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Its been a busy first week of travels! The 3 flights to get here were very uneventful thankfully, after all the drama of volcanic ash and BA strikes everything went to plan and I arrived in Cusco.
I didn´t have any issues with the altitude just a bit of a headache and it was an effort to do anything - but that´s not unusual for me.
My first impression of Peru was that it´s totally mental and a complete culture shock. The taxi ride from the airport to the hostel was one of the more interesting journeys I´ve been on, it seems that anybody here can be a taxi driver regardless of the state of their car and their ability to drive! With the food it´s best not to ask, I think most of the time I´d rather not know what i´m eating! Guinny pig is a local delicacy and something which i´m building myself up to try.
My first couple of days here were spent exploring the city and attempting to learn some spanish. I had 3 days of lessons but seem to have some inability to learn languages and have done better teaching myself phrases from my travel guide and using the tried and tested method of pointing and talking a bit louder.
The main adventure so far has been a 4 day trek to Machu Pichu. This involved big spiders, ravid dogs, and angry beavers!! On the first day we were dropped at the top of a mountain with what appeared to be a stolen mountain bike and told to get to the bottom. All the other tour groups appeared to have hard hats, gloves and bikes in working order but when asking why we didnt have these things the reply was ´´don´t worry, you on a proper tour´´ - this is a phrase we would come to hear many times over the next few days!
The ride was about 50km to the bottom where we arrived at a small town and were told to check into our hostel which also doubled up as a petrol station. After making friends with the local street dog and her puppies we were told that she carried rabese and advised not to go anywhere near her..
The following two days were spent hiking through the jungle which was really hard work. It was incredibly hot and when the Incas created these trails they seem to think its funny to go up the steepest part of the mountain possible but the veiws from the top made it worth while.
The final day we left the hostel at 4am to hike upto Machu Pichu, this was not the most pleasent experiences in the world but it became clear why it was neccersary when we arrived at the top and watched the sunrise over the mountains, without a doubt the most stunning views I have ever seen. the day was incedible and all the hype over Machu Pichu was fully justified, breathtaking. Check out the photos on facebook.
I´m moving on to the next destination, Arequipa, on a night bus tonight, however will be treating myself to a few birthday beers in the meantimes!
I´ll update again soon, keep in touch,
Gibb
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