. We indulged in Mexican, Turkish, Chinese, Wood fired Pizza etc but the highlight was definitly the Crepes at ZigZag. Raspberries and icecream, caramel custard and chocolate, lemon butter and sugar...shall I go on? We also had a big night out with our salt plains crew and sampled the Pisco and Long Island Ice Tea. I don´t know if Pisco burns the oesophagus on the way down as I experienced my first ever bout of indigestion the day after. Glen tells me it burns on the way up though! We basically relaxed and ate for 3 days which was a much needed rest. We've just arrived in Cusco via an overnight bus and are know going to trawl the plaza for some good amazon and machu pichu deals. Wish us luck.

Goodbye Bolivia, Hello Peru

We arrived in La Paz after a mammoth train then stinky bus ride to an 8 bed dorm near the centre of LaPaz. Still hanging out with our salt plain group we explored the witches market, black market, many craft markets and searched and found the elusive indian curry! I managed to complete the notorious mountainbike ride on The World's Most Dangerous Road. Apparently a guy died last week and one person had a majoraccident the day after I did it. I think the scariest part was the new part of the road due to +++rain and low visibility together with trucks making me hang out at the rear of the group. Kristy, I don't know how you did it when the rocky road was still being used because I don't think I'd have the skills to pay the bills! Glen meanwhile went on a downhill day and cross-country day giving him his bike fix...for a day or two. La Paz was well worth the visit as it's not just another city. It had plenty of character with all the markets and the people in traditional Indian dress. Every corner you turned had a surprise including skinned hamsters and llama foetuses. After 4 days we headed to Copacabana and Isla del Sol where we had a hell of a time walking up the inca stairs with our packs due to altitude. We ended up only staying one night due to a lack of Bolivianos and no money exchanger. Today we've crossed the border to Peru and we're staying in Puño to go and visit some floating islands made of reeds (don't get jealous now Mark, we know its on your top 10). Due to a system crash our booking for Machu Pichu isn't solid so we may have to try our luck for an earlier date or shorter trek...If anyone knows any reputable companies other than SAS please leave a message. Missing hot showers and salad! faye

Goodbye Argentina, Hello Bolivia

Hello all, just a quick one to let you know whats been going on. In the last week we have made our way north through Argentina from Salta to Bolivia. Best stop on the way was probably Tilcara, amazing barren landscapes of mountains with blue, red, green, white, brown shades all the way through to Bolivia. Tilcara was a nice little villiage where we had 1st sample of llama for dinner, quite nice. Faye thought it tasted like tough pork. Crossed border thru to Bolivia with great ease then caught one of the many sheeitehouse Bolivian buses 3 hrs north to Tapiza and promptly organised a tour of Salar de Uyuni for the next 4 days in a landcruiser. Was lucky to do tour with a bunch of top guys who we had a ball with for the entire tour. The tour took in very spectacular mtn scenery (very diverse) along with some impressive ruins, lagoons populated with hundreds of pink flamingos. The lagoons were a variety of red, green and white color schemes, some backed up by volcanoes. We also took in several volcanoes, one of which was surrounded by a large rock field of lava set from a past eruption. One highlight was definitely when we had the privalege of bathing in a thermal spa in the volcano area - 30 degree water! Was the biz. The last day involved the huge expanse of salt plains near Uyuni. We were lucky to be there at the end of the wet season as there was a thin film of water on the plains which allowed clouds and mtns to reflect with perfect symetry on the salt plains. We have many photos which will just blow your mind, we are really stoked with them. At the moment we are in Uyuni where we have booked a train to Oruro (7hrs) which takes off at 2am, then we will bus to La Paz and stay for 3 nights. One thing I must mention is that Bolivia is just one huge altitude experience. We got to 5000m on the tour and much queeziness and lack of breath was had and consequently the odd altitude tablet needed to be taken. Also it is ridiculously cheap here. Nice. Take care all, will keep you up to date. Will look forward to your responses, we love them all. Salud!