Yes... we have been slacking with our blog but we are stranded for a few days waiting to leave London, which gives us the perfect opportunity to let you know what we’ve been doing for the past few months.....We got to Peru still grieving for Argentina so the first few days was hard to adjust. Especially because we were staying in an area called Miraflores in Lima (this place could be anywhere in the world; very touristy, full of fast food franchises and everyone speaks English ie Boring). Miraflores gives a whole new dimension to touting. It’s like a scene from Fear and Loathing Las Vegas where everyone jumps out at you from nowhere trying to sell you venues that you don’t want to visit...scary!!
Infrastructure is good, the city is very well maintained. Judging by the big malls on most street corners, this place must generate alot of money.
We have decided that anywhere with a Starbucks cafe .....(and McDonalds, BurgerKing, KFC, PizzaHut..) is lacking what we are looking for.
We decided to head for the mountains as soon as possible. We caught the bus (www.cruzdelsur.com.pe) towards Cusco. The trip from Lima to Cusco takes 24hrs. Not the most fun ride ever (15 hrs of windy roads tends to cause a domino effect vomit session...) , but with the right amount of sleeping pills you should wake up fresh as a daisy on the other side. Wish we knew that before....
 Cusco,Peru |
| Cusco is at an altitude of 3300mtrs and boy do you feel it when you arrive. We had trouble breathing and walking short distances for the first few days. The local remedy for this is fresh coca leaves either chewed-which is bitter-or in a tea. Our hostel (http://www.flyingdogperu.com/) had ample supply of coca leaves luckily because I (Mo) was sick THE WHOLE TIME. I guess I don’t have the genes that adjust to altitude. So in the week before the Inca Trail our preparation and acclimatizing consisted of getting thru the 200 DVD’s our hostel had. We had a plan as well...don’t leave the couch so other people can’t come and pick DVD’s. Then we made alliances with our friend Chris from Washington. Ace guy!!!! |
All this time watching DVDs wasn’t in vain , we did find the best movie ever made in Argentina : academy award winning - “Los Secretos de sus Ojos”(The Secret in their Eyes), we watched it 5 times and need to own it.
Supermarket shopping is not that cheap in Cusco so we opted to eat out most days, it’s cheaper and so yummy. Whether it’s an upmarket restaurant or a corner shop, all the food we came across was delicious and fresh.
You must not leave Peru without trying their traditional dish the Ceviche. We have had it before, but never as good as this...
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| Right to left - Carmen our Adopted Peruvian mother, her son Carlos and our DVD mate Chris!! Our first night we stumbled into the first (i.e. closest to our hostel) restaurant we found. The Fat Duck is run by a woman named Carmen and her two sons Carlos and Danny. It’s pretty much like eating at your mum’s house. We instantly made friends with Carmen and visited daily to exchange language English/Spanish lessons! We have found a surrogate mother, sibling or father everywhere we’ve been so far which is so awesome!! Especially when you are sick... |
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| PISAQ AND ITS ARTISAN MARKETS |
Then the day arrived...the 3rd March. We were up at 5am all packed with our hiking kit, shoes, rain gear, compass, beanies and excitement. Our guide Jorge came to get us and we went to meet the bus. Our tour was small, just Clare, Bianca (our new friend) and Mo. The bus took us to the starting point which is a check point on the raging Urubamba River (marked KM 82). After 2 hours of messing around and waiting – we had no porters or something- we got our passports stamped and started hiking...YAY!!
By the time we headed off the rain had set in nicely making the ground muddy. We walked for about 5 hours to our first camp site where we joined up with another group. Dinner was served and we all went to bed by 9pm...big day tomorrow.
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| THE MACHU PICCHU INKA TRAIL TEAM!!! |
We were up early again ready for action; sleep was ok for a tent. After a little pep talk we marched off to conquer Dead Woman’s Pass which sits at 4200mtrs. This was by far the hardest thing I have EVER done! It took us 9 hours...in the brochure it says 3.5/4 hours. BOLLOCKS!! We had to walk up a mountain...no joke!! The trail was at a 45 deg angle, it was cold, raining and hard to breathe cause of the altitude. I had to have some oxygen half way (more for the buzz than anythingJ). But when you get to the top its far from over....you have to walk down 3000 steps of all different shapes and sizes. When we finally arrived at the camp site our whole group was chilling & playing poker...the look on their faces when we arrived was priceless.
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| TOP OF DEAD WOMAN'S PASS (ABSOLUTELY EXHAUSTED) |
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| WET AND COLD BUT ALWAYS FED WELL! |
Day 3 consisted of a thank you coca leaf ritual to Pachamama- mother earth, and walking a long way but up no more mountains, then down 2000 stairs to where there were hot showers and a BAR...thank god. Our final meal was very grand....chicken legs, pizza slice, pasta salad, rice, soup and no dessert. You should have seen what the other groups ate....this is what happens when you go with a cheaper tour!?!
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| EVERY ITEM OF CLOTHING ON TO KEEP WARM IN OUR TENTS |
The 4th day of the Inca trail is a very important one. This day is more of a race between all the groups on the trail. Everyone wants to be the first one at the Sungate. So basically we were told to wake up at 3 am. Get ready and packed and to be at the last checkpoint before it opened at 5am. We were the first at the checkpoint and were determined to be the first at the Sungate. Mo and I were doing so well until we hit the steep bits... Bianca took one for the team and got there first J
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| READY TO RUN TO THE FINISH LINE 5AM |
We got to the Sungate at 7.30, completely drenched, drained and almost defeated. It was hard to appreciate the beauty of Machu Picchu after those four days, not only because of what we went through physically but we saw a whole different side of the trail; One we weren’t expecting....the porters.
The porters on the trail carry an average of 25-30kg each on their backs; they have to get to all the sites before us so they have time to set up camp, then they cook and clean with such pride you wouldn’t know they’ve done the same trip as we did. For me it dampened the trip a bit. I mean fine, it’s their way of life , they earn good money and they are treated well for the most part, but it still felt like exploitation, and I felt a little ashamed to be a part of it.
Apart from that, Machu Picchu is absolutely breathtaking! The setting, the history behind it and the fact that’s it’s a mission to get there makes it more appealing.
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| WE MADE IT!!!! |
It wasn’t over yet though. We had a 2 hr tour around the ruins in which most information went into one ear and out the other. So picture 15 people all with head in our hands trying to keep our eyes open whilst being taught about the most important history of Peru. Will have to buy a book....
After that it was lunch and a long awaited train ride back to our hostel where we passed out till the next afternoon.
After meeting some great people in Cusco we said we’d be in La Paz, Bolivia at a hostel called Loki, with a haphazard plan to meet up, then BAM!!!! We had a crew.
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