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.