Bolivia

Bolivia:

La Paz: This was the first city we visited in Bolivia which we reached via a border crossing. I had to stay behind a little longer due to my South African passport but eventually a baffled looking official stamped by passport causing me to sigh with relief! Please note that South Africans need a visa for Bolivia. Our first view of La Paz was from a viewing point on the roadside at the top of a hill. It is a beautiful city which is sprawled out between the mountains at an altitude of 3660m! The city is a mixture of rich and poor and the buildings range from modern skyscrapers to mud buildings. All the streets are lined with the usual vendors selling fruit, vegetables, pastas, rice, pulses, herbs, llama clothing, empanadas (pastries stuffed with either meat, cheese or a sweet filling), fried chicken, boiled offal, deep fried intestines as well as some dishes which I can only guess at! They also sell a lot of meat which is displayed unrefridgerated on the sidewalks and also include all the bits of offal ranging from entrails, lungs, and liver to trotters, hoofs and snouts.

La Paz is also known for the Witches Market and the Black Market where they sell electronics at very reasonable prices. Adrian and I visited the Black Market as I wanted to buy a notebook and external hard drive and Adrian wanted to replace his Sony camera which got damaged by sand when we visited the desert in Haucachina. One thing that I’ve found interesting is that shops selling the same thing all seemed to be clustered together, so all the electronics shops were all bunched together on one street. We were there too early and after a long search we found a coffee kiosk/shack (together with probably another 50 others) in a local market. The kiosk was situated right next to the meat section and every now and then we would get a waft of offal. The coffee was strong, black and laced with about 4 spoons of sugar! On a sugar high we were able to successfully purchase our goods after visiting many shops and comparing prices. One thing that amazed me though was the lack of bartering – at most markets that is the norm but it seems that most prices in the Black Market were fixed.

The Witches Market was also an interesting place to visit. They sold all sorts of interesting things but the most bizarre is probably the dried llama, alpaca and pig foetuses! These are placed underneath a newly built house and will apparently give you good luck! There were also a few shops selling musical instruments and I managed to buy a classical guitar with case and two plectrums for 270 Bolivianos (after some haggling of course).

The Ghost Ride: One of the must do things in La Paz is cycling the infamous “world’s most dangerous road”. This road is built high up around the edge of a mountain and many vehicles have fallen off the cliff edges in the past. In recent years they have built a new road which took care of this problem although this road still retains its reputation as the world’s most dangerous road. The Ghost Ride is an alternative and much more exciting ride as most of the ride is done on single track! We also started higher and got to race over loose shale hills while wearing gloves, helmets, trousers and jackets. On quite a few occasions we had the option to either cycle down a very steep and tricky bit - those who weren’t brave enough could cycle round an easier section. We had great fun cycling down some of these sections – sometimes locking the back break to slow down! Most of our group wiped out at least once, including me! 

Myself and Adrian raced after our guide, sometimes going very fast. We also got to do a few jumps and cycle down stairways. Even when it started raining we battled on with big grins on our muddy faces. We finished our trip that day in a haunted castle where we had a well needed shower and late lunch. It was a great day and well worth it - even though some of us had scrapes and bruises!

Potosi: Known as the highest city in the world according to the Lonely Planet. Other than visiting the mines there is not a lot happening. A small group of us went to visit the mines which proved to be very entertaining. First of all we had to get dressed in khaki colored overalls complete with hard hats, battery packs and headlamps. On our way to the mines we stopped at the mining market where we bought gifts for the miners. This included cookies, coca leaves, cigarettes, ammonium nitrate, detonators, fuses and sticks of dynamite! I couldn’t believe that you can buy dynamite over the counter and I bought some for myself (only 20 Bolivianos, about 3 dollars!) to blow something up at a later date!

The mines are wrought with danger and the death toll is very high. There are many young boys (sometimes as young as 12) working in the mines. The miners work ridiculously long hours and to cope with the work they constantly chew coca leaves. To activate the properties of the leaves they add an alkaline which is either carbonate of soda or quinoa ash which is formed into a hard block. The leaves are then chewed into a ball which they keep in their cheeks. This numbs them and therefore they can work very long hours. The average life expectancy of a miner is only 40 to 50 years old. The miners that we saw didn’t even have any dust mask on!

We saw a few devils down in the mines which the miners erected and give offerings to for good luck. The offerings include things like coca leaves, alcohol and cigarettes. For good luck the girls in our group had to touch the penis of the devil and make a wish! Afterwards we climbed up some narrow passages to reach the top and that is also where our guide showed us how to prepare the dynamite which she then blew up. The blast was massive and we all jumped when it went off causing many blurry photos! The mines were great definitely worth the visit and an eye opener, especially being able to buy dynamite over the counter for next to nothing! Other than visiting the mines, Potosi hasn’t got that much to offer – even the restaurants that we visited were very average.

Uyuni:  This was a very weird town with not a lot happening. The only things there are small market stalls and many pizza restaurants. The only thing to do is to visit the Salar  - the largest salt flats in the world covering an area of 12 000 sq km! We stayed in a hotel called Tonito which had their own pizza shop where we ate all the time. Their food was very good, especially their “death by chocolate” slices which were devoured very speedily by all the girls! Great was their disappointment when they ran out on the second night.

We went on a 2 day trip to visit the salt flats travelling in 4x4s. Our first stop was to see how the salt is harvested – the workers pile salt into mounds with shovels and they only get 10 Bolivianos for each pile so it is very hard work for very little money. The next stop was the “illegal salt hotel” which is completely built from hard blocks of salt. The only reason why this hotel is illegal is that they don’t want a village to spring up thus contaminating the salt flats. Once that hotel breaks down it would not be rebuild.

Our next stop was Fish Island where we hiked between the giant cacti and also stopped for a picnic lunch. On the way there our guide showed us a bus that crashed into island. It is a common problem for people to fall asleep or lose their way because of the long straight distances with very few landmarks! After lunch we had time to do our silly photo shoots on the salt flats themselves. Because of the vast area of the salt flats it is difficult to perceive distance and therefore you can create some brilliant photos with some objects up close and others further away. After about 2 hours of messing around with various props we drove to a very small deserted village where we stayed for the night.

The next morning we went to see the Chupati skeletons – they were very short hunter/gatherers who lived in caves and only came out at night because of the tremendous heat during the day. Carbon dating estimated that they lived about 1000BC! Apparently they all died because of starvation when the volcano erupted. Next we hiked up the volcano which was brilliant red and yellow in colour due to iron oxide and sulphur. Given the altitude, the hike was tough and some struggled to reach the top. After lunch in a little village at the base of the volcano we went to see the flamingos. There are 3 different types of flamingos (Argentinian, Chilean and Bolivian) – the Bolivian type being especially pink. We were given some more time to take some silly pictures having learned from our mistakes of the previous day and then we travelled back to Uyuni via a train cemetery which was a questionable stop as it was not very exciting at all.

Tupiza: From Uyuni we travelled to Tupiza via Potosi where we spent the night. That day it was Aoife’s birthday and because she is Irish most of us wore green. The roads were bad and we travelled mostly via dirt roads – playing cards were especially difficult with a shaking bus. The vegetation became more lush as we travelled out of the desert towards Argentina which was a nice change to the scenery. We had lunch in a dried river bed and some of our group had a shot of tequila to celebrate Aoife’s birthday. I had been like an impatient little boy waiting to blow up the dynamite I bought in Potosi and given the border crossing the next day I needed to use it!

Our lunch spot was a perfect place as there were no stray animals or other humans around. I picked a spot up on a hill away from the truck.  Adrian, my sidekick, helped with setting up the explosive by molding the dynamite into a ball for me while I connected the fuse to the detonator and crimped it into place. I had to twist the ends of the fuse between my fingers to fluff up the powder inside first. Next I stuck the detonator into the ball of dynamite and placed the ball on top of the ammonium nitrate. To secure it all I tied a knot around everything with the fuse line and hey presto! We were very quick to leg it down the hill in our flip flops greatly encouraged by the “psssssst” sound coming from the fuse! An eager entourage of fellow camera armed travelers waited for the big bang. The fuse took about 3 minutes to detonate the dynamite and the explosion was spectacular causing most of our group to jump! Please note that I DO NOT promote the use of dynamite – it is very dangerous and could prove fatal to not just yourself but others around you!

After our explosive lunch break we travelled onwards to Tupiza. We divided into groups to participate in a quiz that Mike had lovingly put together to entertain us all. I was in group No. 2 which was with Aoife the birthday girl, so we called ourselves the Shamrocks. It was only apt that we won that day being Aoefa’s birthday and we were all in good spirits when we reached Tupiza. That night we highjacked the roof terrace at our hostal and decorated it with balloons. There was also a cooler box filled with ice, beer and various bottles of strong liquor. Aoife made us each a little green shamrock to wear and Lynne and Steph had bought us all a little party hat. A set of iPod speakers supplied the music which caused most of our alcohol fuelled group to dance. We ordered takeaway (pizza and pasta) which we had on the roof. I left after that as I’ve had an irritating cold but the rest of the group partied on till late! I was kept awake by endless “woos” and drunken singing for quite some time – at least they had fun and Aoife had a brilliant birthday.

Complete photo album: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=301703&id=749927742&l=9c84c6d163

Southern Peru

Southern Peru:

From Lima we travelled south and stopped in a little town called Paracas. From there we took a boat and visited the Ballestas Islands to see thousands of nesting sea birds. The bird species included pelicans, sea gulls, penguins, Peruvian boobies and many more. There were also lots of sea lions draped over the rocks basking in the sun. With so many sea birds around there is an abundance of guano (bird poo) which is harvested every 7 years when the depth reaches about 2 metres! Also impressive was the Candelabra which is a large shape created in the side of a mountain  (almost like the Nazca lines). They are not sure about the origins but speculate that pirates might have used it back in the days.

Haucachina: This was definitely one of the highlights of our trip! We had an overnight trip into the desert and to get there we travelled on “souped-up” V8 dune buggies. The drivers really got our adrenaline pumping by racing up and down the sand dunes leaving our stomachs behind in many scattered locations! Following our nerve wrenching dune buggy ride we got to have a go on sand boards sliding down the dunes head first. This was also lots of fun even for Max and Gillian who tumbled down the sand dunes in an array of sand, arms and legs!

After doing the sand boarding we drove to one of the highest sand dunes to watch the sunset which was really cool. From there we drove in the dark to our camping spot for the evening. We had a lot to look forward to as a BBQ was prepared for us along with unlimited pisco sours which we all took to like alcoholics which we were that night! While one of the dune buggies blared out dance music we all gorged ourselves on the food and washed it all down with copious amounts of pisco sours. That night we also celebrated Hazel’s birthday and made her down a few shots which caused her to dance for hours on end! Most of us had way too many pisco sours to drink that night – even Gillian who passed out with all of her clothes on…The next day was a long and bitter one especially for Lindsay who exclaimed that “these god damned birds should be shot” when we stood next to a noisy bird cage.

Nazca: This proved to be one of the biggest disappointments for me during my trip so far. Not because the Nazca lines weren’t worth seeing but because I never got to see them. Two weeks before 4 British tourists died when an aircraft crashed. The day that we wanted to go there was an investigation by the civil aviation authority and no planes flew.  I was really gutted that we couldn’t see the mysterious Nazca lines. That night we camped just outside Nazca at a spot which had a swimming pool which we took advantage of as it was fairly hot.

The next day we travelled further south and visited the  Chauchilla mummies. These were discovered after some grave robbers robbed the graves and left the mummies behind. Many of the mummies had long dreadlocks and were wrapped in blankets. These people were quite advanced with surgery as some of the sculls showed round marks from where holes were ground after head traumas caused in battle. Right next to that cemetery stood towering the highest sand dune in the world!

From there we travelled along a very windy coastal road to Puerto Inka where we set up camp for the night. Puerta Inka is situated in a bay next to the sea and was a very scenic spot.  I had a very expensive fishing trip with Eddy as a huge wave crashed over the rock we were standing on, taking with it my small tackle box - my complete supply of swivels, crimps, hooks and many more! The BBQ and beers on the beach later that evening at least lifted my spirits a bit. We also discovered a very random disco and partied hard till we got kicked out. Eddy slept that night in a hammock on the beach. There were two parrots in a cage near the restaurant who kept on wolf whistling and saying “ola chicas!” to anyone passing by. Also ever present were the red headed Peruvian vultures who sat perched on the football goal posts.

Arequipa: Also known as the “3-for-one-mojito city” by most of our group. Eight of us managed to book a trip ourselves for Colca Canyon for the next day. We had to get up at 2:45am to leave at 3:00am! We stopped in a little town called Chivay for breakfast and from there moved onward to see the massive condors soaring above the Colca canyon. These birds are massive and have a wing span of up to 3 meters! Gillian’s zoom lens proved very handy to get some close-ups of them.

After seeing the condors we descended down the canyon – a total of 1,100 metres downwards in a zig-zag pattern. It was fairly hard on our knees and also very hot that day. We had lunch in a nice green spot at the bottom of the canyon. Lunch that afternoon was an alpaca stir fry with chips, rice and a salad. From there we trekked onwards huffing and puffing due to the thin air and we were all very glad to reach our destination for the evening which was a green oasis with reed huts and a swimming pool.

The next morning we were up again very early and started walking at 5:30. Gillian, Lindsay and Hannah were too lazy to walk up the canyon and each tortured a poor mule by sitting on them all the way to the top. I raced the mules and managed to get to the top before them by a good 4 minutes! While at the bottom I gave a random dog a biscuit who then loyally followed me all the way to the top. His loyalty eventually shifted and he left my side when another tourist gave him some food. That day there was a local election going on and all the locals swarmed to the main square. Most of the local women were wearing their colorful dresses and iconic hats. Many of them constantly spinning yarn with a long wooden top.

From Cabanaconde we travelled to the hot springs in Chivay. The water there was very warm and it was nice to soak our aching muscles after the hard hike in Colca Canyon. A cold beer perfectly accompanied the thermal water that day.  On returning to Arequipa we discovered that poor Siobhan had stepped on a tent peg during the night and had damaged her foot, a little worrying for her given the Inca trail was to start in just a few days.

Cusco: Cusco, although a bit touristy, is my favorite city so far in South America. I always felt safe and the cobbled streets had a lot of charm - especially with all the little stalls selling colorful alpaca and llama items. There are also many markets – one which we stumbled across was a locals’ market which sold various cuts of animal offal - including cow’s snouts and bulls testicals! The food stalls were situated right next to the offal stalls and with the cheap prices we gave it a miss. Another market we visited was called Mercado Molino. This was another huge locals’ market selling clothing, electronics, musical instruments, food and interesting cuts of meat. I bought a really cheap fake North Face fleece from the market.

We started the Lares Trek from Cusco which is an alternative to the Inca Trail. We chose the Lares Trek because 500 people hike the Inca Trail each day so it was going to be too crowded for our liking. We also got to interact with the locals on our Lares hike. The first day of the Lares Trek was another early start - we left at 4:00 in the morning. Our first stop was a market in the small town of Pisac where we bought bread which we were going to give to the kids along our hike. From there we travelled up a very bad road through the mountains and stopped to see the Ancasmarca ruins. These were used back in the Inca times for storing corn, potatoes, weapons and armour.

We had breakfast in the small town of Lares that morning and from there we were dropped off at our starting point at the foot of the mountains at an altitude of 2,850m. Our bags were left next to the bus ready to be loaded onto mules. The hike itself was fairly easy going up a gradual slope and we quickly found ourselves in a small village where kids materialized from every nook and cranny to receive their free bread roll. It was nice seeing their faces light up every time we handed over a piece of bread! All of the women we saw were dressed in their local dresses and most either spinning yarn or weaving colorful ponchos. Otherwise a fair few random pigs and dogs decorated the green mountainous landscape. We also saw the ever present herds of llamas and alpacas roaming around the mountain slopes. At one point we visited a local family in their small mud house. They had a whole family of guinea pigs living underneath their bed and chunks of smoked alpaca meat were stuffed in the ceiling. We hiked a total of 11km on the first day.

All our meals were prepared by a chef in a tent which they erected in record time each mealtime. We were served a lot of tasty hearty soups. We slept in tents that evening at an altitude of 4,200m in a place called Sondor. It got very cold that evening and I woke on my birthday morning to snow capped mountains as it had snowed during the night and it was the first time that the 20 October was a white one for me! The day was made even more special when our chef somehow managed to scrape together a home-baked birthday cake for me! Local tradition states that I had to take a bite of my birthday cake which left me with a white icing moustage! It was quite decadent having cake for breakfast and we were all in good spirits as we tackled Pumawanka Pass (4,600m) which was the highest point of our trip.

It started raining towards the top of the mountain and we all donned in our waterproof gear. Adrian bought me a can of oxygen as a joke for my birthday and we both raced up the mountain while wheezing and franticly inhaling my oxygen. Gillian bought me a hip flask filled with Jack Daniels whisky which I brought out at the top of the pass for celebration even though it was only 9:00 in the morning! After taking some pictures we headed downwards where we saw the scenic Laguna Aruraycocha nestled in the mountains. Along the rest of our route we saw many more locals and handed out a lot more bread which brightened up the kids faces. After our descent that day we camped on a grass field next to a stream on our last night. We travelled 17km on our second day.

The third day was our last and we only had 8km to walk. We hiked up a mountain to reach the ruins of Pumamarca. These ruins were fairly intact and pretty impressive to see. Our guide showed us how the Incas used to have up to three storey buildings as well as store rooms on the outside. They distributed food during hard times to all families. From there we travelled to Ollantaytambo where we boarded a train to Aguas Calientes where we stayed for the night. We got there early afternoon and had ample time to visit the hot water springs to soak our tired muscles and have many cold beers.

The next morning we were up at 3:45 to get into the early morning queue for our bus to Machupicchu. They only allow the first 400 people to hike up the Huanapicchu mountain and we were lucky enough to get tickets. Soon we were rewarded by the magnificent view over the iconic ruins of Machupicchu. Seeing these ruins were one of the highlights of our trip and the view from mountain overlooking Machupicchu was beautiful. I can definitely recommend this trip to anyone visiting South America!

We took a train back to Ollantaytambo and from there a bus all the way back to Cusco. The next morning we hired two motorbikes and travelled along the Sacred Valley. I had a 650cc with Gillian on the back and Adrian had a 400cc with Sally on the back. It was great fun zipping along the roads! Our first stop was at an animal sanctuary where we saw pumas, an Andean cat, parrots and three massive condors. We got to go into the same cage as the condors and we were amazed as just how big these birds are! From there we visited the salt flats in Salinas and then the circular ruins of Moray. It was a really nice day racing along with the bikes! I felt a little sorry for another guy who also rented a motorbike and wiped out. He sat at the rental place with a bleeding knee and grazed elbows.

Puno: From Cusco we travelled to our next destination, Puno which is right next to Lake Titicaca. The next morning we got picked up at our hotels by bicycle taxis which took us down to the lakeside. We bought food there for the local families which we were going to visit that evening and boarded a boat which took us to the Uros Islands. These are floating reed islands which are constructed on top of a floating mud/root base. The islanders then lay layers of reeds in criss-cross patterns across the floating base for added stability. The islands then get anchored by long stakes that are driven into the lake bottom to stop the islands from getting swept away by strong winds!

The islands are an absolute tourist trap but actually lots of fun when you just go with the flow. All the huts are constructed with reeds and cooking is done on clay ovens suspended above the reed floor. As pets some of them kept herons, flamingoes and cormorants. Our guide told me that the locals drink the blood of cormorants as they believe that it heals cirrhosis of the liver caused by alcohol abuse. One of the local women showed us her hut and was then quick to show us all her llama and alpaca souvenirs which were of course for sale. After a quick walk around the island we were taken on their reed boat for a row around the island. The local women were all colorfully clad and shouted “hasta la vista baby” as we left on the boat! Some of them even sang “row row row your boat” as we left – cheesy but fun!

From the floating islands we travelled to meet our hosts for the evening on another island called Amantani. Our host was a very friendly man with a very difficult name which we struggled to remember – we think it was Segondino. His house was situated high on the slopes of the mountain and we were huffing and puffing when we got to his house due to the high altitude. The houses are constructed with mud bricks which are then plastered over with a mixture of mud and hay. Our abode was more than I expected and we had comfortable beds, plastered walls and even electricity which was supplied by solar power and batteries. We were served a late lunch of quinoa and vegetable soup followed by rice, ocra potatoes and finally delicious fried cheese (something like hallumi cheese).

That afternoon we got to play football with the locals. I had a stomach bug and had to support my team from the side. Afterwards most of our group climbed the mountain while I stayed with Aoefa who sprained her ankle, (an air guitar stunt gone wrong…) in the local bar where we had some hot chocolate. Afterwards we went “home” for dinner and then we got dressed up in the local dress for an evening of partying. The girls looked great with their flaring red skirts, flowery blouses, large colorful belts and shawls. All us men got dressed up in ponchos and woolie hats. There were many locals there and we had a great time dancing with them and running around in circles! That night we slept like babies as the only sound on the island was the occasional neighing of a donkey.

The next morning we travelled back to Puno via an island called Taquile. This island is known for their brilliant weavers as well as an iconic arch. We had a lovely lunch there of soup, bread, fried trout, rice, chips and salad. The South Americans sure love their starch! The view from the restaurant was very nice and reminded me slightly of the Greek Islands. Back  in Puno we were in luck as there was a carnival and the streets were alive with groups of dancers each followed by their own band comprising of drums, flutes, pan flutes, trumpets, symbols and whistles. Each group also had their own theme and some were dressed as giant apes, witches, prostitutes and many more. There was a great buzz and the atmosphere was brilliant! So it was on a high note that we spent our last evening in Peru as the next day we were crossing the border into Bolivia.

Complete photo albums:


Part 1: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=298520&id=749927742&l=09dde78cfd
Part 2: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=298536&id=749927742&l=20ad246cee
Part 3: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=298644&id=749927742&l=430f580868

Northern Peru

Northern Peru:

Driving over the border from Ecuador into Peru was almost like flicking a switch and changing the landscape. Windswept desert with scruffy looking vultures with red and black heads was all we could see for miles and miles! Every now and then a little village would materialize. Most of the houses are incomplete with steel reinforcing bars decorating the skyline in a tangled mess. Bamboo and woven palm leaves are another common material that they use for construction.  Many of the walls are covered in crushed glass to ward off intruders where as some of the roofs are constructed with reeds which are then covered with mud . Most of the people in Peru are very poor and it makes you appreciate what you’ve got especially when you see old people toiling in the fields or carrying heavy loads.

In the more rural villages the houses are constructed with mud bricks that the locals make by casting mud and straw in a mould and baking in the sun to dry. Tethered donkeys, pigs, sheep, cows, llamas, alpacas and goats graze around in a circle with ropes attached to either their horns or legs. Most of the women still wear traditional dress and look beautiful with their brightly coloured dresses, flowery blouses, shawls, leggings, pumps and large black hats.  As we drove along I saw quite a few random dogs and tricycles covered with plastic canvass decorated with their own designs which could be anything from flames to evil eyes and cartoons.

Mancora: This was our first stop in Peru and we stayed in a hostel called Loki. It was a nice hostel and had a swimming pool, bar, cocktail bar and also served tasty cheap food. The beaches are alive with ghost crabs and the skies with soaring frigate birds. In our hotel the mixed bunch of bikini and board short clad travellers were easily swayed into participating in the drinking games organized by the staff. If you think that you will have a nice quiet night’s sleep then you’d be very wrong! The drinking games, karaoke, crab racing etc. went on till late! Mancora offers a few activities like surfing lessons, kite surfing and fishing. Most of our group went for surfing lessons where as I went fishing with one of the locals for a couple of hours. While fishing I was lucky enough to see a large sea lion as well as whales jumping out of the water. The fishing wasn’t very good though and we mostly caught small fish that weren’t even enough for a BBQ.

Back in Loki Hostel we spent our time lazing in hammocks, playing pool or table tennis while sipping cold beers or cocktails. On our second day we had a fish BBQ which went down a treat. During the day the hotel had a few competitions to keep us entertained like pool volley ball, tug of war, pool bombing, hanging and extreme Frisbee. Our team was called the Brahma Boys (Adrian, Sally, Matt, Paul and I) which was the name of the local beer and overall we won most of the competitions with Sally breaking a new girls hanging record!

On our way to Huanchaco we visited a museum in Lambayeque which is called the Royal Tombs of Sipan. Most of the tombs have unfortunately been raided by grave robbers but luckily they found some artifacts and one complete tomb intact which is on display in this museum. It was very interesting seeing all their jewelery and artifacts which were made out of gold, copper and turquoise. When one of the kings died he was buried with many other people including a few llamas added in for good measure!

Huanchaco: This was another seaside town where we set up camp in a backpackers. We reached this city after 10 hours of driving from Mancora. The little fishing boats decorated the beachfront and are very iconic in this region – reed boats which taper to pointed ends. These little boats date back to the Inca times! We only had one full day in Huanchaco and we spent that day visiting the Chan Chan Temple as well as the Temple of the Moon. These are ruins made from plastered mud bricks and decorated with many friezes of fish, waves and sea life. The Moche people also painted the heads of their gods on walls in black, yellow, red and white. Our guide told us how human sacrifice was common practice and the blood was collected and offered to their leader after. It was interesting to see that in modern days the people use the exact same way of building as were used back in the days of the Moche!

Huaraz: The town is situated between mountains – a few of them snow-capped and the highest of them being Huascaran which is also the highest mountain in Peru! Huaraz sits at an altitude of 3100m which was a huge difference as we came from the sea that same day. We stayed in Joe’s Backpackers and the few soles we paid extra was well worth the upgrade to rooms as it got very cold there in the evenings. We had two full days in Huaraz and went mountain biking the first day. It was about an hour’s drive up a very bad road in the mountains and from there we rode our mountain bikes down the snaking road. Some places we had to dodge animals while dogs chased after us while cycling through some villages! The kids were cute and a few times they ran towards us shouting “Hola gringos!”

The next day our whole group went hiking up to Laguna 69 which is high up in Huascaran National Park. The drive there was about two hours with lots of shaking going through potholes and dirt roads. On our way we passed two turquoise lakes which were situated in a valley with steep, sheer cliffs on either side. Our bus dropped us off at the side of the road from where we started our 16km hike up the mountain. The hike up was pretty hard as oxygen gets less and less the higher we climbed. On our way up we saw many waterfalls – some of them falling down a high mountain and disappearing in a fine mist. Some of our group struggled with altitude sickness and there were a few bad headaches, nausea and vomiting although the view that greeted us when we saw Laguna 69 was worth every effort! The lagoon had a vivid ice-blue/turquoise colour with a waterfall at the far end. High above the lagoon were ice-covered peaks and below there were glaciers. It was a beautiful view and we were all stunned into silence while we ate our lunch and soaked up the scenery.

Driving to and fro from our hike to Laguna 69 was like gambling with your life! It felt like our minibus was on the wrong side of the road most of the time while the driver was constantly dodging potholes and stray animals. Our driver also overtook other vehicles on bends and many times he had to break hard and move back in behind the leading vehicle to avoid collision! The bad road conditions were pretty much on par with the driving abilities of many of the people! Another constant is honking cars - I’ve always wondered about the philosophy of people who honk their horns all the time. Do they really think that they can somehow honk the leading car or an obvious traffic jam out of the way!?

We had some bad news on our last night: Miguel was going to quit as our tour guide due to personal reasons. Even though he was still slightly inexperienced, he was a nice bloke and we didn’t want him to leave but unfortunately his mind was made up. The good news however was that Max, Scoota’s friend, was going to be our new leader. We met him before at Mancora and found him to be a very nice guy with a good sense of humour so we were all looking forward spending the rest of our trip with him.

Lima: Lima was our next stop after about 10 hours drive. About a third of Peru’s population lives in Lima so it is a very large city. The buildings ranges from old mud buildings to modern skyscrapers. The streets are yet again lined with vendors selling fruit, sweets and cakes, grilled meats, flowers, etc. Many Peruvians from the country still flock to Lima to settle in mud huts on the sandy slopes on the outskirts of the city. These houses apparently don’t have any sanitation and it would not be a nice place to live!

We had a total of 3 days in Lima. On one of these days Peru was playing Costa Rica in a football match which we went to go and see. Vendors were selling football shirts outside the stadium for 10soles which is the equivalent of 2 pounds so needless to say many of us bought one for the game. The game itself was great fun especially when the whole crowd chanted what sounded like “hari cheetah”, which means dickhead, to the beat of a very loud drum every time the ref made a bad decision according to the angry mob. Peru won 2-0 that day so most of the spectators were in a good mood.

Another place we visited was the Catacombs which is where all the Franciscan monks through the centuries lived – there are still monks living there today. Tens of thousands of people’s bones are buried underneath in the Catacombs and some of the crypts are filled to a depth of about 10 metres with human bones! Other than that there were some impressive paintings and also an old library which had some very old books. The wood carvings in the main church were also very impressive.   

Two new big changes took place in Lima: Our new crew joined us and Trevor our truck broke down and had to be fixed. Luckily there was a spare Tucan truck in Lima and we were given Frank which is bigger than even Trevor! Eddie, a crazy Geordie, was going to be our new driver while Scoota got Trevor got fixed. Our new crew consisted out of 12 people – 2 boys and 10 girls!  

Our new crew:

Mike: An absolute lunatic with a great sense of humour! He has the metabolism of an ostrich and is known to be able to consume abnormal quantities of cake that would kill a lesser human being! It was great seeing him glide down the sand dunes with a look on his face which looked like a mixture of pure exhilaration and constipation! He lost all credibility and man points when he identified in record time the Little Mermaid's theme tune when we had a movie music quiz on the truck. Most of us still can't take him seriously after that...

Aoife: She puts forth a pure and innocent façade which quickly disappears when alcohol is involved. When this happens she turns into a party animal who dances on any flat surface possible which includes tables, bar counters, chairs, walls and ceilings! She is the first person ever that can be everywhere on the dance floor at the same time in a flurry of arms, legs and hair. Aoife is a true soldier who kept on dancing even after injuring herself - a great girl and lots of fun!

Alex: A fairly quiet individual who likes to stare out of the window a lot with his cool Arnold-Schwarzenegger-as-the-Terminator stare. When he is not staring down the flora and fauna he is usually engrossed in some sort of book. He is always immaculately dressed in loafers, V-neck jumpers, tailored shorts and his iconic Driza Bone raincoat. A very friendly chap who we will miss as he was only with us for 3 weeks.

Chrissy:  If there are two words to describe her it would be ‘petite’ and ‘sweet’. A permanent smile usually decorates her face. She found out the hard way that 3-for-1 Mojitos comes at a price – she tried calling people like Geeeeeorge and Raaaaalph later on that evening! Chrissy also found herself at the very top of the Machu Picchu’s Mosquitoes’ Menu when she forgot to spray herself with insect repellent! I was shocked to the core when she boldly touched Satan's penis for good luck when we visited the mines!

Shabana: She found out to her cost in Huacachina, that sand dune photography can be a very expensive hobby! On our trip to the Ballestas Islands she got thoroughly soaked when a wave crashed over the boat. Things can only get better for her…What does make her happy however is spending hours and hours on the internet! 

Melissa: A bit of an introvert as a person but an absolute extrovert when it comes to snapping away on her digital camera! I’m not sure where she bought her memory card but it must be something like a 100 Terra Byte card! She also likes to daydream and we sometimes lose her for hours on end when she switches off and stares into nothingness. On the Lares Trek her tent collapsed on top of her during the night and on the last morning she woke with the biggest puffy eyes that I've ever seen! She wore her sunglasses for most of the day...

Andrea: She is a big All Blacks supporter and even has their tattoo on her foot! She got badly sunburned on our Lares Trek and we felt sorry for her with her little puffy red ears and hands which looked like little red boxing gloves.

Caz: She takes over the dance floor with a pair of wild eyes after a few cocktails! She confided in me one morning and confessed that she wants a penis. I let it rest with that…

Hazel: She is somehow connected with the truck’s ignition system – as soon as it starts she always promptly falls asleep! We also discovered that she turns into a dance machine after a few Pisco sours. She is also known as the early morning plastic bag faffer and at times has the biggest owl eyes tan that I’ve ever seen! She should not be messed with though as she has a 10m long pet snake who I suspect get fed off ex boyfriends and any others that cross her path…

Siobhan: A very friendly Irish lass with a constant sparkle in her navy blue eyes. She discovered that hammers were made for a reason and that hitting in tent pegs with her foot is not a good idea. She is also known as a forward planner who books her piece of cake well in advance so as to avoid disappointment while she is sitting between her sad, sobbing chocolate depraved friends.

Steph: Also known as princess Fiona with her husband Shrek (played by Lynne). She is known to participate in the consumption in any form of alcoholic beverages and becomes alive on the dance floor - her Peter Crouch robot dance is especially entertaining to watch! Pink is definitely her favourite colour and her toenails usually blend in perfectly with her sandals. Her very sweet and innocent aura sometimes gets questioned by some unexpected cutting remarks...

Lynne: An almost typical Irish lass – friendly, fair skinned, red hair and of course very partial to any form of alcoholic beverage! I’ve heard via the grapevine that she loves goats cheese and is one day going to have her own goat farm. She usually doesn't say much but can be ruthless when playing cards. 

Max: aka Maximus Ridiculous is the leader of our small Spartan clan. Max likes to fall off things a lot – these includes mountain bikes and sand boards. Otherwise he is happiest swaying in a hammock with a beer and a book, wearing his sex hat. Known for his very witty remarks and less witty preference of clothing especially when wearing his "Captain Snippy Trousers".


Complete photo album: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=298407&id=749927742&l=5aab229828