Monthly Archive for August, 2009

Aug
31

Adventure down the mines

afteralongday.jpg
After being in Potosi for a couple of days visiting the lovely architecture, I decided to book on a tour to the mines, and where better than Potosi, where the number one attraction is the mine. I have never been to a mine before, so for me this was something really exciting. And after strolling around town I soon found the company that suited me and booked the tour for the afternoon.

When our tour began at 14:00 I was joined by two Bolivian girls, we took a short taxi ride to the “miners market” in town, together with our Spanish speaking guide. There was a selection of gifts that we could have chosen from, this is customary for tour groups to bring for the miners. This included dynamite and Coca Leaves. No worries there, we went for the safest option. Just in case we blew ourselves up before we got there! So we each bought a bag of coca leaves and large bottles of soft drinks for gifts. After buying our gifts and slipping into our finest mining gear of rubber boots, rain suits, helmets and a head-lamp we continued our tour to the Co-Operativa mine. This started with a walk through a tunnel that looked more like going into a black abyss. There were rail tracks below our feet, these were being used for the trolley’s to dump their loads outside, along with mud and puddles, there was also some wooden supports around us, some air compressor lines loosely strung above our head, and the air was thick and humid and there were drops of water/acid coming from everywhere. The actual tunnel was so low and cramped with cables, wooden gates that I had to keep a crouched walk for the entire tour as I kept bagging my head most of the time, not that I am that tall but these mines are built for Bolivians and they are not the tallest of people!
Continue reading ‘Adventure down the mines’

Published
by
sandyD
on Aug 31 2009
in Bolivia and Potosi
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Aug
28

Drinking with the old boys of Potosi

To escape the incessant cold I decided to go our for a drink. Sandra wanted to stay by the heater as she had a tiring day down the mines. So looking for a pub I stumbled across a non-descript bar with no name. I walked in and ordered a beer. At first the bar girl brought me a 2 liter bottle of beer and on seeing my surprise soon took it away and brought me a much smaller bottle of just the 1 liter! Beers meant for sharing here you see… I wasn’t too sure what to make of the bar. It had a massive picture of The Beatles on the main wall, bright red fluffy fur on the remaining walls that were also covered by mirrors. The bar was very cold and all staff wore big puffer type winter jackets. The clientele seemed to be a right mixture from a few couples having a quiet drink to groups of young people sharing a beer. Wanting to move on I asked the staff if they could recommend me another bar close by. Maybe it was my Spanish but they found it hard to suggest anywhere that wasn’t a night club so I was taken outside and a small boy was called over and given instructions to take me up the road to another bar.

Feeling a tad awkward we set off up the hill, with me trying to make certain that there was indeed a bar at the top. Anyway after a while an old man, who had been following, suddenly intervened and after a very disjointed conversation took over from the boy, who he told to go away, back down the hill. I gave the boy a Boliviano for his trouble and said goodbye. Now feeling very awkward I was split between telling the old boy not to bother and also intrigued as to where we would end up.

Eventually we stumbled across, and entered, ‘Sociedad de 15 Mayo‘, basically a working mans drinking club. As we walked up to the bar, everyone to a tea were following us with there eyes with an air of bemusement. The old boy had straightened his posture and, I noted, was almost proudly showing me off! We took our place up at the bar and ordered 2 drinks of Bolivian pisco with some added lemon soda… not too dissimilar to a pisco sour and not bad for 1 Boliviano!

Soon there was quite a gathering as some curious locals had joined us at the bar. We were all talking, them asking me where I was from and they were eager to know what I thought of Bolivia. I told them I was from London in the UK and that I liked Bolivia very much to which they all cheered, shook my hand and ordered the barman to pour more pisco! I asked them about the local football team and this brought more cheers as they happily told me Potosi had a very good football team [Real Potosi], infact one of the best in Bolivia and someone added in South America; with this remark it was quite obviously the Pisco taking it’s toll!

After about an hour of drinking with these old boys I said my goodbyes and had to shake everyones hand in the bar before I could make it outside. Some of them even followed me to the door and waved after me, cheering and smiling. It was such an enjoyable yet strange night. I guess it could have gone so wrong but it turned into one of the most enjoyable nights out I’ve had in South America so far. And it’s just brought it home how friendly, welcoming and curious the Bolivians are to visitors of their country!

I stumbled along my way, back down the hill and into the old hostel. Sandra was asleep and it wasn’t long before I joined her…

Published
by
lion
on Aug 28 2009
in Bolivia and Potosi
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Aug
28

Journey across Bolivia

After departing La Paz we started on a journey that would take us through several towns including Oruro, the capital Sucre, Potosi an old mining town and eventually Uyuni, where we would take a tour through the Salar de Uyuni; the worlds largest salt flats.

So, our first stop was Oruro where we stayed overnight. It was a really cold and a fairly windy town. It was laid out in a large grid and within the center it was extremely busy with both people and traffic. The best thing about the town was a bakery we found that served up delicious cakes and hot chocolate!

We left Oruro the next day towards Sucre, the constitutional Capital of Bolivia. Being at a much lower altitude, 2700m, it was much warmer and as such we decided to stay put for a while. We found the lovely Pachamama Guest House and for around 100 Bolivianos we had a double ensuite room with ‘hot’ water (that really was hot!) and the use of a shared kitchen along with a rather nice grass covered court yard to relax in. The owners were really friendly and helpful.

Sucre was a lovely town to walk around in. It had an impressive market in the center where you could buy everything you needed from fresh fruit and veg, meat to kitchen utensils and appliances. On the upper floor was a selection of food stalls where you could eat a filling, tasty meal for around 10 Bolivianos. On the lower floor, around a court yard, there was loads of fruit juice sellers that would mix you up a healthy concoction of fruit. My favourite being the ‘Super Vitamino’ that literally had every fruit you could imagine in. What was good was that you didn’t just get a tall glass of fresh juice, but when you’d finished they refilled your glass with the remaining juice from the blender! I think these juice stalls where similar to our pubs. Everyone, of all ages, seemed to stop by at lunch and after work for a quick drink and a chat before heading on their way. Great invention!

At Pachmama we met a great couple from Austria, Claus and Ursula. They are also doing a round the world trip and started just before us in November. We had a couple of good nights in the kitchen exchanging travel stories and the different destinations we had all been to. Our ‘other’ list is growing all the time!

Eventually it was time to move on and we caught a bus to the old mining town of Potosi. Set at just over an altitude of 4000m it is one of the highest cities in the world and got very cold at night. We stayed at the Hostel Maria and the room was equipped with hot water, heating and some extremely thick blankets that were certainly very welcome at night! I spent most of the days walking around the city which I found quite interesting, in particular sitting in the Main square and doing a fair bit of people watching. Sandra went off to explore the mines, which I decided to steer clear of for fear of claustrophobia. Having read lots of blogs and reviews in travel books it seemed the best idea. They are very hazardous places to visit with extreme enclosed spaces. They are actually ‘working’ mines, so you get to meet the miners in action. Over to Sandra…

[...miners visit will appear here...]

Next up Sandra decided to go to Tupiza to do a bit of horse riding, while I decided to go straight to Uyuni for the salt flat tour. Now I really would have to use my ‘pigeon’ Spanish…!

Published
by
lion
on Aug 28 2009
in Bolivia, Potosi and Sucre
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Aug
23

Choro Trek

sandy-crossing-bridge.jpg
After few days of rest in La Paz, we decided to endure on another adventure. This time we chose the Choro Trek, a 3 dayer, starting from La Paz and ending in a small mountain top village called Corroico. We bumped into Karin, the German girl we met on the Salkantay/Machu Picchu trek and we decided to go together. It’s amazing the people you keep bumping into!

We left La Paz and drove, with our guide and his wife, for an hour and a half to La Cumbre where our trek started. This was the highest point of the trek at 4700m and it was all down hill from here. The air was thin and still and it was a beautiful, fresh day. We started our descent along a narrow mountain side path. This first part of the trek was across an extremely baron mountainous landscape which gradually eased into a bit of greenery as the descent evened out. By that stage though I was again suffering from ‘hobbly’ legs! I had twisted my knee after about 20 minutes and it got progressively worse. The path we were on had so many loose rocks, coupled with the steep descent, that it made hard work on the old knees and feet. The guide was getting a bit worried and he told of a guy on his last trek whose shoes had been too small so eventually his toes were bleeding and he couldn’t walk. He had to get a mule to carry him at a cost of 100GBP per day. Well, if anything was going to get me walking again it was that! I put some extra strapping on my knee, acquired an old boys walking stick at one of the gates within the reserve and hobbled on my way.

A full 7 hours later we arrived at the campsite. It was nestled in a valley and you had to cross a rickety old rope bridge to enter. It really was a beautiful spot. The guide gave me some ointment for my knee, similar to Tiger Balm so I covered my knees with that, along with some Deep Heat that we had ourselves. We all relaxed around the main table while the guide and his wife cooked us up some dinner.

Again we were really lucky with the group. Well to be honest it was just the three of us: myself, Sandra and Karin but another small group, a dutch couple, had joined us at the campsite and it made for an enjoyable night, swapping tales of where we’ve all traveled so far.

The next day my knee hadn’t really improved, but I covered it in more ointments, strapped it up and off we went for another 7/8 hours of trekking. The guide kept assuring me that today’s trek would be mainly flat with a ‘few’ ups and a ‘few’ downs, just like life, he said!. Now, these guides have a great sense of humour. As with the Salkantay trek it was all up and then down with rarely any flat bits! The ups for me were fine it was just the downs. We were now passing some really beautiful scenery. It had totally changed from the mountainous start. We were now in the jungle and the air was fairly humid. We were among the clouds and it created a mystical feel. This region is called The Yungas and it is the traditional region for coca crops. All along the hillsides you can see them.

After 8 hours we reached a campsite where we stopped but we were given an option to walk a further hour and stay at the next campsite, The Japanese garden, or just pitch up here. Now, I was kind of done, my knees were yelling at me that enough was enough. Sandy was pretty beat and though she probably wouldn’t admit it, Karen was nearly on the floor ;). So we set up camp and soon realised how really, really basic the site was. They didn’t even have a table! It had started to rain and it got quite muddy. So more lotion on the knees and another early night.

We awoke to a beautiful view of the jungle below. It was another gorgeous day, bright sunshine and blue skies. The light really accentuated the greens of the vegetation surrounding us. After breakie we were soon on our way again and for the first time since we started my knees felt like they were regaining their strength. The walk didn’t seem as arduous and after an hour of trekking we reached the Japanese Garden and realised what we could have had if only we had pushed ourselves a bit further. Easily said with hindsight! The campsite was set on an amazing mountain top, which included a separate eatery with tables aplenty covered by a roof. The camping area was surrounded by tropical plants and flowers, a true Japanese garden embraced in the Bolivian jungle. Rumour has it that the Japanese owner fled to the Bolivian jungle during the 2nd world war and set up the Japanese garden to make him feel at home. It now is a popular resting stop for the last night on the Choro trek. Again, if only we had gone that further hour…

It was a good mornings trek of around 4 hours and we finished up in a small village called Chairo. From here we got a mini-bus to Corroico, a small mountain top town. I felt like a new man as I was almost skipping at the end, that ointment from the guide must have done the trick! We stayed in Corroico for the night and got a bus (chapa/matatu/van!), along ‘The world most dangerous road‘ back to La Paz. Another wonderful adventure!

Published
by
lion
on Aug 23 2009
in Bolivia and La Paz
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Aug
16

Into the Amazon

The jet setter
From La Paz we decided to go for a trek into the amazon. I mean, no trip to South America would be complete without a sojourn into the Amazon right?? So we headed north to a small town called Rurrenabaque which is used as a base to enter the start of the Bolivian side of the Amazon. There were two ways to get there: a 20+ hour bus journey along ‘The Worlds most dangerous road‘ or a one hour flight… despite our budget we flew! And we flew in the smallest plane we had ever been in, a 16 seater that felt every bump of turbulence. I have to say it was a fantastic flight though, the scenery below was amazing and when we reached the start of the jungle it was stunning. I was a bit concerned when the plane started to bank to the right and dip low, seemingly into the trees below only for the short, dust track of a runway to appear just in time! Extraordinary flight. And there was only six of us on board! We picked up our bags and got a ride into Rurrenabaque to the ‘Oriental Hotel‘. - lovely chilled place with a row of hammocks outside our room. This scene best summed up the sleepy town!

The next morning we started our journey into the Amazon. We were both very excited but I was especially - it was also my birthday! There were loads of tours and companies to choose from but after dong a bit of research, although very expensive, we went with a company called Madidi Travel who were one of the originators in the creation of the Madidi National park & conservation area in this side of the Amazon. Also they were really conservationists, which is what we wanted and not just a tour operator interested in your money and profit only and unconcerned with the conservation and importance of sustaining the longevity of this unique eco system. We had booked the tour in La Paz before we arrived but we could have done so in Rurrenabaque itself.

Although called Madidi travel our tour would actually go to a different area called ‘Serere‘ and not into the Madidi national park. Serere was a relatively new venture by the Madidi travel organisation to create a true conservation area.

For more information about the organisation and their work visit their website here: http://www.ecobolivia.org/en/ .

I digress, on with the story… So we set off, on my birthday, in a small boat along the Beni river for what turned out to be a 3 hour journey until we alighted at the Serere conservation area. We hiked for around 30 minutes into the jungle to where we would be lodging. The whole set up was quite amazing. The central building was a 2 story structure, built from local wood and the walls were made up of mosquito netting! This would be the eating and meeting area. Next we went to our lodge where we would be sleeping for the next 2 nights. We couldnt believe it when we arrived. A big double bed in the middle, bathroom complete with flushing toilet and shower (amazing when you think of some of the places we’ve endured!) and storage space to hang our clothes. All this in the middle of a jungle!

So, on our first day as an introduction to the jungle, our guide had something relaxing for us to do. We jotted off on a small rowing boat, exploring the jungle fauna from the river. We saw lots of different birds, some cayman (similar to a crocodile, but smaller) and in particular lots of Serere birds - the bird that the park is named after. We ended our day with a gorgeous sunset and some ‘cold ones’ to celebrate Lionel’s birthday.

On the walk back to our lodge it was totally different in the dark, on our own and with no guide. We found that we were walking a lot closer together and noticeably quicker than earlier in the day. The talk of the evening had consisted of puma sightings and other stories related to local wild life that by the time we reached the lodge we were practically running! Once we got into our cabin and shut the door we felt relatively safer until we blew out the candles. Then, with the sound of the jungle at it’s height we started to imagine all sorts of wild beasts just outside the lodge. Convinced that the puma had somehow got inside, we, hiding behind our pillows and feeling somehow protected under the mosquito net, slowly turned on our torch to nervously inspect the lodge. After about 10 minutes, convinced we were puma free and safe from any other wild beasts we tried to be big and brave and go back to sleep, as we had an early start in the morning.

Having survived the night we awoke nice and early at 07:30am and kicked the day off with a nice fresh fruit breakie. We went for a trek into the jungle to see Cappuccino monkeys, Howler monkeys (very loud and fierce sounding) and the vast flora and fauna of this amazing conservation area. We returned back to the base around 5 hours later covered in all sorts of jungle muck and sweat. We went back to our ‘5 star lodge’ and had a nice cold shower followed by a nice long nap for some of us (Lionel), while others continued to explore the jungle (Sandy).

After lunch we went piranha fishing, we didn’t catch any, and on our return we were greeted by one excited worker who kept pointing towards the main hall. Confused at first, we soon got wind of it that there was a big Anaconda that had come to visit us! Indeed it had, lying across the entrance there was the biggest snake that either of us had seen in the flesh. Amazing to see these creatures free and in the wild. After about half an hour, the Anaconda moved slowly on it’s way and we excitedly entered the hall and got ready for dinner.

The next day we went for another trek in the morning before heading back to Rurrenabaque by boat. What an amazing couple of days, We reflected on it all over a nice fish stew and a bottle of Concepcion, one of the better makes of Bolivian wine.

Next it was back to La Paz for a few days before going off on another trek!

Published
by
lion
on Aug 16 2009
in Bolivia and The Amazon
. Closed
 
Aug
10

Bolivia and electric showers!

We made our way into Bolivia via Copacabana where we stayed for 2 nights to celebrate yet another independence day; liberation from the Spanish again! It really was becoming a habit of ours. We should rename the whole trip to The Wedding & Independence day celebration tour!

We quite liked Copacabana but were a tad disappointed as a lot of people had talked it up to us, so that when we arrived it wasn’t exactly what we had imagined. But it certainly was a very friendly and a lively little town. It lies on the famous Lake Titicaca, the highest (3800m above sea level) navigable lake in the world (so we were told?). We didn’t make the trip to the Sun & Moon Islands (Isla del Sol y Isla de la Luna) which on reflection we kind of wish we had as they are supposed to be wonderful. But then after the floating islands we were a little ‘islanded out’!

Next up we took a bus to La Paz, which we were looking forward to. We arrived about 6pm and from the main center we walked roughly 20 minutes to a hostel we had chosen called Residential Sucre on Plaza de San Pedro. This hostel was opposite the famous San Pedro prison which we heard you could visit. It’s run by the prisoners themselves and is quite unique. Unfortunately we soon found out that tourists could no longer visit the prison. Something to do with the amount of actual buying and selling of drugs that was going on, apparently there was quite a system in place, that they eventually closed the gates.

The hostel was nice, quite old but with a lovely feel about it. There was a slight problem with the showers though. We thought something was up when we saw the plastic tape wrapped around the shower taps, but it wasn’t until after the third minor electric shock that we realised why! When we mentioned this to the owner he looked surprised and said we were the first people, in 30 years, to complain! He suggested we should wear Havaianas (flip-flops) and we would be fine - Welcome to Bolivia…!!

After exploring La Paz for a couple of days we booked up to go into the Amazon at Rurrenabaque. Not looking forward to a 20+ hour bus journey we decided to take a flight of 1 hour! Though not cheap it sure was going to save on time, and on our rumps! Plus the thought of getting a bus on ‘The Worlds most dangerous road’ wasn’t really that appealing.

Next up: The Amazon…

Published
by
lion
on Aug 10 2009
in Bolivia and La Paz
. 0 Comments
 
Aug
06

Taquile

It was a 3 hour boat journey from Amantani to Taquile. When we arrived we had to hike up the hill for about 30 minutes to reach the center and the islanders were out in force in the main square, celebrating yet another festival! This involved a lot of singing and traditional dancing. There was around 30 people dressed up in traditional dress and they would trot around in a circle playing wooden wind pipes while a drummer in the middle kept the rhythm. The song was very melodic and monotonous and went on for ages. When they eventually stopped they stood around while some guy distributed a case of beer to everyone, except us of course!

Next our guide took us to a restaurant and explained all about the Aymara culture, about the different types of hats the men wore which would signal their status on the island: whether they were married, single or actively seeking a lady! Also he explained how important the coca leaf was within the culture. It’s used as a status sign; only married men were allowed to wear a pouch with the leaves, as a gift at any time, but especially during ceremonies, and as a healing agent. Very useful plant!

As we weren’t actually hungry after the talk, we both took a stroll back down the island to the port and took in the sights while the rest of the group had some lunch. After we went back to Puno and explored there for the rest of the day. Tomorrow we would make our way into Bolivia, via the Copa, Copacabana…

Published
by
lion
on Aug 6 2009
in Peru and Puno
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Aug
06

The floating islands of Peru

After spending wonderful few days in Cusco we decided to embark on another adventure on the Peruvian land, this time to the infamous lake Titicaca islands. W left Cusco on a night bus and arrived in Puno at 05:00 upon arrival at the station we where greeted by our tour guide who took us straight to the hotel where we allowed t get couple of hours kip. Initially they tried to charge us 25 soles for the room but we said we were happy to rest on the sofa. Minutes later the manager of the hotel come in and offered us the room for free which we took with no questions asked.

We left at 09:00am to start the tour and got on a boat to the islands. First stop was one of several floating Islands in the Urus. The Uros are a group around 70 man-made islands floating in Lake Titicaca. The islands are quite amazing in their design. They are made from Totora reeds, which grows in abundance in Lake Titicaca and the Islanders use for pretty much everything, from the bed of the island itself to their huts, for fuel and even a source of food! The islands are anchored to stop them floating away, unless of course they don’t like their neighbours in which case they up-anchor and float away!

Basically all the islands are the same and are definitely geared towards tourists parting with their money on all sorts of tat, from hand-made model reed boats to rides on their actual reed boats. What was funny was when we got back on our boat to leave, all the women on the island stood in a line singing ‘Row, row, row your boat’ in about 4 different languages for us while waving us goodbye, we couldn’t stop laughing for ages!

Next up was a 3 hour journey to the Island of Amantani, where we were to stay the night with a ‘host’ family. When we arrived it seemed all the village was out to greet us. We gathered around and were assigned a family. We got Sabina and her family. She was a very sweet lady with 4 kids. All the woman on the Island wear the traditional dress of a bowler hat and what appears to be a very heavy layered skirt along with a shirt and cardigan. Most of the peoples on these islands are of Aymara origin.

Sabina showed us the way to our “new” home. When we arrived she first introduced us to the kids and then showed us our new room where we made ourselves comfortable while waiting for our lunch. Lunch was ready an hour after our arrival. This consisted of quinoa soup, boiled potatoes that looked like wobbly carrots in shape and pan-fried goats cheese. Potatoes are very hot in Peru, as they have over 1000 varieties and our dinner only consisted of 5 different kinds! Straight after we finished our last potato Sabina brought us Moonha (phonetically spelt) tea which was similar to mint tea but with a hint of perfume at the end.

Next she unraveled a blanked full of hand-made knitted hats and gloves. She said each one took 2 weeks to knit and went on to explain a lot of the unique designs, which were inspired from island life. At first we thought she might be offering us a gift to take home, as she did actually say ‘choose a gift to take home‘ but only after we chose what we would like we realised that we had to pay! Very cheeky really but we ended up buying 2 hats from her! Pressure sales always work on us!!

After lunch we had a little snooze before exploring the island. We hiked to a peak where a stone monument to ‘Pachamama’ lay (Mother Earth) and from here you colies on the worls mostuld see on the adjacent peak a stone monument to ‘Pachatata’ (Father Earth). From both peaks there were amazing views across the island, which was extremely rugged but very beautiful. You have to remember that this island lies on the worlds highest navigable lake, at an altitude of 3800m, and therefore any physical exertion, such as hiking, was quite hard to accomplish. You’d have thought we’d be used to the high altitude by now and although we suffered no ‘altitude sickness’ we still found walking and trekking quite tough on the old lungs!

Later, when we made it back to our home we had supper, which consisted of more quinoa soup, another selection of potatoes all washed down with some more Moonha tea. After supper we were supposed to join the islanders for a night of ‘tourist’ entertainment of dancing, singing and dressing up in ‘traditional’ clothes. We were both so knackered after the whole day, plus it was absolutely freezing outside, that we decided to have an early night. I think we both saw a sigh of relief from Sabina and her son, who would have had to walk us to the hall in complete darkness!

Covered in about 8 blankets we slept like logs and only awoke by the knocking on the door by Sabinas eldest daughter. Breakfast was made up of 3 pieces of something resembling fried potato bread and washed down with some more Moonha tea. After breakie one of Sabina’s sons followed us to our room and gave us some Moonha tea leaves, which we accepted and thought was a sweet offering. Minutes later we again realised this wasn’t a gift either but another piece of merchandise that set us back 4 soles!

We left for the port, said our goodbyes to our host family, and set off for Isla Taquile where the whole island was getting ready for some kind of celebration… more singing, more dancing and more drinking, way-hey!

Published
by
lion
on Aug 6 2009
in Peru and Puno
. 0 Comments
 
Aug
03

Football at 3400 metres - crazy!

lionandtimmy.jpg
We finally made it to our first South American football game! We found out that Cienciano, Cusco’s local team would be playing the day after we got back from the amazing Machu Picchu trek, on Sunday 2nd August. Bare in mind, ever since we landed in South America I had been badgering anyone, who could understand me, about where we could watch a game. Eventually we got the timing right!

Later the same day we bumped into Timmy, a Belgium chap we met in Lima, and he was keen to go too. So we were all set for Cienciano V Jan Aurich and we met up the next the morning and got a taxi to the ground which wasn’t too far out of Cusco. We bought our tickets which were a bargain at 10 Soles (nearly 2GBP!) for seats along the side. Didn’t really want to sit at one of the ends behind the goal where all the hardcore fans are - First game and all we weren’t sure what to expect!

Well it turned out to be a lovely ground, open topped with a beautiful panoramic surround view of the mountains behind. It’s capacity was around 30000 but it wasn’t full and one of the ends was empty. Think this is where the away fans would have been but they hadn’t made the trek. Being in Cusco, this stadium was at an altitude of 3400m and not a lot of teams enjoy playing here because of that.

The home fans (behind the goal) didn’t disappoint and created a good atmosphere with their singing, drumming and dancing. Quite a strange dance where they would jump up and turn a quarter turn to their right, then in the next step, jump up again and twist a half turn back to the left, not sure if this would take down the lane! They kept this up for most of the first half.

Cienciano ended up winning 5-1 and Jan Aurich had a player sent off. Not a bad introduction to South American footy! After it was back to the ‘highest’ Irish pub for a couple of cold ones!
irishpub.jpg

Published
by
lion
on Aug 3 2009
in Cusco and Peru
. 0 Comments
 
Aug
02

Trek to Macchu Pichu

Your intrepid explorers at 4650mtrs
We had tried to book up on an Inca Trail trek to Machu Picchu but we soon found out that to trek the original ‘Inca Trail‘ you have to book up months in advance. So we found an alternative one called the Salkantay Trek which is still along an ancient and remote path located in the same region as the Inca Trail. This trek involves 4 days of walking and one day exploring the archeological site at Machu Picchu. Here we break it down into each of the 5 days to give you an insight into how we fared.

Day 1: MOLLEPATA - SORAYPAMPA

We Left Cusco bright and early for Mollepata where our trek would start. Here we had breakfast while the porters packed the mules with our backpacks, tents and food. It turned out that at this stage they were actually using a truck, the mules would be used later once we were well off the beaten track.

This first day was relatively easy walking, quite flat with a few short steep hills that were really muddy in parts and made me wish I’d brought a pair of hiking boots with me as my trainers were proving way too slippy! Roughly 4 hours of walking later we stopped for lunch at a really nice viewpoint overlooking the valley below. Continue reading ‘Trek to Macchu Pichu’

Published
by
lion
on Aug 2 2009
in Peru
. 0 Comments