Inca Trail Day 3

Had another 6am wake up with tea! Breakfast was porridge, spring onion & ham omlette and toast! At 7:15, we headed uphill along some very steep steps (the Inca's had a thing about steps!!). We were in the Cloud Forest and there was a white blanket covering the valley. It was quite humid here but because of the altitude, it was cold.

We walked through some Inca tunnels, cut into the rock. They were quite small (as the Incans were 1.3 to 1.6m tall) and we had to duck! This part of Peru has over 350 types of orchid so Mauro was pointing them out to us!

We passed the ruins of Phuyupatamarca (the 'town above the clouds'). The Incan's used to stop here and wash to clense themselves before they would arrive at Machu Picchu and meet their gods. We then spent the next hour and a half climbing down. I was glad of my stick as the rocks were slippery. To pass the time, Mauro kept giving us riddles to answer, which was good fun! We also had a lesson on orchids (we managed to find 9 types on our walk)!

We arrived at our campsite at 11am (we only had to walk 10km today!) We headed to the main building and had the luxury of a hot shower!! We got back and had lunch - ham & mushroom pizza, minestrone soup and chicken curry, pasta and rice!

That afteroon, we took a stroll to the nearby ruins of Wiñaywayna or 'The Temple of the Rainbow' - an Incan Temple with a settlement below it. Mauro explained to use the several meanings behind the Incan Cross and how numerology is important for them.

Back at the campsite, we were called for dinner. It is Diane's birthday tomorrow so Carlos appeared with a massive birthday cake that he'd made that afternoon (with no proper cooker)!! We were very impressed! We then had dinner - corn soup, chinese rice, potaotes, lamb with mint, beef with vegetables in a wine sauce and sweet & sour bread! Desert was a purple corn desert with caramel and apple. They followed it up with sangria!

As it was our last night, we had a ceremony with the porters. They re-introduced themselves and said that it had been a pleasure being porters for us. We also thanked them for their amazing efforts and wonderful food. We told them that they were the best porters because they managed to get to the campsites before other porters and get us the best place in the campsite! They sang a song and danced with some of us. We then sang them a song - a 4 part harmony of In The Jungle, that we'd practised early at the Temple of the Rainbow! We also gave them a tip as they'd done such a wonderful job of looking after us! We all shock hands then went to bed!

Inca Trail Day 2

We were woken at 6am by the porters who brought us tea in bed! They also left a bowl of hot water outside the tents so that we could have a wash! Breakfast consisted of cereal and yoghurt, toast and pancakes.

We began walking at 7:30. Its not an easy start - we're only walking 3km but going from 3800m to 4250m to a place called Dead Woman's Pass (Warmiwañusca). Its pretty much straight up so Carolyn, Fionnuala, Katyo and I formed a group at the back to pace ourselves! We arrived at Dead Woman's Pass to clapping from the rest of the group. The views here were amazing (and there are no more pylons!)

As we were at the top of the mountain, the only way to go was down! But it was a long way down - to 3600m to Paqaymayo, which took us an hour and a half. The porters had been overtaking us since packing up the campsite and were running down big, wet steps. We were surprised that none of the slipped!

We had lunch at 11am, which consisted of potato and tuna starters, mushroom soup and beef and rice. It began to rain so we donned raincoats and ponchos and began walking the next bit - to an Incan message tower (called a Runkuraquy). Young boys used to carry messages across the Incan Empire by running to the next Runkuraquy and passing the message to another boy who'd run to the next tower. They used to be able to get a message from Quito to Lima in 5 days!

The original purpose of the Inca Trail was a pilgrimage so, following the traditions of the Incas, we each took a small stone from the Runkuraquy and were going to place it at our next stopping point - the Second Pass (which happened to be at the top of the mountain at 4000m!!!) We placed our rocks in a pile, wished for good weather (as it was still raining) and continued on our journey.

We walked down throught the Cloud Forest to 3880m and were on the edge of the Amazon. We passed the ruins of Sayaqmarka, that used to be used by the medicine men. We arrived at the campsite and played scrabble until tea (popcorn and biscuits). Dinner was polenta soup, spaghetti with ham & egg with a beef stew topping and desert was liquid chocolate!

Today was a very tiring day - we've done 30 of the 45 km and most of it has been uphill. I'm glad that from here on it's generally downhill!!

Inca Trail Day 1

We met our guides, Mauro and Diane, at 6:30am and drove to Km 82, the start of the Inca Trail. We are at 2750 metres above sealevel. As we got our gear together, our porters were carrying our duffel bags. We were amazed as they had between 20-25 kilos on their backs and were running to the checkpoint. One guy even had a gas cyclinder on his shoulders!

We had our photo taken at the start with big smiles!! We walked to the first check point and got a stamp in our passports to say that we'd begun the Inca Trail (we will also get one at the end to prove we've done it!!) We crossed over the bridge and were ready to begin!

We walked gently uphill, taking the route along the river. The views were amazing (spoilt only by the fact that we could see pylons along the valley!) We climbed some steps and stopped at our first resting point. We had bananas to re-charge the batteries and fed the skins to the waste-disposal unit - the local pig, who also tried to eat Karen's bag as well!

We continued on until we overlooked Llactapata, an Inca ruin that used to the the place where they mayor lived. Mauro gave us a brief history of the Incas: They were around from the 12th til the 16th century and were eventually conquered by the Spanish. They believed in inter-breeding and eventually had a mad Inca (or king). The people of Cuzco overthrew him and replaced him with a sane person! Cuzco was seen as the centre of the Incan Empire (which covered 5 countries). They did a lot of rituals, including human sacrifice!

We carried on (mainly uphill) and Kate, Jimmy & I played the name game to pass the time. We arrived at our lunch spot - Wayllabamba (at 3000 m) - after walking 11km! The porters had set up an dining tent for us and we soon tucked in to an impressive lunch of ravoli pasta (starters), asparagus soup, trout with lemon sauce, carrots, beans and rice. We couldn't believe it! We'd been told that we'd get the best food on the Inca Trail but didn't expect this!

I was not looking forward to the last 4 km of the day - for most groups this is usually done at the start of the 2nd day but we wanted to stay one step ahead of the rest! We have to climb 800 metres in 4km (to 3800m). We began slowly (especially as the altitude was now starting to have an effect on us, despite eating cocoa sweets)! Katyo and I took the leisurely walk up with Diane admiring the view and the many waterfalls around. It took an hour and a half to arrive at the campsite at Lluchapampa (we were the last but only by about 10 minutes!)

We were given tea, which consisted of hot chocolate (with rum in it!), animal biscuits and popcorn. We then met our team of porters - there are 15 of them ranging from 18 to 50 years old! We even had a chef (Carlos) who was dressed in chef whites! They introduced themselves and then sang a Peruvian song. We then had to introduce ourselves and say where we were from. They wanted a song from us so we did the hokey kokey (including the actions), which was very funny!

Dinner managed to be even better than lunch - vegetable soup, chicken in pineapple sauce, vegetable, potatoe cake and rice, with banana flambert for desert! It began to rain so we headed to our tents and got into bed (at 8pm!) .

Pisac and Ollyantaytambo!

We headed to Pisac and Ollyantaytambo, which are Incan Ruins in the Sacred Valley.

At Pisac, we saw the biggest Incan cemetry - they used to bury them in holes in the mountains so that they would be close to their gods. We walked around the mountain above the Inca terraces (used for preventing erosion, farming and decoration) and arrived at the settlement, which was impressive. They worshipped the Sun and the Moon and had temples for both of these in the middle of the settlement (althought the Sun Temple was the bigger as it was more important).

We carried onto Ollyantaytambo, which is where we'll be staying the night. The buildings here were not finished by the time the Spanish invaded and there are large rocks lying around. Their engineering was brilliant - they did not use any form of cement to join the bricks together of any religious buildings - they just cut them to the correct size.

That afternoon, we bought our supplies for the Inca Trail - walking sticks, drinks, sweets & chocolates!

Cuzco and the Guinea Pig!!

We were up at 5am this morning! We took a 30 minute flight to Cuzco, which is 3400 metres above sea level. It is good practise to get acclimatised before we hit the Inca Trail in a couple of days time.

We didn't do much today as it is best to take things easy when adjusting to altitutde but we visited the main square and walked up and down some hills. It is difficult to breath at times and we were often pausing to get our breaths back!

This place is beautiful! We're returning here for a few days after the Inca Trail to really explore the place!

We went out to dinner and Kate & Jimmy decided to go halves on the local speciality - guinea pig! As you can see from the photo, it was cooked whole (including the head and paws!!) The chef then cut it into smaller pieces (but it still had the paws and some fur on it!!) I did try a small piece (you can´t get large bits of meat off it!). It was ok but wouldn´t want to eat it again! Glad I tried it though!

The Condors of the Colca Canyon

We took a four hour bus journey to Chivay, which is on the outskirts of the Colca Canyon. The journey was fine, except for the last 40 minutes which was on an un-tarmac'd road and was very bumpy! We headed up to the highest point so far - the Pata Pampa volcano which is 4910 metres. We felt very light headed here and it was hard to breathe! We saw some Vicuñas (part of the camel family) and a very friendly Alpaca (which would eat anything it could!)

To help with altitude sickness, we were told that the leaves of the Coca Tree are good. They have made it into tea and to sweets but we had it en natural on the bus - chewing the leaves. It made our mouths go numb and turned into goo! It is also the plant that they make cocaine from!!!

We had lunch in Chivay. Here the people dress in their native dress - the women looked so colourful! We looked around their market which sold handmade garments that are ridiculously cheap!

We then headed to our hotel in nearby Coporaque. After a brief rest, we did an hour hike up the mountains. Here we stopped at an ancient buriel site and admired the views! The land has been landscaped to form large steps - some of these pre-date the Inca Empire.

We headed back and went to the local hot thermal baths which were at 40˚c!! We lounged about and were brought drinks by the waiters! We didn't want to leave!

The next day we were up at 5am as we were off to the Colca Canyon to see the Condors!! They use the early morning hot air currents to soar (to conserve energy). We stopped a few times en route to view the Colca Valley & Canyon (we were 1200 metres above the Canyon floor). We eventually saw about 5 condors (which is pretty good this time of year as it is mating season). One of them was sitting on a rock near us for ages before decided to fly around and allow us to get some great shots!

We arrived back in Arequipa mid afternoon so Kate, Jimmy & I went to the Juanita Museum. Juanita was a 12 year old girl that was sacrificed by the Incas to the gods on the Ampato volcano. They used to walk from Cuzco to the top of the volcano (at 19000 feet). It was a 160 mile walk and Juanita had been prepared from the age of 3 to be a sacrifice. They performed a ceremony at the top of the volcano before hitting her over her head to kill her and then buried her on the volcano.

Her body was fully preserved (due to the fact that the top of the volcano is covered with snow). In 1995, when the nearby volcano of Sabancaya erupted, the snow melted. Part of the volcano collapsed and Juanita's remains were discovered. They have her body in the museum - you can even see her finger nails in clear detail! It was a little strange looking at a 500 year old body in near perfect condition!

We had a BBQ in the hotel for dinner, which was really good (despite the beef so raw that it was still running around my plate!!) We're flying to Cuzco tomorrow morning so its an early start!!

The Altitude of Arequipa!

The bus finally arrived and we left 3 hours late! Managed to get a pretty good nights sleep (although my ears kept popping as we climed up to 2325 metres). We arrived in Arequipa at 9:30am. The place is surrounded my the Andes and many a volcano (El Misti, Chachani & Pichu Pichu are the main ones).

We had a free day, mainly to acclimatise to the altitude so we got our washing done (took it to a nice laudarette who returned it very nicely clean and folded! We then walked around this beautiful city and saw El Misti from a great viewpoint (a 'mirador').

We're off to the Colca Canyon tomorrow for a 2 day trip which should be great!

Nasca Lines

Had another early start today! We went into Nasca and visited the Chauchilla which is a pre-Inca desert cemetry. They have bodies there that are 1500 years old and perfectly preserved, even with long hair!! We then went to Toto´s Pottery Place, where we were shown how they made their pottery and then went to a place that takes the Gold out of the minerals in the rocks and had a demonstration from an ex miner about the traditional ways, using mercury and rolling logs by standing on them to separate the gold from the mercury. It was a lot of hard work for very little gold!

We then went in 6 people cessner planes to fly over the Nasca Lines - an archeological mystery as to why they were created. There have been theories from agricultural calenders, to ceremonial uses to extra-terrestrial landing points!! They have animals drawn into the sand and lines that are perfectly straight, stretching for up to 30 miles! Half way through the flight, the turbulance got to my stomach & I threw up!! It is obvioulsy a regular occurance as they had bags ready!! Was glad to be back on land!

That night, we had a traditional dinner - pacha manca - where the food is cooked under ground. It was really good!

Tonight we are getting a night bus to Arequipa, which should take about 9 hours. It is currently ruuning on Peruvian time and is 2 hours late!!

Penguins, Sealions & Sand surfing!

We went on a tour of the Ballestos Islands this morning - there were hundreds of birds, penguins & sealions on the islands. It was an amazing sight seeing the birds flying in their hundreds over the sea!

We then went to El Catador Winery to have a tour and taste some of their produced (they also do fruit drinks, jams & honey besides alcohol!) Did think it was a little too early to be drinking (midday) but we had to have some Pisco Sour, Pisco Baileys & Pisco Tequilla (not their real names but its what they tasted of!)

That afternoon, we headed to Hucachina, which is an oasis that they built a town around. After lunch (great timing), we went on the sand buggies over big hills & at great speeds. We kept gasping and then getting mouths full of sand! Then we went sand surfing which, considering I have never surfed, skiied or snowboarded before, we didn´t do too badly at! We did 4 hills & the last one was very bumpy at the end!! I ended up with so much sand in my pockets!

We then travelled 3 hours to Nazca and are going to take a plane over the Nazca Lines tomorrow!

Pisco

We took a 4 hour bus ride from Lima down the coast to Pisco. The bus driver decided to show Kill Bill 2 & Scary Movie (great choices considering that there were kids on board!)

We arrived at our hotel in Pisco where we had dinner (we tried a typcial Peruvian dish of meat, vegetables and rice) along with the famous Inca Cola (we had the light version which isn't as sickly sweet!)

We're leaving here tomorrow at 7:15 to go to the nearby Ballestas Islands to see Penguins & Sealions!

Lima & The Earthquake!

Arrived in Lima gone midnight - the flight went surprisingly quickly (compared to the train journeys that we have had recently!) Got to our hotel at 1:30am and slept right through an earthquake at 6am! It was (apparently) factor 6 on the richter scale!

That day we took a city tour as we are only there one day! The most scary thing about this city is the driving - there are very few sets of traffic lights and many near collisions at every junction. Would not like to drive here!

That night we met our tour guide Nicolas & our group - Chris & Carolyn (Colorado), Susan (New Zealand) & Martin (UK), Karen, Katyo & Jimmy (UK), Yvonne & Fionnulla (Ireland) & Grant (New Zealand). We tried the famous Pisco Sour (which is made from grape & is about 45% alcohol!) It will take some getting used to!

We went for dinner with Milly (from the Yosemite trip) and Jimmy. It is so cheap out here - dinner is about £5!!

Saturday morning our group met in the hotel lobby to begin our trip - first destination Pisco!

Los Angeles (again!)

We arrived back in Los Angeles gone midnight after spending 17 hours on trains and buses (what fun!). We went to Mel's Diner, where they used the outside to film Happy Days. We had a chocolate malt milkshake (which was great!).

We also went to Universal Studios - we went on the Shrek 2 3D ride, Jurassic Park The Ride, Revenge of the Mummy The Ride, Backdraft Special Effects Tour, The Back to the Future Ride, Van Helsing Fortress Dracula Walk (very scary as actors in costume kept jumping out at you in the dark!) and Terminator 2 3D. We also did a studio tour but didn't see anyone famous (they were filming Desperate Housewives and CSI:Las Vegas there!)

That night we went to dinner at Toi's (Thai Restaurant) with Scott (from the Canyons Tour) and went to see The Queen at the cinema - very interesting British film!!!!! It was a great way to end our time in USA - off to Peru tomorrow!!!

Ashland & the Shakespeare Festival

It took over 9 hours to get to Ashland, Oregon from San Francisco (two buses and a train), where we'll be for the next couple of days for the Shakespeare Festival (which runs from May to October). Autumn is on its way over here and the trees are starting to turn to beautiful reds and oranges and the place is the closest to England that we've been in. It's a small town, peaceful and quiet (which makes a change from the cities we've been in)!

We went to see The Winters' Tale. It was really enjoyable (albeit a little strange hearing Shakespeare performed with American accents!) and well performed (especially the part of Autolycus!)

We left Ashland on the Sunday and spent the next 18 hours getting to Los Angeles (at least we got to talk to some interesting people on the way!)

Yosemite Trip

We had an early start at the beginning of our 3 day camping trip to Yosemite. We packed light (considering last time we took everything!) but found that everyone else had brought all their stuff! There are 14 of us on this trip (along with Tim, the tour guide) - Milly from London, Paul from Bristol, Scott, Sally & Rhys from Australia, Adelaida & Gonzalo from Spain, Andres from Mexico, Patrick & Aisling from Ireland, Yona from Israel and Chris from the USA (who is filming the trip for the same promotional video that was done at the Canyons Tour!) It was a great group and we had a lot of laughs!!!!!!

On the first day, we drove to the Mariposa Grove where the Giant Sequoias are (very big trees!). The oldest tree is 2,700 years old and we hiked around for a few hours (walking across fallen trees, through trees and in hollow trees - it was more fun that it sounds - and finally to the 'killer tree' which Tim lay under to prove a point!!!! Photos are needed here and will attach them when I can upload them!)

Dinner consisted of chicken fajitas & we had to remove the chicken from the bone (in the dark with only a small lamp to assist us) - it looked like a massacre had taken place when we'd finished but it tasted good!!

The next day we went to the High Country in Yosemite (stopping on the way at Olmsted Point and Tenaya Lake). We climbed Lembert Dome (which is 9800 feet), through snow and forests and had lunch on the top of it. The view was amazing - all you could see were mountains and meadows. It got a little cold up there so we made our way day (I almost ran out of ledge to walk on and ended up coming down the hill on my behind!!! - which got caught on video!) That afternoon, we went to the Tuolumne Meadows and saw waterfalls and smiling rocks (see the photo for an explanation!!!)

We had steak for dinner so we let the Aussie's do the BBQ (& home made marinade from whatever was lying around!) It tasted great (and was cooked to everyones' particular liking!) We then sat round the camp fire, telling jokes, singing songs, eating s'mores and drinking wine!

The final day we went up to Glacier Point and saw Half Dome (which is 8800 feet and 7% off a vertical climb - there were climbers at the top)! We then did the Four Mile Trail down the mountain (which took us longer that it should have as we kept stopping to 'pose' for the camera and admire the views!) We also stopped to laugh at Rhys' 'angry skipping' and for the boys to have stick fights! We stopped on the way back to look at El Capitan (which was covered in rock climbers)!

We had such a great time in the park and spent most of the time laughing (when we weren't gazing at the amazing views)!

The City of (very big) Hills - San Francisco

We arrived in San Francisco late on Thursday night after getting trains and buses from San Diego. The hostel we are in is on a hill (very unsuprisingly!) but its not a very big one!

On our first day, we walked down to Market Street and Union Square. They had a street chess competition and I was persuaded to play a game. I lost (the guy I was playing had been practising too much) and the bet was 50 cents (25p!) but it quite fun! We then walked through China Town - half of it is full of tacky souvenir shops, the other half has vegetable and fish shops. We had dinner in a little 60's place called Lori's Diner which could have fitted in on the set of Grease!

On the Saturday, we went for a walking tour of the city with the hostel. We walked up (and up and up) to Nob Hill, saw the Bay Bridge and Alcatraz! We walked down Lombard Street (which is name the Crookest Street as it zig zags back and forth down the road! We walked through Little Italy on our way to Fisherman's Wharf and Pier 39. The Pier has lots of restaurant and odd little shops. This is where the sealions also gather in their hundreds (about 50 or so stay there all year round). We walked back via Coit Tower, which gave us a great view of the city, and China Town.

That evening, we went on the cable car (lots of quote from Eddie Izzard's 'Dressed to Kill' were said, which kept us giggling for a while). We hung off the side of the car as it travelled up and down hills. On the way back, we sat inside. Our cable guy kept using his bell to warn off the cars at intersections as the cable car rarely seems to stop at them. The number of cars trying to cut up the cable car was surprising and the cable car guy got very annoyed and kept ringing his bell! At one point, the cable car stalled and we had to get a push up the hill!!!

On Sunday, we decided to walk the city (which ended up being for 7 and a half hours and we covered about 10 miles - were we aching once we'd finished!!!) We went to Mission and saw Mission Dolores - one of the first missions in the city which surprisingly survived the 1906 earthquake despite the church next to it being completely destroyed! Then we walked to the Golden Gate Park (up an extremely steep hill) and stopped in the Japanese Tea Garden and had a cup of Jasmine Tea (which is one of the best cups of tea I've had all trip!). We then headed to the Golden Gate Bridge. On route, there was a family having a home-made lemonade sale outside their house so I stopped for a glass of it - it was pretty good!

It look us 45 minutes to walk across the Bridge but the view was worth it. On the way back, the fog had started to come it. As Eddie put it, "its a fog in a hurray" and it was shifting!! We got some great photos of it though! We then walked back to Little Italy and had a really great dinner in an Italian restaurant before heading back to the hostel (up 3 steep hills in succession). We were so exhausted that we went straight to bed!

Today, we went to Alcatraz! We took a boat trip to the Island and then the audio tour of the cell blocks - they were so small, with room enough for a bed and a folding table and chair! The tour took us to the dining area and kitchen before heading to the isolation block and the area they called "the Hole" - rooms that, once the door was closed, were completely in the dark. They also told us of an attempted escape in 1941 and a 'successful' escape in 1962 that the film "Escape from Alcatraz' was based on. There is no evidence that the escapees reached the mainland but they are still listed as 'wanted'!

Tomorrow we are going on a 3 day camping tour of Yosemite, with the same company that we did the canyons tour with.

San Francisco is definitely our favourite city in the US!

San Diego

From advice from other travellers, we headed south to San Diego, which is really close to the US-Mexico border. It is a far cleaner (less polluted) city that LA which was noticeable as soon as we stepped off the train. The hostel is in the Gaslamp District which is full of restaurants so we ate at a different place each night.

We headed to the San Diego Zoo (which is massive) and spent almost all day there. We caught a couple of their shows - one with sealions and the other with wild animals (which included a cheetah with its companion - a golden retriever!)

We also went to Pacific Beach for the day. The day had begun being a little cloudy but the sun shone through and I ended up getting quite burnt!!! Typical!

We're heading to San Francisco for our next stop.

Los Angeles

Our hostel in LA is situated just off Hollywood & Sunset Boulevards which is great for us as it is pretty central! We only stayed a few days here as there is not that much to do (plus we weren't too enamored with the place!).

We went and saw Dawn of the Dead, a spoof 70's horror film at the Hollywood Forever Cemetery (which seems a little weird but there were hundreds of people there, with picnics and sleeping bags - all more prepared than we were!). The film was not scary (which is just as well) as the zombies had painted blue faces, walked with their arms outstretched and had really fake-looking blood!!

We did a bus tour, which took us to see the Hollywood sign and the home of the stars. We saw Leonardo di Caprio's, Hugh Heffner's, Nicholas Cage's, the house that they use in the Fresh Prince of Bel-Air among others. We didn't see anyone famous though!

We walked the length of the Walk of Fame (all 3 miles of it, seeing over 2700 stars!) and ended up at the Chinese Theatre and the Kodak Theatre. We put our hands in the imprints of the star's hands (typical tourist activity) and got sneaked up on by the many street performers outside the Theatre (Homer Simpson came and said hello & Kate was startled by Chuckie!)

We also went to one of the best Thai Restaurants ever (as recommended to us by Justin & Scott).