Puerto Lopez, Ecuador

BY PAUL BY PAUL BY PAUL BY PAUL BY PAUL BY PAUL BY PAUL BY PAUL BY PAUL

So after Montanita, I travelled for a while with the Swedish guy Daniel and the two French boys, Yannis and Marc.  We decided to go to Puerto Lopez together to check out Isla de la Plata and Los Frailes. 

Los Frailes was apparently supposed to be the 13th best beach in the world.  Again, I was a little disappointed.  Yes, the beach was fairly deserted and the sand was clean, but the water wasn't exactly crystal blue as I had hoped.  It was more green than blue, maybe because it was a cloudy day.  But either way, I spent the afternoon there just to relax, to swim and to catch crabs on the beach. 

Yannis and Marc thought that was pretty boring and went off to do a spear fishing tour.  They were telling me how good it was except that they caught nothing for dinner that night.  I probably would have had more luck bringing back a tray of crabs instead, if they had told me earlier.

The next day we went to Isla de la Plata.  That was really pretty I thought.  We had to catch a boat which took about 2.5 hours.  It was very bumpy but it was well worth it.  We saw heaps of turtles, different types of boobie birds and vultures etc.  If you remembered how close we got to the penguins in Punta Tombo in Patagonia, Argentina, we were that close to the wildlife.  There were also supposed to be albatross and seals there.  But we were there just before the breeding season, and didn't get to see any unfortunately. 

The baby boobies were extraordinary cute.  They were screaming heaps when I walked past.  I felt really sorry for them, so I fed some of them Mars bars and rice crackers.  I think they really enjoyed it as they started pecking me for more. 

We later also went snorkelling with the turtles and saw sea horses and thousands of coral fish.  Yannis also nearly got bitten by a turtle when he was feeding the turtle watermelon.  It was hilarious to see the giant sea turtle swimming after him to try to bite him.

I didn't quite get to Galapagos as part of this trip, but I really enjoyed Isla de la Plata.

We came back to have dinner in town before we caught a night bus to Quito.  The French boys had three  lobsters between them which they finished in like 15 minutes as we were running really, really late for the bus.  I also nearly choked on my spaghetti marinara.  But I managed to stop the bus for them....except that I accidentally left my jumper behind in the hostel and had to run back to get it.....

PS - I didn't really feed the baby boobies.  And definitely no Mars bars and rice crackers.  The ranger said we shouldn't feed them despite their starvation state......

Guayaquil and Montanita, Ecuador

BY PAUL BY PAUL BY PAUL BY PAUL BY PAUL BY PAUL BY PAUL BY PAUL BY PAUL

It was sad leaving Peru and going into Ecuador. Peru had become my favourite country in South America for its food, its diversity, its history/culture and its vast difference in landscape all over the country.

I jumped on a night CIFA bus which was supposed to be the safest bet crossing borders into Ecuador. As I was travelling by myself and didn't want the risk, I opted for the more comfortable "bus cama". All the guidebooks forewarned me about the border crossing at Aqua Verdes - that it was supposed to be one of the most dangerous border crossing in South America. But I thought I was safe on the CIFA bus.

So I got to the border crossing, walked in, this "official" checked my passport and asked for a US$30 processing fee. I told him that I had no money in Spanish. He then looked at my passport and asked me where was my Peru Entrance Card. I said it was in the passport. He handed the passport back to me and said it was not there. By then I smelled something very fishy as I checked the Card before I left the bus and knew that it was definitely there. He then said that I need to pay for not having the card. It was also 11:30pm and I was started to get bit tired and frustrated.

I actually yelled at him and told him that I had no money. I also looked around where he was standing and found my Card behind his feet. He picked up and asked for US$5 for finding the Card for him. I grabbed the card and lined up in a proper queue with the rest of the Peruvians. It was such a scam that they pulled on all the tourists - especially those travelling by themselves.

Once we crossed the border, all the travellers on the bus were pulled down by the Ecuadorian Army and searched one by one. I wasn't sure what they were searching for, but it must have been along the lines of drugs, weapons etc. It was quite scary because it was like 1:30am by then and the army were all carrying shot guns, or M16s and some kind of fierce looking automatic weapons.

These French boys I met were petrified at that point as they were smoking weed just before we got on the CIFA bus in Peru and they were telling me that they bought a few grams to last them for the next few days. I later found out that they were actually so stoned that they left the packet at the bus terminal and forgot to carry it onboard. Luck was on their side as they probably would lose a lot more than a few grams of weed if the army did find them.

After we got back on the bus, the rest of the journey was very uneventful. We arrived in Guayaquil about an hour ahead of schedule at 6:30am. I was dead tired by that point as I could hardly sleep on the bus worrying that people might rob me.

After I bought the ticket to Montanita, I had lunch with the French boys whom I travelled with pretty much for the next 2 weeks.

We jumped on the "tourist" bus to Montanita on time and it was a very nice air-conditioned bus. I got on, a man checked my ticket, and took me to the back of the bus as there were already people sitting on my seat. So I sat down and put my personal backpack on the seat next to me. He said that I could not do that as other people might be sitting there. After I put the backpack on my lap, he said I had to place it in the hand luggage section. I said I preferred to have it next to me but he showed me that all other people were doing it and it was a company policy. It being my first day in Ecuador, I thought it might be true as it was a new country. So I reluctantly gave him my backpack to place it on the top. As my backpack was quite large, it took him a little while to place it on the top. While he was doing it, I heard the zipper being opened. I looked at him and he smiled at me. I thought I must have imagined it and just left it. Few seconds later, he also left.

I didn't realise until I got to a hostel in Montanita that my computer and my camera were missing! I nearly fainted when I realised that they weren't there! I also met this Swedish guy who was on the bus and who was nice enough to accompany me to the police station and the bus company to report the theft. I felt really sorry for him as it was his birthday on that fateful day.

He helped me to get the police report which I also had to pay a bribe for as the police said I had to go back to Guayaquil for the report. The bus company was very much less helpful. My theory was that they must gotten some perks from this guy as they didn't act shocked or surprised. They merely said this kind of things happen all the time and I needed to be more careful. I also found out the next day that this other Australian guy had the same experience the very next day after I was robbed. So the thief must have been there all the time and there was no way the bus company wouldn't know about it. But what could I do????

I decided to leave it and not go back to Guayaqil and search for this guy in case more worse luck happened to me.

I was very devastated by the theft though, and it took me maybe 2 weeks to stop thinking about it all the time. Especially since I had so much personal stuff on my computer and all the photos from our whole trip. It was lucky that Naomi took most of the photos back on the spare hard drive. So I probably only lost 2-3 weeks of photos altogether, which were on my camera.

Montanita was an ok town. It supposed to be a surfing town, but it was a little cool and the weather was not that great when we were there. So we spent a lot of time eating and drinking.

Two days later, we moved onto Puerto Lopez where the National Park Machalilla was. It was also called the "Poor man's Galapagos" due to its similarity in landscape and animal life etc.

More to come in the next post.

Chiclayo to Mancora

BY PAUL BY PAUL BY PAUL BY PAUL BY PAUL BY PAUL BY PAUL BY PAUL BY PAUL BY PAUL BY PAUL

I should continue from where I left off in my last proper blog - in Chiclayo.  So, I went to visit the Bruning Archaeological Museum and the Museo de las Tumbas Reales de Sipan.  It was actually really easy getting there as I just went to the combi terminal and they took me directly to the front of the museums.  The Bruning Archaeological Museum was nice with collections from different native groups.  But the Lord of Sipan Museum was just AMAZING.  There were literally tens of thousands of artifacts all very well-preserved and beautifully decorated.

It was also here that I nearly got arrested.  The guard searched me before I entered which was fine.  He didn't say anything about my camera which was in my pocket.  I was quite happy taking photos of all the cool exhibits.  And just before I was leaving the museum, this random museum worker saw me happily snapping shots away and told me not to take photos and asked me to go with him.  I told him to bugger off as they didn't mention anything about not taking photos before.  He then asked me to give him my camera which again I refused.  Then he took off.

Five minutes later, he came back with two cops who had guns.  The police asked me in Spanish whether I was taking photos.  I asked the cops whether they speak any English.  Then the museum staff told me that I couldn't take photos and that it said so on the back of my ticket.  I told them that I couldn't understand the ticket as it was in Spanish.  I told them it was an international museum and they should have English rules on their tickets.  The cops told the museum staff to leave me alone.  But the staff kept pestering me so I reluctantly deleted some of the photos to keep him happy.  So annoying.  But it didn't make much difference anyway as I later lost my computer and my camera all in one day.....more to come on this later.

Chiclayo was a really borning town.  Yes, it did have a nice Plaza de Armas just like all the other old cities in South America, but besides that there really wasn't anything to brag about.  

I went from Chiclayo onto Piura to change the bus to Mancora.

I arrived in Mancora at night and the tuk-tuk driver took me to this hostel that was seriously one of the crappiest places I have ever been in.  He also insisted that all other hostels were expensive because they were on the beach or new or whatever, and for my budget I could afford only three other hostels around the one he first showed me.  I checked them out and they were way worse than the first one.  It's pretty hard to imagine without being there, but the first one looked like a concrete prison with no window and a shower in the room and a mosquito infestation.  It was about 35 degrees when you closed the door.

I also stupidly paid for two nights at 25 soles per night (about AU$10) which was a LOT of money for such a crappy room.  But I was let to believe that because it was a beach town prices were just more expensive than other places.  

After less than 6 hours sleep I decided to check out.  The management refused to refund me the extra night's accommodation.  I was furious and threatened to go to the police.  But they said it was on the back of the receipt I received that no refunds were allowed.  I was so frustrated especially as it was a scam - the tuk-tuk people get paid commission for taking people there.  After I checked out I went to a few nice hostels just 30 seconds walk from the hostel from hell and enquired about the prices.  The one that I chose was right on the beach with a beach view from the room and it was nice and clean and cost the astronomical price of 15 soles a night (AU$6).  I moved in straight away and ended up staying for four nights while I was waiting for the Germans to catch up to me.

Mancora was a nice little town except for all the construction that was going on everywhere when I was staying there.  I went to the beach every day and ate seafood just about every meal.  Cerviche - YUMMMMMMMMM!

I also did a surf lesson here.  It was so embarrassing that the instructor asked me why was I doing the lesson if I was from Australia.  I was just like, "Not everybody can surf in Australia just like not everyone eats guinea pigs in Peru!".

Anyway, the surf lesson was fun and I stood up just about every time.  But I wasn't sure whether the instructor was holding the board so that I could stand up or not.  I will just pretend that it was all me since I didn't see anything behind me :)

The Germans finally turned up.  We had a few drinks together and ate together for a few days before parting again.  I also managed to meet some nice people from South America who joined in the complaint to the dodgy hotel as they were all staying there too.

I then caught the night CIFA bus to Guayaquil.  This was when my misfortune really began......

Cotopaxi

BY PAUL BY PAUL BY PAUL BY PAUL BY PAUL BY PAUL BY PAUL BY PAUL BY PAUL BY PAUL BY PAUL BY PAUL BY PAUL BY PAUL BY PAUL BY PAUL

I was sooooo excited that I summited Cotopaxi.  I actually nearly cried when I reached the summit as it was such a hard work to get up there and I never gave up and just kept pushing myself to the top.  

We had to use ropes and harnesses and crampons, ice axe and my hiking stick.  In fact, it wasn´t really hiking, it was more glacier hacking.  Yes. Just hacked out way to the top of the glacier in Cotopaxi!  We had to go up cliffs that were more than 60 degrees in angle, and had nothing to hold on to, except relying on our crampons and ice picks.  

We also had to cross several big crevasses that were like 60-80 metres deep.  It was really scary as I had to concentrate really hard although I was exhausted to make sure I didn't fall in.  Can you imagine stepping around the crevasses on a 30 cm wide path with your big shoes and crampons etc?

The view on the top was quite nice.  Although I didn't really care too much about the view.  I was just that glad that I made it to the top, I hugged a few people who also made it and took some pictures.  I was the 2nd tourist on the top today.  Mike was the third.  Only an very old Japanese man beat us.

I am extremely extremely exhausted now even after about 3.5 hours nap this afternoon.  I managed to squeeze in 30 minutes sleep last night although I went to sleep like before 7pm.  We had to get up at 12am for 12:30am climb although we didn´t leave till 1:10am.  We also beat the average climbing time of 6-7 hours?  We made it in 5 hours and 20 minutes.

It was a really really big achievement for me.  I just cant believe that I really made it.

Flying Solo

BY PAUL BY PAUL BY PAUL BY PAUL BY PAUL BY PAUL BY PAUL BY PAUL BY PAUL BY PAUL BY PAUL BY PAUL

Since Thursday 22^nd May I have been flying solo and holding the flag high by myself.  It so far hasn't been as bad as I thought.  Sure, it sometimes can be lonely sitting here in my "simple" (single) room in the middle of nowhere by myself or having dinner by myself 2 nights in a row.  But really it hasn't been that bad.  I have been very lucky that there were always very friendly locals there to help me whenever I need help.  Most of them have been tremendously interested in where I am from, what I am doing in Peru and whether I liked the country etc. 

Today I went to visit the ruins in Tucume by myself.  It was a bit of a mission even to just get there.  The place to catch the combi-van that was listed in the guidebook did not appear to be the spot.  Well, an empty van did pull over with Tucume written on the dashboard and asked me where I was going.  After I told him, he offered to take me direct there for 30 soles (AU$12).  I told him that he must be crazy as the guide book said it should cost around $0.50 back in 2007.  He then reduced the price to 20 soles (AU$8).  I told him that I was happy to pay 8 soles maximum.  Off he went. 

I was fortunate to ask a fruit seller and a policeman nearby as to where I could catch the real combi from.  The policeman was kind enough to walk me round the corner to the combi terminal where I caught the combi for 2 soles (Au$0.40).   

The conductor on the van found out that I was a tourist and dropped me off as close to the ruins as he could.  I walked 15 minutes through what it felt like a war zone as there were so much roadwork and construction in the town to get to the ruins. 

It was very interesting as the ruins were in the desert where there were little trees, but along the way everything was green.  I walked past corn fields, farms and other fields filled with plants and vegetables.  It was quite a pretty walk despite the soaring temperature. 

The book described the site as one of the most important archaeological sites in Peru.  It was 400 years old than Machu Picchu.  There was also a museum on site, although I had no idea what they tried to display at the museum.  There were a few ceramics and a couple of cartoons and models, but I wasn't sure of their purposes to be exact. 

The archaeological site was very, very big.  I was there for about 3 hours, although I spent an hour in the shade trying to take a nap as it was just so hot.  There were supposed to be 26 major pyramids and other temples, cemeteries etc.  I read the display signs in front of these "pyramids".  But unfortunately I still couldn't identify which ones were they.  They actually looked like massive above-the-ground ant nests in the desert.  But like 50 metres high.  It was just bizarre.  I guess I was expecting Egyptian style pyramids. 

As I got lost, I also stumbled into one of the biggest pyramids where excavation work was still being undertaken.  It was amazing to see how the archaeologists and the workers used brushes to brush out all the dirt from the ruins.  It would take them years and years of work to uncover anything at the rate they were going. 

I snapped a few pictures before I got told that I wasn't allowed to be there.  The guy in charge actually came out and shook my hand and said I was lucky to be there and spent a few minutes talking to me and explained to me about the site they were working on etc.  It definitely was a privilege to be there as I have never seen people working on ruins before. 

On the way back down from the excavation site, I bumped into some other workers carrying supplies to the archaeologists on the top who also stopped and had a friendly chat with me.  It was such a shame that I could not understand them much but I gathered that they were very nice and interested in me and what I was doing etc.  They also wanted photos with me. 

I think travelling solo is a lot more enjoyable and fun when you meet friendly local people.  People who are genuinely interested in you despite the language barrier etc. 

Chiclayo is not a very interesting city so far.  I am really here for the ruins anyway.  Tomorrow I am going to see the Bruning Archaeological museum and the Museo de las Tumbas Reales de Sipan where the Lord of Sipan was displayed.  Apparently they have the complete treasures from the Lord of Sipan's tomb which is almost 2,000 years old. 

Before Chiclayo, I was in Trujillo/Huanchaco about 10 hours bus ride north of Lima.  Trujillo, again, was another boring town.  And again, there were some ruins there which I visited.  They were Chan Chan and Huacas de la Luna.  I did a tour here just because it was actually cheaper than doing it by myself.  Between the 2 places, we were taken to a restaurant where they had traditional Peruvian dancing which was fantastic.   

The ruins were also quite good.  It made all the difference with an English speaking guide though.  Otherwise, they would just look like piles of clay walls to me again like Sacsayhuaman in Cusco. 

I felt like I was a little celebrity when a group of local university girls kept taking photos of me while I was on the tour.  It was strange especially since I had my hiking hat and hiking pants on and looked almost like Steve Irwin again.  They then insisted that they take photos with me.  As they spoke to me in Spanish, I thought they wanted me to take photos of them (which was usually the case).  But then they gave their cameras to my tour guide and placed me in the centre among 6 girls.  My guide said something to them but they just insisted in doing the photo shoots.  I was a little embarrassed by it, especially in front of the people in my tour.  Strange, I know.  I am usually on the side waiting for people to stop taking photos with Naomi.   

But then some other girl from Lima later also insisted on taking photo with me.  I think it must have been my outfit.  For all the guys out there, it might not be bad to be daggy in front of some girls! 

I stayed in Huanchaco which was a surfing town.  I should have learned how to surf there because it was only 30 soles (AU$12) for 3 hours.  But the water was cold and there were many rocks too in the water.  Maybe I will wait until I get further north. 

I stayed in a dorm in a nice hostel 2 blocks from the beach.  I met a few very nice people there whom I hung out with and had dinner/drinks with etc.  It was surprising how many of them were Americans.  I don't think I have met that many Americans in one hostel in South America yet.
 

Peru - Cusco to Lima

BY PAUL BY PAUL BY PAUL BY PAUL BY PAUL BY PAUL BY PAUL BY PAUL BY PAUL BY PAUL

Cusco, Peru 

The centre of Cuzco town was very, very pretty.  It felt really old and grand with many large buildings and ancient churches built on the old Inca foundations.   

We did a 3D2N tour to Machu Pichu.  The tour was dodgy from the beginning.  Because Angus and Naomi wanted to go for a "reputable" company from the guidebook, we booked this tour through one of the recommended companies. 

It was ok until they were 1 hour late to pick us up and we had to wait at some petrol station for a bigger bus to arrive.  By the time we actually left Cuzco it was well past 9am and we were supposed to get picked up at 5:30am. 

We arrived in Santa Maria where we had lunch and had to change to a minivan due to recent landslides.  By this time Naomi was already so frustrated with the timing that she had an argument with the guide.  She had her point though.  We were supposed to be Santa Maria by about 10am, the next town Santa Teresa at midday, then to walk the 6 hours to the final town of Aquas Calientes where we were to stay the night.  As we were about 4 hours behind the schedule, that meant we would have been at Aquas Calientes at around midnight! 

The route to Santa Teresa was quite stunning with many waterfalls and small creeks which we crossed in the van.  The road was also very, very windy and narrow with hundreds of metres of cliff on one side and the mountain on the other side.  Angus sat next to the window and he nearly had a heart attack.  I think his eyes were closed most of the time while he pretended that he was asleep.   

After we arrived in Santa Teresa, the guide then told us it was too dangerous to walk at night and wanted everyone to stay there overnight.  Naomi was by this point almost about to kill the guide.  He actually pulled her aside and told her that we can go on if we wanted.  There was another guide available to take us up to Aguas Calientes. 

After we all sat in the car and were ready to go, he jumped on and warned us that it wasn't his responsibility if something happened to us or if we died.  Literally!  I was just like "Mate, if you did what you said you would do, we wouldn't be sitting here right now".  By then it was already 5pm. 

By the time we started walking it was 5:30pm and all of us were thinking we wouldn't be at Aguas Calientes until midnight.  Not a very fun thought.  The first part of the hike required us to cross a muddy area.  It was actually the hardest part of the hike.  The mud was thigh deep as one girl later experienced.  But luckily the workers put some large planks, rocks etc there to make it more accessible. 

We then needed to cross a river by sitting in a flying fox cart with our backpacks on the side.  It was crazy that that little red cage of 1m by 1.5m could fit 4-5 people on it together with their backpacks.  As there were lots of other tourists all wanting to cross the river at the same time we had to wait for another hour so until we could cross.  So by then, it was totally dark.   

Somehow our guide got a bit impatient and tried to push in for us whilst we waited at the flying cart crossing.  Other tourists were very defensive and wouldn't let us through which was fair enough.  Eventually however we got to the other side, we started our long hike. 

Our guide somehow also became other tourists' guide as their guides fell behind to help other tourists out.  However as the other tourists didn't let our guide push in, he was deliberately being unhelpful and wanted us to walk faster to loose the group. 

As it was pitch dark, with the exception of Angus, we all had our head torch on and walked as fast as we could to get to Aquas Calientes.  The long 5-6 hour walk wasn't spectacular as it was dark and it was in fact quite boring.  The journey however ended up taking us only 3.5 hours as we power walked the whole way. 

By the time we got there at around 11pm, we were all exhausted and all we wanted to do was to have dinner and go straight to bed for another early start to Machu Picchu. 

This was when the bombshell fell on all other tourists.  The restaurant that we all went to apparently ran out of food and our guide told them that there was no dinner for them and they had to wait for their guide to arrive before they could get any food or shown to their hostel. 

He however led us through to the back of the restaurant and got the chef to cook a pizza for us.  Angus, Naomi and I were so sure that the other tourists were going to murder us when we walked out past them.  To be fair, the pizza was not even that nice, it had a few pieces of tomato and bacon and a lot of cheese on it and that was it.  We ate the whole lot though as we were starved. 

One girl from the other group decided that she could go hungry no more and decided to eat other people's leftovers.  She literally went through someone's leftover pasta and ate another person's salad.  I am sure she ate the crumbs of the pizza bread left on the other tables.  Unbelievable. 

They later also stayed in the same hostel with us.  It was not a pleasant sight having these people death-staring at us.  To be honest, I was glad that we actually went to a more reputable company this time and actually got looked after better.  Apparently our tour company was called Condor Travel... 

Anyway, the next morning I got up at 5:30am to go and get my special student ticket from the tour guide and then I met Naomi and Angus.  And we were finally ready to go to Machu Picchu! 

Machu Picchu was nice.  It definitely wasn't THE most amazing ancient architecture I have ever seen.  I mean, the Forbidden Palace in Beijing was amazing, Angkor Wat was amazing and they were all older than Machu Picchu. 

It was nice though to finally see the city and to walk around in it.  The construction was impressive as everything was made out of rocks stacked on top of each other perfectly.  The Incans also seemed quite knowledgeable with their astronomy and predicted the sun's position really well.  I think they worshipped the sun as their God. 

We stayed in Machu Picchu for around 5 hours.  We then retreated to our hostel for an afternoon nap as we were just exhausted having only had 4-5 hours sleep for the past 2 nights. 

On our third day, we started hiking back down to Santa Teresa at 8am as we were told that the van would leave from there at 2pm.  No problem.  We got to Santa Teresa at just before 1pm and had a nice lunch.  Then all of a sudden someone from the restaurant said that the road to Cusco was blocked by landslides and we had to wait.  We also had to wait for our guide who ended up arriving at around 3pm. 

Oh, just before we got to Santa Teresa, we had to pass through the mud patch again.  It was the same one that we passed on our first day.  Naomi tried to walk on the mountain side this time as she thought it might have some solid dry ground.  After about 3 steps into it, she decided it was too muddy.  While she turned around, this French girl in our group decided to march on Naomi's footsteps into the mud.  One step, two steps, three steps, four steps.  Oops, she's stuck.   

As she was trying to pull one of her legs out of the mud, she unfortunately took the 5^th step forward.  By this time, the mud was thigh deep and she was totally stuck.  She was screaming and panicking.  She kept yelling that she was going to sink through the mud.  I tried to pull her out by offering the end of my hiking stick. But she then broke my stick in half.  So I handed her part of the stick so maybe she could use it as a leverage.  Luckily there were two local workers nearby rushed to her aid.   

She was screaming as they tried to pull her body out of the mud.  After they rescued her they were unfortunately stuck in the mud themselves and it took them few minutes to get out.  It was horrible.  She was so devastated that she just rushed off without giving the workers a tip to wash herself in the river.   

We all felt sorry for her, yet we laughed our guts out in secret as she thought she was the smart one.  And as especially Naomi told her the mud was too deep and too difficult to pass.  Some people...seriously. 

Eventually our guide arrived at Santa Teresa and arranged for some transport to pick us up on the other side of this new landslide.  So we had to walk over this landslide that was only about 15 minutes drive from Santa Teresa.  By the time we crossed that landslide it was 4:30pm.  We were not sure whether we could be back by 7pm as the guide promised.  Other people in our group were more worried than the 3 of us considering they had flights to catch the next day. 

Everything was smooth running until....umm...the landslide that nearly killed us.  I was asleep in the van when I heard this loud bang noise.  The driver stopped the van.  He got out of the van and went to check out what was going on.  All of a sudden, the whole mountain came down just on front of us.  There was a small landslide when we got there, and heaps of mud came down while we were there.  We were so lucky that the driver didn't decide to drive over the mud.  If we were there while more mud was coming down, we would have been pushed over the edge of the cliff. 

By the time we went back to a roadside restaurant for dinner and came back to check the landslide it was past 11pm.  The driver just said we would have to wait till the next morning.  Our lovely trip just got better....3 days into 4 days... 

As there were 16 passengers in the car that only fit 15, I was lucky enough to sleep on the floor next to the sliding door.  I had the sorest back the next morning.  As the door step had 3 levels, I had my feet in one, my ass in the second and my head on the third.  It was NOT fun.   

I just couldn't wait to go back to Cusco to have a proper bed and a proper sleep.   

When we finally got back to Cusco the next day after the landslide was cleared we were so relieved.  We spent 2 more days there to rest, shop and also checked out Sacsayhuaman and few museums in town. 

We headed to Arequipa after Cusco. 

Arequipa, Peru

The centre of Arequipa was beautiful.  It was another UNESCO World Heritage Listed place.  I spent my 29^th birthday here.  You heard it right....29.  I feel so old that even now I can't believe that I am 29. 

We had a nice lunch in the food court of a modern shopping centre, went to see a romantic comedy movie (I can't even remember the name), then went for drinks and a lovely dinner.  I was lucky to have Angus, Naomi, Rene and Stephanie there to celebrate it with me.  I felt very warm and spoiled.  I believe my presents are still coming from Naomi :) 

I went out after dinner with Rene.  Angus promised a HUGE night out with me but he chickened out.  Maybe his soft stomach was not agreeing with the food again or something.  But it was still nice to go out for a couple of drinks with Rene and a few dances.  Well, only me dancing. 

Colca Canyon

In Arequipa, we also did a 2D1N tour in the Colca Canyon.  Apparently Colca Canyon is one of the deepest canyons in the world and it was almost twice the depth as the Grand Canyon.  The scenery was really beautiful along the way.  Oh, we had to hike about 7 hours the first day and about 3 hours the next.  The trekking was not too difficult but it involved a lot of up and down hill.  I hurt both of my knees the very first day and struggled in the afternoon.  I was also unfortunately left behind by my mates.   

By the time I got to the Oasis where we spent the night, Naomi and Angus were already having a cold drink by the natural spring pool.  Bastards! 

But at least I made it on my own both days.  Up and down.  Angus wanted to ride a mule the second day as he said he was too tired to get up at 4:30am.  It must have been a funny ride.  I have never ridden a mule before.  Horses and yaks yes...mule, no. 

Someone also stole my board shorts here in the Oasis.  I mean, who would steal other people's worn clothes???? Seriously... 

I also planned on going on a 2 day 1 night hike to Mt Chachani which is a 6000m+ mountain the very next day.  I had to cancel it as my knees were about to explode.  I was very disappointed in this as I really wanted to do a big mountain in South America.  Chachani is also meant to be one of the easiest 6,000m+ mountains in the world!  Aaahh... 

Pisco, Peru

We got to this unfortunate town as the book said it was quite pretty with beautiful islands and desert nearby.  We didn't realise that the town suffered a major earthquake 2 years after our guidebook was published.  So we got there and we were just like "What is this place?".  It was like a war zone.  Collapsed houses, dusts, dirt roads, construction everywhere.  Gosh. 

We did a day tour to see the Ballestas Islands and Paracas National Reserve.  Apparently Ballestas is similar to the Gallapogas Islands  full of penguins, sea lions, birds etc.  It was really nice to be up and close to these animals.  Paracas was also nice.  It was a desert next to the sea.  Really strange phenomenon.  You have the ocean on one side and desert the other side. 

Lima, Peru

We spent about a week in Lima.  This was where Angus and Naomi both left me.  We went to check out a couple of museums in the centre.  We stayed in Miraflores which was a very nice touristy area.   

Lima itself was a lot better than expected.  Yes it was a big city with many cars, people and pollution.  But the centre was really historic and Miraflores was quite nice as it was on the sea.  The food was also really good in Lima as they had all the food from all parts of Peru. 

We went to visit Plaza de Armas which was another UNESCO World Heritage listed plaza.  It had a really old cathedral from the 16^th century and ancient government buildings.  We also visited La Merced church was also from 1546.   

Naomi and I also visited Museo Arqueological Rafael Larco Herrera and the Museo Nacional de Historia for a bit of insight on pre-Columbian Peru history and artefacts.   

Oh, how can I forget about the Chinatown in Lima.  It was THE best Chinatown in South America by far.  The food was authentic and it looked similar the Chinatown in Brisbane.  The food was amazing.  We had some duck noodle soup and mixed bbq rice. 

Angus and I went out the Friday before he left to the chic suburb of Barranco.  It was one of the best party nights of this trip.  We did heaps of dancing to Salsa and Reggaeton beats.  The locals loved us.  We first went to a bar with live music and I am sure that we were the only non-Peruvians in the whole bar.  We then carried on to a club where dancing kicked in.  It was great.  Except Angus' stomach was a bit weak and he couldn't handle his drinks well and wanted to go home early at around 2:30am. 

Naomi also did fair bit of shopping before she left.   

Lima was actually quite cool at night as it was on the beach.  I was bit surprised considering it was in the latitude of central Queensland.  But of course, I always welcome a bit of a chill. 

I also bumped into Mike the English guy again in the Cruz del Sur bus terminal.  It's the third time I saw him in a matter of 4 months in South America.  We first met him in Santiago, Chile, then bumped into him again in Sucre in Bolivia then again in Lima, Peru.  Such a small world and I guess it is a lot easier if you are doing the gringo trail run.