Hi all,
just a quick one to let you know that we arrived back at Heathrow safe and sound on Monday. I (Linda) then went back to Glos to pick up my car, staying with friends, and therefore was immedately confronted with the turmoil of floods, devastation in many ways and the water going off only 2 hours after I arrived back - and we're a "developed" nation!!
Aside form that the biggest shock was being faced with so many choices of everyday items, and also being reunited with so many possessions, especially clothes. When you've been living out of a rucsac for 6 months with very limited choice, having so much to pick and choose between is pretty overwhelming!
I'm now in North Yorks at my Mum's, being well fed, rested, taking my lovely lurcher Jake for walks and trying to prepare for RAF Cranwell......a WEEK TODAY, yikes! Running, walking, breaking my really uncomfortable boots in, reading, form filling etc is all involved, and some of it at a much lower level than I intended! Hey ho.
Thanks for following our blog, for comments, encouragements and for providing a much needed link with life back home. If I get the chance, I'll add some more Blog comments during my RAF training, but things are going to be pretty hectic and full on, and access to some parts of the internet very limited.
Oh well, at least I get a 2 week break at the end of August when the whole college has a fortnight's shut down........ so that's me off to Egypt for a week with my dive buddy Kim, back to the Hilton at Dahab.......it's a hard life, but somebody has to do it!!
Til next time, blog buddies. Do keep in touch, by e.mail or mobile, or comments here!
Love from Linda xx
Sunday, July 29, 2007
Friday, July 20, 2007
Hi everyone,
here we are in Pisco, home of the "famous" Pisco Sour (and not a lot else!). We´d never heard of Pisco Sour before coming to S Am, and our first taste of it was in Business Class flying on from Easter Island..... sorry, we just had to get that on record one more time...... business class, hurrah!
Anyway, we digress.... Where were we last, ah yes, Cusco. In the midst of all sorts of confusion and uncertainties involving the many strikes around Peru for different causes we found ourselves unsure whether to still try and get to Arequipa, to visit the Colca Canyon where the condors live, or to change tack and head north west to Pisco on the coast, via Nazca. Due to a certain amount of paralysis on our part we decided to leave it to a flip of the coin, and Nazca/Pisco came through.
Our night bus from Cusco to Nazca was a very posh bus, by Peruvian standards, but that didn´t save us from the horribly winding steep roads, as we came over the Andes travelling from 3,400 meters to 500 meters over night. Our ears were popping regularly and water bottles were pinging and crunching left right and centre due to the pressure changes, lovely! The bus also started to take on the resemblance of a fridge around midnight, and it took several failed attempts at telling the stewardess this before it later on turned into the inside of an oven warming up to gas mark 8!! The joys of travel...
When we got to Nazca, around 7.30 am we were taken to our hostal in a clapped out, very huge US Oldsmobile, with a "trunk" big enough to conceal an elephant (or two). We were then taken to our windowless "cell". When we asked for a room with a window the reply was that nobody ever stays more than one night in Nazca, so they never bother giving them windows!!
It then became apparent that we should book on to our flight to the Nazca lines that day, as the weather had been somewhat dodgy in previous days. So, after very littel sleep the night before, a quick shower and a cuppa (trying to find black tea was also a big challenge that we didn´t quite manage) we found ourselves being hurled and dipped about in a tiny 4 seater plane (one of the 4 seats was the pilot´s) looking at the LInes.
"What are the Nazca Lines" we hear you cry. Well, go look it up you lazy people! Just to give you a clue though, they´re ancient drawings and lines made in the Peruvian desert, discovered only when aviation began, as the only way to see them properly is from the air. The drawings include a hummingbird, monkey, spider, condor, an "astronaut" or man waving, and various other figures. It was amazing to see, but towards the end we were more intent on our "sick bags" than the Lines, shame really. One of us threw up, and one of us almost did (bet you really wanted to know that!).
It was really worth seeing, and a very important national heritage site in Peru, just a shame it was so like a rollercoaster for which we were totally unprepared! Linda´s not sure what to make of any possible RAF fast-jet opportunities in the future, given such a hair raising(!) experience in a little wind-up 4 seater!!! Hey ho.....
Anyway, the next day we moved on from Nazca to Pisco (home of the famous aforementioned "Sour") which is a rather nondescript coastal port (especially when the sun doesn´t shine) after the bright and bustling Cusco and the more quaint and sleepy Plaza of Nazca. Yesterday morning very early we went off to see the Ballestas Islands, reached by speedboat, where we saw bottlenose dolphins playing near the harbour, as well as vast numbers of pellicans. As we moved on the the islands, there were thousands of different sea birds, including cormorants, turns, Peruvian boobies (ooh er missis), not to mention many sea lions and quite a few penguins! It was a really interesting morning, and we were delighted to be told all about the local Guano (bird pooh), harvesting techniques, local uses etc.... and boy did we know when we were there...such a lovely aroma - NOT!! Amazingly, none of us got fired upon, but there were a few close calls!
From riots and tear gas to guanu assault attacks and all sorts in between we feel like joining the SAS now. Back to our sedate little travels....
We leave Pisco this evening and travel on to Lima, staying at an Airport Hotel overnight. Our flight heads out mid morning (hopefully) and we then arrive in Miama, for our last night´s stay which will be with Sue & Art, Penny´s rellies-in-law (yup, even more of em..... those Hewitts get about!).
It looks like our last entry will be from Miami, although we guess it´s only fair to sign off properly once back in England. However, we´ll possibly both use the site for some ongoing updates - Linda from the RAF training college and Penny from........ AFRICA, Uganda, Kisiizi to be precise...watch this space for more details, how exciting!!!
Well, here we are, up to date again on our blog, like good girly swats, so it´s time to sigh off and get ready to leave Pisco, which includes putting some MORE PHOTOS ON FLICKR!!
Bye for now folks, thanks for dropping by.
Til next time....
love from Penny & Linda xx
here we are in Pisco, home of the "famous" Pisco Sour (and not a lot else!). We´d never heard of Pisco Sour before coming to S Am, and our first taste of it was in Business Class flying on from Easter Island..... sorry, we just had to get that on record one more time...... business class, hurrah!
Anyway, we digress.... Where were we last, ah yes, Cusco. In the midst of all sorts of confusion and uncertainties involving the many strikes around Peru for different causes we found ourselves unsure whether to still try and get to Arequipa, to visit the Colca Canyon where the condors live, or to change tack and head north west to Pisco on the coast, via Nazca. Due to a certain amount of paralysis on our part we decided to leave it to a flip of the coin, and Nazca/Pisco came through.
Our night bus from Cusco to Nazca was a very posh bus, by Peruvian standards, but that didn´t save us from the horribly winding steep roads, as we came over the Andes travelling from 3,400 meters to 500 meters over night. Our ears were popping regularly and water bottles were pinging and crunching left right and centre due to the pressure changes, lovely! The bus also started to take on the resemblance of a fridge around midnight, and it took several failed attempts at telling the stewardess this before it later on turned into the inside of an oven warming up to gas mark 8!! The joys of travel...
When we got to Nazca, around 7.30 am we were taken to our hostal in a clapped out, very huge US Oldsmobile, with a "trunk" big enough to conceal an elephant (or two). We were then taken to our windowless "cell". When we asked for a room with a window the reply was that nobody ever stays more than one night in Nazca, so they never bother giving them windows!!
It then became apparent that we should book on to our flight to the Nazca lines that day, as the weather had been somewhat dodgy in previous days. So, after very littel sleep the night before, a quick shower and a cuppa (trying to find black tea was also a big challenge that we didn´t quite manage) we found ourselves being hurled and dipped about in a tiny 4 seater plane (one of the 4 seats was the pilot´s) looking at the LInes.
"What are the Nazca Lines" we hear you cry. Well, go look it up you lazy people! Just to give you a clue though, they´re ancient drawings and lines made in the Peruvian desert, discovered only when aviation began, as the only way to see them properly is from the air. The drawings include a hummingbird, monkey, spider, condor, an "astronaut" or man waving, and various other figures. It was amazing to see, but towards the end we were more intent on our "sick bags" than the Lines, shame really. One of us threw up, and one of us almost did (bet you really wanted to know that!).
It was really worth seeing, and a very important national heritage site in Peru, just a shame it was so like a rollercoaster for which we were totally unprepared! Linda´s not sure what to make of any possible RAF fast-jet opportunities in the future, given such a hair raising(!) experience in a little wind-up 4 seater!!! Hey ho.....
Anyway, the next day we moved on from Nazca to Pisco (home of the famous aforementioned "Sour") which is a rather nondescript coastal port (especially when the sun doesn´t shine) after the bright and bustling Cusco and the more quaint and sleepy Plaza of Nazca. Yesterday morning very early we went off to see the Ballestas Islands, reached by speedboat, where we saw bottlenose dolphins playing near the harbour, as well as vast numbers of pellicans. As we moved on the the islands, there were thousands of different sea birds, including cormorants, turns, Peruvian boobies (ooh er missis), not to mention many sea lions and quite a few penguins! It was a really interesting morning, and we were delighted to be told all about the local Guano (bird pooh), harvesting techniques, local uses etc.... and boy did we know when we were there...such a lovely aroma - NOT!! Amazingly, none of us got fired upon, but there were a few close calls!
From riots and tear gas to guanu assault attacks and all sorts in between we feel like joining the SAS now. Back to our sedate little travels....
We leave Pisco this evening and travel on to Lima, staying at an Airport Hotel overnight. Our flight heads out mid morning (hopefully) and we then arrive in Miama, for our last night´s stay which will be with Sue & Art, Penny´s rellies-in-law (yup, even more of em..... those Hewitts get about!).
It looks like our last entry will be from Miami, although we guess it´s only fair to sign off properly once back in England. However, we´ll possibly both use the site for some ongoing updates - Linda from the RAF training college and Penny from........ AFRICA, Uganda, Kisiizi to be precise...watch this space for more details, how exciting!!!
Well, here we are, up to date again on our blog, like good girly swats, so it´s time to sigh off and get ready to leave Pisco, which includes putting some MORE PHOTOS ON FLICKR!!
Bye for now folks, thanks for dropping by.
Til next time....
love from Penny & Linda xx
Saturday, July 14, 2007
RUINS, RIOTS, STAMPEDES, SNOW, BLISTERS AND RUM!
Hi everyone,
Here we are, having returned from our 4 day trek, and there´s lots to tell!
We set off from Cusco really early on Tuesday morning (5.30am) and had a fairly long journey by bus to our starting point on the Lares trek, funnily enough at a town called "Lares". We had a really tough start........ a 20 min hike up a gentle hill, to some hot springs!! Some people got right in, but some of us just paddled....... it didn´t seem quite right only 20 minutes into our 4 day adventure!
After that we had a lovely lunch prepared by our porters (it´s a hard life) and that was just the beginning of some incredible meals, including popcorn, pancakes, quinoa porridge (a type of grain) and so much more besides. It was truly amazing what they managed to produce from nowhere as we trekked, and nobody ever went hungry!
Well, after our lovely lunch we then began the actual trek, spending 3 hours which was generally gentle and not too severely uphill. We passed gorgeous dirty faced kids who seemed to pop up out of absolutely nowhere to say hello and see if we had any treats to give them. There we were in all sorts of fleece and goretex layers, and they had sandals and bare legs, (but warm ponchos)scampering around oblivious to the cold and winds. There were lots of tiny hamlets that we walked through, and we often met ladies and small children with a blanket spread out on the mud, selling home produced crafts. There were many sights and sounds, colours and smells as we trekked, and all authentic and traditional. It was a real cultural experience.
When we arrived at our campsite the tents were already all up, and really warm sleeping bags, thick mats and even a small pillow were waiting for us..... our porters were the real heroes of our trek. We were given hot water to wash with, then tea and snacks, followed later by soup and a really substantial main course. Later we a had a special and very delicious fruit tea (made with fresh juices) which was turned into "Macho Te" by adding varying quantities of rum. We all went to bed that evening with glowing faces and warm toes........lovely!
After a surprisingly warm and good sleep (thanks to very snuggly sleeping bags and an llama blanket) we were up and away by 7am, ready for the hardest day of our trek. Some of our group were quite unwell due to the effects of altitude sickness, stomach bugs etc but thankfully both of us were absolutely fine, thanks probably to having been at altitude for a couple of weeks already.
Our group was a mixed bag, of different ages although we were two of the oldest there! There were people from the US, Ireland, and England..... not really that mixed (far less so than on our Kumuka trip) and we generally had a really good time as a group.
So, back to the trek. Weather so far had been pretty cold, overcast and frequent rain showers, and that continued through the second day, but it was even colder as we climbed even higher. We trekked uphill for 4 or so hours, seeing some amazing people and places again, and eating lots of chocolate bars! Imagine huffing and puffing up the hills when these tiny local scamps run past as if there isn´t even a hill......... but at least we can blame our inexperience at altitude for some of it. Apparently it takes over a year to fully acclimatise to living at altitude - that´s our excuse and we´re sticking to it!
The last part of our uphill stage was the hardest, being rather steep and at the end of 4 hours trekking up 700 meters (taking us from 3,700m to 4,400m around the same level as Everest Base Camp). When we got to the top there were great celebrations, even though we were being pelted by hailstones at the time. We built a cairn to mark our safe passage, and then began the descent part of our trek. After another gorgeous lunch in the middle of absolutely nowhere, we had another 4 hour trek down quite rocky and loose paths. We´d both hired walking poles and were very glad of them for both the up and down hill sections that day.
Camp was such a welcome sight, and there were varying degress of blisters and sore feet amongst the group, but yet again both of us were absolutely fine, for which we are incredibly thankful! After yet another great night´s sleep, we were meant to leave at 5am but weren´t even woken up until 7pm...... the reason to be explained later on........
It was amazing to wake up all warm and snuggly only to open the tent flap and see thick frost on the grass....brrrrr.......but for the first time we had blue skies and the sun was shining- hurrah!!
We then had a 5 hour trek, mainly downhill again, and it was so warm that Linda even took the legs off her walking trousers......shorts at last, hurrah. We handed out supplies of crayons, books and other items to a group of school children, which was a really weird experience because they are all so desperate for anything they can get. They were so cute, colourful and gorgeous (despite the caked on mud and grime).... if we´d had room in our packs we might have smuggled a couple home!
So, after the last major part of our trek we arrived in an Inca town called Ollantaytambo, in time for a late lunch and a final farewell to our wonderful porters, who worked so hard and did so much for us all the way along the trek. Then the fun really began.... it turned out that we´d had a lie in because the train we were meant to get originally to Agua Calientes had been delayed due to local strikes (a different stike to the one that had blocked our journey from Puno to Cusco!).
We were given some free time to look around Olló before gathering for our train, so most of us headed up to the market square. It seemed weird that every shop and cafe seemed to be closing, but we just thought it was probably to do with siesta for a litle while....but then it became clear that everyone had shut up shop and was gathering in the square for a peaceful protest. However, before we knew it, a police van arrived and loads of police in riot gear swarmed out and then things really kicked off. Tear gas was thrown, and we saw people being beaten with batons in the square. One of our group came out of a shop without knowing what was happening and got tear gas in her eyes, whilst witnessing a severe beating of one local man who was later carried away in a blanket with his face mashed in.
Needless to say the place was in uproar..... and all this was happening just whilst Linda was sitting at the side of the square attempting to zip the legs back on to her trousers....good timing. Penny was concerned that now was a good time to move, but Linda had one shoe off, her bag open and a leg half zipped...... you can picture the scene as people were running towards us screaming and shouting, and Linda carries on zipping her legs on!!
Although it was a really thing to witness it was clear that, as tourists, we were never at risk....the police knew who they were after..... but it certainly wasn´t pleasant and left a few people quite shaken by it. Before this experienec, whenever we saw groups of police on the streets it was a really reassuring site, but now whenever we see a few the pulse quickens until we see the absence of riot gear!
We then had a 5 hour, very squashed and jostled wait at the train station, because everything was in chaos (including protestors sitting on the train track to stop a train leaving). To cut a long story short, our 4.20pm train left at 10.30pm, but with about 4 trains worth of people on it...... we had a lovely journey sitting on the floor with other members of our group some of whom were half cut after drinking 5 bottles of rum between them!
We were sooooo glad to arrive in Agua Calientes, even though it was 12.30am. After getting to our hotel and finding it fully booked, then began another trek to a different hotel, where we finally got to bed at 1.30am, having travelled for 3 days with no showers, wearing the same clothes etc etc. After a really long sleep (NOT!) we were up again at 4.30 to have breakfast (at the other hotel!) before getting a bus up to Machu Picchu...... at long last, we were definitely going to get there, as it really was in doubt the previous day, because the only way to reach Agua Calientes is by train!
What can we say? It was truly amazing. Even the journey up was stunning, as the darkness started to lift and we could see the imposing Andean mountains all around us - Wow! As we arrived at MP not many people were ahead of us, so we were soon into the site and able to see the amazing views for ourselves at long last, a new wonder of the world!
Our guide, Dicber, took us on guided tour around the whole site, and then we had some free time to wander around, sit, soak up the atmosphere, and for a few mad people the opportunity to climb up Wanapicchi, a very steep prearious and slippery mountain that gives an amazing view. We decided against it in favour of actually seeing the place up close and personal rather than spending an hour watching the feet of the person in front of you!
By the end of our time there we really felt like we´d explored it well, and were so glad for our early start. By the time we were ready to leave the place was heaving with tourists and there were no peaceful spots anymore. The afternoon consisted of a little bit of shopping at the market and then a treat..... we went to the hot springs and soothed away some of the aches and pains from our trek......luvverly.
Our train journey back to Ollantaytambo was very uneventful (thankfully) with incredible scenery and comfy seats! A transfer onto a coach then had us back at Cusco last night by 8.30pm, for which we are incredibly thankful. It was straight back to our hostal and straight to bed....... and boy did we sleep!
Today we´re taking it easy, funnily enough, and might even treat ourselves to a massage later before meeting our friends Becky & Gregor for dinner. Tomorrow we´re off on a day tour of the Sacred Valley (we´ve seen a bit on our tour, but there´s lots more to see) and then off to Arequipa on Monday. There we hope to visit Colca Canyon and see the mighty condors - we´ll hear all about it tonight from Becky & Gregor who´ve been on a 3 day trek there.
Well, another long entry, hope you´re eyes haven´t crossed from yet another long entry, but we thought you´d want to hear about yet another amazing trip that we´ve experienced here. Only a week left now and then no more entries....... it all seems very sad.
Watch out for some more photos on Flickr, we´ll get some uploaded as soon as we can.
Bye for now,
Penny & Linda xx
Hi everyone,
Here we are, having returned from our 4 day trek, and there´s lots to tell!
We set off from Cusco really early on Tuesday morning (5.30am) and had a fairly long journey by bus to our starting point on the Lares trek, funnily enough at a town called "Lares". We had a really tough start........ a 20 min hike up a gentle hill, to some hot springs!! Some people got right in, but some of us just paddled....... it didn´t seem quite right only 20 minutes into our 4 day adventure!
After that we had a lovely lunch prepared by our porters (it´s a hard life) and that was just the beginning of some incredible meals, including popcorn, pancakes, quinoa porridge (a type of grain) and so much more besides. It was truly amazing what they managed to produce from nowhere as we trekked, and nobody ever went hungry!
Well, after our lovely lunch we then began the actual trek, spending 3 hours which was generally gentle and not too severely uphill. We passed gorgeous dirty faced kids who seemed to pop up out of absolutely nowhere to say hello and see if we had any treats to give them. There we were in all sorts of fleece and goretex layers, and they had sandals and bare legs, (but warm ponchos)scampering around oblivious to the cold and winds. There were lots of tiny hamlets that we walked through, and we often met ladies and small children with a blanket spread out on the mud, selling home produced crafts. There were many sights and sounds, colours and smells as we trekked, and all authentic and traditional. It was a real cultural experience.
When we arrived at our campsite the tents were already all up, and really warm sleeping bags, thick mats and even a small pillow were waiting for us..... our porters were the real heroes of our trek. We were given hot water to wash with, then tea and snacks, followed later by soup and a really substantial main course. Later we a had a special and very delicious fruit tea (made with fresh juices) which was turned into "Macho Te" by adding varying quantities of rum. We all went to bed that evening with glowing faces and warm toes........lovely!
After a surprisingly warm and good sleep (thanks to very snuggly sleeping bags and an llama blanket) we were up and away by 7am, ready for the hardest day of our trek. Some of our group were quite unwell due to the effects of altitude sickness, stomach bugs etc but thankfully both of us were absolutely fine, thanks probably to having been at altitude for a couple of weeks already.
Our group was a mixed bag, of different ages although we were two of the oldest there! There were people from the US, Ireland, and England..... not really that mixed (far less so than on our Kumuka trip) and we generally had a really good time as a group.
So, back to the trek. Weather so far had been pretty cold, overcast and frequent rain showers, and that continued through the second day, but it was even colder as we climbed even higher. We trekked uphill for 4 or so hours, seeing some amazing people and places again, and eating lots of chocolate bars! Imagine huffing and puffing up the hills when these tiny local scamps run past as if there isn´t even a hill......... but at least we can blame our inexperience at altitude for some of it. Apparently it takes over a year to fully acclimatise to living at altitude - that´s our excuse and we´re sticking to it!
The last part of our uphill stage was the hardest, being rather steep and at the end of 4 hours trekking up 700 meters (taking us from 3,700m to 4,400m around the same level as Everest Base Camp). When we got to the top there were great celebrations, even though we were being pelted by hailstones at the time. We built a cairn to mark our safe passage, and then began the descent part of our trek. After another gorgeous lunch in the middle of absolutely nowhere, we had another 4 hour trek down quite rocky and loose paths. We´d both hired walking poles and were very glad of them for both the up and down hill sections that day.
Camp was such a welcome sight, and there were varying degress of blisters and sore feet amongst the group, but yet again both of us were absolutely fine, for which we are incredibly thankful! After yet another great night´s sleep, we were meant to leave at 5am but weren´t even woken up until 7pm...... the reason to be explained later on........
It was amazing to wake up all warm and snuggly only to open the tent flap and see thick frost on the grass....brrrrr.......but for the first time we had blue skies and the sun was shining- hurrah!!
We then had a 5 hour trek, mainly downhill again, and it was so warm that Linda even took the legs off her walking trousers......shorts at last, hurrah. We handed out supplies of crayons, books and other items to a group of school children, which was a really weird experience because they are all so desperate for anything they can get. They were so cute, colourful and gorgeous (despite the caked on mud and grime).... if we´d had room in our packs we might have smuggled a couple home!
So, after the last major part of our trek we arrived in an Inca town called Ollantaytambo, in time for a late lunch and a final farewell to our wonderful porters, who worked so hard and did so much for us all the way along the trek. Then the fun really began.... it turned out that we´d had a lie in because the train we were meant to get originally to Agua Calientes had been delayed due to local strikes (a different stike to the one that had blocked our journey from Puno to Cusco!).
We were given some free time to look around Olló before gathering for our train, so most of us headed up to the market square. It seemed weird that every shop and cafe seemed to be closing, but we just thought it was probably to do with siesta for a litle while....but then it became clear that everyone had shut up shop and was gathering in the square for a peaceful protest. However, before we knew it, a police van arrived and loads of police in riot gear swarmed out and then things really kicked off. Tear gas was thrown, and we saw people being beaten with batons in the square. One of our group came out of a shop without knowing what was happening and got tear gas in her eyes, whilst witnessing a severe beating of one local man who was later carried away in a blanket with his face mashed in.
Needless to say the place was in uproar..... and all this was happening just whilst Linda was sitting at the side of the square attempting to zip the legs back on to her trousers....good timing. Penny was concerned that now was a good time to move, but Linda had one shoe off, her bag open and a leg half zipped...... you can picture the scene as people were running towards us screaming and shouting, and Linda carries on zipping her legs on!!
Although it was a really thing to witness it was clear that, as tourists, we were never at risk....the police knew who they were after..... but it certainly wasn´t pleasant and left a few people quite shaken by it. Before this experienec, whenever we saw groups of police on the streets it was a really reassuring site, but now whenever we see a few the pulse quickens until we see the absence of riot gear!
We then had a 5 hour, very squashed and jostled wait at the train station, because everything was in chaos (including protestors sitting on the train track to stop a train leaving). To cut a long story short, our 4.20pm train left at 10.30pm, but with about 4 trains worth of people on it...... we had a lovely journey sitting on the floor with other members of our group some of whom were half cut after drinking 5 bottles of rum between them!
We were sooooo glad to arrive in Agua Calientes, even though it was 12.30am. After getting to our hotel and finding it fully booked, then began another trek to a different hotel, where we finally got to bed at 1.30am, having travelled for 3 days with no showers, wearing the same clothes etc etc. After a really long sleep (NOT!) we were up again at 4.30 to have breakfast (at the other hotel!) before getting a bus up to Machu Picchu...... at long last, we were definitely going to get there, as it really was in doubt the previous day, because the only way to reach Agua Calientes is by train!
What can we say? It was truly amazing. Even the journey up was stunning, as the darkness started to lift and we could see the imposing Andean mountains all around us - Wow! As we arrived at MP not many people were ahead of us, so we were soon into the site and able to see the amazing views for ourselves at long last, a new wonder of the world!
Our guide, Dicber, took us on guided tour around the whole site, and then we had some free time to wander around, sit, soak up the atmosphere, and for a few mad people the opportunity to climb up Wanapicchi, a very steep prearious and slippery mountain that gives an amazing view. We decided against it in favour of actually seeing the place up close and personal rather than spending an hour watching the feet of the person in front of you!
By the end of our time there we really felt like we´d explored it well, and were so glad for our early start. By the time we were ready to leave the place was heaving with tourists and there were no peaceful spots anymore. The afternoon consisted of a little bit of shopping at the market and then a treat..... we went to the hot springs and soothed away some of the aches and pains from our trek......luvverly.
Our train journey back to Ollantaytambo was very uneventful (thankfully) with incredible scenery and comfy seats! A transfer onto a coach then had us back at Cusco last night by 8.30pm, for which we are incredibly thankful. It was straight back to our hostal and straight to bed....... and boy did we sleep!
Today we´re taking it easy, funnily enough, and might even treat ourselves to a massage later before meeting our friends Becky & Gregor for dinner. Tomorrow we´re off on a day tour of the Sacred Valley (we´ve seen a bit on our tour, but there´s lots more to see) and then off to Arequipa on Monday. There we hope to visit Colca Canyon and see the mighty condors - we´ll hear all about it tonight from Becky & Gregor who´ve been on a 3 day trek there.
Well, another long entry, hope you´re eyes haven´t crossed from yet another long entry, but we thought you´d want to hear about yet another amazing trip that we´ve experienced here. Only a week left now and then no more entries....... it all seems very sad.
Watch out for some more photos on Flickr, we´ll get some uploaded as soon as we can.
Bye for now,
Penny & Linda xx
Saturday, July 07, 2007
Hi all,
here we are in Cusco, but what have we been up to in the meantime?
Our last entries were from Copacabana, a lovely sleepy town on the border between Bolivia and Peru. We stayed in a really lovely hotel, with Moor-ish architecture, a gorgeous restaurant and fantastic views (including hammocks overlooking the port/beach onto Lake Titicaca. Our friends Becky & Gregor were also there who we´d met in Australia and then travelled with on the Kumuka leg of our tour from Santiago to La Paz. After our exhilarating downhill bike ride we upped the anti to a whole new level....... wait for it......... can you contain your excitement?........ the four of us went out on the Lake in 2 SWAN PEDALOES!!!!! To say it was thrilling doesn´t do it justice..... the adrenaline rush, the thrills, the excitement...... are you picking up on the sarcasm at all? It was fun in its own bizarre way - especially seeing Gregor reduced to pedalling a swan rather than a mountain bike.....oh, how manly he looked! However, it was an authentic Bolivian experience, as we were the only "Gringos" on the Lake - everyone else was S. American!
Later on we did get a bit of exercise though, as we all traipsed up a pilgramage hill that took us past the 14 stations of the cross up a very steep, winding, cobbled path which was nearly 1000 feet. The views were amazing and the sunset stunning. Coming back down in semi darkness was interesting - that was our adrenaline rush for the day!
The next day we headed off for Puno, a "stopping off" place for people between other destinations, crossing the border from Bolivia to Peru! Although there´s not much going for the place, we found an amazing cake shop that also served fantastic "chocolate caliente" - hot chocolate to you and me. We were still stalking Becky & Gregor, and spent most of our time with them there too. They assured us that they were quite happy to have the company, and we really enjoyed spending time with them too on our own mini Kumuka tour!
From Puno we went on an overnight homestay trip to the islands in Lake Titicaca. First stop was the floating islands of Uros, where we were treated to a detailed explanation of how the islands are created and how the people live and work there. Our guide was really informative and it was incredible to think that we were sitting on what was essentially a load of reeds. People have lived on these islands since Inca times.
We then travelled on to our destination for the night, although at one point we thought we´d end up on the lake instead, as we ran out of fuel en route. Somehow they managed to find some more on board (maybe they all emptied their lighters to get us going again!!??). As we arrived on Amanati we were greeted by our hosts for the night. Our hosts were Paulino and Julia, who really looked after us and made us feel very welcome.
Lunch was a local veggie soup and then fried cheese (very like halloumi - lovely) with different potatoes and a local tea called "Muna" tea, a bit like peppermint but much nicer in Linda´s opinion! We then watched the locals play football whilst trying to converse with Paulino in very bad Spanish (thanks to our phrasebook). Penny wanted to take Paulino home ( to add to her "lovely old man" collection, but Linda wouldn´t let her!!).
After dinner in their rustic basic kitchen, our hosts dressed us up in local costume, and yes, we do have embarassing photos to prove it. We then walked up in the dark with just one flashlight between the three of us on a very thin rocky, dusty path up and down and over a stream etc etc wearing our garb, but thankfully Paulino knows the way like the back of his hand. At the village hall we had a "fiesta" where local boys played panpipes, guitars etc and the locals danced with us. It felt very Gringo and touristy, but then we are tourists, so there´s no getting away from it.
Back to our little room and the night candle, no electricity here! After a good night´s sleep we said goodbye to our hosts but then ended up stranded for an hour and a half at the jetty. Amantani is an incredibly peaceful place in the middle of nowhere, but somehow overnight our boat and another tour boat had been broken into, fuel and CDs stolen etc etc. It was unheard of, and the locals were clearly upset that this had happened...... even in the middle of nowhere crime happens, it seems.
Anyway, we eventually got going, and were then taken to another island were legend has it that the men go cross-eyed from knitting woolly hats to woo the women. Although we did see quite a few men knitting, we didn´t spot any who were cross-eyed.... maybe romance is dead?? "Tanquil" was a pretty island and we managed quite a big up hill walk (training for Machu Picchu!) before lunch, and then a descent of 540 steps down to our boat. Our 3 hour journey back to Puno went very quickly, thanks to playing charades with Gregor & Becky.... whilst lots of other people were trying to siesta we were having a laugh instead!
Getting back to our hotel, we discovered that a local strike on the main road from Puno to Cusco meant that the buses weren´t running. We had to put our lovely hot showers on hold and hot foot it down to the bus station to sort things out (in our best pidgeon Spanish!). To cut a long story short we managed to organise a bus that was going via a back route (but Peruvian back routes are a bit different to England).
So, yesterday we endured a hot and bumpy 10 hour local bus journey but at least we managed to get to Cusco (as our trek to Machu Picchu starts soon). Becky & Gregor have headed off to Arequipa, but hopefully we´ll all meet up again here in Cusco next week. Now that we´ve paid in full there´s no turning back (Penny!!) - we´re committed to our 4 day trek to MP - hurrah!
So, next time you hear from us we´ll have returned from our trek, hopefully with lots to tell and some incredible photos..... watch this space. We get back late on the 13th, so don´t worry if you don´t hear from us for a while.
It´s hard to believe that we get home on 23rd July, in just over two weeks. We can´t believe where the time´s gone, and it´s with mixed feelings that we now begin to contemplate our return to blighty!
Til next time, dear bloggettes,
love from Penny & Linda xx
here we are in Cusco, but what have we been up to in the meantime?
Our last entries were from Copacabana, a lovely sleepy town on the border between Bolivia and Peru. We stayed in a really lovely hotel, with Moor-ish architecture, a gorgeous restaurant and fantastic views (including hammocks overlooking the port/beach onto Lake Titicaca. Our friends Becky & Gregor were also there who we´d met in Australia and then travelled with on the Kumuka leg of our tour from Santiago to La Paz. After our exhilarating downhill bike ride we upped the anti to a whole new level....... wait for it......... can you contain your excitement?........ the four of us went out on the Lake in 2 SWAN PEDALOES!!!!! To say it was thrilling doesn´t do it justice..... the adrenaline rush, the thrills, the excitement...... are you picking up on the sarcasm at all? It was fun in its own bizarre way - especially seeing Gregor reduced to pedalling a swan rather than a mountain bike.....oh, how manly he looked! However, it was an authentic Bolivian experience, as we were the only "Gringos" on the Lake - everyone else was S. American!
Later on we did get a bit of exercise though, as we all traipsed up a pilgramage hill that took us past the 14 stations of the cross up a very steep, winding, cobbled path which was nearly 1000 feet. The views were amazing and the sunset stunning. Coming back down in semi darkness was interesting - that was our adrenaline rush for the day!
The next day we headed off for Puno, a "stopping off" place for people between other destinations, crossing the border from Bolivia to Peru! Although there´s not much going for the place, we found an amazing cake shop that also served fantastic "chocolate caliente" - hot chocolate to you and me. We were still stalking Becky & Gregor, and spent most of our time with them there too. They assured us that they were quite happy to have the company, and we really enjoyed spending time with them too on our own mini Kumuka tour!
From Puno we went on an overnight homestay trip to the islands in Lake Titicaca. First stop was the floating islands of Uros, where we were treated to a detailed explanation of how the islands are created and how the people live and work there. Our guide was really informative and it was incredible to think that we were sitting on what was essentially a load of reeds. People have lived on these islands since Inca times.
We then travelled on to our destination for the night, although at one point we thought we´d end up on the lake instead, as we ran out of fuel en route. Somehow they managed to find some more on board (maybe they all emptied their lighters to get us going again!!??). As we arrived on Amanati we were greeted by our hosts for the night. Our hosts were Paulino and Julia, who really looked after us and made us feel very welcome.
Lunch was a local veggie soup and then fried cheese (very like halloumi - lovely) with different potatoes and a local tea called "Muna" tea, a bit like peppermint but much nicer in Linda´s opinion! We then watched the locals play football whilst trying to converse with Paulino in very bad Spanish (thanks to our phrasebook). Penny wanted to take Paulino home ( to add to her "lovely old man" collection, but Linda wouldn´t let her!!).
After dinner in their rustic basic kitchen, our hosts dressed us up in local costume, and yes, we do have embarassing photos to prove it. We then walked up in the dark with just one flashlight between the three of us on a very thin rocky, dusty path up and down and over a stream etc etc wearing our garb, but thankfully Paulino knows the way like the back of his hand. At the village hall we had a "fiesta" where local boys played panpipes, guitars etc and the locals danced with us. It felt very Gringo and touristy, but then we are tourists, so there´s no getting away from it.
Back to our little room and the night candle, no electricity here! After a good night´s sleep we said goodbye to our hosts but then ended up stranded for an hour and a half at the jetty. Amantani is an incredibly peaceful place in the middle of nowhere, but somehow overnight our boat and another tour boat had been broken into, fuel and CDs stolen etc etc. It was unheard of, and the locals were clearly upset that this had happened...... even in the middle of nowhere crime happens, it seems.
Anyway, we eventually got going, and were then taken to another island were legend has it that the men go cross-eyed from knitting woolly hats to woo the women. Although we did see quite a few men knitting, we didn´t spot any who were cross-eyed.... maybe romance is dead?? "Tanquil" was a pretty island and we managed quite a big up hill walk (training for Machu Picchu!) before lunch, and then a descent of 540 steps down to our boat. Our 3 hour journey back to Puno went very quickly, thanks to playing charades with Gregor & Becky.... whilst lots of other people were trying to siesta we were having a laugh instead!
Getting back to our hotel, we discovered that a local strike on the main road from Puno to Cusco meant that the buses weren´t running. We had to put our lovely hot showers on hold and hot foot it down to the bus station to sort things out (in our best pidgeon Spanish!). To cut a long story short we managed to organise a bus that was going via a back route (but Peruvian back routes are a bit different to England).
So, yesterday we endured a hot and bumpy 10 hour local bus journey but at least we managed to get to Cusco (as our trek to Machu Picchu starts soon). Becky & Gregor have headed off to Arequipa, but hopefully we´ll all meet up again here in Cusco next week. Now that we´ve paid in full there´s no turning back (Penny!!) - we´re committed to our 4 day trek to MP - hurrah!
So, next time you hear from us we´ll have returned from our trek, hopefully with lots to tell and some incredible photos..... watch this space. We get back late on the 13th, so don´t worry if you don´t hear from us for a while.
It´s hard to believe that we get home on 23rd July, in just over two weeks. We can´t believe where the time´s gone, and it´s with mixed feelings that we now begin to contemplate our return to blighty!
Til next time, dear bloggettes,
love from Penny & Linda xx
Sunday, July 01, 2007
Dear All
Bolivia is the land of 'the highest....in the world'. We are now in Copacabana which is on the shores of the Bolivian side of Lake Titicacaca (the highest lake in the world). Copacabana seems like a sleepy town and we are staying a great little hostel which overlooks the shores of the lake, very pretty.
We have just come from La Paz (the highest Capital city in the world). La Paz was a great city. we weren't really looking forward to La Paz but it was a busy, colourful place that seemed to have lots of culture and was lots of fun. The best thing was going down 'the worlds most dangerous road' on a mountain bike with a group of people from our Kamuka tour.
This is a 64km (40-mile) descent from La Paz to Coroico. We set off early in the morning and had about a 2 hour drive to the top of the road (which was about 4000m, I think!). We were then given a safety chat by the "Mountain Madness" crew and kitted out in gloves, jacket, helmet and of course a bike!
The 1st part was on a tarmac road, so we all whizzed down that with ease!! There was then an uphill bit for about 4 Km (some of us hopped in the van for that bit-I didn't sign up for an uphill bike ride at altitude!!). Once that difficult bit was over the fun really began. The road is narrow, unpaved and carved out of a cliff (what more would you expect from the worlds most dangerous road!!). This road used to have traffic on it until a year ago when a new, safe (!) road was built. It used to claim a few casualties both in motorists and mad cyclists. But now it is mostly traffic free it is much safer!!!
It was great fun going down this bit of the road. Sadly it was very misty and so the views were not that great at the beginning, but at least we couldn't see the shear drops and the debris from accidents!! But the weather did improve and the end of the ride was really clear and quite warm. We got ride under waterfalls, through streams and in lush grean vegitation. We all got down mostly in one piece and had descended about 2000m from start to finish. Getting to the end was also great because it was at about 1200m and so there were no effects from the altitude, wonderful!!! A great day was had by all. The most dangerous part of the day was the drive back to La Paz. There were a few near misses but we survived!!
In La Paz we also went to the worlds highest "Oxygen Bar" and I had a go. It is a bit like a hospital outpatients where you can pay to have 10 minutes of O2. Mine was flavoured with lime. It is meant to help with the altitude and although I didn't notice a great difference it was fun to do and it was good to feel some relief from the altitude!!
Well thats all for now, after Copacabana we head to Peru and hope the do a home stay on Lake Titicacaca. So till next time.....
Love Penny xxxxxx
Bolivia is the land of 'the highest....in the world'. We are now in Copacabana which is on the shores of the Bolivian side of Lake Titicacaca (the highest lake in the world). Copacabana seems like a sleepy town and we are staying a great little hostel which overlooks the shores of the lake, very pretty.
We have just come from La Paz (the highest Capital city in the world). La Paz was a great city. we weren't really looking forward to La Paz but it was a busy, colourful place that seemed to have lots of culture and was lots of fun. The best thing was going down 'the worlds most dangerous road' on a mountain bike with a group of people from our Kamuka tour.
This is a 64km (40-mile) descent from La Paz to Coroico. We set off early in the morning and had about a 2 hour drive to the top of the road (which was about 4000m, I think!). We were then given a safety chat by the "Mountain Madness" crew and kitted out in gloves, jacket, helmet and of course a bike!
The 1st part was on a tarmac road, so we all whizzed down that with ease!! There was then an uphill bit for about 4 Km (some of us hopped in the van for that bit-I didn't sign up for an uphill bike ride at altitude!!). Once that difficult bit was over the fun really began. The road is narrow, unpaved and carved out of a cliff (what more would you expect from the worlds most dangerous road!!). This road used to have traffic on it until a year ago when a new, safe (!) road was built. It used to claim a few casualties both in motorists and mad cyclists. But now it is mostly traffic free it is much safer!!!
It was great fun going down this bit of the road. Sadly it was very misty and so the views were not that great at the beginning, but at least we couldn't see the shear drops and the debris from accidents!! But the weather did improve and the end of the ride was really clear and quite warm. We got ride under waterfalls, through streams and in lush grean vegitation. We all got down mostly in one piece and had descended about 2000m from start to finish. Getting to the end was also great because it was at about 1200m and so there were no effects from the altitude, wonderful!!! A great day was had by all. The most dangerous part of the day was the drive back to La Paz. There were a few near misses but we survived!!
In La Paz we also went to the worlds highest "Oxygen Bar" and I had a go. It is a bit like a hospital outpatients where you can pay to have 10 minutes of O2. Mine was flavoured with lime. It is meant to help with the altitude and although I didn't notice a great difference it was fun to do and it was good to feel some relief from the altitude!!
Well thats all for now, after Copacabana we head to Peru and hope the do a home stay on Lake Titicacaca. So till next time.....
Love Penny xxxxxx
Hi Folks,
Linda here. Just wanted to update you on what´s been happening, and give you my own account of the last few days.
We arrived in La Paz after a very long (12 hour) overnight bus journey on the coldest bus in the world. It was soooo cold that nobody could feel their feet, hands, legs etc even after we arrived at our hotel (at 5am!) and had all gone to bed for a few hours. Nobody really thawed out til after hot showers later in the day...brrrr. We though we had it bad, but there were even people lying down in the aisle that didn´t even have the luxury of a seat. Don´t ever want to experience that again, might as well have slept in a fridge for 12 hours. Yuk!
Anyway, various people had told us that La Paz is awful, and that we should aim to leave quickly. However, even tho I´m not really a city person, LP was a great place - full of colour, sights, sounds, smells etc and is pretty safe too, as long as you´re not being driven somewhere - then you really do take your life in your hands. LP was where our time with our Kumuka group ended, after a really diverse and incredible 2 weeks that are a major highlight of our travels.
However, our last trip together has to be one of the all time top highlights. How do you fancy riding on a mountain bike from La Cumbre (4640m) to Coroico, a 3345m vertical decent down The Death Road (mostly a dirt road, but with some fast 60kph tarmac at the top). More than 64km of pure Downhill Madness on a super fast mountain bike. From altiplano to the jungle on a glorious day, with amazing scenery and landscape changes. Yipppeeeeeee. And no, I didn´t tell my Mum I was planning to do it...best to keep it quiet til after the event (a bit like the first time I went parachuting al those years ago!!)
Anyway, back to the biking..... We were given excellent bikes with suspension/shock absorbers and really great guides. How can I describe whizzing downhill at the edge of the Andes mountain range, with 100m to 500m drops right by the side of us? What can I say about overtaking lorries, cars and trucks en masse as we hurtled down the road, with hairpin bends, potholes, lots of others cyclists etc etc. One section was uphill for 4km, and it would of course be at the point where we hit cloud cover, thus meaning that we had almost zero visibility and very wet muddy conditions. All this was happening at about 3000 feet above sea level at that point, so the uphill part was definitely great fitness training. I was a bit miffed though that I couldn´t get my gears to work for the first couple of minutes, and so lost a lot of ground and momentum uphill..... oh well, just had to work even harder to get up there!
Once we got to the top of the uphill stretches, we were rewarded to the final 30km on dirt track (after very welcome snacks), even more on the edge of the precipice than we´d be on the "new" stretch of road. I was in one of the fastest groups and have to admit that it was scary at times to find myself looking towards the edge at the view, only to realise that my bike was following suit!! Quick correction required and a firm grip on the brakes! We stopped at various points where crosses marked the "departure" of various cyclists, buses, cars etc, as the guides explained what had happene dto them. It was only up until last year that heavy traffic used the road, which was the cause of many casulaties/fatalities......however, they still happen, but thankfully not to the same level as previously.
Onece we descended down through the cloud cover my fingers and toes started to thaw out a bit, I started to dry out a bit and feeling began to return to my legs. It was then that we were treated with the most stuning views of waterfalls, lush green forested Andean peaks, tiny settlements, awesome drop-off views etc as we hurtled down and round over incredibly bumpy and gritty roads. There were punctures, problems with gears, and sadly one of our fellow Kumuka group fell off his bike near the end of the route. Thankfully he wasn´t seriously hurt, and fell onto the track rather than over the edge - guaranteed to really shake you up!
Even before Mike fell off, it was weird to be reminded regularly that not a lot separated any of us from death, because it would be very easy to lose control/concentration/ get a puncture/ collide with another rider or a lorry etc etc and disappear over the edge of the narrow and precarious track. It´s no wonder that we had to sign such a big waiver/disclaimer before we started! It was one of the most incredible things I´ve ever done, and was fantastic to be out there all day, having fun and getting the adrenaline pumping. At the end, there was a very welcome bottle of beer and a lot of celebrating as a group. We were then taken to a hotel for showers, swim and buffet dinner before heading back to LP, and boy did we enjoy it.
Having survived the bike ride, it´s fair to say that the madness continued on the mini bus journey back. Our driver thought nothing of overtaking vehicles up hill on blind bends, and traffic coming the other way happily did the same. Bearing in mind that we returned largely by the same route we took, with sheer drops and narrow twisty roads - and this time in the dark - it was a very scary experience and almost more adrenaline loaded than the bike ride itself!
Thankfully, we all got back in one piece, and it was a really fantastic day out, although my trainers were sooooo wet and muddy by the end I had to come back with bare feet, because they were too disguiting to put back on....and there was plenty of laundry to put in too. We were given a DVD and T shirt as part of the day, so hopefully we´ll get some photos on flickr soon, as evidence. Fantastic. Awesome, right up there and totally recommended to anyone. WOW!
The next morning (yesterday) we had a much more sedate trip - a city tour. We go to see lots of different aspects and locations of LP, some great views and we even bumped into a friend from our stay in Santiago who was sitting on the Cathedral steps. Our guide was very knowledgeable and helpful, so a great morning was had there too. A bit of shopping, eating and socializing brough us to the end of our last day in LP, leaving at 8am this mornig for our 4 hour bus journey.
Here we are now soaking up the relaxed atmosphere in Copacabana, a very small and laid back little toown on the edge of Lake Titicaca. It´s very weird to see a beach and pedaloes for hire in Bolivia, a land-locked country, but this is thanks to the lake, a vast interior expanse of water (the highest in the world, I believe). Maybe we´ll go to the other extreme of adrenaline rush activities and hire a swan shaped pedalo tomorrow? - a land of contrasts and extremes.
Anyway, look out for some photos soon on Flickr, and thanks for following our travels around the world. No bones broken, all intact and happy, and about to go off for dinner at the lovely hotel where we´re staying with 2 of our Kumuka friends who are also here at the same time......it´s a hard life.
Hope you´re all well and enjoying life. Do leave your comments if you get a chance, it´s great to read them.
Bye for now,
love from Linda xxx ;-)
Linda here. Just wanted to update you on what´s been happening, and give you my own account of the last few days.
We arrived in La Paz after a very long (12 hour) overnight bus journey on the coldest bus in the world. It was soooo cold that nobody could feel their feet, hands, legs etc even after we arrived at our hotel (at 5am!) and had all gone to bed for a few hours. Nobody really thawed out til after hot showers later in the day...brrrr. We though we had it bad, but there were even people lying down in the aisle that didn´t even have the luxury of a seat. Don´t ever want to experience that again, might as well have slept in a fridge for 12 hours. Yuk!
Anyway, various people had told us that La Paz is awful, and that we should aim to leave quickly. However, even tho I´m not really a city person, LP was a great place - full of colour, sights, sounds, smells etc and is pretty safe too, as long as you´re not being driven somewhere - then you really do take your life in your hands. LP was where our time with our Kumuka group ended, after a really diverse and incredible 2 weeks that are a major highlight of our travels.
However, our last trip together has to be one of the all time top highlights. How do you fancy riding on a mountain bike from La Cumbre (4640m) to Coroico, a 3345m vertical decent down The Death Road (mostly a dirt road, but with some fast 60kph tarmac at the top). More than 64km of pure Downhill Madness on a super fast mountain bike. From altiplano to the jungle on a glorious day, with amazing scenery and landscape changes. Yipppeeeeeee. And no, I didn´t tell my Mum I was planning to do it...best to keep it quiet til after the event (a bit like the first time I went parachuting al those years ago!!)
Anyway, back to the biking..... We were given excellent bikes with suspension/shock absorbers and really great guides. How can I describe whizzing downhill at the edge of the Andes mountain range, with 100m to 500m drops right by the side of us? What can I say about overtaking lorries, cars and trucks en masse as we hurtled down the road, with hairpin bends, potholes, lots of others cyclists etc etc. One section was uphill for 4km, and it would of course be at the point where we hit cloud cover, thus meaning that we had almost zero visibility and very wet muddy conditions. All this was happening at about 3000 feet above sea level at that point, so the uphill part was definitely great fitness training. I was a bit miffed though that I couldn´t get my gears to work for the first couple of minutes, and so lost a lot of ground and momentum uphill..... oh well, just had to work even harder to get up there!
Once we got to the top of the uphill stretches, we were rewarded to the final 30km on dirt track (after very welcome snacks), even more on the edge of the precipice than we´d be on the "new" stretch of road. I was in one of the fastest groups and have to admit that it was scary at times to find myself looking towards the edge at the view, only to realise that my bike was following suit!! Quick correction required and a firm grip on the brakes! We stopped at various points where crosses marked the "departure" of various cyclists, buses, cars etc, as the guides explained what had happene dto them. It was only up until last year that heavy traffic used the road, which was the cause of many casulaties/fatalities......however, they still happen, but thankfully not to the same level as previously.
Onece we descended down through the cloud cover my fingers and toes started to thaw out a bit, I started to dry out a bit and feeling began to return to my legs. It was then that we were treated with the most stuning views of waterfalls, lush green forested Andean peaks, tiny settlements, awesome drop-off views etc as we hurtled down and round over incredibly bumpy and gritty roads. There were punctures, problems with gears, and sadly one of our fellow Kumuka group fell off his bike near the end of the route. Thankfully he wasn´t seriously hurt, and fell onto the track rather than over the edge - guaranteed to really shake you up!
Even before Mike fell off, it was weird to be reminded regularly that not a lot separated any of us from death, because it would be very easy to lose control/concentration/ get a puncture/ collide with another rider or a lorry etc etc and disappear over the edge of the narrow and precarious track. It´s no wonder that we had to sign such a big waiver/disclaimer before we started! It was one of the most incredible things I´ve ever done, and was fantastic to be out there all day, having fun and getting the adrenaline pumping. At the end, there was a very welcome bottle of beer and a lot of celebrating as a group. We were then taken to a hotel for showers, swim and buffet dinner before heading back to LP, and boy did we enjoy it.
Having survived the bike ride, it´s fair to say that the madness continued on the mini bus journey back. Our driver thought nothing of overtaking vehicles up hill on blind bends, and traffic coming the other way happily did the same. Bearing in mind that we returned largely by the same route we took, with sheer drops and narrow twisty roads - and this time in the dark - it was a very scary experience and almost more adrenaline loaded than the bike ride itself!
Thankfully, we all got back in one piece, and it was a really fantastic day out, although my trainers were sooooo wet and muddy by the end I had to come back with bare feet, because they were too disguiting to put back on....and there was plenty of laundry to put in too. We were given a DVD and T shirt as part of the day, so hopefully we´ll get some photos on flickr soon, as evidence. Fantastic. Awesome, right up there and totally recommended to anyone. WOW!
The next morning (yesterday) we had a much more sedate trip - a city tour. We go to see lots of different aspects and locations of LP, some great views and we even bumped into a friend from our stay in Santiago who was sitting on the Cathedral steps. Our guide was very knowledgeable and helpful, so a great morning was had there too. A bit of shopping, eating and socializing brough us to the end of our last day in LP, leaving at 8am this mornig for our 4 hour bus journey.
Here we are now soaking up the relaxed atmosphere in Copacabana, a very small and laid back little toown on the edge of Lake Titicaca. It´s very weird to see a beach and pedaloes for hire in Bolivia, a land-locked country, but this is thanks to the lake, a vast interior expanse of water (the highest in the world, I believe). Maybe we´ll go to the other extreme of adrenaline rush activities and hire a swan shaped pedalo tomorrow? - a land of contrasts and extremes.
Anyway, look out for some photos soon on Flickr, and thanks for following our travels around the world. No bones broken, all intact and happy, and about to go off for dinner at the lovely hotel where we´re staying with 2 of our Kumuka friends who are also here at the same time......it´s a hard life.
Hope you´re all well and enjoying life. Do leave your comments if you get a chance, it´s great to read them.
Bye for now,
love from Linda xxx ;-)
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