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Hello,
I left Santiago on an early morning plane, when I got to the airport there were two upods outside!!! One was even worse than ours (believe it or not!) Actually had a man stood on the roof of the truck holding the satalite! So next time you call it a useless pod, think of poor Chilian TV people! hee hee. Anyway I had abit of time to kill so i asked the man in the other upod... the better one, if i could go in and have a look around! After some confusion, half spanish half english conversation, both of us been rubbish at the other, I got in and had a look around! How sad am i! He even took my picture in there!!! Hee hee (sorry that was for work people)
The flights were fine, had my own handset and tv for the first time ever, it was cool, gave myself spanish lessons in the games section and then played ´who wants to be a millionaire for ´hours! Addictive.
Changed planes at Lima then landed in Cusco in the early afternoon. Got a pick up to my hostel, Loki, which was fab! Bar, tv room, comfy beds, hot water (luxury in Peru), hammocks (yipee) and loads more. The altitude hit me quite bad so had to take it easy that day, short of breath, sickly, terribly headaches, just going up a few few stairs and it feels worse than an hour at spin! think it is 3300 metres above sea level! So had a coffee and a nap. people were still in bed at 4 pm as it is abit of a party hostel. Decided not to leave the hostel that day,the ride from the airport made me scared of Cusco, looked so different to other places i have been and heard some bad things, plus was tired and poorly so that always makes things seem worse.
That night i was just sat in the bar writing my journal and got speaking to Pip a New Zealand girl who has been living in Dublin. got on really well so we decided to meet the next day. We had a couple of drinks but both went to bed fairly early as both had been up since early hours and done alot of travelling.
Met Pip the next day, got a taxi to a local market (we were trying to be different) but it turned out it just sold household goods and food, interesting to see though! Went back ito the centre and split up for abit, I went for a coffee and a rest (this altitude) but i manged to stumble across a cafe that did Homous! Imagine my delight! i have missed this so much. Decided i liked Cusco, felt very safe after all. Very touristy place, gorgeous looking, fantastic bulidings and churches but not in a grand way really, very quaint, more like a big town than a city! Went to the internet to ring Phil and parents but was sick in the toilets! Again altitude! Everytime i ate something!
Met back up with Pip for lunch but i didnt eat, her food looked good though. I had a coca tea which is meant to help with altitude and i als bought some coca leaves to chew for the same reason. I loved the coca tea though! Really nice, illegal to bring back though coz if you have alot it puts cocaine in your system or something like that. We then looked round a few more markets but got sick of people shouting amiga amiga! Come look at this, do you want postcards, paintings good god you just couldnt concentrate! So seeing as we were both feeling dodgy we went back for a seista and arranged to meet later for dinner. Dinner was a curry place we hunted for as we have both been deprived of one for weeks and weeks! it was ok, mine tasted like flowers though! said good bye to Pip as she was off on the Inca trek the next morning, a shame we not travelling in the same direction!
On Saturday I was still acclimatising, went for a really long walk, bought loads of presents, as i heard it was cheap to post home from here. Went and booked my bus ticket to Arequipa for a few days time. Went to post the presents but it was $160 US dollars for 2 Kg!!! So I have to carry the things round with me now1 How annoying!
I had decided not to do the Inca Trail for loads of reasons mainly the rain, continuous for days! It would have been no fun.I know alot of you say i should have done it but I am sure I made the right decision for me. I realised the only reason I was gonna force myself to do it was just to say i had done it! Which is a silly reason. I was concerned about my knees too as last time i did only a 20 mile trek, it completly messed my knees up and resulted in physio! i would find another way.
I met a girl from Swedan called Erika that night and turned out she was doing the Sacred Valley tour with me the next day. Then we had food at the hostel which just happened to be home cooked curry!!! It was gorgeous and was def in my top five curries EVER! Yum. I was worried about the food in Peru but I think its the best yet!
I was really looking forward to the sacred vally tour and i was slightly dissapointed, saw some cool inca things, ruins etc went to a place called Pisac and ollanytamba and a few other sights. Got sat next to the most annoying American girl... see a pattern? Who kept saying oh this just looks like New Mexico! Goodness me! But on the plus side my my altitude sickness was better, almost.
The next day Erika and my self had booked a half organised thing to machu pichu, Aguiles Calientes. I didnt want to take the normal tourist train and get there like sheep either so me and Erika got the train but didnt go that day, instead we went for along walk in near tropical climates to a inca museum and went to thermal springs, in the jungle type setting, outside between two andean mountains which was cool! We had a drink at the springs, they were proper Quechua people running the bar (natives) infact they look alot like Native Americans. They made us have a Machu pichu cocktail. They were both drunk, i think and said ´can i take a photo with you both with my American friends camera´ we said yes but after about 10 pics we got abit bored of smiling and left! With them calling after us see you for the tequila disco! We were meant to meet our guide at the hotel, which seemed to be run by two 15yr old boys! But she didnt show, waited for over an hr tried to ring agency but they put phone down on us! The children at the hotel said to meet her at the bus stop in the morning.
Then got up next day, had a crap breakfast, coffee no milk!!! Which i was moaning about but then tried black sweet coffee and I am still currently addicted! I always thought that people were weird who drank black coffee but obviously not! (?) The infamous guide then turned up, no appology, infact she was rude, led us to the train station but lost us on the way! We found it and decided that the two envelopes that we were given by the agency to give her, well we only gave her one and we spilt the other and shared the dollars! She didnt deserve it! It wasnt alot but thats not the point. At Machu Pichu we got a nice guide to explain things to us was with him about 2 hours, we did arrive at about 6 am, the same time the trek people got there so we didnt miss out! It was amazing! Really misty but that just made it more magical! It really is beautiful. It just kept coming into view then dissapearing! fantatic! We then laid out our ponchos, after the rain had stopped, and sunbathed on the inca terraces! It was so peacful and not alot of people were there. I bumped into Pip too and she was coming back to Cusco too so we are all gona go out.
Then rather than get the bus back we walked down the mountain for two hours which was cool! A dog met us at the top and escorted us all the way down, waiting for us and barking if a bus came for us to be careful! Really cool! It just disapeared at the bottom! I was glad i did it that way though. About half way down though in true emma style it started pouring down again! Got absolutly drenched to the bone once more, but im used to it now!
Then came back to Cuzco and went out for food with Pip and Erika. The day after me and Pip went to an inka museum and saw mummies etc, really good, one of the best yet! (although i am getting inka`d out now) Then a lovely massage. Although she even massaged my bum! Weird!
Today has made me want to sign up for loads of courses when i get back, seeing these women doing useful things. So i want to learn the potters wheel, to cook, to sew well and to do massage!
I left Cusco on a superb night bus, full cama bed (lies right down), film, food, coffee. perfect. I was glad to get out of Cusco as the locals were doing my head in, if you walk down the street for 5 mins you would have got hassled about 20 times, no lies! Amiga, Amiga etc i thought i might be the first tourist to kill a local person! And they were so whinning! And its not the poorest place ive been either. If you just look at something in a shop and they are at the other side they actually run over to you, makes you jump if you dont see them coming.
Arrived in Arequipa, the white city. The locals say when the earth seperated from the moon it forgot to take Arequipa! my hostel was nice, The point, the other big hostel place in Peru that rivals loki. My dorm was called Harry Keeper! Funny. Went for a wander around and noticed how much happier these people are, although the men do shout hey baby etc out of cars, annoying but nothing that doesnt happen in the UK, but more of it. Went on a rubbish city tour which i wont even bore you with, last 4 long hours! then went to the museum of juanita, a child inka who was sacrifised to the Mountain god. They have found loads of these children, they say the children were willing to go live with the gods but how they know this is beyond me. One interesting thing about the inkas is that it wasnt really as long ago as I thought! it was only in the 1500´s and it only lasted a hundred years! When you think what was happening in the rest of the world then it doesnt seem as impressive to me. i could talk for ages about the Inkas but I wont bore you all.
The next day set off on a 2 day trip to the Colca canyon, the second biggest in the world (the biggest in not the grand its one in peru also) Stopped at loads of little villages and vantage pints, we were surounded by 6 Volcanos but it was too misty to see them! One of them is actually called El Misti!
Spent my time with two young Danish Inges and Nickolous, nice enough. Everyone else didnt speak english. Stayed over night in Chivay, a crap little town with nothing there. I was abit homesick today, PMT, rubbish place and no fun people, they all went to Thermal spas but i stayed behind, drank a horrible glass of red wine (surup) and rang Phil crying (poor thing).
Felt better after that and met the others played a danish card game then went to go to a local night! Food was good but in the middle of the room, among all the tables a local act started dancing, all the old Quechua dances, funny to watch esp when he took out a whip and was whipping her, they took it in turns, then were doing what looked like rude things on the floor! Like old peruvian porn really! It was all for show though the place was full of tourists. But when they started pulling tourists up and whipping them! Making them dance I thought it was time to leave!
Next day went to colca which was good but abit dissapointing, did see a condor though which was the whole point really! Then made our way back to Arequipa, stopping at some villages, one where a women was saying have picture with my LLama, the LLama was all dressed up, no gracias I said, please she said its called Bob Marley! poor thing.
Got back to the hostel and met a English girl called Abbie, only had that one night but it was ST Patricks night so we had a few drinks, had shepperds pie... which was nice, with soya but no gravy and rather strangley had a boiled egg in the middle. We had a giggle with Inge as well and a Canadian girl and Ive arranged to maybe meet Abbie in Chile if we get time.
The next day I left Peru and I have to say i was glad, apart from Machu Pichu I found it an annoying place aimed at getting money out of you, glad I´ve done it but wouldnt go back (I know i only saw a few places). But even though this sounds like ive been having rubbish time I havnt but just glad to leave. And I am now in Bolivia... which I LOVE! I have been here a week but will bore you with my Bolivian antics some other time. And a little birdie told me that I´m half way through on tuesday??? Can´t decide whether it feels longer or shorter.
Take Care Love Emma.xxx.
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