Machu Picchu, The Jungle, Bolivia and lots more!!!

Apologies for the lateness of this update, we realise it has been a while. To compensate it is a whopper though so we hope you have a fair while to read it!
Also we do feel we need to make you all feel better about England´s weather (although snow sounds pretty good but not grey, grey, grey!). As much as we would love you to imagine we are always in blazing sunshine and warm, we are actually in the most mixed climate ever!!! At the moment it is pouring with rain but warm (like clockwork the rain seems to start at about 3pm in these warm places). However yesterday we biked down ´The World´s Most Dangerous Road´ which starts at the snow line (a height of more than 4000m which is the height of La Paz – the capital of Bolivia) and so was absolutely f-r-e-e-z-i-n-g (major hat and gloves weather – in fact we cannot believe how much we have worn our hat and gloves) to here, Coroico which is at 1300m and is near rainforest so warm!! All this change in climate over just a distance of 64km!! You can actually feel it as you cycle along. It really is amazing. (And I can´t help think would be great to have in England, when you are fed up of the cold you could drive 2 hours and thaw out for the weekend!!) Of course the difference here is that even at great altitude when the sun comes out it can be really hot and you get sunburnt easily too but as soon as that sun disappears – cold – all seasons in one day almost!!

Anyways whilst on the subject of the Dangerous Road, it is a narrow, dirt track curling around the side of the mountains with amazing views and was a main road until 3 months ago. Eventually it was decided that 90-100 people dying every year because buses and truck kept falling off it down the 500m drop, whilst trying to pass each other, was perhaps not the best?! The scary thing is that there seem to be a lot of similar roads to this in South America so you have to wonder if they have as high fatality numbers too?

So we are in Bolivia and have been for a week now. The first few days was spent in a town called Copacabana, a gorgeous hostel with views over Lake Titicaca, which has bright blue waters and is huge! Supposedly we were relaxing, but unfortunately the first couple of days there were absolutely freezing (hat, gloves and thermals definitely required inside the hostel as well (no heating here!)) so staying warm wore us out more! Luckily the next couple of days were lovely and hot and sunny. Phew. So we went to the Isla del Sol, a very pretty island before heading to La Paz the capital, where we survived 1.5 days before the traffic and people got too much so we escaped here!! We are in fact going back there tomorrow though and are going ´back to school´ for a couple of days to improve our Spanish. Should be interesting and we hope helpful!

However previous to entering Bolivia there was lots going on in Peru:

We survived the Inca Trail! In fact after all our worrying about how hard it would be, it was a walk in the park – well almost, the hundreds of downhill steps did your knees in a little!
And although the trail was pretty, we have been so spoilt with lovely scenery that it was nothing special and it felt a bit like we were on a conveyer belt, it was so busy! The 3rd day was the most disappointing though as that was the day we should have got fantastic views as we passed into Cloudforest for this day. However it decided to rain (pretty common for the cloud forest at this time of year). So unfortunately we could only imagine the views we were missing. Although at least we were reasonably dry with our waterproofs, and ponchos. Some people were absolutely drenched! (And the dangerous road goes through Cloud Forest too and was clear – yay, so we don´t feel as hard done by!)
However on the 4th day we reached Machu Picchu which was absolutely FANTASTIC and it did make all the walking worthwhile and even better was that although it started off cloudy by the afternoon it was blazing sunshine and so clear. The views were absolutely amazing so we were really lucky (alot of people had said it had been constantly cloudy when they were there). You could certainly see why it remained hidden for so long as it was so buried in Cloud Forest and miles from anywhere. An awesome sight. We would certainly recommend it!
On the photo you can see Wayni Picchu, the mountain overlooking Machu Picchu and we set off to climb it, not quite sure whether our legs would hold out! To be bitterly disappointed when we were told it was too late to start climbing (much to Mark´s relief I think. I had twisted his arm rather!) Instead we made do with finding wild chinchillas playing amongst the rocks and they were so cute!

Despite the visions of snakes and insects falling out of the trees onto our heads, and leeches attacking our feet, we survived and loved our first Jungle trip! An 8 day trip took us to Manu National Reserve near Cusco, Peru and we both agree that it was one of the highlights of the trip so far.
You know you are in virgin jungle when:

1) It takes a 10 hour van ride along a narrow dirt track that winds around the mountain edges (much like the worlds most dangerous road really) and a 6 hour boat journey just to get to the outskirts of the reserve!
2) You see Capybaras (huge guinea pigs (see photo), caimans, immense number of different types of birds, huge groups of all kinds of monkeys sitting or swinging through the trees (excellent), Giant Otters swimming, Turtles, Ants, ants and more ants – Leaf cutter, Army, and Bullet are absolutely everywhere!
One type of monkey – the Woolley monkey is quite aggressive and comes low in the trees, staring at you (they are so human looking – that is scary!) and shaking branches to try and get you out of their patch!

3) You are so excited that you may see a jaguar whilst on the boat but at night when it´s dark, you are oh so scared that one may pounce on your back! Especially when your guide tells you that if you did get lost in the jungle, you should sit with your back against a tree (make sure it isn´t the kind where when you touch it Fire Ants come out in their droves and bite you. Apparently you will last 5 minutes. Not good?!) Then rub leaves all over you ( make sure they aren´t poisonous too!) and place them on the ground in front of you. This is supposed to deter whatever it is that is after you!! I´d rather not test it personally!
4) You are awoken to the sound of a violent storm (the wind howling) and the sound of a huge gorilla???!! Thankfully you know that it is in fact the Red Howler Monkeys as otherwise you really would not leave your cabin! (and they look so cute and quiet in the flesh too – see photo)
5) You desperately need the toilet in the middle of the night and after fighting your way out of your mosquito net in a zombie like state, once outside the cabin your heart starts pounding and you decide that you don´t dare walk the 50 metres in the dark to the toilets, so decide to go there and then listening all the time for any sign of movement or the glint of eyes! Fantastic you think, you have made it safely back to bed, only then to find that a pesky mosquito has managed to follow you back into your net!! Aaahhh!
6) Suddenly you feel a cold thing on your shoulder, and you turn round to see a snake hanging from the tree. Just joking!! That didn´t actually happen at all but it´s what most people imagine! In reality the only snake we saw was a Fer-de-Lance that the lodge owner had come across the day before while he was going to the loo in the forest! They are very poisonous so he had killed it fortunately before it got him. In fact there seemed to be a pattern to this going to the loo thing. Our guide said the only time he has ever seen a Bushmaster another poisonous snake which chases you, was when he was doing the same. We were glad we only found this out on the last day! Otherwise the week could have been difficult?!
If you are ever in this situation yourselves, just remember, throw anything you have at the snake – hat, gloves, so that it bites them and not you! Hopefully not a much required piece of advice there!
7) Every evening you look forward to your lovely shower – well I´d like to say that but in reality it is freezing, which is kind of refreshing for about 2 seconds as its soo hot but then . . chhccchhh! Alternatively you could have another real wildlife experience like Mark did and share your shower with a lizard?

8) You feel totally inspired. The scenery is amazing, the rivers power immense. The animals are fantastic. You cannot help but feel moved and like you want to go out and do something that really matters! And also you cannot help but think how sad it is that habitats like this are being chopped down all over the world . . .

Sadly even just outside the reserve you could see the difference. This area is called the ´Cultural Zone´ and has small communities within it. Here the scenery was pretty much the same as in the reserve (logging is prohibited) but the absence of animals was so obvious, despite the fact that hunting is prohibited. We actually visited one community and they tried to sell us a necklace with Red Howler Monkey teeth on it. Need I say more? :o( It makes you realise just how much of an impact humans have on the world and just how necessary National Parks are. Although just imagine a world where everything was natural and the overhunting, overfishing and exploitation of resources didn`t happen at all . . .

So what else . . .
We also visited Colca Canyon – supposedly the deepest canyon in the world and a little disappointing as it was covered in cloud so we couldn´t see a thing! We did see a couple of condors though.
And lastly we went on a tour of Lake Titicaca from the Peru side, which involved visiting some floating reed islands that communities actually live on and also staying with a Peruvian family on the Island of Amantani. This was particularly fascinating as we had lunch, dinner and breakfast cooked by them (lots of freshly grown veg) and a strange Ammonia drink, stayed in their house - different and also went to a dance in their traditional dress. Bet you can´t spot the South American?!

One last thing, confession time, we did finally decide to try guinea pig as it is everywhere here and was part of a buffet (therefore we didn´t request it specially cooked - makes us feel better!). However neither of us liked it, it was very fatty and had a strong taste, so Karen and Lisa and all the pet guinea pigs of the past, we hope you forgive us?!!
Until next time. Adios

Cordillera Blanca, Temples and Flights

Well as we are busy acclimatizing to dizzy heights again in Cuzco, ready for the 3 day walk along the Inca Trail to Machu Picchu on Saturday, it seems a perfect opportunity to let you all know what we have been up to. And it has been indeed been a manic 1.5 weeks. We have covered thousands of miles (2/3rds of Peru!), culminating with a 14 hour bus ride here last night. Fortunately we decided to treat ourselves to the ´luxury´ seats this time after having done 2 other night buses and feeling like zombies the next day. And we think the extra space was worthwhile. However despite our section only having 8 people in it, one had to be a chronic snorer. Even during the films this morning he was still asleep merrily snoring away and driving everyone else insane! The trials and tribulations of traveling eh? Are you feeling sympathy?!! ;o)

Other than long bus journeys though we have fitted in plenty of sightseeing – seen some of the famous temples – the Moche Pyramids – Temple of the Sun and the Moon (a bit like the Egyptian Pyramids (photo above)), Chan Chan and another temple called Tucume. A lot of them looked rather liked heaps of rubble from the outside to be honest. But inside, where excavations have been done, there were some fantastic carvings and paintings. I would say that my favourite was the Moche Pyramids and Mark´s was Chan Chan.

Also visited a few North Peruvian towns and were initially sure that everyone was being suspiciously friendly and chatty. They were also very keen to shake our hands. However in fact they just do seem to be friendlier people than the Ecuadorians and sincerely interested in chatting to us. Especially the little kiddies who get well excited to be saying Hello in English. How sweet!
Also visited Lima – the capital city which we had heard bad reports about and so thought we would not like. However we were pleasantly surprised. It had a lovely square and quite a few very pretty buildings. Miraflores the tourist area was nice and we did a tour which took us very high up to look over the city. There were a lot of Shanty Towns but they very intriguing. The only thing not to like about Lima was somehow I picked up a bug/food poisoning etc which I am hurriedly trying to shift as I don’t think it´ll help much on Saturday! Oh dear! Feeling better today though so fingers crossed.

Yesterday we were in Nasca doing an early morning flight to see the Nasca Lines - drawings of a huge monkey, spider, dog, etc in the middle of the desert. Don´t know whether you´ve heard of it? Was very interesting.
But the highlight of the last week or so was the 4 days we spend in a town called Huaraz (pronounced Awaz!) located in the Cordillera Blanca, a huge mountain range that has over 50 mountains of greater height than 5700m and the highest tropical mountain in the world, Hauscaran at 6800m. It was absolutely fantastic. We did a walk through a gorgeous valley in the Hauscaran National Park, up the mountains past waterfalls and streams, with huge snow tops towering above us until we finally reached Lagoon 69, a gorgeous bright blue lake, nestled beneath the snow topped mountain Piscan. It really was awe inspiring and oh such a relief to get there!! Hot hot hot!!
Then the next day we mountain biked down the Cordillera Negro mountain range, which is a slightly smaller range and runs parallel to the C. Blanca. Therefore we had fantastic views of the C.B and also of the Cordillera Huaylash – another huge range close by, which for those of you have seen the film or read the book ´Touching the Void´, is apparently where that took place.

So there you are, that´s us up to date and attempting to psyche ourselves ready for our huge hike/camping/possibly getting very wet (its rainy season) experience over the next few days. But hey we all love a challenge?!! It was rainy season in Huaraz too and yet it was gorgeous weather so fingers crossed. Then on our return from Machu Picchu we are looking into our first Amazon experience. Should be fun?! We saw lots of photos of all the gorgeous?! creepy crawlies we could possibly see today. Tarantulas, Coral Snakes, humungous caterpillars …. Yurkkk!
Remember you guys you are all very welcome to join us on route. We must have half persuaded you that there´s so much to see out there?!! Well until that last sentence anyway?!
So for now we will say ´Buenos Noches´or ´Good Night´

Hello from Peru!

Well here we are again. Have finally made it to a computer for an update and we have made progress with our travels too. As from yesterday we are in Peru! And a very clammy Peru it is too.

Since our last communication we have seen so many sights and have so many photos – again! Plus we have been very energetic too. Perhaps we will be okay climbing the Inca Trail yet?!

Our first adventure since the last update was to climb and bike down Cotopaxi which was absolutely fantastic but also freezing when you were near the top of the mountain. The walk to the refuge was really hard and as we were gasping for air and sliding back down in the ash, I was thankful that Mark had talked me out of climbing to the top (which would occur at midnight so not even the views to make up for the cold or energy consumption!) Fortunately when the cloud cleared we were able to see the snow and glazier at the top of the mountain which was amazing and made the effort well worth it. Then the cycle down which was fun to and Mark managed to crash into a rock and fly off his bike to land running! Apparently the acrobatics were most impressive a fellow cyclist said. (I missed them – shucks!)

We have also been exploring local markets which was most interesting. We went to an animal market where sheep, cows, goats, llamas etc were for sale, a guinea pig market (hard to stomach after having so many as pets but they were still alive at this point and oinking like they do!) and a couple of other normal markets too. The markets were all really colourful and Mark did well at making friends with the locals as per the photo!!

We have also seen loads of rural Ecuadorian countryside and are amazed at how much litter they chuck everywhere. Especially as they seem to live off the land so it’s hard to understand the use they have for so many plastic containers? We also cannot believe the size of the houses – tiny with little bare yards around them and no gardens and yet they do seem very content especially the babies who sit on their mothers back quietly even when she is busy digging the fields!

However they do have some really spectacular countryside (where there aren´t towns and hence litter!) As sampled near Vilcamba when we went on a 2 day horse tour up to the Podocarpus National Park (one of the last places the Spectacled bear is found). The ride was fantastic, right up into the mountains with no car access. We were riding on the edge of a steep drop along the river and the horses were so good. Thankfully! We then stayed in a little lodge up in the mountains. It was definitely one of the best things we have done so far this trip.

Several of the towns in Ecuador have turned out to be very interesting. Riobamba had a big carnival going on whilst we were there and it really did put English carnivals to shame. So many people were dancing and had fantastic costumes. Cuenca was Mark´s favourite town and had some pretty, old buildings. However my lasting memory of Cuenca (and maybe Mark´s too) was attempting to go to the Cahas National Park and getting all set up with our walking gear, then getting to the park but not knowing where to get off the bus, eventually asking the conductor who did not know where we were either and by this time being totally surrounded in fog so staying on the bus a while longer before finally jumping off the bus, waiting for 15 mins in the fog to then get on another bus to drive for an hour back to where we should have got off the bus (we think – still aren´t sure!) How confusing and very frustrating!

So anyways all in all, it has been an interesting time. With several ups and downs – the Devil´s Nose train ride being one of them (the railway that is on a vertical slope) and here we are now planning what to get up to in Peru. So far it has shown several differences from Ecuador but we will see soon enough so until next time, take care and have fun!

Cloud Forests, Equator, Galapagos and New Years Eve in Quito

Hi All. We hope you all had a fabulous Christmas and New Year?! For us it was very good although somewhat strange. You just can’t quite imagine its Christmas Day when you are sat in the blazing sunshine surrounded by blue sea and sea lions! (not to rub it in or anything!! ;o))
Anyway as you may have gathered we are back from the Galapagos and had a fantastic time but we have so much to update you on that we’d better start from the beginning!! Hope you don’t nod off? So where to start . .

Since we arrived in Quito almost 3 weeks ago (time flies!) we have visited a local market to see the way things are done out here and despite already having overflowing bags there was so much lovely stuff that a few bargains just had to be had! We’ve braved the local buses which are very cheap, about $2 for a 2 hour bus ride and most interesting too. Generally they have loud salsa music playing in them as they often do when you walk round the streets too. Ray and Caro you’d love it. You’d be boogying all the time!

We spent a relaxing couple of days in the Cloud Forests about 2 hours out of Quito just before we went to Galapagos. Our accommodation was a treehouse which was pretty cool and there were also hot pools too which were most relaxing too. We did dwell on you guys back home for a while you’ll be pleased to hear. And then breathed a sigh of relief that we are here!! :o) However you will be pleased to hear that we did have to get up for a 6 am birdwatching tour. (See its not all easy?!) Although it was worth it. Saw loads of very pretty birds – toucans, parrots, parakeets and hummingbirds (which are tiny and so cute, and fast!!) Also saw an Armidillo which unfortunately ran too fast and blurred.

The next day we went to Galapagos which was a long haul – 2 flights, 2 bus journeys and a ferry ride. When we finally arrived though we were so impressed. The boat was lovely, the sun shining, and the sea blue and it was warm 27C . (Quito was about 20C most of the time in the day). Our group were really nice (there were 16 of us) but the most surprising thing was just HOW close the animals would get to you. They were everywhere. Sealions lazing across the boats, pelicans all around, and Iguanas just laying in your path. It was amazing.
They really were not phased by our presence. During the week of sailing around 9 islands we had seen countless sea lions and giant tortoises, Iguanas – marine and Land, Flamingos, Blue-footed boobies (so cute and did a most amusing dance), Frigate Birds with huge inflating red chests, Galapagos Penguins (really cute too), Masked Boobies and many more birds. Plus did some fantastic snorkelling so saw sharks, Sea Turtles, Sting Rays, heaps of colourful fish and swam with Penguins and Sea Lions. For anyone who loves wildlife we would definitely recommend it. We were also lucky enough to have dolphins swim with the boat twice. They were so fast and had great fun racing the boat and leaping out of the water.
The crew were even nice enough to do a ‘half’ Christmas dinner on Christmas eve so we even had turkey and champagne to celebrate. It was great. As they say a once in the lifetime experience.

So here we are now back in Quito, having had a great New Years Eve yesterday. They have a great big street festival from about 12 midday that goes on until well after midnight. Fireworks are everwhere (a vast improvement on Paris last years lack of fireworks!) although you did fear for your head slightly! Then they burn puppets at midnight to start the year anew. The city did look at one point rather like a scene out of the film War of the Worlds!
Also we were able to spend New Year with Sophie and Jose who were on the Galap tour with us which worked out really well.

We are preparing to leave Quito tomorrow and hopefully doing mountain biking down the highest active volcano in the world, Cotopaxi. There are heaps of these volcanos all around here. They look amazing with loads of snow on the top.
We tried to climb a slightly smaller volcano that overlooks the city on Saturday.
There is a cable car that takes you part of the way up, from 2800m to 4100m. Then you can walk for 2.5 hours to get to the very top which is 4700m high. Not an easy feat considering the altitude sickness. We were doing really well and were within 30 mins of the top when the cloud decided to come in so you could barely see 5m in front of you. Not the best on the side of a mountain and certainly not ideal for seeing the views from the top?! It looked like it was going to hang around and did for 1.5 hours so we turned back. One day I’ll get to the top of a mountain!?!
So there you go. That’s the mega update. Hopefully things will continue as they have been. We did have one minor hiccup yesterday when I discovered that my walking trousers had not been returned from the laundrette. That was fun trying to explain to the staff?! They were eventually returned to me 3 hours later. It turns out from speaking to a tour operator that this often happens as the trousers can be sold on the black market for a large amount here and staff generally only earn about $6 a day.

Anyway take care all and Happy New Year 2007! Hopefully you will be able to view all the photos so far on kodakgallery.co.uk. very shortly. However they are taking a long time to download and we have to work out to invite everyone to view them too! Fingers crossed . .

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year All!

As it is rather late and we are flying to the Galapagos Islands early in the morning for a week, we just wanted to take this opportunity to wish you all a very Happy Christmas and New Year from us, the Blue Footed Boobies, the Giant Tortoises and all the other animals of the Galapagos Archipelo! Hope to fill you all in on the latest antics and interesting sitings at a more sensible time on our return and of course hear all your news too! All the best xxx

Hello Quito!

Hooray! We have arrived in one piece with all our stuff. A good start you might say and in style too as we got upgraded to business class. Definitely the life!?!
Quito seems a pleasant city - picturesque, set high in the mountains (2nd highest city in the world), 2800m in fact so we have been feeling the effects of altitude sickness. Everybody here seems pleasant and we have managed to get by on the little spanish we know. In fact the hardest challenge so far was to work out how to write this update as the website was all in spanish!
Fortunately despite me being the only blond haired person I have seen so far, nobody seems to have paid too much attention. Phew! We need to get a bit more of a tan though to really blend in?! We still have to deduce a way to discreetly and inconspicuously take photos as we haven´t seen one camera while we have been here. Any suggestions?! There are many very pretty squares and buildings that need to be remembered. Hopefully the hotel restaurant will come in pretty useful for that? That is tomorrows task. Then we will be heading to the cloud forests hopefully, so until next time take care and have fun . . .

Ready to go – well nearly! hmmm

Well the date has been set, the flights have been booked, our jabs have been done but the list of ‘must dos’ just doesn’t seem to get any shorter! And the house certainly doesn’t seem to be less full (not surprising really as we haven’t started packing yet?!) But as the saying goes, ‘It’ll be alright on the night’ (or should I say lunchtime, 12.15pm to be exact on Tuesday 12th December). We certainly hope so!