Peru - Inca Trail

Hi Guys

Hope you are all well. We are now in Peru!! Another great country although very disorganised and nothing seems to go according to plan here. We have just come back from the "Inca Trail". We arrived in Cusco (which is a fantastic place) and had a meeting with our tour company that were taking us on the Inca Trail. After that we all went out to supper and had a few drinks at the Irish Pub - very popular. The next day Baz and I spent most the day getting quotes for jungle excursions for after we leave the truck. We only have 5 days left on our tour and then we are on our own for a week. We managed to get flights and a 5 day/4 night excursion at a jungle lodge in Peurto Maldanado (Peru). They really messed us around tho, changing the price about 3 times and flight availability so we had to change our excursion date. Anyway, we got there in the end and got a good deal. After supper that night we got back to the hotel and Rach and Brendon (our tour guide and driver) wanted to see us. Apparently the Inca Trail agency had contacted them to say we had no tickets for the Inca trail - this was the day before we leave and we had already had our briefing. Rach threw a fit and they gave us US$100 back per person and booked us on another trail which did not walk thru all the ruins but was more expensive, more scenic, a harder trek and a day longer. 3 people from our group opted not to do it but the rest of us decided to give it a go - we are here only once after all. We set off at 6:30am the next day. We had 17 porters, 2 cooks, 3 guides and 2 horse boys (because it was a harder trek Rach booked us some horses incase some people didnt manage). All sorts of things went wrong, the guides got us lost twice, one girl sprained her ancle and alot of us battled with our knees but it was a brilliant hike. We hiked to 3600m the first day, 4200m the next day, then down again the following days until we got to Machupicchu the last day. Hiking in altitude is difficult because you are short of breath and dizzy. 5 people got help from the horses on the 2nd day when we hiked to 4200m. The views were incredible and very rewarding. The 3rd day we hiked down a valley and the vegetation was more like a jungle. Baz had been shooting off ahead most days but he hiked with me that day which was nice because we could discuss plants etc. We seemed to be the most interested in flora and fauna. There were 100´s of orchids and bergonias and alot of other plants flowering - nice time of year. My knees gave up on me that day and I had to strap them because of all the down hill. We camped in a village near a football pitch that night and our boys took on the proters. We won 10-3 (we have not lost a match yet). Baz scored 6 of the goals. Our 4th day was optional hike and I very nearly didn´t go because of my knees. Half the group caught local transport (a lorry) to the train station where we had lunch and then caught the train to the town closest to Machupicchu (cant spell the name). The rest of us hiked straight up a hill, over and saw our first sighting of Machupicchu, then straight down again. The veiws were so amazing and we got to see the west side of the ruins and the hydroelectric power station. I had strapped my knees and had pain killers and sticks but still struggled to go down. Never mind, we all made it eventually. We stayed in a hotel that night and went to the hot springs which were magical considering we had not bathed for 4 days and smelled the worst we have ever smelled in our life!!! We could only take 6kg on the hike (and that included our sleeping bag and roll mat) so we did not have a lot of clothes. The next morning Baz and 2 others (Lisa and Mark) hiked up to the ruins while the rest of us caught the 1st bus at 5:30am to see the sun rise. Baz had to be up at 4am!!! We got to see the sun come over the mountain and hit the ruins. It was all very worthwhile to see and a great end to the hike. We actually could not have hiked the whole way because a section of the trail colapsed very recently near the sun gate just before Machupicchu. We had a 2hr tour then were free to explore where we liked. Baz and most the others went up the surrounding hills and got gorgeous veiws looking down on the ruins. I stayed put and sat on a rock admiring the ruins, my knees were really wrecked. We spent the whole day there then went back to Cusco in the evening. The next day we headed off for Colca Canyon which is the 3rd deepest canyon in the world. It was amazing to see how the Incas had built so many terraces for agriculture. There is a total of 5000ha of agric land (average of 1.5acres per person). We got to see magnificent sightings of condors, really close and hopefully got a good photo or 2. We also stayed in a really posh hotel but poor Baz got terribly sick that night and had a raging temp and vomiting. There were 3 people from our group that got it. The next day we travelled to Arequipa, where we are now. Baz has spent the whole day in bed but seems a bit better and 1 of the other sickies is up and about so hopefully it is only a 48hr bug. We are off to more ruins tomorrow and camping on the beach where we shall have a beach party because its one of the girls (Sian) birthday. It is so nice to be at sea level again. After that we have the Nazca flights and sand bording, duning etc to look forward to, before ending in Lima. We have 2 days in Lima then head off on our jungle excursion on the 29th -2nd June. We fly back to UK on the 3rd and will be staying at Baz´s for 4 days before heading to Africa.

Well, I had best go and organise some supper for my poor sick boyf. Take care and send us your news sometime.

Lots of love
Jen and Baz
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Bolivia

Hi everyone

We are in Bolivia now, and it is possibly our best country so far. It is really different and crazy. Crossing the road is worse than trying to cross the road in cows guts, Harare!!! The cars are so old, 4x4´s just like ours (lollipop). The people walk all over the place and lots of them still wear traditional dress. All their fabrics have fantastic colours and I couldn´t help myself buying a few odds and ends. Everything is sooooooo cheap. We can have a good maincourse plus drinks for less than 10pds (for both of us). Our first stop in Bolivia was Uyuni, where the salt flats are. We stay in hotels the whole time as it is so cheap. The rooms are fine but the wiring in the bathrooms is shocking, literally. We´ve been lucky so far, but some of our group have been shocked while showering because the wires for the lights or shower (electric) are inside the shower - madness!! Anyway, its just another interesting thing about Bolivia. The Salt flats were probably one of our highlights so far. It really is incredible to imagine, they are 12 000square meters. All you can see is white, we´ll show you some photos. We ended up fooling around on the salts and taking lots of photos spelling out Oasis etc with our bodies. A wonderful day, I even tried some acrobatics and nearly broke my neck - not as supple as I used to be! From there we moved on to Potosi, where rich mountain (mining silver) is. Potosi used to be the richest city in the world in the 16 centry but now is so poor its sad. The silver is running out and the poor bolivians have been exploited by the Spanish and the gov, although my understanding of politics is always a bit suspect. We got to go into the mine which was an eye-opening experience. The mining families have their tiny houses right outside the entrance to their tunnel. The tunnels are tiny and there are huge wholes everywhere, where the miners have used dynamite. They still mine using a pick, wheel barrow and dynamite in the most horrendous conditions. We were only down there for 45mins and we were all desperate to get out. We did get to let off a bit of dynamite though (11yr olds can buy dynamite from the market and help in the mines). Potosi is situated at 4200m and we had a few people suffering from altitude sickness. Baz and I are more or less ok, suffer from shortness of breath like everyone else but not to bad. A 50m run feels like a 500m run, the inca trail is gonna be challenging.

Next we headed of to La Paz, where we are now. It is a gorgeous but completely crazy city. Baz is riding "death road" today, the most dangerous road to cycle in south america. I gave it a skip and decided to do some souviner shopping instead. We are staying in a nice hotel but baz and I landed with our bums in the butter as we scored the best room in the hotel somehow. It has a huge bed, on suit, a lounge, kitchen etc that we share with another 2 couples. Our room looks more like a honeymoon suit. We also had a dress up party last night which was hilarious. Baz went as Robin hood, men in suspenders, and I went as a chicken. We ran out of drinks and had to go shopping in our outfits. Cause quite a stir amoungst the Bolivians who giggled and wolf whistled at us.

Well, got to get to the post office now so best end off.

Lots of love to everyone
Baz and Jen

About to leave Argentina

Hi everyone, we are about to leave Argie and going into Bolivia tomorrow. After Barilochi we went to Pucon to try hike up the volcano but the weather was so awful (although we did wallow in the gorgeous hot springs for 2 hours) that Baz and I hopped on to an overnight bus to Santiago so we would have an extra day to get my visas. To cut a long story short, we got both my Bolivia and Peru visas with relatively no problems - yippee!!!!!!! Santiago was pretty boring but it was nice to be away from the group for a night so we met some new people in the hostel bar. Santiago was full of smog and not a lot to do so we had a good few relaxing days. We also said goodbye to 4 of our group and got another 6 joining us. We went out to a Vikkings resturant for the farewell meal, where we had to wear vikking hats. Very entertaining.

We then headed off to Mendoza, which is the wine capital of Argentina. Had a few wine tours and liquor tours. Nice street cafes but not alot else to do. Next was the valley of the moons which was spectacular!!!!! Its called the valley of the moons because of the moon-like terraine - quite amazing. Only had one night there then headed off to Cafayate, another wine area. Saw a magnificant canyon there. Salta Rafting was next, where some brave people did the rafting (it was freezing). Baz did a lot of climbing hills and walking, while I went horse riding. I was very fortunate to do the riding at a local farm where they were preparing a huge family meal and welcomed us to join them. Felt very privalledged!!!! The next day we all went canopying (aerial runways/ zip wires) across the canyons which gave us quite a thrill. We loved it. There were 9 cables in all and at the end the guys that opted out of it threw eggs at us as we were coming in on the last cable. Baz got sorted out good and proper but they missed me, thankgoodness. Was a real laugh. We are in Salta now and are all going out for our last good Agrie steak and wine supplies before we head into Bolivia tomorrow.

Everything is gonna be a bit more backward now I think but Baz and I are really looking forward to it. Well, gotta visit the supermarket to restock the wine supplies.
Look after yourselves and keep in touch.

Lots of love
Jen and Baz
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