Peru:
Lima:
We got to Lima at around half 6 at night by which time it was already dark. Our hostel had arranged a pick-up for us so after collecting our luggage and heading for the exit we were greeted by a man holding a "Lamont" sign. We followed him to our taxi and got in, noting with slight anxiety that there were no functioning seat belts in the car. We also soon noticed that the speedometer and fuel gauge were broken. What followed was a crash course (thankfully not literally) in Peruvian driving. Lane markings are treated as things which have been accidentally painted onto the road and turning left or right necessitates that you cut across at least one lane in doing so.
Our time in Lima was spent walking and discovering the city, including the old town, - a lovely square and park with an amazing view onto San Cristobal (a shanty covered hillside) - and the beach area. After several attempts to find Juanitos, a traditional Peruvian pub frequented by locals, we were eventually assisted by a South African man who, unprompted, shouted across the road to us: "My freends, let me show you the beest pub in Lima, Juanitos". "Er, please do" was our response. We stayed for a couple of beers and a traditional Pisco Sour which was pretty nasty to be honest. On our final day we visited Pucllana, a vast church/temple/burial ground which is still being uncovered. An unexpected part of the tour was seeing the little animal sanctuary which they have on the grounds including llamas, alpacas, and guinea pigs, which the guide told us were almost ready for eating!
Arequipa:
After a 15 hour bus journey (the bus was pretty luxurious though and we got dinner and breakfast on it!) we arrived in Arequipa, the second largest city in Peru. Built in the shadow of two volcanoes, its a very picturesque town. After a day of exploring the place we were picked up at 3 in the morning to embark on a 3 day trek in the Colca canyon, the world's deepest canyon. After several hours drive and a stop off to watch some condors flying and stuff, we reached Cobanaconde where we set off on the descent of the canyon. A tough 1 and a half hour trek followed, descending 1400m before a wee rest and a 400m climb to our accommodation for the night. After a good meal and sleep we set off the next morning on an hour's trek, descending to the "Oasis", a little outpost with several swimming pools where we relaxed and had lunch. The toughest part of the trek was next, the 1400m climb to the top of the canyon. I wish I could say it was easy for a man of my fitness but my fitness being what it is, I was easily beaten to the top by the girl in our group. That said, I did make it up before Ally! What followed was the best beer and then shower of my life back in Cobanaconde. Next day, a trip to the Hot Springs (which was amazing) and then a buffet lunch ended the trip before the 3 hour journey back to Arequipa.
After a 15 hour bus journey (the bus was pretty luxurious though and we got dinner and breakfast on it!) we arrived in Arequipa, the second largest city in Peru. Built in the shadow of two volcanoes, its a very picturesque town. After a day of exploring the place we were picked up at 3 in the morning to embark on a 3 day trek in the Colca canyon, the world's deepest canyon. After several hours drive and a stop off to watch some condors flying and stuff, we reached Cobanaconde where we set off on the descent of the canyon. A tough 1 and a half hour trek followed, descending 1400m before a wee rest and a 400m climb to our accommodation for the night. After a good meal and sleep we set off the next morning on an hour's trek, descending to the "Oasis", a little outpost with several swimming pools where we relaxed and had lunch. The toughest part of the trek was next, the 1400m climb to the top of the canyon. I wish I could say it was easy for a man of my fitness but my fitness being what it is, I was easily beaten to the top by the girl in our group. That said, I did make it up before Ally! What followed was the best beer and then shower of my life back in Cobanaconde. Next day, a trip to the Hot Springs (which was amazing) and then a buffet lunch ended the trip before the 3 hour journey back to Arequipa.
Cusco:
On arriving back from our Colca Canyon trek we immediately had to get the overnight bus to Cusco. This bus was not as luxurious as the last one and the constant Spanish power ballads blasting out of the speakers was almost enough to finish Ally off! After a quick walk around Cusco (which is probably the nicest looking city we've been to), I began to feel a bit unwell. Man-flu took hold for the next couple of days during which I wasn't really able to venture very far from the hostel. During these couple of days I also managed to lose my phone (although I'm 99% sure it was taken from the hostel as my book went missing too) so it wasn't a great time. On the Sunday night I started to feel a bit better and so we went out for something to eat. Big mistake! 2 horrific days of food poisoning followed where I must have been the most unpopular person in our hostel. We should have been going to Macchu Picchu on Monday and leaving Cusco on Wednesday but due to my illness we had to delay Macchu Picchu to Wednesday. Even by then, I still felt pretty awful and was not able to fully appreciate Macchu Picchu, which is a truelly incredible place. We eventually left for Bolivia on Friday by which time I was almost back to normal.
On arriving back from our Colca Canyon trek we immediately had to get the overnight bus to Cusco. This bus was not as luxurious as the last one and the constant Spanish power ballads blasting out of the speakers was almost enough to finish Ally off! After a quick walk around Cusco (which is probably the nicest looking city we've been to), I began to feel a bit unwell. Man-flu took hold for the next couple of days during which I wasn't really able to venture very far from the hostel. During these couple of days I also managed to lose my phone (although I'm 99% sure it was taken from the hostel as my book went missing too) so it wasn't a great time. On the Sunday night I started to feel a bit better and so we went out for something to eat. Big mistake! 2 horrific days of food poisoning followed where I must have been the most unpopular person in our hostel. We should have been going to Macchu Picchu on Monday and leaving Cusco on Wednesday but due to my illness we had to delay Macchu Picchu to Wednesday. Even by then, I still felt pretty awful and was not able to fully appreciate Macchu Picchu, which is a truelly incredible place. We eventually left for Bolivia on Friday by which time I was almost back to normal.
Bolivia:
La Paz:
The bus trip to La Paz is broken up by a stop in Puno, a little town on the edge of Lake Titicaca, surely the Lake with the best name in the world. We spent the night there, wandering down to the Lake which smelt pretty, pretty bad. The next day we took the bus to La Paz, which stopped off in Copacabana (Bolivia) and required us to change buses. Another bizarre stop-off required us to get off the bus, get on a boat to cross Lake Titicaca and watch as our bus followed us on a barge! Eventually we got to La Paz and as we descended into the valley which houses the city I was struck by the sinking feeeling that I'd left my bloody jacket on the bus at Copacabana! After multiple attempts at contacting the bus company I had to admit defeat (Marmot RIP).
The bus trip to La Paz is broken up by a stop in Puno, a little town on the edge of Lake Titicaca, surely the Lake with the best name in the world. We spent the night there, wandering down to the Lake which smelt pretty, pretty bad. The next day we took the bus to La Paz, which stopped off in Copacabana (Bolivia) and required us to change buses. Another bizarre stop-off required us to get off the bus, get on a boat to cross Lake Titicaca and watch as our bus followed us on a barge! Eventually we got to La Paz and as we descended into the valley which houses the city I was struck by the sinking feeeling that I'd left my bloody jacket on the bus at Copacabana! After multiple attempts at contacting the bus company I had to admit defeat (Marmot RIP).
Our first day in La Paz was a pretty amazing one. We decided to walk around and get a feel for the place. We decided to go and have a look at the football stadium only to discover that the La Paz derby (The Strongest v Bolivar) was on that day! So we bought tickets(for 35 Bs - about £3.50!) and were delighted to see that La Paz's 3rd team (La Paz) were also playing in a match preceding the main event. So we sat down in the blazing sunshine to watch 2 Bolivian league matches! Before entering the stadium we decide to invest in shirts, I bought The Strongest top and Ally adopted Bolivar as his team and bought a shirt - both cost around £3! The first game saw La Paz beaten 2-0 by Real Potosi while the the Clasico finished 1-1.
La Paz is a crazy city, there are stalls and people selling things everywhere, buses everywhere you look and bad smells pretty much everywhere too! After a couple of days exploring (and me managing to buy a North Face jacket for about £36!) we decided we should visit the Uyuni salt flats and so caught the overnight bus to Uyuni. This was the bumpiest bus I had ever been on and the temperature plummeting outside was reflected in the temperature in the bus. The salt flats were worth it though, a desolate desert-like landscape but with salt instead of sand. We were driven out into the middle of the slat flats, which are 9000 km square, to a little rock in the middle of the ocean of salt, Incahuasi. This rock, dotted with cacti, offers amazing views of the salt flats, stretching to the horizon in every direction. Unfortunately the trip was only for a day and we had to face that bus journey again, only back to La Paz. I have to stress this again, this road was UNBELIEVABLY bumpy!
And so, after a final day in La Paz where we attempted and failed to find a bus to take us to the ruins at Tiwanaku, we flew to Lima and, after a hellish 12 hour wait in the airport, eventually caught a flight to Rio.
Graham
Graham
Here are links to the albums on Picasa:
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