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Thea and Lizzie's travels
Ok, well Peru had a lot to live up to after the antics of Bolivia!! First impressions were not overly hopeful, not all that inspiring lets say! It was quite a long journey from Bolivia. I for one was not all that open minded as well, I had loved Bolivia so much I think I would have felt the same where ever we had moved on too! We stopped off at Puno and then headed on to our destination of Arequipa- 'the white city'. Not one of the most comfortable journeys ever, I know we are not exactly tall but we have legs too- though obviously the people in front were not so sure! Though I should mention that they had two big guns each and so we soon got use to no leg room!! Got to say we were not completely sure Arequipa deserved all the hype it got but after the discovery of the best crepe place ever we soon realized that we could have been a little harsh at first!! Plus this place in question not only did amazing crepes, it also had 'back gammon' another important consideration- I think im starting to detect a recurring feature here! We also decided that we wouldn't head back to Ecuador this time- something for another trip another time! So we went to bed feeling pretty satisfied... Little did we know what the night had in store! Early hours of the morning and yours truly (Lizzie) for a change was ill (again another recurring feature I think!) Yeap that good old friend food poising had another visit ( I would just like to state for the record im not this ill at home, I don't think my poor bowls are ever going to forgive me after this trip!), though im learning, as this time I didn't knock myself out, a big bonus!! - But the bruise did hurt!! So that was a long night for all concerned- unfortunately the walls were a bit thin, the joys of shared bathrooms and dorms- poor b*****s thought murder was being carried out, you know me I don't do things by halves! So yeah that was my fate for the whole time we were in Arequipa, we had to cancel the coca canyon trip and everything. Typically for the first time we had to be somewhere at a certain time and so had no choice but to move on to Cusco, as we had the Inca trail booked for early May! We were meeting Thea's mum to tackle the trail together, so task one was to meet up, easier said than done it soon appeared!! Eventually we hooked up in Cusco, so after waiting nearly six months to see her daughter Rosemary was greeted with 'sicky Thea'!! Yeap after successfully avoiding illness for whole six months Thea's timing was impeccable!! So as we have been accustomed to learning best laid plans don't always come through!! For the first couple of days we had with Rosemary Thea was a little under the weather lets say and I too was not firing on all cylinders still! I don't think Rosemary had in mind that she would travel half way round the world to play mum in quite such a way!! But it was so nice nevertheless to see Rosemary and to think that we only had days until the Inca trail felt like a real wake up call to the fact that we were in the last leg of the trip now. We did however make the best of the time we had before the trail with a bit of shopping, eating, and some ridiculous dressing up- who's bright idea was that again ladies??!!! We had a lovely lunch at 'the Fallen Angel`- a very cool place indeed, a little OTT but pretty cool (there is photo of us there making ourselves comfortable in our chairs- which was a double bed- animal print covers and all!!). We also caught up with the English girls we had met in Bolivia which was nice. Rosemary kindly booked us on to do the Sacred Valley tour with her the day before the trail, which was actually fantastic. It was the first tour Thea and I had done and it was wicked, it makes such a big difference to have a guide esp. if he was as good as the one we had! It was really interesting to hear what the guide had to say, Peru is a big potato grower with more varieties than you can get of chocolate! Regardless of this the farmers get a mere half a sole per sack of potatoes, to put this into prospectus there is 6 soles to a pound. Not only this but that it is cheaper to import potatoes from the USA to Lima than to transport them within the country, talk about supporting your farmers. The guide was also extremely knowledgeable about the Inca civilization, and was really interesting to listen to. We visited numerous Inca sites and also went to a llama farm (there are some classic pics of Thea and her new friends!!) We also went to a massive market in the afternoon and did some good shopping, for a change!! It was a cool day and good preparation for the trail!! Got to say that at this stage after an hour of steps none of us were too sure of the wisdom of day two of the trail - 8 hours of up hill and steps- we could barely contain our excitement!! So with that in mind we all had an early night!! We met our guides and porters the following day after an interesting journey (check out the photos!) We were a ridiculously large group of over thirty and with big differences in fitness- the poor guides were certainly going to earn their money on this one! The main guide was called Julio - such a dude really nice guide and unfaultable in his knowledge and passion of the Incas. There were also assistant guides, Marco, Jugo, Wander, and a proper cutie called little Marco - marcoquito (well that's how it sounded if not spelt!) The porters were also amazing and deserve some serious respect! Day 1 was pretty cool and not too stressful. The scenery was amazing I don't know how to try and describe what a pleasure it was to walk through it! We stopped for lunch and they produced a gastronomic delight- something that was consistent throughout, we were not going to stave! It was amazing, everyone had a bowl and flannel to wash with, then it was three courses, and these guys are carrying it all, individual soaps and all! The afternoon was just as spectacular as the morning. We had an amazing dinner as well and after a few rounds of s*** head we all headed for an early night. The memories of India soon flooded back, oh how we had missed tents!! Breakfast surprise surprise was just as good as all the other meals we had had so far!! Ok so this was the tough day!! As so often happens when walking everyone was soon off at different paces, although the walking was as tough as it was going to get, the scenery was spot on. The task was to get to `Dead Women's Pass` - such a good name!! To do this it was all up hill, plus some b****ing steps to sever as the cherry on the top! We didn't all walk together but we met up at the top. I spent part of the morning walking with a porter of a different group - not my best idea even though these guys are carrying a serious weight they still walk bloody fast- nearly killed me!! But it was cool to chat to them most of which were my age, and some of their stories are eye openers, what they put themselves through is immense and the effects on the body match it. Regardless of the sweat dripping, they are still a good laugh!! I got to the pass mid morning and was quite relived to have got there!! Behind came Thea and Rosemary who im sure can support such sentiments! From there we had an hour or so down hill to get to camp. It was a nice walk and it was a nice afternoon, we had it to just chill. Had such a good wash in the river - definitely brought back memories from India! Not surprisingly the group was really spread out with the first group of us getting to camp midday and the last coming in late afternoon; it was a long day for all involved. We all had an early night as it was an early start the following day. Day three was the last full day of walking and the longest over 20km- (nothing on a big ship!!!) We were up before dawn and on our way and the flat was a welcome surprise I think! Today was one the most beautiful, as we were walking along the trail that was over 90% Inca. We also saw many ruins along the way which was cool - we were definitely drawing nearer to Machu Piccu! The afternoon was entirely down hill and this showed as the first group got into camp just after half four and the last didn't get into camp until gone seven. It was a nightmare as it was dark; all it came down to was the fact that there were people doing the trail who really shouldn't have, for what ever reason it wasn't fair on the guides if nothing else. The last people to come down had to be carried by porters. So the mood that night with in the group was very mixed we really felt for Juilo- I bet he was pleased when the day was over. It was also decided that we would get up at 3am in order to get the first bus to Machu Piccu - therefore we could get up there before everyone else- priceless in our eyes! This was not all welcome by all but the group leader from Tucan made the decision and so that was what Juilo acted on. We had a wicked last night, ate better than before - if that is even possible they also produced the second birthday cake! They carved Toucans from veg and all!! There were various speeches and the tips were handed over and then we sang our version of 'always look on the brightside of life!!` Then they sang the Machu Piccu song, it was a perfect end to three days of wicked walking. So day four, the day all the walking was aimed to was an early start and regardless of the hour we had fresh pancakes and the third birthday cake was produced- need I say more about these porters! To get to the bus we had to walk along the railway track for two hours! Walk may be an understatement!! We were running a little late and so running was in order! A small group of us were at the front - including the three of us and we just made the bus the rest were just behind and also got up there nice and early. It was more than worth it, it was amazing. The whole place was covered in a blanket of fog when we got there, which just added to the atmosphere, as we just sat there and waited for it to emerge out the fog - in its own time of course!!- I don't really know how to describe it adequly so I hope the photos give just a snippet of what it was like, as I don't think I can convey it in words. We spent an hour or so to ourselves there and then had one of the best tours I think we have ever had, Juilo was amazing, so passionate! Then it was some sad good byes, followed by the train journey back to Cusco- it took just over an hour on the train, where it took us four days! The prospect of a good shower and a change of clothes were welcome by all. After a good clean up some of the group went to dinner. We then said our goodbyes to Rosemary, who was flying back to Lima the following day. It was a wicked few days, and definitely something that won't get forgotten in a hurry - (again a recurring phase!) Ok this has been a long one - hope you are still awake, I'll put the rest of the antics in another post card, the last post card of the trip even!! Well we hope you are all well and it really wont be long before we see many of you again, take care love us xxxxxx
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