hellbent hikers

Peru

globetrottingwanabees — Tue, 9 Nov 2010 07:23:00 GMT

Took the collectivo into Pisac on Sunday..huge market. great way to spend an afternoon but I think I'll never get used to the bus manouvering hair pin curves with nothing but a few meters between the pavement and a 1200 meter drop to the valley floor...tomorrow is our last day in Cuzco...anxious to get home... its been a good run!..from Lima to Nazca to Arequipa to Tacna to Arica,Chile to La Paz,Bolivia to Puno to Cuzco to Machu Picchu to Cuzco and finally back to Canada. checked off another one on the list of "things to see before you die".

Peru

globetrottingwanabees — Tue, 9 Nov 2010 01:56:00 GMT

More pics of festival activities. A photographers paradise with all the colourful costumes. All Quechua people in parades and dances have no problem posin for our pictures. Lorenzo says we are lucky to be in Cuzco for the Inti Raymi or festival of the sun on June 24th. The entire city transforms itself into non stop parades, dances...complete with all the magnificent intricate costumes of the Quechua people.

Peru

globetrottingwanabees — Mon, 8 Nov 2010 00:49:00 GMT

Day 21...from Agua Callientes walking in the dark to the trail head to make this brutal climb to Machu Picchu. We're all pumped,stoked...this is what we walked 3 days in the Peruvian jungle for. Finally the day has arrived. The icing on the cake. Me and Angie cant keep up with the younger ones so we fell back and clinbed at our own pace. 1.40 minutes to reach the top. Spectacular setting once we reached the summit. An entirely self sufficient ancient city perched on the top surrounded by massive ,shark toothed mountains creating the feel of being in the middle of some prehistoric crater. Toured around completely amazed at the stone masonry involved in building this lost city of the Incas. Stayed around Machu Picchu for hours until it was time to walk back down thus completing our epic jouney. We have come full circle!! Incredibly spectacular.brutally demanding,physically draining and tremendouly rewarding. An event in our lives that will undoubtedly define who we are.

Peru

globetrottingwanabees — Mon, 8 Nov 2010 00:19:00 GMT

The original Inca trail clings to the side of a cliff with only less than a meter from the wall of the cliff to certain death. Johann says go slow and dont fall. You could see in our guides face that this was some serious shit. Everyone was treading slowly grasping onto whatever was available on the rock face. Stepping precariously on Inca stones,nervously,cautiously concentrating on each footing. Absolute focus was required by everyone. Very few glances over the edge by some, no glances over by most. Being as high as condors soar with only a meter wide staircase to stand on was thrilling but also terrifying. I looked back at Angie and hoped she could get through this. At the highest point Johann performed an Inca ritual with coca leaves.

Peru

globetrottingwanabees — Fri, 5 Nov 2010 04:36:00 GMT

Early rising at 6.15,Lorenzo at the door at 7.15 getting us all organized and into the van. Scoot through town and up to Abra Mulasa at 4380 meters....snow level again..this time in Peru! Taking the bikes off the van. Were all friggin freezing up here. The wind,clouds shit it was cold. We had to adjust all the bikes for that perfect fit Off we go down the mountain all the way to Santa Maria 1430 meters. One heluva ride this one was! Five hours of spectacular scenery,unbelievable vistas,glacier covered peaks. Something Ive dreamed about doing for years! There was one glitch in the ride down though,a near tradgic face plant in the gravel by claudia from Italy. An off road shortcut turned into some serious injury. Theres no way of knowing how comfortable a person is with mountain biking or their experience level. An out of control downhill explosion of speed terminated with claudia flipping over her handlebars after the front wheel dropping into a rocky ditch. Not pretty!!! This happened in front of most of us as we all looked on in disbelief. She lay there motionless for a minute until cookie and dave took control over the situation. Both being RTs at the hospital they were able to stabilize her neck then later having her wiggle her toes and move her neck. Needless to say we were all relieved that she wasn't paralyzed. Some nasty gashes on her hip, upper lip and nose with no chipped or broken teeth. As Im writing this Claudia is sitting in a small hospital here in Santa Maria getting stitches. We all hope she can continue the jouney up to Machu Picchu!

Peru

globetrottingwanabees — Thu, 4 Nov 2010 04:28:00 GMT

All of our worrying about the kids is over. They're all here in Cuzco now with cookie and dave rolling in last nite at 11 but we didnt meet them until the next morning. We met in a crowd of 5000 people celebrating the Cusquenas festival. Leave it to the power of the Wayanaruru bean to hook us up.Aly and phil came in late last nite. All I heard was a knock on our door and a tiny voice saying "Angela, Amigoes are here." Got up and looked over the balcony only to see two tired but safe travellers who we had worried about for most of the day. Finally this intrepid group of weary adventurers have come together to conquer the famous Inca Trail which will lead all of us up to the lost city of Machu Picchu. We're a tough bunch of Canadians that can take anything the Peruvians can throw at us plus a whole lot more. Shity buses{aka...camino de la Diablo}, road blocks, no hot water, altitude issues...give it your best shot South America!!

Peru

globetrottingwanabees — Thu, 4 Nov 2010 00:28:00 GMT

Were sitting on a bus to Puno right now staring at the highest freshwater lake in the world. Angie is fast asleep next to me. Early this morning we met cookie,dave,aly and phil at the bus station in La Paz. What a chance encounter. Thought we would'nt see everyone until Cuzco. They just arrived after pulling a red eye fron Uyuni salt flats. We cant wait to hear all about their exciting adventures. The six of us talking on a street corner in La Paz ,Bolivia...Krazy! Just passed through yet another border crossing. Me and Angie were randomly checked for cocaine. I watched as the Bolivian narcotics police passed his hand right over my pill bottle containing Bob our travelling turtle,how would I have explained that? Another thing I would have a hard time explaining is the other pill bottle I had filled with baking soda,the catylyst used with my coca leaves. Nothing was noticed and we were let into Peru at Desquadero.

Peru

globetrottingwanabees — Tue, 2 Nov 2010 23:42:00 GMT

What a sweet day this has been! An exhilarating,adrenaline pumping downhill mountain bike adventure from 15,350 feet to the jungle at Yolusa,Bolivia. Known as Camino de la Muerte or Death Road, this death defying experience will be burned in our memories forever. Its not every day that one can descend 15,000 feet on a dirt road not more than a few meters wide that clings to the slope of majestic snow capped mountains meandering a terrifying path to the jungle below. Any loss of concentration on this heart pumping descent would and has resulted in certain tragic demise. The shear drop off any part of this road has to be seen to be believed. A base jumper would be in heaven. At almost any part of this road you could freefall for a couple of thousand feet simply by stepping off the edge. During the war between Bolivia and Paraguay the prisoners held by Bolivia were forced to construct this gravity defying passage through the mountains from Corico to La Paz. Angie was amazing!! White knuckling it through the crisp cool air of La Cumbra,through the moisture laden clouds of the Andes and eventually 4 hours later the valley vistas of the jungle. Our descent on mountain bikes brought us from snow capped mountain peaks at La Cumbra to orange and bannana trees of the jungle around Yolusa. The 3 experienced guides and 2 support vehicles with food and water were indispensible. The guides gave precise instructions to our group at the most treacherous parts of the road ensuring that no one would be lost over the edge.

Peru

globetrottingwanabees — Tue, 2 Nov 2010 06:12:00 GMT

The entry into La Paz was breathtaking. Decending from the altiplano high above the city slowly entering the depths of the valley below where the city lies was truly a spectacular sight especially at night with the city lights shinning brightly below us. With our heads pounding from soroche and our lungs gasping for every last bit of oxygen we headed for the closest hostel just up the street from the bus station. For 700 Bolivianos, 7 bucks Canadian,we bedded down for the night axiously awaiting what La Paz had to offer. The morning came quicker than I thought but after a fast bite to eat we were exploring the witches market. Colourful dresses,boler hats ,alpaca scarfs and little old ladies concocting different potients with all sorts of things that only a Bolivian would know. We took it slow cuz of the thin air, chewed on some coca leaves with a pinch of baking soda that I had brought from Canada. The soda is the catylyst that activates the potent ingredients in the coca leaves and yes we found it did lessen the effects of soroche.

Peru

globetrottingwanabees — Tue, 2 Nov 2010 01:58:00 GMT

What a fawken day!! The bus ride up to La Paz was going good until the bus suddenly stops behind a 5 kilometer line of transport trucks ahead of us...not moving an inch. Sure we breezed through the border getting all of our passports checked and stamped but in the middle of the Andean Plateau,half way between Arica and La Paz,Bolivia,smack in the center of the Bolivian highlands @ 4000 meters above sea level,where you gasp for air just tying your shoe laces,our driver says we have to get out,collect our backpacks and walk the 5 kilometers past a native roadblock that was paralyzing traffic both directions. There we go marching down the highway with the other 44 passengers,young and old. The two of us were actually wondering if we could survive this our first exposure to thin air at 13000 feet above sea level. We all threaded our way past groups of indigenous Bolivians who were gathered at the blockade. The tons of rock and sand they had moved onto the road made it totally impassable. Now a bus was waiting for us on the other side but more Bolivians had blocked us in once again. I guess it was a good 4 hours before we were able to start rolling again. Just found out on BBC news why all the roadblocks in Peru and Bolivia. Seems that PM Simon of Peru is going to pass legislation regarding the cutting of trees in the Amazon basin and the indigenous are rebelling against this. These are the worst protests and deaths in recent history and we happen to be stuck in the middle of it.

Peru

globetrottingwanabees — Tue, 2 Nov 2010 01:10:00 GMT

Wakin up in Arica Chile we set our clocks back one hour...gives us a bit more shut-eye...sweet. We scored a nice hotel across the street from the bus stop. 14000 pesos, a little pricey compared to Peru. No buses to La Paz Bolivia today but thats okay with us. Just goin to chill in Chile for awhile. We walked down to the market only to be met with a huge celebration. Met Juan in the market and said that his english was good.. well that was all it took for him to open up a little. He told us he was a tour guide for Arica Chile and proceded to tell us exactly what to see. Not only that but he said that we were lucky to be in Arica on June 7th, the day that Chile won the battle against Peru for Arica. He said that explains the massive fireworks we saw last night. The June 7th,1880 battle between Peru and Chile still remains a tender subject. We climbed El Moro de Arica which offered a beautiful view of the town. We find the best thing do to in different towns is to climb to the highest point or up the lookout towers to reference yourself,get orientated, and in our case find another busy market to explore. Great market where the cervesa crystal flowed freely .Within minutes we chowing down on empanadas,sopaipillas and picarones. After the 2nd beer I was hoping Angie knew how to get us back to the hostal.. She said no problemo...Thinking of how much I love my chica,I scarfed down another beer!

Peru

globetrottingwanabees — Tue, 3 Nov 2009 06:48:00 GMT

Left the hostal in Arequipa.4 soles for cab to bus. half hour late but who cares, we're glad to be headed to Tacna. The desert landscape was nothing to look at. The entire 8 hours was nothing but pure sand with rolling hills,no green things for hours on end. You could close the curtain,fall asleep,get up 8 hours later and wouldn't miss a thing. The only excitement was the National guard boarding the bus twice and stopping it once........oh ya ,on board they come with guns in holster telling everybody to get off. Of course me and angie are a little confused with everything spoken in Spanish but we follow the line of passengers de-busing and herded straight to an x-ray machine where every bag was scanned. Okay not too bad....back on the road again only to be stopped again. This time it was a document check! Everyone handed over their ID's and were cross referenced with a list of wanted criminals I guess. When all the names were cleared we were free to go. This is when you feel lucky to be Canadian. Free to travel anywhere in the country without being questioned. The last time me and angie travelled across Canada the only people asking us where we were going was our two kids sitting in the back seat of the car!

Peru

globetrottingwanabees — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 05:50:00 GMT

Roll into Tacna at 6 pm and as soon as we step off the bus a guy yells.. Arica! Of course that got our attention as thats the town we needed to get to. Asking "quanto costa?" he replies 60 soles, too much I reply.50 he says, No I say and the two of us walk toward the terminal.....okay 40 he says and follows us relentlessly . Finally I get my Lonely Planet out and find that it should only cost 30 soles. Then out of nowhere another guy yells ....Arica? come with me. We follow like lost little sheep. He takes us to this beat up old Ford with the drive shaft about to fall off. He puts our bags in the trunk as says 20 soles to Arica. Me and Angie look in the back seat and there crowded on top of one another are two ladies with two children all apparently going to the same town. Theres a whole industry of black market service providers out there just trin to make a living and what we did is certainly contrary to what the travel books advise but our faith in the kindness of humans seems to overpower any of the negative we read about.....so far it hasn't let us down! Another hair raising ,high speed trip in an old car with a guy named Jorge behind the wheel......priceless. He gets all of us through the border with our paper work in order and into Arica with not so much as a scratch on us! The bonus was that we got to meet some great people along the way. WE all exchanged email addresses and they accepted the informative booklets about our town back in Canada. What an exciting way to enter another country.....sure beats a boring bus ride!!!!!!!

Peru

globetrottingwanabees — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 04:27:00 GMT

Up at 6.30. Cookie and Dave are taking the bus to Puno. Hopefully only 6 or 7 hours and from there they will head to La Paz Bolivia briefly then on to Uyumi salt flats for a 4 day exploring adventure. Aly and Phil are still on the Colca Canyon tour returning tonite but no one will be around to meet them as me and Angie are headed to Tacna then Arica Chile. Maybe we can catch a collectivo from Tacna to Arica tonite! that would be perfect!Right now we are way ahead of our planned schedule and Im thinking this is a good thing. Just finished breakfast, ham and eggs,coffee,juice,coca tea ya Carlos puts on a big spread for everyone on their last day at the hostel! Still lookin at that crazy pic of "bob" our travelling turtle sitting there on that sac a coca leaves! Cookie and Dave just left for the bus and we won't meet up for bout a week. Aly and Phil are headed that way too. Its krazy that we are all exploring South America following opposite highways and at different times. Angies out of the shower now, still all feeling good physically. The elevation up here hasn't affected us yet. It's only 2350 m in Arequipa and now we're decending back to sea level.

Peru

globetrottingwanabees — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 04:41:00 GMT

Now you want to be immersed in the Arequipa culture? just go to the local market! A good place to sample some of the local food and drink.You will always know where to buy the best empanadas around when you spot 20 hungry Peruvians standing around a particular food stall . Speaking of food ,they say Arequipa is the place to try Cuy,otherwise known as guinea pig. Carlos gave directions to a Picanteria known in the area for preparing this unusual dish. Roccoto Relleno, Cuy Chacdado and Chicha de Jora were some of the dishes we tried. The guinea pig was deep fried and tasted a lot like chicken.Cookie and Dave were having a great time too! The four of us having this traditional meal at a Picanteria with a fantastic view of El Misti was an experience that will stay with us for years to come.

Peru

globetrottingwanabees — Tue, 6 Oct 2009 04:07:00 GMT

Shitty midnite express to Arequipa! couldn't sleep and no leg room but here we are just chillin at the hostal sipping on my third cup of coca tea. Ya they say its good to keep altitude sickness away. The elevation we're at now is 2350 m. The Lonely Planet says Arequipa is the best town to acclimatize for a few days before heading to the dizzing heights of Cuzco. We were a little spent after that bus ride but recovered quite nicely and now we're goin to the museum to check out Juanita, the frozen Inca girl who was discovered on Ampato. This active volcano sits just to the north of El Misti. An eruption melted the glacier enough to expose Juanita where she was discovered and promptly removed to a freezer where she can be viewed by the public. Wandered around the local market for hours stopping to buy coca leaves,a couple of empanadas and some freshly made fruit smoothies. Hit of vitimin C midday......priceless!

Peru

globetrottingwanabees — Fri, 2 Oct 2009 01:11:00 GMT

Day 2 started with a shower and breakfast. Eggs,bun and tea. Took some great pics of everyone, Phil and Aly,Dave and Cookie and Angie. Just waiting around the hostal for the weather to clear so we can fly the Nazca Lines .Maybe another hour? 340 soles for the flight and airport tax. Ya we got the call and we're good to go. All of us piled into the van and off to the airport. The overflight was a onceinalifetime experience. The monkey,space man,lizard, condor and hummingbird were all incredibly mystifying. How did the Nazca people etch these huge geographs with them only being visible from the sky above? Totally kool pics and video. Great pilot Benjamin who made some frightening manoevers so we could get the best views. The whole history of the Nazca people still to this day remains a mystery because nothing was ever written down ,nothing documented! The people and the lines are truly an enigma! After the flight we booked the midnight express to Arequipa and walked the town .. Lunch was stuffed avocado,papa de la Huan cana. Picked up some silver jewlery.

Peru

globetrottingwanabees — Thu, 1 Oct 2009 04:03:00 GMT

Great sleep! Up at 9.00. Real quiet around here. Angie greeted me with breakfast...toasted buns,bowl of homemade orange marmalade and a hot pot of Peruvian coffee.....awesome! Cant stop thinking of our krazy driver Migel racing through downtown Lima putting everyone in his way at risk of certain death by Kia. We sat around the hostal for awhile emailing Cookie for the first time. The poor girl emailed us 3 times since we've been on the run but we could never reply until now. Tania was our hostess and made sure she gave Angie a big hug as we were leaving. We walked up a few streets in Miraflores where Angie picked up a beautiful Alpaca scarf. Took a bus to Cruz del Sur bus lines and now were on the move again to Nazca. We decided to explore Lima when we are back here again at the end of our adventure but for now we are excited to meet up with our amazing daughter along with Dave, Aly and Phil. Two hours down the coast and theres no shortage of orange groves,fields of corn,bannanas and mangoes. Finally a Peru that looks a little like what I had imagined. Up until now theres been nothing but ramshackle tin and wood dwellings with a stark desert landscape on one side of the road and the huge Pacific ocean on the other. So close to so much water yet so little rainfall. Anyhoo we scored the two front seats in the upper deck of the bus so we get the best view. Just looking over at Angie. Shes amazing to travel with. Never complains bout anything. They served a meal on the bus which came a a surprise. Rice with mystery meat which we thought might be guinea pig,Inka Kola to wash it down. I'm teasing Angie bout the mystery meat but it did'nt seem to curb her apetite, she devoured the whole plate. Arrived in Nazca late and found directions to Friends Hostal where Cookie and the gang were staying.Started walking down the dark ,narrow steets when suddenly a loud,high pitched scream echoed thoughout the neighbourhood.....omg it was Cookie and Dave standing on the curb in disbelief cuz there weren't expecting our arrival until tomorrow. Wow was it good to see Cookie again. This made our trip. If we didn't do anything else we would be completely happy!

Peru

globetrottingwanabees — Thu, 1 Oct 2009 03:23:00 GMT

Our driver Migel met us at the airport. Little did we know at the time this seemingly gentle Peruvian with the huge smile on his face while holding a sign with Angies name on it turned out to be an ex Indy 500 race car driver. Not really but it would seem so if you were white knuckling it in his car from the airport to our hostal in Miraflores. Holy fawk what a hair raising experience,speeding through the streets of Lima,narrowly grazing about 30 pedestrians,weaving in and out of traffic,averaging 100k an hour,no lights or working gauges on the dashboard,no seatbelts,not that they would help anyway, Oh ya,let the adventure begin!! Half hour later I handed Migel 45 soles for the near death experience but not before wiping the sweat off my hands!Angie seemed to handle the ride with no problem. She probably drives that way back home when I'm not in the vehicle? Time to chill. The room is bare bones. Four white walls,2 beds,1 mirror. After a full day of travelling this is pure luxury.

Peru

globetrottingwanabees — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 21:39:00 GMT

Where da party at? South America! Sweet! Heading to Lima right now, altitude 36000 feet,ground speed 550 miles an hour. At this speed we'll be there at 9.30 tonite. So pumped to see the country, one month of backpacking should do the trick. Our daughter Cookie and Dave have been there for 2 weeks already. Cant wait to hookup in Nazca to fly those mysterious lines but for now a nice smooth landing in Lima is next on the list. Angie had the chicken and rice I had the penne and meatballs. Shes the Italian one, you would think it would be the other way around? Just over Kingston Jamaica mon . Its almost a straight line due south from our home town in Ontario to Lima . Only 1 hour time change,no jet lag for a change! Our stopover in Newark New Jersey gave us a great opportunity to see the skyline of New York City along with the Empire State building. We contemplated what it would have been like watching those twin towers burn from here.No one seems to mind the extensive security checks anymore! Toronto-Newark 1.10 min Newark-Lima 7.30 min. The plane is filled with Peruvians, dark skinned,round faces and jet black hair. A people and culture that we are eager to explore. Our plans are to journey down the coast from Lima to Nazca then to Arequipa,into Arica Chile,over to La Paz Bolivia then back into Peru via Puno travelling further into the Andes until arriving at Cuzco and our eventual ascent to Machu Picchu. An action packed itinerary that only the Globetrottingwanabees are krazy enough to attempt.