The Inca Trail and Macchu Pichu

Hello from Lima, again. First bit of news is we are now going direct to Miami. It has worked out perfectly as our flight to Cancun (Mexico) has a connection at Miami so Quantas have allowed us to cancel the second leg of the journey and get off at Miami. They wanted to charge us 65 pounds each to do this which is ridiculous as they are the only airline who have not dropped the fees for re-routing, but they suddenly changed their mind as we were about to pay on the phone! So we are all very happy and will be in Miami on 1st May. One of Ashling´s Mum´s friends has a property in Miami and is letting us stay there for a few days while we sort our plans out and Mel´s parents are trying to arrange for us to use their time-share which will be luxurious and cheap if it works out!

Back to the more exciting stuff. I left off on the evening before our trip properly began. On Wednesday, we were taken on a tour of the sacred valley in Cusco. On the way up the mountain we stopped off at an animal sanctuary and saw lots of llamas, alpacas and condors. We then headed to our first Inca ruin. After a walk around the site, a local girl sung a traditional song for us and we we taken to a restaurant for a traditional buffet. We ended the day in the town of Ollyantambo where we went out for a meal as a group (there were 14 hikers in our group) before getting an early night ready for our first day of hiking.

The next morning, we were ready to leave at 8:00am, our guide Carlos met us at the hostel and we drove to km82, the start of the Inca Trail. It was extremely busy here with hundreds of porters bagging up all of the gear which they carry the entire trip. Our group was assigned 26 porters including the 2 chefs who each carry 20kg for the 42km hike. They walk ahead in order to set up lunch and camp so it takes them a fraction of the time despite carrying such a heavy load, it is very impressive. Here we also met Jacob and Roddy the two assistant guides. They are mainly there in case anyone needs to go back down the mountain if they get ill. We hiked for an hour or so before Carlos stopped us and spoke through the plan for the day. He also showed us how to chew our coca leaves in order to prevent altitude sickness. They don´t taste too great and give you a numb mouth, but seemed to do the job. After a couple more hours walking, we arrived at a small campsite where our porters had set up a tent for lunch and served us a 2 course meal. They have everything organised perfectly with fresh drinking water ready for us to fill our bottles and they even put out camping mats for those who want a siesta! We walked for another 2 hours in the afternoon (this is the easy day, to ease us in gently) before reaching our first camp site at approximately 3,000m asl. Our tents were all ready set up so we dropped our gear and were invited to play a football match against the porters. We walked up a steep path and found a football pitch in the mountains surrounded by donkeys and Inca ruins. It was very strange! The match only lasted a few minutes as it was first to two goals and the porters are extremely fit! We struggled to run around and were out of breath instantly! But we had a rematch which lasted a lot longer and they only got 1 goal past us! It was exhausting. While we were waiting for our evening meal, a local girl came and did all of the girls´hair in torch light. After another great meal, we settled down to sleep at about 8pm.

The second day of the hike is known as the difficult day as it takes you to 4,215m asl so you really do get out of breath when climbing the steep stairs. We woke up at 5am and were walking by 6. It was a really tough day walking but we were allowed to walk completely at our own pace, we were told the name of the site we would be stopping at for lunch and would meet the rest of the group there. The stone stairs are really uneven and in places are extremely steep so it does take a while to make progress. After a well deserved lunch, we began heading towards dead woman´s pass, the highest point on the Inca trail. It was an extremely hot and sunny day but as we got closer, we began walking into the clouds and it suddenly became grey and rainy. We had to stop every 10 minutes or so to catch our breath but when we made it there was a real sense of achievement. At the top we were joined by an Australian man, who must have been in his 70s, who was walking the entire trail with no shoes on. He said that his shoes rub too much on the top of his feet so decided bare foot would be better! It is called dead womans pass because the remains of a woman were found at the top, most likely a sacrifice by a pre-incan group to their gods. After a short break, we began the 400m descent down to our camp for the evening. We played cards for a few hours before food and then got to sleep again.

Saturday was the cultural day of the hike. We covered the most ground on this day and were told it would be easy, but parts of it were extremely steep and we had to go through a few caves on the way. It was the cultural day because we saw a lot of Incan ruins. At one of the largest ones, Carlos spoke to us all about the history of the Incas and what happened when the Spanish arrived. We didn't have breakfast straight away this morning as Carlos wanted us to get ahead of the other groups (about 150 other hikers are on the trail at one time) to get first in line for the showers at the final camp! We walked for about 7 hours on this day but it didn´t feel like it as we stopped lots to see different ruins and plants. When we arrived at the camp, we had a late lunch and then had a much deserved shower. We took another short walk to a really impressive ruin, Roddy took us to this one and explained best he could what the site was used for although his English is not very good! We spent the evening in a bar, well until 9pm, a late night for us and got into bed ready to be up at 4am to get to Macchu Pichu

We had to wait at the gate for an hour before we could start the 6km hike to Macchu Pichu. Half of our group went ahead and ran the whole thing in order to try and get tickets to climb another mountain at the site itself. We decided not to do this as it would have meant we wouldn't have time to explore the site. We walked for a couple of hours until we reached the sun gate just after sun rise. This is a smaller site that has a view down onto Macchu Pichu, however it was extremely cloudy, so Carlos decided to walk on straight to the site itself. As we got closer, the cloud began to thin and we could see Macchu Pichu appear, it was quite stunning. I had not realised how big the site was, it was the site for an entire community with areas for farming, living and holy sites. Carlos walked us round some of the key areas and spoke about the history some more, including the details of how Hiram Bingham discovered the site. We were then given a few hours to explore and take photos. On our way back up to the famous viewpoint, we saw a llama giving birth. At the top, we took lots of photos and I tried to fly my kite but it wasn´t quite windy enough so it just crashed a lot! We met up with the guys who climbed the mountain, they only just made it, and jumped on a bus that snakes down the mountain to a place called Aguas Callientes, famous for hot water springs. We had a bite to eat then got on the train back to Ollyantambo. After being served a snack and drink, the stewards put on a fashion show complete with traditional Peruvian dance in the aisles of the train. It was really strange, we were all laughing. We all slept really well that night, my legs were really sore.

On our return to Cusco, Carlos took us to a very nice restaurant where I tried Alpaca meat. It was really tasty and is meant to be very good for you. We spent the next couple of days exploring the city, I bought a couple of tshirts. At another restaurant, i tried a national delicacy of guinea pig which i regretted the next day! It tasted ok, quite an aromatic flavour, but it clearly didn't agree with me and I was up all night being sick! So yesterday I took it easy, in bed for quite a lot of it, and got myself better again. In the evening we went to see a show which had gymnasts, fire jugglers, dancers and people in scary costumes explaining a bit about Peruvian history. It was a really great show, with lots of audience interaction, luckily none of us got picked on, they had one guy running around the stage pretending to be a Bull! We are now in Lima again, we flew back down to sea level this morning and have spent the morning sorting our flights out. This evening we are going to relax and watch lots of films in the hostel!

Peru and Photos

Here are the photos from our time in San Pedro. They are mainly landscapes, I think the photos with me in them are on Ashling´s camera!

On our first day in Arica, we decided to walk into the town centre to explore. We didn´t take our hostel manager´s advice and walked which took about 1.5hours, had no idea we were so far out! We had a lazy nigth watching TV in the hostel with Neo the ginger cat who attacked everybody. The next day we spent on the beach (only a 20min walk this time!) and enjoyed the weather. I got in the sea but it smelt really really fishy so didn´t put up with it for long. That evening we were taken to a bar by the owner then came back to pack our bags ready for Peru.

We opted for a taxi to take us across the border and were spoilt for choice when we arrived at the bus terminal. There were cab drivers swarming us all shouting out their rates and offering to carry our bags, even when we picked a driver a few others ran behind telling us how bad his car is. It was a really short journey, taken through passport control extremly quickly and then we were in Peru. Our driver didn´t speak any English but he wanted to talk a lot. I was in the front next to him and with my trusty phrasebook we managed to have quite a good conversation about the history of Chile, sport and music. As Liam and Sara were getting a night bus to Lima, we dropped them off while the rest of us checked into to an extremely cheap hotel for the night.

Up early the next morning at 4 to get to the airport, a very short flight got us in Lima by 9:30 that morning and we checked straight into our hotel. This was included in our Inca trail ticket so it is much swankier than anything we have checked into so far, was great! We went out for a meal with a couple of the people we will be doing the treck with and had an early night. Another flight this morning from Lima to Cuzco, only an hour long. It is 3,500m above sea level here so altitude sickness can become a problem so we have been drinking lots of coca tea! Tomorrow we are doing a tour of the sacred valley before the actual Inca Trail begins on Thursday. We are all very excited, went out to the markets today to buy thick socks and gloves in preparation. Hopefully the next time I post an entry I will have the famous Macchu Pichu shot.

San Pedro De Atacama

We have spent the last 5 days in San Pedro which is in the Atacama desert, the most arid desert in the world. It is also 2,500ft above sea level. We arrived on Easter Sunday, the owner of the hostel picked us up from the bus station which was very helpful. The hostel itself is a small family run place 15 minutes out of town. Its a very relaxing place, if a bit dusty, with hammocks in the courtyard and amzing views of the desert and volcanoes from our doorstep. The main road in town is a dusty path but is made for tourists. There are lots of restaurants and cafes, tour companies and touristy shops (i bought myself a bobble hat, even though it is very hot here, im told its going to be needed at night during the inca trail). There isn´t a great deal to do in the town itself which is where the tour companies come in as they offer a variety of trips out onto the salt flat. On Monday we explored the town and visited the archeological museum. It was very small but taught us a bit more about the history of the area. There are a few indoor markets in the town off of the main square which we enjoyed walking around. We then did some shopping around looking for the best deals on tours, we settled with one company who booked us onto two trips, one to Salar de Atacama (the salt flat) itself and another to the Valle de la luna (Moon Valley). Tuesday was our first day drip to the salt flat but we first stopped off in a small oasis where there is a small river and fruit trees. After 2 days in the desert, it was extremely strange to see plants and water only 40mins drive away. We walked through a garden picking up fruit to eat along the way. We also saw carvings in the rock which are thought to be 3,000-5,000 years old. We then drove onto the salt flat to see flamingoes. It isn´t as white and pure as the flats in Bolivia, but it is a very strange environment. We were there for sunset which was amazing as the volcanoes and rocks in the distance turned a purpley colour. On Wednesday morning we lazed around in the hammocks reading and chatting and then got ready for our next tour to the Moon valley. Only me Ashling and Liam did this trip but it was great fun. We stopped off at at a few viewpoints to see huge empty spaces that looked like the surface of Mars. Our guide then took us to some salt caves, we had to squeeze through tiny spaces and climb up archways to get through them, it was a lot of fun. The final stop was at the moon valley itself to see the sunset. Yesterday was our last day in town as we had a night bus booked for the evening so we spent the day wandering the streets, and then sat in the plaza de armas (town square) for a few hours doing some more reading. It has been really great to just relax in one place and take it in at a gentle pace, it makes a change from jumping on buses every other day!

We arrived in Arica this morning at 7am and jumped in a taxi who took us to the hostel, as we had no idea where it was! We are very close to the border with Peru now and are working out our options to get us across the border, it looks like we will get a taxi or the train to take us to Tacna. We then have a flight booked to take us to Lima where we meet our group for the inca trail before flying to Cuzco on the 21st where it begins! We have worked out that in the next 2 weeks we will be taking 5 flights! Oh, and I now have my flight home booked for 1st August. I will upload photos when I next have my camera lead with me!

An Update from Antofagasta!

¡Hola! Sorry it has been a while, I wrote this entry yesterday and it deleted itself before I could publish it, have got lots to catch up on! Last saturday, Ashling woke up to a birthday easter egg hunt around our room (organised by Sara), opened her presents and then we all went down for breakfast where we brought out her birthday cake. They don´t do birthday cakes very well here so we built one out of donuts stacked on a plate with lots of candles in them. We spent the day at another lookout, on a hill with a castle built into it, and onto a park for a picnic. While we were sitting on the grass, one of the many street sellers came over to pester us for money and out of nowhere a big stray dog came running and barked aggressively at the man, making him run away a bit scared! The dog then decided he would fall asleep at my feet, and stayed with us for the rest of the afternoon. It was like we had our own guard dog as nobody approached us after that! We had tried to buy tickets for a musical that night but they were sold out, so we ended up in the cinema where we all fell asleep for a while! I blame the time travelling from New Zealand catching up on us!

The next morning we said goodbye to Pado and his Auntie (the one who makes the breakfast!) at our hostel and jumped on the metro towards the coach station. It was a short drive, only an hour and a half to Valparaiso on the coast. We didn´t have any accomodation booked here as the Internet was not coming up with many results, but as soon as we got off the coach, we were in another car being driven to the door of a great hostel in the Cerro Concepcion region, a district that Pado had recommended we stay in. Ashling, Mel and I headed out for a walk to see what was on offer and were immediately impressed with the place. Every corner we turned, there were people sitting on the cobbled paths sketching the landscape. It was easy to see why as the houses were all painted in different colours scattered across a number of hills. Even more impressive is the graffiti which Valpariasiso is famous for, a lot of which is stenciled work (like the stuff Banksy produces). Even the school children were getting involved as one morning we saw them outside their school painting the doors and walls with famous landmarks in the area. That evening we stayed in and watched films in the hostel and got an early night.

On Monday, all five of us went for a longer walk to other side of town. We found a pier and saw a few Seals in the ocean, swimming around and sunbathing. When it comes to lunch time in Chile, we have all become very found of empañadas which are like cornish pasties so we stop off for these very regularly. Our route back to the hostel was a bit more exciting that evening as rather than walking up the hill, we decided to hop in the elevator which is like a train track with small carts that run all day. It was very familiar as I had seen them in the film Motorcycle Diaries as Che Gevara uses one on his visit to Valaparaiso.

The next morning, we were back at the bus depot for our journey further up the coast to La Serena. We had been told it will get warmer the further North we travel and La Serena is a popular destination for Chileans to holiday as there are lots of beaches. We were expecting the journey to take about 5 hours but it ended up being more like 8, so was a long trip but the coaches are very comfortable and they play films to keep us all quiet. When we arrived in La Serena we decided to walk to the hostel as it is only a few km´s from the bus station but with our bags on our backs its not quite as fun. We dont do that often so I can´t really complain! The hostel is great, all built around a central courtyard with a sun terrace on the roof. It has been nice relaxing there, the breakfast is served in the courtyard in the mornings usually accompanied by a bit of Bob Marley in the background. The five of us headed into town and found a nice enough looking restaurant to spend the evening. I ate what seems to be a favourite dish in Chile of steak, eggs and chips. On Wednesday, we visited the archeological museum which had housed a few hidden treasures. In a cabinet hanging on the wall were two shrunken heads staring back at us, with their lips sewn together and lots of hair. They were quite freakish but there was little explanation about them, will have to find out more! Then in the main room they had a Moai on display from Easter Island. We were really pleased to see this as it costs a lot of money to get to Easter Island even from Chile! We explored the town visting a few outdoor markets and churches, this is another place where there are churches everywhere you turn, but they all look very different so not bored of them just yet! For dinner that night we did fajitas and thought we would have a go at making guacamole and it was really great, so we made it again the next night too. We spent Friday on the beach where my kite made another appearance. We went for a short run along the water and then walked back into town to get ready for our visit to the observatory. Only me and Ashling booked on the trip as Sara and Mel had already done stargazing in New Zealand, but I have to say ours was much better! It was quite a drive away and we didnt arrive until about 11pm where a enthusiastic astronomer met us for an english tour. He pointed out the major constelations, showed us different colour stars through the telescope and pointed out clusters. We then went into the observatory to the more powerful telescope and were able to see saturn complete with its rings, and then the moon (the photo was taken through the telescope). It was a 99.4% full moon that night so a lot of constellations were not visible due to it being so bright but it meant we got a great view of the moon! We got to ask lots of questions and really enjoyed the night eventually arriving back in our beds at about 2:30am.

As yesterday was Good Friday, everywhere was shut all day so we just wandered around and spent more time in the hostel and on the internet booking things for America. Ashling and I have booked ourselves into the Luxor hotel (the pyramid one) in Vegas for a few nights at the end of May which looks like great fun. We left La Serena in the evening and got on a night bus heading to Antofagasta which is where we arrived this morning! Booked into a hotel for the night as we leave in the morning for San Pedro. Had a great day walking by the harbour and saw a huge group of seals and turtles up really close. Just popped into a candlelight service in the local church as we will be on a bus tomorrow morning, it was packed out so we just stood at the entrance. Happy Easter!

Just a quick hello!

I am in an Internet cafe but the connection is painfully slow and we have lots of bookings to make, so just a quick message to say hello! We are in a place called La Serena now staying in a really nice hostel not far from the main square. When I have a faster connection I will update everyone with what we have been up to for the past few days and will upload some photos!

Hola!

Hello Everyone!
I just wanted to say a personal HELLO! everyone always sends their kind wishes to the both of us, its really nice to be included (as Jon does the whole blog hehe).
I had the most amazing birthday, (spoilt rotten) im having the most amazing time away.
Hope you are all well, thanks for Jon, he is very cool!
Lots of love Ashling
xxxxxxxxxxx

Santiago

Have had a couple of days in Santiago now and we are here for another night before heading to Valpariaso on Sunday. Yesterday we went on a walk and took a cable car ride up a mountain to a lookout. At the top is a huge open air church with an enormous white stone statue of Mary looking out over Santiago, which by the way is absolutely huge. It was a really nice day, with hot weather again even though it is Autumn here. We then found a restaurant in the Bellavista district and after decifering the menu had a great meal together.

Today we spent hours planning our route up to Peru, working out what there is to see on the way and how long we want to stay in places. We then headed to the bus office and managed to book the five of us onto five different buses all the way up to Arica (on the Chile/Peru border). Im picking up bits of the language quite quickly, enough to get by and am really enjoying learning it as I go. Our hostel is a big house with about 6 bedrooms so there are not many people here, and when we arrived the owners told us that it is our house now, so we are very comfortable. They all call me Juan and try to speak in Spanish to us as much as possible which is very helpful if not a little difficult still! Each morning we wake up and head to the dining room where a small Chilean woman treats us like restaurant diners bringing in fresh fruit salad, scrambled eggs, bread and hot drinks. Its quite a luxury!

Tomorrow is Ashling´s birthday so it should be a good day. We were trying to get tickets to a musical they have on but they are sold out so we may end up in the cinema instead! If the weather is good, we are going to go on a walk up to a different lookout and have a picnic.

Hola from Chile!

I have arrived in Chile! It was a 9.5hr flight leaving Auckland at 6pm, landing in Santiago at 12pm the same day, so Wednesday 1st of April has been an extremely long day! We said goodbye to all our kiwi bus friends at the airport as a lot of us were all leaving at the same time, one girl was actually on our flight to Santiago! We are booked into a very homely hostel, we are up chatting to the owners and watching tv as they test us on our spanish, it seems like we should get by fine with our limited vocabulary! We all fell asleep as soon as we arrived and woke up in time to watch the rest of the Chile v Uraguay football game, was a 0-0 draw though so not too exciting. We also sampled a Chilean hotdog smoothered in guacamole, very tasty and cheap! The currency is taking a bit of getting used to as 1pound gets us 800 chilean peso. We are going to stay here for a few days while we work out our route up to Peru.