Lorna Ali

Hello all, I am now home and thought i'd just add the final week or so of the trip, just as Lorna said i would. It was all such a rush and i was so busy out and about that i barely had time to log in, even if the was a internet connection available - I could've done it on the Inca trail, but clearly there was no opportunity!!! My last blog was at Ariquipa, just before the real altitude hit and like Lorna said, it was quite a airless, heady effect. Loved the Coca tea / brew that Rob and Jose plied us with and we really did have quite an entertaining afternoon. I nearly managed to sell Adrian to the ladies who needed a lift down the mountain to Chivay - they thought ... read more

After a long days driving from Puno we finally arrived in Cusco - the gateway to the Inca Trail! Everyone was getting pretty excited and a bit nervous about hitting the trail. We had a day free in Cusco to start with and most of us just spent the time wandering around the markets and stopping in cafes. I think a couple of people tried some museums but thats not really my scene. So last Wednesday we headed out from Cusco to Ollyantytambo. En-route we did the Sacred Valley tour and basically checked our 4 great Inca sites throughout the day. Each was pretty different and our guide was really knowledgeable and informative. Walking around them was also good prep for the hike as it involved climbing lots of steps etc. We got to Ollyantytambo at ... read more

Hi everyone. Lorna here. I think that Ali is planning to blog later as well, so you will probably get two versions of our latest adventures, but that´s ok as I´m sure we will have different things to say! First just a mention of Guinea Pig. A few of you have emailed me asking if I have tried it, and what it tastes like......well....no I haven´t tried it and frankly it looks gross. Back in Arequipa, a guy in our group ordered grilled Cuy (guinea pig). We were sitting up on the roof terrace when he ordered it.....several minutes later there was lots of squealing noises from the garden outside the kitchen....and shortly after there was a loud thud....and the squeaking stopped. 20 minutes later, the cuy arrived, laid out like road kill - thankfully no ... read more

Hi there, Lorna here again! So...Arequipa was a cool place. Like Ali said, it was the first place that we started to experience alititude....although I think we were misguided in thinking it was the real thing....as we have sampled much more since! Did some sight seeing around Arequipa. In the morning we went to the Santa Catalina Convent, which was a fantasic place. In short, the convent has been established for many years - going back to when it was first set up, it was actually very corrupt, all these women went and became nuns and then had hundreds of servants to wait on them hand and foot! They ate and drank from ornate gold plates and cups and basically lived the life of riley. Then the pope came along and told them they had to ... read more

Hello everyone!! Ali here as think its my turn to try and remember all that we´ve been up to. Lorna is feeling and looking great havbing a beer, while i am just waking up from a too short afternoon nap (those who know me will probably be aware of my ability to snuggle up anywhere of an afternoon and during this holiday i have taken opportunities whenever i can, today has been in a bed which was nice. Needed as a result of changing altitude and feeling generally sleepy and airless after taking a long walk around Arequipa). Feeling good now and once i´ve finished with you lot, i´ll be off for some beers and a bit of a chat with the gang we are travelling with and whichever locals we meet. I loved the jungle, ... read more

Hi all, this is Lorna. Firstly sorry for the punctuation on this blog - this keyboard is half spanish and half english and there are a few things including apostrophes that I cant find! Weve been slack with the blogs the last few days - mainly cos theres no electricity in the jungle, but then since back in Lima weve been pretty busy. Now, Ali is off out on a city tour with the rest of the group were travelling with, but having suffered with the dreaded peruvian belly for the past 12 hours or so, I am hotel bound and thought I would bash out a blog - Ali may decide to add an extra one when she gets back if I dont include everything on this! Anyways....so what have we been up to? Last ... read more

What a nightmare journey to get to the jungle!!! Left Bonaire yesterday as scheduled and had an ok flight into Lima. Only 3.5hrs, although we did then spend 30 minutes circling over Lima until there was a space to land! Out of the airport into the chaos of Lima - it´s totally mad...men everywhere shouting at you about money changing, taxis, going to cusco etc etc. We managed to get a taxi with a nice driver who spoke good english - learned that taxi drivers don´t bother getting car insurance....agreed this was probably a combination of the state of their vehicles (smell of burning rubber from right wheel arch area most of the way there) and the fact that ALL drivers in Lima are totally crazy...they basically just zig zag backwards and forwards across the roads ... read more

Ok, we're not in Curacao as the header says, we're actually in Bonaire which isn't listed on this thing.....but Curacao is only just across the water! So, it's been an eventful four days and lots of fun. Started out at 4am at Heathrow, where we queued for an hour at check-in, followed by over an hour at security. Lorna got the opportunity to strike a pose after looking dodgy enough to be asked to be a guinea pig for the new body scanning machine. Thankfully, this meant that she got to jump the queue and had time to buy fluids and food for the journey (you know how we both like our food!) The flight was delayed on the runway for an hour, but we still got to Amsterdam in loads of time. Next flight was ... read more

Knackered, packed (kind of) and ready to go.........well ready to go to bed anyway....for all of 3 hrs until the cab gets here. Just checking this is all set up and ready to go.......you'll hear from us again when we're in sunny bonaire.... bye for now :) Happy Monday!!!! Lorna & Ali Cat... read more