Wanders of the World

Gallery: Back in Thailand yet again

bkhk4fun — Tue, 3 Jun 2008 23:21:00 GMT

Soaking up the sun

bkhk4fun — Sun, 1 Jun 2008 23:40:00 GMT

Patti: Currently we are at a lovely beach resort on the island of Phuket in Thailand. We have a great view of the Adaman Sea (we just have to cross the street to get to the beach) and the weather had been very nice. It’s the last few days before our world travels end and we thought it would be a good idea to just stay in one, relaxing place for a few days to wind things down. We rented a motorbike yesterday and toured around the island visiting a bunch of sights and beaches. Tomorrow we have a snorkelling tour to a place called Coral Island and are really looking forward to that. During our driving tour yesterday, we came across a fish market and we were very impressed by the variety and colors of the fish…now we hope to see them in a more natural environment rather than a steel table or a dinner plate.

Prior to getting here, we spent a few more days in Laos before flying to Bangkok to catch a connecting flight here. Our time in Vang Vieng was too short. It had an amazing terrain of limestone rock towers, rolling hills and running rivers. The town itself was little to speak of (as expected) but we spent a day on a tour exploring a couple of caves and kayaking some fast running water. One of the caves we accessed was done by sitting in inner tubes and pulling ourselves along a rope fixed to the cave walls. Our headlamps lit up some very cool rock formations and holes which the water ran through. The kayaking had a few decent rapids which were fun to paddle through. Along the way, the shores were scattered with bars so tourists could stop, have a few drinks, do some Tarzan swings to drop into the water, have a few more drinks, and then resume floating down the river. Many people chose to do the entire river run by simply floating in an inner tube but we preferred the actually need for some physical exertion with the paddling. Amy did one Tarzan swing into the river and said it was lots of fun (I chickened out). It was very impressive to be on the river looking up at all the rock towers. They would have been fun to explore by land, but we had no time. We spent about a day and a half in Vientiane, the capital of Laos, just walking around and exploring. As cities are not really my thing, it seemed like enough time there. I did discover the fruit, Rumbutan, there so that is a take away from there.

So we will be home in about three days. There is so much that we have done and seen in the last nine months that it is difficult to comprehend, especially as we have slowed things down these past few days and have time to actually think. I think I will try not make too much sense of it all right now and wait until I settle back into my real life. Amy and I each have plans to write some sort of summarizing entry on this journal so you have not heard the last from us just yet!

Luang Prabang

bkhk4fun — Tue, 27 May 2008 22:49:00 GMT

Amy:

I will try to find the words to describe how beautiful Laos is but I doubt that I will be able to do it justice. Our first impression came when we flew into Luang Prabang on Tuesday. We could see the lush, rolling, tree covered hills with rivers winding their way through the valleys. It was a beautiful 1 hour flight. The population of Luang Prabang is approximately 30,000 and we were staying in an area of town that is sandwiched between the Mekong and Nam Khan rivers. The streets were quiet and the scenery included beautiful Wats, giant trees, that provide much needed shade, and slow long boats headed up and down the river. The city is a Unesco Heritage site and therefore has many regulations in place to help it retain its character. We went to the night market and enjoyed how relaxed the atmosphere was compared to the night market in Chiang Mai.

We spent Wednesday touring around the city visiting the Royal Museum, several of the Wats and just enjoying the atmosphere and scenic location of the city. It was very hot and sunny so we were very glad that our room had air-conditioning. We climbed up to a 100m high temple to take in a beautiful sunset and booked a two day mountain biking/ kayaking tour. We finished off the day with 1 hour massages that cost less then 5.00.

Our tour started Thursday morning at 8:30, it was just the 2 of us and a guide. We were transported to the edge of the city where our tour company stored all its equipment. I was a little concerned when we had to push our support vehicle out of the drive way so it could start rolling downhill but it was fine for the rest of our tour. We choose bikes and started off right from town. It was another hot and sunny day so we were glad that we had several stops along the way. We stopped at a village that sells paper made from Mulberry, at our guide’s house (it was on the way) where we had cold water and met his mom and sister, at a fruit stand for a fresh snack, at a shelter on the side of the road for lunch, at the whiskey village where we had a few samples and finally at about 4pm we arrived at the village we were spending the night at. We were the only tourists in this village so we were the tourist attraction. It was quite strange to see people come out of their houses and just stare at us. There was some confusion as to where we would spend the night but once it was sorted out we changed and went down to the river for a swim. We hadn’t been in the water for very long when a group of local youngsters came over. They were a little bit shy around us at first but they became comfortable in no time. They took turns having us flip them in the water and taught us how to count to 3 in Laos. They also showed us where the proper swimming area was. The area we had been swimming in was quite muddy but they showed us where the nice sandy area was. We probably played with them for over an hour before heading back the house we were staying at. This play time was a definite highlight. It was amazing to hear them shriek when Patti chased them and hear them laugh when they got away. The scenery was amazing and it felt great to cool off after a long day on the bike. We had a great supper that was accompanied by some very tasty Beer Lao. The owner of the house had come home and he was quite entertained by us. I think he was trying to get me drunk as he taught me how to say “cheers” in Laos and then proceeded to cheers me all night. It was a fun evening and a truly genuine local experience.

Our sleeping accommodations were little more then a mat on the floor and some mosquito netting so we didn’t get much sleep and we were up early. We went for a walk around the village before having a great breakfast. Our truck arrived at about 9:30am to deliver our kayaks and we started our paddle right from the village. The scenery was breath taking as we paddled down stream. There were huge tree covered, limestone cliffs towering over us and we saw many local villagers busy with their morning chores. Our first stop was at the Pak Ou caves. The caves are at the bottom of a limestone cliff and are filled with Buddha images. We had lunch here before continuing down the river. We paddled until about 3pm with just one other stop at a local village. We got off the water just as a storm was blowing in. There were black clouds, thunder and wind but no rain materialized. We were picked up here by the support truck and given a ride back to the city. We were tired but quite happy with how the tour went. The scenery was spectacular, the food was great and the interaction with the local Laos people was fantastic.

Gallery: Laos

bkhk4fun — Fri, 23 May 2008 23:30:00 GMT

Elephant institute

bkhk4fun — Tue, 20 May 2008 14:10:00 GMT

Amy: I don’t know if riding an elephant bare back was on my life list of things to do but it should have been. What an amazing animal and what an amazing experience. It is hard to describe what it feels like to sit on an elephant’s neck and be able to rub its head and ears as you walk through the jungle. The elephants at the National Elephant Institute near Lampang Thailand were gentle giants and we had the pleasure of taking a 1 day Mahout (Elephant trainer) training course there.

We didn’t learn about the opportunity for the one day program until we had arrived at the Institute so we were glad that we had arrived in time to take part. The day started with some basic information regarding how to approach the elephants and what the basic commands were to get it to go where we wanted it to go. Then we were hands on. We practised getting on and off the elephants from the side and front and we walked around a small compound to get used to directing the elephants to go forward, turn and stop. After spending some time in a grass field to allow the elephants to eat we rode our elephants to the Elephant Hospital. The institute has a hospital on the grounds where it cares for elephants with a variety of problems ranging from depression to infections and injuries. We got a tour of the facility and learned about the elephants that were currently receiving care. We also saw a baby elephant and I got to feed it milk from a bottle. It is unbelievable how strong its trunk was. I made this discovery when it grabbed my wrist in an attempt to take the bottle. Patti was playing with it at one point and it took her hand into its mouth. She felt its tongue but thankfully not its teeth.

After the tour of the hospital we had a break for lunch. After lunch we watched some elephants take a bath before they put on a show for all the visitors to the park. We got to feed them bananas after the show. From there we had a tour of the Dung Paper Factory. The park uses the elephant dung to make paper. We saw how it was made and even made a sheet ourselves. They sell the paper to help raise funds to run the institute. After our tour we got to take our elephants for a bath in the river on the way back to the compound. The elephants seemed to love the water and some of us got as wet as they did.

It was quite sad when the day came to an end. We were fortunate that our group was a small one again. There were only four of us and we were all from Canada. It turned out that the other two women were also going to Chiang Mai so at the end of the day the 4 of us stood on the highway and waited for a bus. The first bus didn’t stop but the second one did and we made it to our planned accommodations without any trouble. This day is certainly one that will be on the list of favourite experiences from our travels.

Catching Up

bkhk4fun — Sun, 18 May 2008 14:12:00 GMT

Patti: This is just to catch up on the days we have been missing since Amy's entry. On May 11 in the afternoon we had our half day tour into the jungle which pretty much focussed on bats. We visited a bat cave where about 3000 bats live and we learned about how the bat poop is collected for fertilizer. Apparently it is a million dollar industry for the area. We interacted with a few creepy crawlies that our guide placed on different parts of our body; geckos on the face; millipedes tickling our arms and necks. He seemed to get a kick out of the various reactions from our group. We experienced something pretty unforgetable at dusk. Two million bats emerged from their cave for their night of feeding. At first only a few came out and then it quickly progressed to a ribbon of black in the sky. It lasted for about 45 minutes and we were quite close so could hear the flapping of millions of wings. Very Cool!

The next day was our all day jungle tour in search of creatures. We saw various spiders, a small tree snake (I was hoping for a cobra or python), a bear, two types of deer, a herd of gaur (sort of like a water buffalo and apparently rare to see), a bear sleeping in a very high tree, and a number of great hornbill birds. Our guides seemed as excited to see the animals as us tourists so their enthusiasm was great. We had a long jungle walk but unfortunately it poured rain, making it difficult for the guides to track animals. We did spot a few gibbon monkeys and Amy was lucky enough to get a view of them flying through the trees. Our accomodations near the park weren't great but they provided us with a great tour of the national park.

May 13 was a travel day and although we were warned that estimated travel time are rarely accurate, we were a little shocked that our 4 hour bus ride ended up being 8 hours. We figured we deserved a nice place to stay to choose a $33 a night place which was quite beautiful with a pool and huge buffet breakfast. Our next day was very enjoyable as we spent it on rented bikes touring the Historic Park Of Sukhothai. This was the first Thai empire and was built in the 1200's. We saw lots of Buddahs!!! It wasn't the same as the Angkor Temples but it defenitely had its own style and beauty. It was also a really nice day weather wise. Amy got a much better workout that me as she rode on a flat tire much of the time.

May 15 was another travel day and we actually arrived when expected. This destination of the city of Lampang was only to get us close to the National Elephant Conservation Centre for the following day. Amy will write another entry just for that day as it deserves one all its own.

We arrived in Chaing Mai the evening of May 16 and have been here since. We are staying in another nice place and it'd pretty impressive what $30 will get you compared to other parts of the world that we have been to. The night market is overwhelming and we have been doing our best to negotiate a good price. The baisc rule is to pay 40% less than the first asking price. Yesterday we got propositioned by a tour guide at one of the temples we had walked to to drive us around to some local sights. He tooks us to some great places including an awesome lunch spot and then came the shopping. We went to a silk factory, a jewellery factory, and a carpet factory. After a quick tour of each you are led to their showroom. We almost walked away with $200 silk sheets, a $600 ruby ring, and a $2000 hand knotted silk rug, but resisted them all. We also experienced our first Thai massages. Lots of sore spots found and my body bent in a way I didn't think it could.

We are making our plans for the next 10 days before we head to the beach. The time is going quickly but it feels like our change in travel duration was the right one. I'm already looking forward to camping in Manitoba, getting in my kayak, and finding my puppy.

Gallery: Back in Thailand

bkhk4fun — Fri, 16 May 2008 01:00:00 GMT

Day of travel

bkhk4fun — Thu, 15 May 2008 19:09:00 GMT

Amy: We boarded a bus at 8am to take us from Siem Reap to the Cambodia/Thailand border . We weren’t surprised to find that the bus did not have air conditioning as promised but we were surprised by the way they packed the people and luggage into the bus. Every seat was taken and there was luggage in the aisle that was stacked about shoulder high. On the bright side it provided me with an arm rest and we were quite lucky that it was a cloudy day so we didn’t die from the heat. The bus ride was prolonged by bumpy gravel roads (lots of dust) and 2 pit stops. We finally reached the border at about 1:30pm. There were lots of kids there who were trying to sell things and begging for money. There was one boy about 6 who was carrying around a baby that looked to be about a week old, anything to get the edge I guess. It was really quite depressing and I was quite relieved to get back into Thailand. It is overwhelming and sad to learn about the atrocities that have occurred in Cambodia. It has been quite interesting to learn about apartheid in Africa and the genocide in Cambodia within 6 months of each other.

Once through the Thailand border we took a Tuk Tuk to the bus station and discovered that no-one there spoke English. Despite this small detail Patti managed to get us on a bus heading in the right direction. It was even a nice bus that had air conditioning. Our goal was to reach Pak Chong, a town near the Khao Yai National park. After a 4 hour bus ride we had to change buses but we were able to get on a bus that was leaving right away. It was another 1 and 1/2 hour bus ride from there but we learned that you can’t count on the bus guy to tell you when to get off the bus. Unfortunately when we asked about our stop we had just finished going through Pak Chong so they stopped the bus and left us on the side of the road just outside town. Not great considering it was dark, raining and we really didn’t know where we were going. We managed to negotiate a ride to a hotel from a family that was eating supper at a food cart parked at a gas station near where we were let off. The hotel where they took us looked beautiful from the outside and the lobby was gorgeous. I was surprised at how reasonable the room rate was but we discovered that the room did not live up to the expectations created by the entrance and that the rate was actually high for the quality of the room. Oh well, I guess when you roll into town late without a plan you have to take what you can get. On the bright side breakfast was included and it was a good breakfast.

In the morning, after getting a ride into town to the bus terminal from a nice Thai gentleman, we were able to get a taxi to take us to a guest house near the park. I think we have been spoiled by all the people who speak English around the world and this was one of the few times that we have had difficulty communicating. I am sure we will have to adjust as we head into more remote areas, I may even have to pull out the Thai phrase book. That could be interesting.

Cambodia Highlights

bkhk4fun — Sat, 10 May 2008 00:40:00 GMT

Patti:We are now on day 4 in Cambodia. We arrived in Phnom Penh and our tuk tuk ride to our hotel was chaotic, to say the least. It was a mosh pit of cars, bikes, tuk tuks, scooters, and pedestrians with no apparently rules of the road. Traffic lights were completely ignored and everything was in constant motion. The only rule that seemed to exist was never come to a complete stop. To add to the adventure, it was raining and obviously had been for some time as many of the side streets were flooded and those on scooters were submerges past their feet in the puddles. This is something that truly has to be experienced to understand. We only spent half of the following day in Phnom Penh with time to go to the Genocide Museum and the Killing Fields. It is so hard to comprehend that people could treat each other this way and that this atrocity happened only 40 years ago. As with learning more about apartheid when in South Africa, I have come to realise what types of horrors happen in the world as we live safely and typically naively in Canada. The second half of that day was spent on the bus to Siem Reap and taking in the views of the countryside of Cambodia. Many of the dwellings were grass huts built up on stilts as we travelled though mostly the delta area of the Mekong River. Yesterday and today we spent our time touring the various temples of Angkor. We had a tuk tuk driver for each day and he transported us from place to place. The Bayon at Angkor Thom was amazing with all the sculpted faces and bas relief on the walls and was my highlight. Our two day tour was overwhelming in so many ways; the sights, the stifling humidity and heat, and the young kids’ persistency trying to sell bracelets, books, postcards, water, food, drinks, flutes, scarves, fruit, t-shirts, sunglasses, and on and on. I thought I did pretty well to only buy 10 bracelets, a shirt, a pair of pants, and a flute. We had a long, educational conversation with a 10 year old Cambodia girl today at lunch. She told us about her family, about her school, and about how she talks to tourists to sell them things. She had a great sense of humor and we really enjoyed her company. We had some fun with another group of young people as we set up the slackline and they soon joined in with some coaxing from us. They caught on very quickly and showed us how it was supposed to be done. It was a great two days at Angkor Wat but we are heading back to Thailand by bus tomorrow.

Tiger Temple

bkhk4fun — Sat, 10 May 2008 00:37:00 GMT

Patti: My Life List has one more huge check mark…being in close contact with big cats. Our time at the Tiger Temple was far too short but there were moments and feelings that are burned into my memory. The tour had a variety of stops along our drive about 200 km out of Bangkok to get to the temple such as a war cemetery, the bridge over the River Kwai, a train ride along the Death Railway and a stop at a waterfall in the Thai country side.

Once we got to the temple, we had a walk through the grounds to Tiger Canyon where the tigers spend their day as a sort of playground and rest area. When the tourists arrive in the afternoon, the tigers are all lazing around and are tethered with padded collars around the neck. The many staff who handle the tigers give you a choice as a tourist to get a free picture taken by a guide with you squatting beside individual tigers or to get a “special photo” for a fee to have the picture with taken with the tiger’s head resting in your lap. You guessed it! It was amazing to have the tiger’s head so close that it could have just turned to me and given me a big sloppy kiss right on the face (I guess there could have been another consequence, too!). After this all to brief encounter, Amy and I each had a turn being led to different tigers to have picture taken with them but not as intimately. I wanted so badly to stay and play with the 4 month old cubs but I was whisked away. They were absolutely beautiful animals and had been handled by humans since birth. The experience continued when we were walking on the grounds and came upon two small cubs with their handlers. A group of about 10 tourists were directed to an enclosed viewing platform to keep a safe distance from the larger tigers who were being marched to another enclosure. The two and a half month old cubs were just on leashes and free to interact with anyone who was interested. I got to give them each some pats and scratches on the head. At one point, I had one of the cub’s head nestled in my hand to give it a good rub behind its ear and it turned to give me a lick on my palm and them playfully took my hand in it’s mouth…WHAT A FEELING! It took all my strength to stop myself from starting a wrestling match with it. This place started at a refuge in 1994 for orphaned tiger cubs whose mothers had been killed by hunters and were brought to the monks. The treatment of the tigers and the complex seemed very humane so it was pretty easy to accept them being there. It was a dreamy two hour minivan ride back to Bangkok as I replayed the moments with the tigers back in my head over and over again.

Gallery: Cambodia

bkhk4fun — Sat, 10 May 2008 00:15:00 GMT

Gallery: Thailand

bkhk4fun — Sat, 10 May 2008 00:14:00 GMT

Back at it in Bangkok

bkhk4fun — Tue, 6 May 2008 13:59:00 GMT

Amy: Wow, it feels like a very long time has passed since I did my last update, I am not sure where to start. I am finally healthy again after more then a month of stomach problems and colds. That feels like a good start. By changing our departure date for Thailand from April 9^th to April 30^th we had enough time to recover from some travel burn out and for me to get healthy. While we were home we managed to fit in a day of snowboarding at Jasper and benefited from some wonderful hospitality from Patti’s family. So now we are both feeling rejuvenated and excited about our time in Asia.

Getting There:

We had 2 stop-overs on route to Bangkok, first in Denver and then in Los Angeles. It seemed like we had plenty of time to make our connections but our flight from Denver to LA was late and we had to change terminals in LA to catch our flight to Bangkok. This was the closest I have come to missing a flight. After waiting for the airport shuttle and finding our way to the right security check point, we needed assistance from a Thai Airways staff member to by-pass the long line-up at security. We then had to sprint to our gate, which of course was as far away as possible. The plane actually pulled away as soon as we got on it.

After approximately 26 hours of total travel time we arrived in Bangkok at 6:30am local time. We breezed through customs but soon discovered that my bag did not arrive. (not very surprising due to the tight connection in LA). We found our way to our hotel and were pleasantly surprised when they allowed us to check in early. Bangkok is huge but we have been able to make it feel smaller and more manageable by booking our hotel in an area where we can walk to most of the sights. We spent Saturday doing a self guided walking tour, visiting the museum, Grand Palace and a couple of the temples. Sunday we did a ½ day tour from our hotel to visit the floating market about 1½ hours outside the city. It was very touristy but interesting to see. We then checked out the weekend market in Bangkok that is said to have over 200,000 visitors a day. I think they were all there when we were there. There was a steady stream of people which made it difficult to actually look for things to buy. Monday we will do a full day tour that will include a visit to the Tiger Temple. It is hot and humid so I was quite happy when the airline delivered my bag as promised on Saturday afternoon and I finally had a change of clothes.

Food:

The food so far has been very tasty and incredibly cheap. We have been frequenting the street vendors and have had many tasty meals that have typically cost less then 3.00 CAD for both of us. We had our first banana pancake last night (thanks for the tip Nicole) and I am hooked, it was delicious. I can understand why the noodles and rice dishes are so inexpensive but it is amazing to me that things like Coke and Lays chips are cheaper here then in North America. The people are very friendly and we haven’t encountered anyone who didn’t speak at least some English.

Our next tour includes a trip to the Tiger Temple about 250 Km’s outside of Bangkok. We are looking forward to that but Patti will find it difficult to not wrestle with them. Stay tuned for picutures.

FYI: We are not in Myanmar and have not been effected by cyclone that hit that region. We are not scheduled to go to the coast until the end of May.

Gallery: Peru Sacred Valley

bkhk4fun — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 04:39:00 GMT

Cuzco nd Machu Picchu

Lares Trek to Machu Picchu

bkhk4fun — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 14:00:00 GMT

Patti: No wonder it’s one of the New Seven Wonders of the World. Machu Picchu was spectacular. It took us 3 days of trekking, van rides, a train ride, and a bus ride to get there on our Lares Valley tour. Day 1 we left from Cusco by van for about a three hour drive to get to the trailhead. Going over one of the high mountain passes there were actually some flurries but we dropped down into a valley and enjoyed some time at a thermal bath before starting our on our hike. Unfortunately, Amy continues to not feel well and she even considered passing on doing the trek. But she was a trooper and managed to push herself through most of the hiking. At the trailhead, we met with our 2 horsemen and the four packhorses. This meant that all we had to carry was a small daypack with water and raingear. Our two cooks had lunch prepared in the cooking tent and our dining tent set-up after our time at the bath. They provided a three course meal (avocado appetizer, soup, and main course) to give us energy for the hike and a snack to carry with us during the walk. So, our group consisted of 2 cooks, 2 horsemen, 4 horses, Miguel (our tour guide), another couple, Mike and Trinity from California, and us. It was a good ratio of staff to client. We found out that Mike and Trinity only signed up for this tour 3 days before it started so it could have just been Amy and me. They were great people to share the tour with and we had many common interests. They have done lots of outdoor activities at home and have also taken a year off from work to travel the world. The hike that day was a gradual ascent which took about 3 hours. Amy took advantage of one of the horses that was brought back for her after dropping gear at the camp so she got a ride for the last hour. Although it helped preserve some of her energy, the bouncing of the horse didn’t help her unsettled stomach. It was a treat to have a tent set up for us when we got to camp and all the provided equipment was great. It certainly didn’t feel like roughing it when there are 2 chefs preparing gourmet meals in a portable kitchen, a dining tent with chairs, real plates and cutlery, meal service, and a bathroom tent to boot. We had an early night for an early start the next morning.

Day 2 was expected to be the most demanding day. We had a climb from 3600 meters to 4450 meters over the main mountain pass in the Lares Valley. We followed a footpath that was used by the locals to transport goods from one village to another so we walked with them for a stretch. It was good to know that they to seemed winded climbing the hills. We also shared it with some llamas. It seemed incredibly remote in the valley with a few farmhouses and crop fields. However, kids would run from the hills to come and say “hola” to us. They have an expectation of getting some sort of treats from the tourists so I couldn’t help but reward a few of them with candy when they arrived to us completely out of breathe. This expectation can create a problem, it seems. One small group of boys did not receive any treats from the group of us except for a greeting and when we were passed, they through rocks at Mike! The last hour of the mountain pass was difficult but what was expected to take 3.5 hours only took us 2 hours. I was impressed with Amy as she was still not feeling well. The rest of the hike was a gradual downhill and we were at our camp for lunch at about 12:30. As there was little to do, our activities for the day focussed on eating. We had the 3 course lunch at 1:30; “tea” including fresh popped popcorn, fried cheese filled wontons, something like puffed wheat cake, biscuits and jam, and hot drinks at 5:30; and then a full supper at 7:30. It was a full moon that night but because we were in a valley, we could only see the glow of it off the mountainsides and not the moon itself.

Day 3 was a short, 40 minute hike to the nearest village to meet our van for further transport. The local Sunday morning street market was in full swing and after walking though, we simply watched the people go about there business. This seemed to be a genuine Peruvian experience as none of the goods were directed at tourists and the people paid little attention to us. It was a highlight. Another lunch from our cooks before they went back to Cuzco and the horsemen began their 12 hour trek with their horses back to their village. Our trekking was over at that point and we were in vehicles for the rest of the way to Machu Picchu. We drove to the village of Ollantaytambo to view some other Inka ruins and we also boarded the “Vistadome” train to carry on to the village of Aguas Calientes which is the access point to Machu Picchu. It was a beautiful 1.5 hour train ride in the Urubamba river valley which is part of a rain forest. There were great views of the mountains, beautiful lush plants and trees, more Inka ruins, and we could see the Inka trail that followed for some time on the other side of the river. Aguas Calientes exists solely as an access point to Machu Picchu. The only way to get there is by train. The only vehicles in town are the tour buses that shuttle thousands of tourists back and forth between the town and Machu Picchu. Any goods transported within town are moved in wheel barrels. The only buildings seem to be hotels, restaurants, and souvenir shops. Many buildings are being constructed. It was actually nice to be in a hotel with a nice shower and a soft bed.

Day 4 was spent at Machu Picchu. We had hoped to be there early enough to see the sun rise over the ruins by catching a 6:00 am bus, which we did, but unfortunately, the sky was overcast. Despite this, we weren’t to be disappointed. We had a brief tour from Miguel when we got there and then wandered the area on our own for several hours. The ruins are extremely well preserved with all walls still standing and only the grass roofs missing. They had been some work to restore the roofs but UNESCO put a stop to it to keep the site authentic. Probably the most amazing thing about the site was where the Inkas chose to build. It literally is on a mountain top and seemingly covers the whole area. They used the granite rock on site to build and created terraces to level of the area for agriculture and buildings. We discovered that many other ruins are in the area and we did a tough climb to Wayna Picchu on a mountain top that overlooks Machu Picchu. We had some great views and hopefully got some great photos (judge for yourself in the Peru Sacred Valley photo gallery). Instead of taking the bus back to town, which is a 8 km road on switchbacks, we walked the 2 km footpath. We were glad we chose to go down instead of up. There were beautiful wildflowers and I couldn’t help but use the “supermacro” feature on my camera to pretend I am a flower photographer (you can have a look at some of these also). We took in the museum at the bottom of the path which was very modern and provided more detailed information about Mach Picchu and had displays of many artifacts found there. We had a good play with a puppy that was hanging round the lobby. Another train ride and bus ride had us back to Cusco by 9:30. Overall, we enjoyed the tour but thought it would be better suited as a 3 day/2 night tour rather than a 4day/3 night considering all the downtime on Day 2 and the very short walk on Day 3 (these days could easily be combined).

So we are now back in Cusco basically counting down the days to get home (five). Amy is still feeling sick and I am definitely not 100%. I am using my marathon running experience as a life lesson to apply to our 10 month plan of travel. It seems like we are at about the 17 mile (27 km, Bob) point and we had a decision to make based on the body being tired and sore. Either we push on to complete the goal originally set and risk further injury or we pack it in, take some time to heal and recover, and then do a half marathon in a month or so. Well, we have made the decision to take more time at home in April instead of leaving right away again on April 9 for Thailand. It will give us more time to see more people and we are again thinking about heading west to do some snowboarding that we didn’t fit in to our time in Canada in January. We hope to connect with many of you when we are in Winnipeg. See you soon!

Awesome Amazon

bkhk4fun — Fri, 21 Mar 2008 11:11:00 GMT

Amy: Our flight from Cusco to Puerto Maldonado left early on the morning of the 15^th. It had been cool and rainy in Cusco so we noticed the heat and humidity in Puerto Maldonado as soon as we got off the plane. It was nice to see and feel the warmth of the sun again. We were met at the airport by our guide for the next 4 days, Elvis. Elvis grew up in Puerto Maldonado and has been working at the lodge for the last 2 years. He had a very infectious laugh. After a brief stop at the office in town we were taken down to the docks and set off on our 3 – 3 ½ hour boat ride. On route we had a box lunch and were treated to sightings of Macaws, a caimen, a red howler monkey and several boat loads of locals taking their fruit to market. We arrived at the lodge and were greeted with a fresh glass of passion fruit juice. I was pleasantly surprised at just how nice our accommodations were. I certainly didn’t expect to be able to take hot showers in the middle of the jungle but the lodge has installed solar paneled hot water tanks so hot showers were available.

Our next few days were spent taking walks in the jungle to see the plants and animals, eating great meals in the dining room and having a good balance of free time for reading and exploring around the lodge. The bungalow we stayed in was similar to a duplex and consisted of 2 separate living spaces with each space having its own bathroom. The living spaces shared a common porch that had a table and chairs as well as a hammock for relaxing. There was a couple from Quebec staying in the other room in our bungalow and they were also part of our nature walks with Elvis. Some of the trees and plants we saw were very amazing and Elvis explained the medicinal purposes of many of the plants. At one of the small lakes we visited we were able to feed crackers to the piranhas. I must admit though it was a little unnerving to go on a night walk our first night there and see all the creepy crawlies that were sharing their space with us. Thankfully none visited us in our bungalow, except for the 2 cockroaches that Patti rescued us from.

Some of the animals we did see were tarantulas, lots of different species of ants and spiders, turtles, stick insects, a capybara (largest rodent in the world and Patti wants one as a pet), red howler monkeys, dusky titi monkeys, lizards, snakes, fish, bats and several different species of birds. We also had the opportunity to visit a local farm situated in the jungle near the lodge and see the many different varieties of fruit that they grew. The farm was run by an 86 year old man and his 76 year old wife. It was sunny and warm the entire time we were there and our time went by quickly.

Since we have been back in Cusco the sun has come out here as well and today was a beautiful sunny day. Hopefully we will get a few more nice days as we head out on our 4 day hike to Machu Picchu tomorrow morning. We hope everyone has a very Happy Easter.

Lake Titicaca Islands

bkhk4fun — Sat, 15 Mar 2008 09:28:00 GMT

Patti: We are on the countdown to coming home and have two major events still to come. We just arrived to Cusco from Lake Titicaca (the largest lake in South America) where we did a two day tour and visited indigenous people who still live on islands on the lake in traditional ways. Our first stop was called Uros, also known as the Floating Islands. The actual islands are not on land per se, but rather the people make the islands with various layers of reeds that grow in the lake. Also made out of the reeds are the small sleeping quarters, separate kitchens, tables, beds, chairs, and boats. It is a very basic way of life and the people who continue to live there have become quite dependant on the tourist dollar. The women do some fine embroidery and some other craft work that is up for sale.

Our second island stop was Amantani where we stayed the night. The way the tourists are accommodated is that they are matched with various families on the island to stay with them at their homes and eat their food. There are about 2000 people who live on the island in 4 different groups that are distinguished from each other by the color of the women’s dresses. We were matched with an elderly lady named Marta. We had a hard time keeping up with her as she led us up the hill to her home. We were still at about 4000 meters above sea level and feeling the effects of the elevation in terms of being able to get enough air in our lungs. By the way, Amy has been feeling back to normal the last few days. It was quite the experience to spend time with Marta and get a small taste of the islanders’ way of life. The house was build out of mud bricks (adobe), it was one of only a few homes that has electricity that was provided by solar power, the kitchen was a separate building with a small wood stove, candle light, and only a small table and bench for guests, and no indoor plumbing (we got our own outhouse). We were never sure how many people lived at the house because at different times we saw an elderly man, another woman about the same age as Marta, a younger woman, a young man, and we heard a baby crying. Most of islanders live as vegetarians because they basically live of the land. They have gardens but the only animals are sheep and chickens. They use the sheep for their wool and do lots of knitting and weaving and they do eat eggs. So after supper, Marta came up to our room with a huge bag of clothes. She dressed us up in traditional islander garb and had us follow her to the community hall. There was a big dance with the tourists and their families. The music was provided by young men from the island and it was high energy music. Marta kept hauling us on to the dance floor and with two layers of wool skirts, a wool shirt, and a wool shawl, it wasn’t long before we worked up a sweat. It was a really fun evening. The next morning we met our tour fairly early and said our goodbyes to Marta. All in all it was a very unique experience but this was the worst I felt about not being able to speak Spanish. It seems to me that Marta lives such a difficult life and has to work so hard that I felt guilty making her have to work hard to communicate with us. However, she was a very kind soul and didn’t seem to mind. We actually did pretty well with our sign language and Amy and I used a strategy of just repeating everything that she said. Our third island stop was called Taquile that also seemed to be a throwback in time. They chose to keep themselves isolated from the influences of the mainland and have preserved a tradition from pre-Columbia times. It’s hard to believe that people continue to live like this and I think it really has to be experienced to get a small sense of it.

So, as I said, we are now in Cusco. It is the gateway to the Amazon where we head tomorrow. We are on a 4 day, 3 night tour and we’re really looking forward to seeing some of the jungle. Then we are back to Cusco for a couple of days before doing our trek to Machu Picchu. So our last two weeks are pretty scheduled (yeah!!!). Both excursions have us into the backcountry so our contact may be limited.

Colca Canyon

bkhk4fun — Sun, 9 Mar 2008 13:23:00 GMT

Patti: Colca Canyon was not at all what was expected but it was excellent and all for the low, low price of $30.00 each (including accommodation but not food or entrance fees). What I had previously thought about the canyon tour was that it would be along the same lines as viewing the Grand Canyon in Arizona or Fish River Canyon in Namibia, Africa. It was so much more. Instead of it being focused on the geology of the canyon it was significantly more focused on the culture of the canyon and how people have utilized it for over 13 centuries. We boarded a tour bus yesterday in the morning with 19 other participants and starting in Arequipa, Peru at an elevation of 2350 meters, we headed to the Andes village of Chivay which is at 3630 meters above sea level. Along the way we climbed to a maximum elevation of 5000 meters through 3 different levels of vegetation, a natural reserve for llamas, alpaca, and another of their relatives called vicunas, and stopped at a number of lookout points, all of which were populated by local folks selling their wares. At this elevation is was quite cold so I couldn’t resist buying an alpaca sweater (see photo). The people were in traditional, folkloric clothing but it clearly was not for show as both in the large city of Arequipa and the smaller villages in the canyon, people in the streets (young and old) were wearing the same type of clothing. Out buffet lunch in Chivay offered a selection of lots of local food including quinoa (a type of local grain), alpaca meat, trout from the local lakes, various beans, rellenos (stuffed hot peppers), and I think there was guinea pig (this is a local favourite). We spent 2 hours in the afternoon at the thermal pools which was very nice to get warmed up. In the evening the group went to another local restaurant and we were entertained by a Peruvian folk band (many pan flutes) and a couple of dancers. Folklarama in Winnipeg does a very good job of representing the Peruvian culture we saw. The dancers invited us to join in and it was a good time. Unfortunately, Amy missed most of this day. She had a very upset stomach in the morning either because of food poisoning or a short term flu. She basically slept on the bus, did not join in for lunch or supper, but did get some short term pain relief from the thermal pool. She went to bed early and woke up this morning a new person to take in the great day.

We were up by 5:30 and on the road with the bus by 6:30 to maximize our chances of seeing condors soaring in the canyon. Along the way, the views of the canyon showed off all the terraces at the different levels of the canyon. Basically, these are manually leveled off areas of land to allow it to be utilized for agriculture. The areas are divided by stone walls and the terraces were originally built in 800 AD and continue to be fully used today. Cacti were everywhere and the prickly pear fruit was being sold by the locals which was delicious. Another local fruit I enjoyed was the grenadia. By 8:30 we were at viewing area for the condors and we were lucky enough to see four. In Patagonia, we did see a few of the birds but they were tiny black spots in the sky hundreds of meters above. Today, the first sighting we had was when we were looking down into the canyon and the condor slowly drifted up to a point where it was soaring only about 10 meters about our heads. We really got a good sense of how huge these birds are (3.8 meter wing span). Our tour guide was excellent and provided lots of history of the area and both the indigenous people and the Spanish settlers. She reminded us that Peru is a third world country and it was evident. Any road construction was done with manual tools, donkeys were loaded with bags of potatoes to transport them to the market, wood was being collected for fuel, fields were being worked with ox and plow, and homes were very basic. Obviously the people in the villages work very hard but they had lots of smiles and seemed genuine with us as tourists. It was a great tour and so far we are both really enjoying the culture of Peru.

Live and Learn

bkhk4fun — Sun, 9 Mar 2008 13:22:00 GMT

Amy: So two Canadians walk into a small restaurant in the Chilean town of Punta Arenas thinking they know exactly what they want and how to order it. When they are greeted by the hostess they confidently say they want the “completo” which is a hotdog with avocado and tomatoes. The hostess disappears and a waiter appears. They interpret his questions as asking if they want one thing or a menu, since the first option was not the completo they ask for the menu. A long time passes with no menu, then 2 bowls of soup are brought out. The soup was delicious but now the Canadians are starting to wonder what it was they ordered. The soup was very filling along with the bread and salsa starter so they attempt to ask for the bill but the hostess indicates that there is more food coming. Soon after two bowls of a bubbling, porridge like casserole appear. The first Canadian is reluctant to try but the second digs in thinking maybe this is some delicious local dish. It only took a quick stir to discover a scary looking ingredient. Any further tasting is abandoned and they quickly pay the bill and leave. Upon further investigation it becomes clear what has happened. A completo is not only the hotdog, it is also a set menu for lunch( have to love words with more then one meaning). Secondly, it is easy to mistake menudo for menu. Menudo we have discovered is poultry entrails. Would likely be a really funny story if we weren’t the Canadians but it is still kinda funny.

Gallery: Peru

bkhk4fun — Sun, 9 Mar 2008 12:48:00 GMT