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Hola everyone!
Well, it?s certainly been a while since Santiago, and you?d be right in guessing that a lot has happened between then and now.
After my last blog, my friend and I did decide to go shopping in some of the local markets as well as do a bit of sight seeing. Sadly, we weren?t blessed with the nicest day. It rained and it poured but it couldn?t stop us from shopping. As we walked the streets to find various markets we both got drenches. It was quite depressing, but reaching the Santa Lucia market was worth it. On first sight, the market looked tiny. Golly, were we wrong. We ended up spending our entire afternoon there browsing a bunch of different stalls selling a range of stuff from clothing to furniture. I was also introduced by my friend (who has been in South America a lot longer and based in Uruguay) to a South America style of clothing known as El Paco. Needless to say, it is really beautiful. It?s basically an intricately designed thick woollen type of clothing. Very warm and very cool. I?ve in fact decided to buy a duffel bag (since my rucksack is now full to the brim with crap from around the world) and fill it with El Paco clothing. So, why didn?t I do so in this market we visited? Well, the advantage of being with my well-travelled friend was that she had already been to many of the places I was going. Thus, she informed me that Bolivia is DEAD cheap and the best place to get everything South America. So, I put my hands in my pockets to refrain from taking out money to purchase anything....well, apart from a cool woolly hat that was less than a pound!We spent the rest of the afternoon browsing this amazing market and I got very excited at the thought of seeing all the same stuff in Bolivia but for much cheaper! E.g. Portable South American chess sets of the Spanish Vs the Incas, El Paco ponchos & hoodies, souvenirs, etc. My friend got some stylish and quintisentially South America shoes whilst I settled on the hat. We had a couple hot chocolates due to the amount of time we were there before stumbling upon what seemed to be a temple. Sadly I didn´t bring my camera, but I´ll hopefully get pictures from my friend soon.
After a day at the market, I decided to have dinner and then an early night due to my need to catch the bus early the next morning. However, I got back to my hostel and then was told upon returning that a message had been left for me by the bus company. Apparently, my bus was cancelled! I immediately pannicked as I wondered how on Earth I was going to get to Lima in time for my tour. The company said they´d call back but never did, so I got up early the next morning to visit their offices. I spoke to a representative there whom informed me that the bus had been simply postponed to later that day (1900). I breathed a huge sigh of relief before breathing an equally huge, "muchas gracias, senor". This was to be only the beginning of my troubles though...After finding out my bus had been cancelled, I waited around in the hostel for a while and again met up with my friend who was surprised to see me again! We decided to go out again as it was a much more beautiful day. We ended up walking the streets and looking for a supermarket, but that thought soon exited our minds as we were immersed into the street vibe of Santiago. There were bands playing in the middle of the street with crowds gathering, art stalls in the scenic main square, a view of the snow-capped mountains behind the city from the bridge, and street performers who managed to gather a huuuuge crowd. In fact, whilst filming them for a bit, my friend was picked to be an assistant and ended up being part of the show! It?s all on video and is absolutely hilarious. The best thing was that there were also not many tourists there anyway, but mainly locals. The atmosphere around was just really lively and I already knew I was going to miss Santiago.We decided to get an ice cream as the last acitivity of the day, as my friend told me how yoghurt and ice cream were very popular. She was right. The store was the size of a small WH Smith but dedicated to ice cream. A strange variety of flavours was on offer in addition to the regular ones. However, when they served customers, they really made sure you got your money?s worth! I paid less than 2 GBP and couldn?t even finish my two scoops. They were huge scoops that came out of the cone, so the staff member had to put it all in a little cup. Althought I couldn?t finish it, it was probably the most delicious ice cream I?ve ever purchased on the street! Afterwards we took a taxi to the hostel, as I was running slightly late. I then said my farewell to my good friend that had been with me through my Santiago adventures, and got the cab to the bus terminal. An hour later, I was on the bus to Lima.
I got on and was sitting next to a mother of two little children no older than 3 years old. Needless to say, this made it a very painful journey in itself as the mother failed to control their apparent need to scream every few hours for about half an hour. This continued throughout the night. Luckily, however, an English guy I met from my hostel was also on the bus. Little did I know that he?d be the one to keep me sane throughout the journey. Why? Well, the journey started well but just got worse. We ended up stopping on the first evening due to protests in the street at 2200. 0800 the next morning and we were off only to stop the next day at 0100 as we were too late to cross the Chile-Peru border. So, 0900 and we were in Peru. Apart from the English guy to whom I vented all my frustrations as I was unable to communicate with anyone else, I also met a Peruvian behind me who spoke broken English. I was therefore able to occupy myself as he used the little English he knew to teach me Spanish. It was something that kept me from jumping out of the window at some points! That evening after crossing the border, there were more protests in Arequipa, Peru. By this time, even the locals were getting annoyed and frustrated. So, all the guys who knew what was going on (I.E. those that could speak Spanish) got out and bribed the protestors. Whilst doing this, the bus went around a short and bumpy route to the other side of the protests. The bribers then ran back onto the bus and we were home free. 1700 on July 17th (an entire 30 hours late) and I was in Lima to begin my organised tour.
It was certainly a journey to relay to my new group. I met three couples (one from Ireland, another being an English and Greek mix, and the final couple were a Polish pair now residing in Canada). Apart from that, the rest were solo travellers; two Canadians, a German, an Irish girl and five English people including myself. They?re a great bunch and I?m having so much fun learning about each of their lives. For example, camping on the Inca trail I spent evenings speaking with the Polish man about his escape from communist Poland after the Nazis had collapsed. It was a truly captivating story.The first day of the tour and we were off to Pisco, a town famous for it?s cocktail - the Pisco sour. It was a pretty quiet town with a nice vibe that made walking the streets pretty interesting. I went for a fried rice which tasted delish! I tasted the Pisco Sour and wasn?t so impressed (compared to say, the Singapore Sling I had in Singapore!). The next day and we set off for Nasca. However, in between we stopped in a town surrouned by sand-dunes. Here, we were to sandboard for the afternoon. Unlike snowboarding, we were sat in sand-buggies for a VERY bumpy ride which was a fantastic laugh and great adrenaline rush. Once we got to the top of a few dunes, I tried standing on the board (like snowboarding, or so I thought). It wasn?t like snowboarding, mainly because I didn?t jave a pro-board with proper buckles. So, we instead all went down on our tummies and picked up loads of speed. It was incredible fun and an intense view above the dunes as we saw thew local town with a clear lagoon. And in the distance were snow-capped mountains. It was probably my favourite afternoon so far! We then made it to Nasca, a place home to one of the world's greatest archaeological mysterie; the Nazca Lines. The lines consist of patterns and pictures etched in the ground and criscrossing a wide area of flat desert. Some of the lines measure up to 10 km in length, and yet remain perfectly straight. The depictions of birds, insects and animals are only recognizable from the air or from a tower which me and a few from my group climbed whilst others chose the flight. Who drew the lines, and why, is something modern archaeologists only theorize about, but current beliefs suggest that they may be part of complex agricultural calendar for the Incas.After a couple of days in Nasca and we were going to Arequipa, Peru's second most important city after Lima. Arequipa maintains a traditional colonial style and more laid back pace in comparison with the capital. Sitting at 2325 m above sea level and surrounded by the Andes mountains, it was a delightful colonial town well worth the visit. The main plaza with its caf?and nearby cathedral was a great place to just walk around and enjoy the sunny weather. Browsing the markets and trying out Spanish was also fun, whilst of course tasting the local delicacies of Empanadas and other pastry treats.We next travelled a rough, rutted road through high plains flanked by extensive Inca and pre-Inca terracing that goes on for kilometres, en route to the Colca Canyon?one of the deepest canyons in the world. We spent one night in the town of Chivay, a picturesque village near the canyon where we also enjoyed watching live Andean music at a pe?hilst going for a llama steak. The next day, we took a tour around the canyon, stopping in fascinating villages and at "miradors" (scenic lookouts), where with a little luck we see Andean Condors They were beautiful to see and breathtaking to watch flying over the majestic Andes. After Colca Canyon we went to Cusco, the continent's oldest continuously inhabited city. Inca-built stone walls line most of the central streets and we didn't have to go far to see other major Inca ruins. It is truly a city steeped in history, tradition and legend. It seems that every South American town has a plaza and Cusco was no exception. It?s main square was bursting with character and rife with local shops, local people and a real buzz. Although the most touristy city we?ve visited, it was absolutely amazing to explore it and very much a city you could spend a week in and still not be bored with its surrounding mountains, churches, and Inca ruins.Next was Ollantaytambo. We visisted the impressive Pisac ruins and the colourful artisan market. The day trip finished in the picturesque village of Ollantaytambo, site of another large Inca ruin. Here we caught our breath and prepared for the hike ahead known as "The Inca Trail".
It?s a 40-km hike with 3 high passes, one of which reaches an elevation of 4200m (13776 ft). We departed in the early morning for km 82 where we began our walk in the footsteps of the Incas. Our local crew of porters, a cook and a local guide looked after us well for the duration of the hike. Porters carried the majority of the gear, so we only needed to carry a small daypack with water, rain gear, snacks, a camera, etc. As we walked the trail that linked this ancient empire, we admired the breathtaking views at every step as we moved from high plateau areas to dense cloud forest. We passed several smaller ruin sites and on the second day climb, the long steep path to Warmiwa?a, or Dead Woman's Pass. At 4198 m above sea level, this pass was the highest point of the trek. The second pass of the hike peaks at 3998 m where we were treated to superb views of the snow-capped mountains. The trail went through some beautiful cloud forest on the gentle climb to the third pass, where we walked over a causeway and through a tunnel, both original Inca constructions. The highest point of the third pass is at 3700m. We were rewarded for all our work with beautiful views of the Urubamba Valley below. Soon we later reached the serene ruins of Phuyupatamarca, or the 'Town above the Clouds', at about 3650 m above sea level. We camped for the final night close to Wi?Wayna (Forever Young) ruins, a grandiose terraced hillside site, with panoramic views of the valley below and just a short hike from Machu Picchu. On the final day of the hike we climbed the steps to the Sun Gate overlooking the peaks that surround Machu Picchu. There is no way to describe the feeling of the first views of Machu Picchu, as the mist rose off the mountains early in the morning and the famous ruin appeared in front of us. It was like a postcard picture in front of my own eyes. No words describe just how spectacular and breathtaking the view was. We explored the huge ruins for hours after arriving in triumph before heading for lunch in a nearby town with a few members of the group. The next day we returned to Cusco in the evening. But, being the active bunch we are, we went out that evening to go clubbing until 0300. It was fantastic to check out the Peruvian clubbing scene with a mix of reggaeton and American RnB/Hip-hop. After a fun night of dancing, we headed to bed to wake up at 0800. Why? The Amazon jungle of Peru was awaiting us!We took a flight to a small town from where we caught a bus to then take us to a river from where we would catch a boat to the guesthouse we were staying in. That?s right - air, land and sea travel in one day! We arrived and were greeted by a French lady who owned the lodge and was extremely welcoming. It was also a relief to finally be around a language I was more comfortable with! We later went out for a night walk and saw some really cool wildlife including tarantulas and Amazonian insects. We also took time to just listen to the sounds of the wildlife surrounding us. It was surreal to be there. The next day we took an 11 hour walk in the jungle which included a break in-between to chill out on a lake. Some went swimming whilst a friend and I dipped our toes in the Piranha infested waters. Don?t worry, no-one was harmed! It was a cool chillout during which I got to paddle us to shore before we retired back to the lodge. The next morning we woke up and were heading back to Cusco.
The experiences have already been incredible and there are loads more to come. I?m heading out to Puno tomorrow where I honestly don?t have a clue what?s going to happen. Not because I haven?t been informed but simply because I like it that way. It?s a non-stop adventure and we?ll be in Bolivia by the weekend.In the meantime, I?ll try and add some photos when I can. Apologies for not updating sooner. Hopefully I won?t leave it as long again!
Until next time, buenas noches y buena suerte!
Darryl
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