Right, we're back for the latest instalment, that is if anyone is bothering to check any-more!
All good at the border crossing into Peru, always think they are not going to let us enter for some reason!
The currency has now changed to from dollars to Soles. Our first 16 hour bus journey has just cost us 150 soles which is about 35 pound, (that's for the 2 of us,) what a bargain and we get food, blankets and everything!!
We were going to travel down the coast of Peru, stopping here and there along the way, but after having talked to a few people, they said not to bother.
We travel with Anneka and Reis to 'Poor Mans Galapagus", Isla Ballestas, it's way south of Lima. We find a really nice hostel, with a roof terrace overlooking the sea and Anneka gets us a good price, as she always does, and gets the boat trip to the islands included.
I (Netty, always assume it's me typing, I will let you know when it is Matt!) wake at 5am and it is raining, we are in the middle of the bleeding desert, for Gods sake, how can it be raining?!! It does eventually clear, but not early enough for us to do our boat trip. The hotel guy takes us on a desert tour instead. We drive on salt roads, which they ship to America and Canada to salt their roads, (they don't ship the roads we were on, just the surrounding salt, if you get my drift?!), we find fossils 30,000 years old and see lots of pelicans (I've never seen them in the wild before) and boobies! Don't get excited boy's, the blue footed sort!
The next day we do our tour of the Isla Ballestas, it's a 2 hour boat trip, extremely touristy, but great, all the same. We see penguins, seals and loads of cormorants and more boodies.
Next we move on to Huacachina to do sand-boarding and a sand buggy ride, as you do! I left the sand-boarding to Matt, oh, by the way, guess what, yep, it's raining in the desert again!! It was great fun. That night, we have our second earth tremor of our travels, this one lasts a lot longer than the first one we had. (Anneka said it lasted 15 seconds). From now on, I sleep with p.j's on!! Three hours later, Matt gets sickness and diarrhea, big time, then a few hours later I start, but nowhere near as bad a Matt.
Anneka and Reis move on, but we are so ill we have to stay another 2 nights! (We will miss our travelling buddies).
From here we make our way to the Cusco. We get another overnight bus, this time, not all goes to plan! After several hours, around 5.30 a.m. our bus stops! Mineral Miners are striking and have blocked the road! It's all very exciting! There are burnt out tyres and boulders in the road . After lots of confusion, (not being able to speak Spanish is not great at these times) most of the locals on our bus get off and walk to the other side of the town and continue their journey, one way or another. We ask the driver for our rucksacks which are in the hold, he refuses to give them to us, saying it his responsibility! So were are stuck on the side of the road, in the heat, with no suncream (it's in the hold)for, wait for it.....13 hours!! The only good thing that came from it, was we met a nice French-Canadian lady called Theresa, who we travelled with for several days after this!
Eventually arrive in Cusco 2.30 a.m. rather than the planned 8 a.m.
Cusco is a beautiful old city. Steep, narrow cobbled streets, I can't think of anyone I know reading this, that wouldn't like it there! Here we acclimatise for our trip to Machu Picchu.
