Time for the next update, sorry, its another long one, here we go!

12^th November

After another night in the 70s hotel we have just one day to check out the city of Lima before our next flight to Arequipa tonight. 

So we go to the national museum to get a basic understanding of the Inca people…. Tick!  Next, a taxi to the top of a hill to see the city…. Tick.  Then to a monastery….  They have the bones of 30’000 people in the catacombs. ….tick….   Shopping….. tick. 

In one of the squares there is this statue.  It was commissioned in the 1700’s and made in Spain.  Apparently the people who commissioned it wanted a crown of flames on her head…. Unfortunately the word for flames and the word for Llama is the same!  So here she is, with a Llama on her head!!  The Spanish do have a sense of humor!

Our hotel in Arequipa is ace, it look like it used to be a monastery!... much more interesting than the modern stuff we have been staying in!

13^th November

So, here we are in Arequipa.  First off, a monastery from 1600 and is still in use today.  Then off to see Juanita, she is a girl who was sacrificed in Inca times to the god of the mountain.  She was discovered in 1994 when a hiker found her after a volcano erupted and the ice cap melted.  Amazingly well preserved, she remains in the museum in a glass freezer, you can even still see the colour of her skin….  It’s a little morbid but fascinating archaeology.  (no pictures allowed though)

We watch the sun go down from a bar above the main square and I get given a poncho to keep warm!

So has anyone had any guinea pigs as pets?....  can you guess what’s coming!....  that’s right the national dish of Peru is….. unsurprisingly, there isn’t a lot of meat on a guinea pig!

14^th November

Today we are taking a bus!…..  (I know, it’s amazing!... we aren’t flying!!) to Colca canyon.  It’s about 6hrs on the bus, but our guide keeps us entertained….. 

2hrs in….. Lorraine realizes she has left her necklace in the hotel….  (don’t even say it!??…. I know I better not!... .. needless to say, I will be checking the hotel rooms from now on! )  we give them a ring, but they can’t find it.  It’s a bit of a shame as it’s the one I gave her 12 years ago… L

On our journey we stop for some Coca leaf tea, it’s very common practice as it helps with the altitude sickness, it’s so common you can buy the leaves from petrol stations and there is a myriad of different coca leaf products, including coca candy and cookies.  It has been used since the pre Inca times and yes, it is the same leaf used to make cocaine!

On our journey up to the highest point of 5600 meters we see some wild Llama’s and alpacas (they look the same!) then down the other side into the colca valley to our hotel.

Once we have checked in, we go straight off for a short hike!  The altitude affects us quite a lot and we are left slightly breathless on the uphill’s!  (oh my god, how are we gonna cope on the Inca trail!)  We pass an old village abandoned in 1650….  And pass an open burial site?!... 

We finish our stroll in a thermal pool by the river, heated by the local volcanoes, what a lovely way to wrap up the day!

15^th November

Up at the crack of dawn, back on the bus…..  get off the bus…. See the locals dancing (for money!)….. Back on the bus…..  get off the bus….   See the agricultural terraces

Back on the bus…..  get off the bus….   See the high views

Back on the bus…..  get off the bus….   At the highest point of the Colca valley  (it is very high, this canyon is just over 4000 meters deep!...  twice as deep as the grand canyon! And officially recognized as the deepest canyon in the world!....  very impressive!...   I did find it quite funny as all the tourists jostle position to get a good view over the vertical edge….  At one point, someone moved away from sitting on the edge, in front of me and there was a flurry of frantic Germans pushing past… nearly pushing me off the edge!... trying to get to that prized top spot!.....  (bloody Germans……  they started it!....)

Back on the bus…..  get off the bus….   See the Condor Vulture, one of the biggest birds with a wingspan of over 3 meters.

Back on the bus…..  get off the bus….   Go to the local market.

Back on the bus…..  get off the bus….   Go back to Arequipa.

Can you tell we are on a very well traveled route with lots of other tourist groups on similar minibuses doing the same thing….  Well we are tourists I suppose!  For all its touristy/cattle like approach, it’s actually quite good fun and we arrive back in Arequipa happy that we have ticked that one off!

Good news, the hotel found the necklace! 

16^th November

Back to the airport for our last flight…. (for now anyway!) to Cuzco in preparation for our 4 day Inca trail hike up to Machu Pichu!   I am going to take my laptop as there is wireless internet on the entire trail so I will be able to do this blog everyday and keep you informed of progress!......  not really!..... its camping all the way for us!  (not sure how loz will cope with that!.... )

We arrive in Cuzco, ditch the stuff and head straight out.  We go and see the ancient temple of Sacsayhuaman  (pronounced “sexy woman”)  an amazing complex made of HUGE stone blocks, some over 300 tons, cut into an interlocking shape with many sides and angles…. But they didn’t use mortar and they are cut so precisely, that you couldn’t fit a razor blade between the joints!!   (The interlocking shape stops the building collapsing during earthquakes….)  Clever Incas! 

17^th November

Up first thing and onto a bus, were off on our Inca trial trip!  We actually don’t start until tomorrow, so today is just driving to the start point!  We meet the rest of our group of 16 travelers who we will be spending the next few days with.  On the way we stop at a village to see how they make textiles.  Our next stop is a Inca complex near called olletambo, this is our stop for the night and is near the start of our Inca Trail.  It is only one of many sites in the sacred valley, which is where Machu Pichu is located.

Just check out how straight this huge stone block is!.... how did they do that? 

18^th November

Right then, off we go!  The first day we trundle down the sacred valley following a river and rather unexpectedly discover that Machu pichu is only the last of several sites we will visit during our hike!  Don’t worry, I won't bore you with all the details!  The hike its self is appearing to be a lot easier than all the books have made it out to be?   We have been walking at a very leisurely pace, taking in some Inca sites along the route.   We actually finish today with a steep but manageable climb to our campsite finishing 10km by 3pm. 

We find our campsite all made up, with our overnight bags waiting with a bowl of hot water  in order that we can bathe our poor western feet……   what a hard day we have had…..

Saying that, it should be easy for us, we have a small rucksack, with only our water and waterproof inside.   Take a look at this guy, he is only one of our 22 porters….. that’s right, 22.  These guys are made of pure muscle and carry all our junk between the campsites.  This includes our overnight bags, tents, dinning tents, chairs, cooking stuff and food for the next 4 days for the entire group of 40 people!   Perhaps the most surprising is the two large propane tanks these guys have to carry to cook with!.....  no that’s not the most surprising actually……. We leave the campsite before these guys, they pack up everything, load themselves up….. then run past us…. That’s right, RUN!... to the next campsite to set everything up, before we arrive!!!.... unbelievable!!

19^th November

Up early, and we start our long hike up to the fabulously named “Dead woman pass” the first of four high points on the Inca trail.  Our first “easy” day is shattered by the 7 hour, 5000ft climb to the top!....   We have made some new friends in the last day or so, there’s Eric, Tommy, Jen, Carlo and Sharon, from the USA and Nadia from Canada, all of whom are making the trip really enjoyable! 

Although the climb is long, to be honest, it wasn’t’ that bad…. Lorraine and I are reasonably fit  and we had acclimatized ourselves to the altitude over the last week or so.   A few in our group were not so lucky and were suffering from the effects of the lack of oxygen…..  I fairness, I can only hope that when I'm in my sixties, I can have a go at the Inca trail!!!  That’s right Colette and Pat, a lovely couple form Ireland and Latisha, a lady from Bolivia are living the dream and doing the Inca trail, amazing!  And for the final hour or so a couple of us, lend them a hand and carry the ladies bags for the final push to the top!  

We arrive in celebration to the tune of thriller by Michel Jackson “blasting” out of our phone and doing the dance!!... much to the curious smirks from the rest of the hikers resting at the top!....

The journey down the other  side was a little different!  It starts to rain….  Quite hard, but we rush on down in no time and arrive at the campsite by 2pm!

I decide to wash off the day’s hard work by having a bath…. In the river….. much to the amazement of the rest of the group!.....  “you are nuts, you Brits!”

After a game of cards, its early to bed as we have an early start!.....  I mean really early….  All these younger kids wanting to go to bed before 8pm…….  With nothing to do, we call it a night.

20^th November

Up early, and we are off again, climbing another mountain.  This one is over in no time and the worst is now behind us.  On our journey we pass a few Inca ruins and in turn we get passed by many porters, rushing to our next campsite!

The last campsite is just before Machu Pichu, we can’t see it yet, but the campsite is well set up for the foreign tourists…… including a vastly overpriced bar!....  still after a few days a few beers go down well! 

The final evening culminates in a presentation ceremony for the tips for the porters.  These guys have worked so hard that they deserve every penny!   We shake things up a bit as we all sing them a parody of Copacabana!!  Our excellent guide, Caesar, is very chuft!

21^st November

Up at 4am….. that’s right…… 4am….  We get our stuff together and go to the entrance gate.  After a short wait we set off and a few of us charge up the trail to be the first to see Machu Pichu…  after a hard hour of hiking up the “gringo killer” (a large hill with 100 steps) we emerge at the sun gate to see Machu pichu peaking out of the cloud! An amazing site!  We are chuffed to bits that we sprinted the last bit as no soon as we arrive, the cloud covers the entire site and all the people behind us are gutted that they can’t see anything but cloud!  Hehe, we laughed!!!  

Once we descend the last 1000ft we arrive just as the cloud clears once more!!  2453 pictures later we get our guided tour.   What a fascinating place, fortunately for you I won't bore you with all the details, but needless to say, it’s quite amazing!

Once the tour was over, we had a couple of hours free to wander about.  We decided that we would be the hardcore ones with Eric and Tommy and sprint up Wannapichu, The big mountain you can see in the back of this photo!  It’s about 1000ft of steps all the way to the top….. in the rain….  Very slippery!  Still we make it, only to catch the odd glimpse of MP.  Still we made it to the top!.... very wet, but we had a great laugh!

Once the terrifying climb down had been a completed, we had a final wander round and made an offering to Pachamamma (mother earth) of some coca leaves, thanking her for our safe passage!

Following our train journey back to Cuzco we all went out for a meal (I tried the gunnie pig again!!!!)

It's  amazing, after a few Pisco sours ( a Peruvian cocktail…. Very strong!!...) the exhaustion of the last 4 days disappears…..  so we all go out clubbing!!!  Great night, lots of dancing……  only Lorraine has her phone pinched…from her pocket.....  Gutted….  Oh well, that why we have insurance!

22^nd November

So, after a reasonable lie in, we find ourselves in Cusco again…. Not sure what to do with ourselves…..  after much fafing, we decide not to go to the jungle, but to head south toward Bolivia…..  but we will do that tomorrow, by bus.  We spend the rest of the day looking round the cathedral and general chilling out!... (makes a change!)   Oh yes, we decide (I decide…) we need a Bolivia lonely planet book as our south America book just doesn’t have the detail we need.  Just another book to add to all the other books we are carting around the planet.  Only all the shops have tippexed out the cost on the back of the books and want $35 for them….. normally $20……  after much bartering we get it down to $30……  very annoying!.....  especially since we have one at home!!

23^rd November

Off we go, jump on the touristy bus from Cusco to Puno on the shore of lake Titicaca.  On the way, the bus makes several Inca stops… all very interesting for us….. not for you, so i shan't bore you with loads of pictures!!!   We arrive in Puno in the early evening and figure out what we are going to do for the next day or so.

Well I just about reckon that will do for now, until next time!!!....

Will and Loz