| Day 1 - Saturday 15th October |
| Day 1 - A long, long journey to Peru. Started off with a mini-cab ride at 5:15 in the morning and ended via Amsterdam and Bonaire (where?!) around 10pm (losing 6 hours) in Lima. Paul and I arrive at the airport and think that we are being kidnapped by some woman with a home-made Exodus sign (and no official t-shirt we had been told to look out for.) Luckily it was just a mix up and we get to meet our soon to be excellent guide Holger. When introduced, however, I misunderstood and thought that we were being introduced to our driver. (Well, Holger and driver sound the same after you've been travelling for 17 hours!) Collapsed into beds at hotel, ear plugs on. Slept soundly. |
| Day 2 - Another Early Start. |
| Noooooo! I thought that this was meant to be a holiday! Early flight to Arequipa on a plane that was more modern and roomier than the long-haul one. How wrong we were when we thought that we would get dodgy propeller-type planes internally! We visit the main square as a procession is going through and have a slightly unsettling (wasn't she?!) tour guide take us around the local convent. First (and last) sample of Peruvian Guinea Pig is had at lunch today. "Tastes of chicken but not enough meat on it", said Paul licking his lips but dreaming of fatter Guinea pigs! Solid as a rock Alpaca meat-jerky makes me glad that I don't have false teeth! |
| Day 3 - Driving to Puno. |
| First sample of coca-tea. Don't drink too
much or you'll fail your medical (if you're in the Navy that is!) We all stock up on coca leaves and coca sweets to prepare for the swift accession in altitude that we are undertaking today. I get high after about an hour, look around and find that everyone else is sleeping whilst I'm wide awake and buzzing. Rest stop on the way to see the local pet llama (apparently called Basil), high on coca leaves. Some of us also get to get spiritual by the burial towers of Sillustani. (Check out the spiritual link!) "So if you hold your hands out in front of you for a minute you can feel the power of the place as your fingers tingle," or for cynics, "the tingling is the feeling of blood draining out of your arms at 12,000 feet." We get our first glimpse of the vastness that is Lake Titicaca as we come in on the road into Puno. Our room in Puno is on the 4th floor, has a low ceiling (great for Paul) and we can hear Debbie and Jerry arguing a lot downstairs as our window is above theirs! But hey, we have MTV! Jessica Simpson's "These Boots Are Made For Walking" certainly became our favourite video of the holiday! ;) |
| Days 4/5 - Lake Titicaca |
| We head off across the lake to visit the Uros Indians
on their floating reed islands. The usual suspects can't help but do
more shopping, even in a place like this! I buy a packet of innocent looking playing cards only to find that four of them are positively pornographic! The journey through the reeds reminds Philip of the old Bogart film "The African Queen". The journey is long and most people nod off into a coma lulled by the fumes coming out of the engine in the rear. But we are all still excited and just a little bit apprehensive as Amantani Island comes into view. Nervously I think, "What will it be like staying with a farming family????" We are split up into groups, each to stay with a single family. Paul, Colin and I are grouped together and shown into a long room with four beds. The beds are rock hard but clean. The local electrician appears to be of the usual Peruvian standard however, as wires hang out of the non-functional light socket in the room! Big bonus for us, however, is that we have a fully functional sink and flushing toilet (and one that we can put toilet paper down too!) Luxury!!!!! We are the envy of the group. Thank you Angel! Paul is suffering altitude sickness and I am just recovering so come dinner time, I half eat what is provided, Paul alternates between his bed and the toilet and Colin discovers that the omelette is over-laden with onions which he unfortunately doesn't like. So when the family are out of the room he cuts off half and stuffs it into his pocket; just about in time as his pocket's zip gets stuck as they come back into the room! He excuses himself later and hoists the omelette into what he hopes is oblivion. Unfortunately the omelette isn't very aerodynamic and gets stuck on the roof. It's pitch black, so there is no way of knowing how visible it'll be come day-break. We go to bed at half past seven and sleep for about nine hours. The beds creak so badly that we all get woken up whenever someone moves in bed but I actually get a very good night's sleep. We head off in the morning before Angel can discover the mysterious yellow object on his roof and after enjoying some 'Fanny' on our bread, thank Angel and his family who have been very kind to us, despite huge language barriers and Angel's acute deafness! We return to our fourth floor room in Puno (killer steps!) and have a good night out in town with some delicious food. (My mash was super!) |
| Day 6 - Enter The Sacred Valley Of The Incas |
| Another long bus journey to the Sacred Valley Of The
Incas but the hotel at the end seems to makes up for it. It's a
converted monastery. The shower in our bathroom has huge
stone stone pillars on either side and the hotel appears to be quite
posh. Unfortunately all is not well in paradise and the warning in my guide book that "service is erratic" is more than true. The place reminds us a bit of Faulty Towers as the two waiters try to wait on everyone arriving for dinner by serving the restaurant and bar (in another part of the hotel) at the same time! Philip gets stung with a bill for 600S before he has even ordered the first course and the waiter looks on incredulously as he tries to explain that he has only just arrived in the hotel! Colin, Paul and I head out looking for some night life but the promised 'student-vibe' of my guide book doesn't materialise and we head back early. The night sky is amazing! |
| Day 7 - Pisac & Ollantaytambo |
| The ruins at Pisac &
Ollantaytambo are amazing. A great
taster for what is to come at Machu Picchu. We also realise that uneven
steps are to become a big feature of this holiday. My calf muscles feel like they can take on the world after today. My knees, however, disagree. We also chill out a bit at Pisac market (more shopping for the usual crew) and most visit the Rainbow Centre, a school for children with special needs, down the road in Urubamba. The kids are a happy bunch and the teachers have great plans for the school. I enjoyed my visit and they are doing a great job in trying circumstances. We had mixed fortunes with our meal tonight but all looked forward eagerly to the next day's Inca trail to Machu Picchu! |
| Day 8 - The Inca Trail & Machu Picchu |
| After the momentary panic of thinking that the train
that we kept on crossing paths with on our bus journey down to the
station was ours had passed, we all packed into our carriage and in no
time arrived at the famous
Inca Trail. So how can you describe the Inca Trail? Lots of Inca steps (that means uneven) but with amazing scenery along the way. The going was tough and harder for some than others but we all felt a sense of achievement and satisfaction at having completed the trail. We started out in blazing sunshine (factor 30 sun cream to the rescue!) and finished off in cloud and drizzle. So, just like a UK Summer really! Trevor, with a dodgy stomach managed to 'have a spiritual moment' in front of a crowd of shocked Germans. "Well I asked them to move and they didn't!" and then got caught "doing the paperwork" as Mel and Val caught up with the group! Thankfully, no pictures of this! At the end we reached the Sun Gate and got our first glimpse of the wonder that is Machu Picchu. Well....for about 30 seconds anyway, before the clouds completely engulfed the vista before us. Thankfully it cleared up again a few minutes later so that everyone in the group could enjoy their first sight of the fabled Inca ruins. Cool! We were knackered by this time and walked through the site relatively quickly. Tomorrow would be the main event. In the evening Holger recommends a local dive where we get pitchers of beer for £2.50. However despite him insisting that the place will pick up after 10pm, we wait in vain. We manage to get him drunk! |
| Day 9 - Machu Picchu and Cuzco |
| We get brilliant weather for our morning tour of Machu
Picchu.
We all wonder about the strange noises we hear as we get taken around on our tour. Turns out it's a mass Llama orgy! Llama Loving! Pictures enclosed (Thanks Colin.) Holger gives us the option of climbing the mountain overlooking the site but only Steve & Colin are brave enough to do so. Paul and I enjoy a nice cold drink instead and stroll around the site at leisure. Somehow we manage to not find the Inca Bridge and are amused by the sight of extremely obese Americans huffing and puffing past us and stopping every few yards as we head back down to the coach. The train journey back seemed to go a lot quicker once we'd befriended a girl called Tracey from Toronto who was travelling around alone. She gave us a good recommendation for some places to eat in Cuzco and in return we managed to persuade a tipsy Holger to give her a lift into town. A dismayed Paul kicks himself afterwards for letting her vanish off into the sunset. The room we are allocated in the hotel is so short that Paul can't stand up straight in it! I get a bit annoyed and an excellent Holger gets us an upgrade to a four bedroom suite. The room is brilliant though in a slightly run-down way though it takes us about five minutes to get there as it's on the far end of the hotel. We even have a waiting room and once again, we have MTV! |
| Day 10 - Cuzco |
| Strange day for everyone. We all seem a bit fatigued as Holger shows us around the local ruins. Luckily they get better as we go along. The first, which was a pile of rocks with some flat bits where the Incas used to sit their mummies didn't really do it for me but the last called Sacsayhuaman was cool with huge stone blocks for its walls and a great view of Cuzco valley. Plus it sounds like "Sexy Woman." |
| Days 11/12 - Onto The Jungle |
| An early start and we fly down to Puerto Maldonado.
From here it's a three hour motor boat ride into the jungle and the
lodges in the Tambopata reserve. It rains a lot on the way (well, it is
a rain forest!) but the flora, fauna and jungle scenery is amazing.
It's absolutely swelteringly hot!. Though it's only 32C, the humidity is running at 100% We stop off on the way into the lodge to get our passports stamped at the reserve outpost. We find out that our two bedroom detached lodges actually share a roof with no full height dividing walls between us and our neighbours (Gill & Di.) Paul and I are really quiet and have to watch what we talk about as the walls may as well have ears :) Definitely no talk about Jessica Simpson ;) Paul revealed afterwards that he was constipated for the two days that we stayed here, which can only be a good thing for the other three of us in our lodge! We head off on our first night for a short walk into the jungle. We don't go far but we get to see all sorts of nocturnal creepy-crawlies including some Tarantulas and monkeys. Cool! Another walk the following morning results in me getting stung twice as I discover that whilst my Lynx deodorant has no effect on women, it definitely works with hornets! Paul and I decline the optional visit to a local plantation and sleep for most of afternoon. I set up home in the hammock outside our room and scoff loads of M&Ms that I had bought at Heathrow. (I only actually finished the packet a few days after I got back!) At night we head off down river to do some Caiman spotting. These alligator like reptiles are nocturnal and our guides use a single floodlight at the front of our boat to seek them out. We get a few cool pictures but I felt sorry for us having disturbed them in their natural habitat. "Bloody tourists" is probably what they were thinking :) |
| Day 13 - Back To Lima |
| We head back down river, though the journey now only
takes us an hour. Lots of us buy some tasty, locally grown Brazil nuts
(yes, in Peru!) and the flight back to Lima isn't too bad. We arrive
back late though. Thankfully the hotel has internet so Paul and I rush
to check in on-line for our flight the next day. We head out for a nice meal and then hit a local "Video Pub" for a few(!) drinks and a bit of dancing with the locals. Colin and I managed to pull a middle aged dwarf woman but funnily enough didn't really fight over who would get to dance with her! Gill gets drunk after one drink and everyone gets tipsy to varying degrees! On the way back we pass what looks like a gallery with a party going on inside. We walk straight on in with the bouncers letting us through and....well, this is where everything gets a bit hazy... We drink and dance and sing a lot and manage to make it back to the hotel somewhere around about 3am, though nobody is entirely sure of the time. During the night Paul swears that he walked out through our front door instead of into the bathroom and got locked out for 20 minutes and ended up peeing in a plant pot. The next morning I have no recollection of having let Paul in and there is no forensic evidence to suggest any of what Paul had thought happened actually really did! |
| Day 14 - From Lima to London |
| Today was free for us to wander around Lima (with it's
armed guards in every shop!) Mel and Val, no doubt did some more
shopping and Paul and I chilled out and had a nice (and very much
welcomed) greasy breakfast!
We say our goodbyes to the few who are off to other places and not heading back to London. We have a quick city tour in the afternoon and get to see that Lima is huge, has tons of traffic but loads of really interesting, though very spread out, colonial bits for tourists to explore. We see the hundreds of bones left in the city's catacombs along with the beautiful cathedral and convent. The flights back seem to take ages and unfortunately my seat is amongst a group of Italians who are either talking loudly to each other throughout the flight or else knocking into my chair as they congregate around it (it was next to the toilet.) Paul manages to fall asleep before the plane has even taken off from Bonaire. B**tard! I get about an hours sleep during the entire journey and only start to doze-off after the plane has landed at Heathrow and is taxiing to the terminal. Argh! I'm so tired when I get home that I manage to fall asleep for 12 hours! All in all despite insect bites, hornet stings and altitude sickness this was an absolutely brilliant holiday with lots of fun group members to make up for it all!!! Now I just need another few weeks to recover! |