Well there is so much to say that I don´t quite know where to start. We are currently in Cusco in Peru having just completed the Inca Trail - without a doubt the hardest thing i have ever done in my life.
We flew into Lima on the 30th October and had two days there before embarking on a tour that has included a boat trip down the amazon and staying in an eco-lodge in the jungle. We visit Monkey Island and learn about the various fruits and medicines of the jungle. We also tease tarantulas out of their hidey holes by pretending to be prey! They are blackest black tarantulas not half as cute as Polly my Mexican red kneed friend from London zoo. However the fact that I can stand there and watch them come out is a step forward in my arachnophobia.
Machu Pichu was amazing but it took a lot of energy and determination to get there - it involved a 3 day trek with high altitude walking and camping in places with very grotty facilities - no hot showers or proper toilets for 4 days! No pain no gain I suppose. The scenery of huge mountains, lush vegetation and lakes is absolutely breath-taking. We have also been lucky with the weather. It has been warm and sunny for most of the time with a welcome downpour on the penultimate day. Our guide - Julio, is hilarious and extremely knowledgeable - he himself is descended from the Inca´s. we learn lots about the Conquistadors and their exploitation of Peru, and of course a lot of information about the building of and the significance of the site itself. There is far too much to take in but it is fascinating stuff.
Tomorrow we are off to Lake Titicaca and Puno where we are to stay with local Indians and ride on reed boats down the river. We have met some excellent people our group has been diverse and hilarious. Special mention goes to Paul and David two lads from Cork who are absolutely brilliant - get your spare room ready guys we are coming over as soon as we can when we get back to the UK. Also Max and Ben from Oz - you are insane! Any of you fancy a trip to London then you have a place to stay.
I am writing this next part from a cafe in Quito so you can see that I have managed to keep well up to date with everything! This really is a summary of our last days in Peru. We took a boat ride across Lake Titicaca - the highest navigable lake in the world, and it was very pretty. We sailed to Amantani Island which is where some Peruvians live a very old style way of life with traditional costumes - photos will explain all! Next we sail to Taquile Island which is where we are to stay with local families for a night. We are all introduced to our ´Mama´ who is supposedly looking after us for the evening. Ours is called Vanessa and she is only 14 which shocks us at first as we thought that she was married with two kids but no she is the daughter of the family who we stay with, which consists of 5 women and 3 guys, we have no idea what they are to each other as they do not bother to introduce themselves, apart from the head of the household. Before dinner we head up to the communal area where the gringos play football against the locals. The rest of us go into the cafe for some delicious hot chocolate with Baileys - yummy! After this we spend a cringey hour or so in the smoke filled (from the stove) front room of our family, sitting at a table whilst they all sit on the floor and talk amongst themselves. The food is very basic and bland as apparently they rarely eat meat and fish which we find hard to believe as none of them are exactly thin. After dinner we give our gifts to the family, which we have purchased this morning to say thank you for letting us stay with them. Then it´s play dress up in their multi-coloured clothing and off to the dance to laugh at how stupid we all look. The next morning it´s another cringey bland meal before we head back to the boat - phew thank god that ordeal is over! Next we sail to Isles du Uros, which are flaoting islands made entirely of reeds upon which there are more trad Peruvian types selling their wares. Unfortunately the overall impression of this part of the tour is that it is one opportunity after another to make money out of the gringo and many of us are not amused. It doesn´t help that the guide is rather annoying and condescending in the way that he speaks to everyone. He clearly has the knowledge and is a nice guy but many of the group are highly irritated with his manner. Oh dear we are all looking forward to going back to Puno and I suppose it takes the shite to appreciate the really good stuff!
We fly back to Lima the next morning and this is where much of the group say goodbye, as some are going on to Bolivia whilst for the rest of us the tour ends here and we are on our own in Lima for a couple of days - yippee! A bunch of us head into Miraflores, which is a much nicer part of Lima than where we are staying although it is rather touristy. Lots of big department stores and hotels. Still very Peruvian though with the crazy driving. We find a great cafe where we stay for hours drinking cocktails and admiring the excellent views over the cliffs. We are all very tired following the last two weeks and head back for an early night. The next day we return to Miraflores and kill a few hours more as all of us have flights pending and don´t want to go crazy. So next morning D and I fly off to Ecuador and I am happy to be leaving Peru. We say goodbye to the others and we hope to keep in touch as we feel very privileged to have met some fantastic people already. Bring on the Galapagos!
