Spudner
Catherine Pudner Joined: May 14th 2006
Logged in: August 18th 2008
Logged in: August 18th 2008
Travel Blog Posts
Rope
I can without a doubt say this was the highlight of my stay in Peru. A few months previously I had met a small and friendly man called Roy in Arequipa. He owned a hostel in the bottom of the Colca Canyon which was aptly named Roy’s Hostal. When asked about Maguey he without a hesitation told me that if I did come and stay at his hostel, then yes he would indeed show me how to make Rope out of the Plant Maguey. This interested me quite a lot especially after my string-making endeavour in the jungle. Maguey is a plant that is abundant in Peru and all over South America. When nylon was invented it was disaster for Maguey plantations in Mexico. I mentioned in one of my previous entries about a book I ... read more
Yareta (azorella compacta)
This was a one day hike that I did with two friendly guides. One was called Domingo (Sunday), which was funny as it was Monday. The other was the owner of the company and was called Pedro who was swatting for his tourism exam the next day; Latin names of high Andean plants and which ones were which. I thought that the trip was going to be a bit boring, I mean we are talking a four hour walk across a dirt plain at 5000meters to see a small spring and then three hours back, with a one and a half car ride either end. But luckily for me I was wrong. An unusual night of snow had left an inch coating the high rock strewn plain and as out feet creaked over the ground at ... read more
A clearly domesticated Llama
After getting back to Arequipa, Laurence and myself chilled out for a couple of days before heading off to the Colca Canyon with Ysabel’s father Walter. Unfortunately during this “chill out” period Laurence become a little bit ill and by the time we reached the Colca was looking rather pale indeed. It was ok though as I reassured Walter that Laurence was not going to die and everything would be fine. It was a really fascinating trip where we saw Walter’s family’s land and searched out the hidden treasures of the Colca. Unfortunately Laurence didn’t see any of this and saw most of the Colca through the hood of his sleeping bag (it was handy though as he could always guard the car). Walter is a really lovely man and I think he quite enjoyed looking ... read more
Large stones.
Further down the “sacred valley” towards Machu Picchu is the small town of Ollantaytambo. We stayed here a couple of nights. In the afternoon the ruins above the town are swarming with tourists but early in the morning and in the evening the town is quite relaxed. We met a rather nice girl called Marella from Holland who we sampled what wine was on offer with (Peruvian wine - big No,No, Bolivian wine - a bit patchy. Its got to be Chilean or Argentinean). Early the next morning I hiked up the hill behind the ruins to watch the sun rise over some twelve sided stones while Laurence stayed in bed. There were only four other people with the same idea as me so it was pretty quiet and nice. Ollantaytambo is the only settlement ... read more
Death of hiking boots.
After our hike I think it was probably necessary to relax for a few days in Cusco. This we did, and as Laurence slowly ploughed his way through the “South America Explorers” library I dreamt of fried breakfasts and relived my dreams every morning at “Jacks café” with a big “Gordo” fry up. Cusco is basically a good place to recuperate, eat food, drink and dance (if the occasion really calls for it). The town is an interesting blend of Inca and Spanish masonry, the highlight of which is a twelve-sided stone, much frequented by tourists. After a few days of fried breakfasts we headed back to the sacred valley to visit Pisac and Ollantaytambo. The ruins at Pisac were fantastic. It was easy to make a good days hike out of them. It was ... read more
Laurence and an interested pig.
This was an 8 day "excursion" that me and Laurence undertook without mules and without a guide considering that not carrying all our stuff was "cheating". Our route basically cut straight through the heart of the Vilcabamba range of mountains from south to north, crossing en route the great Apurimac river mentioned in the last blog entry.Our main goal was the little visited Choquequirao which is an archeological site just north of the Apurimac and site of the bridge mentioned previously. It is a partially exposed ruin that covers a site larger than Machu Picchu and in a similar location, perched high on a peninsular with dramatic drops flanking its terraces. It does not have the same mass of buildings as Machu Picchu but lower on the slope there are the most impressive terraces we ... read more
Michelle and Johannes
Going to Machu Pichu was an interesting and fun few days. I was actually expecting it to be packed with people and covered with rubbish but I was pleasantly surprised. We did the bog standard four day tour which was three days trekking arriving on the fourth day to see the sun rise. There were a lot less tourists than normal due, we think to the world cup which was in the semi final stage. Laurence was the only British guy in sight and it was all quite peaceful really. I am a bit suspicious of the talks the guides gave on the route as our one seemed to be give one quite different to another guide we over heard so when we got to Machu Pichu we decided to skip the tour and head straight ... read more
Me and a little friend.
After the Cycle ride and a day in Puerto Maldonado to recover a little bit we decided to spend a few days in the jungle at a lodge and go on day excursions. This was really cool. We stayed at a place called Cayman lodge which was French/Peruvian run. We did lots of things that sound a bit dangerous but weren’t. On the first night we went walking into the jungle to listen to the sounds, this was quite good but it was difficult to tell if tree roots were tree roots if you know what I mean. We had to wait an extra day for another couple to arrive with our guide so the next day (which I probably consider the best day I’ve had in Peru so far) was a ten hour stint in ... read more
Laurence and Saul with sandboards
Nazca- I had a fantastic time in Nasca, I got the bus there with my friend Saul and installed myself in a hostel of dubious quality. Saul and me went bike riding the next day and he explained about the aqueducts which are under the ground, 2000 years old and still keeping the desert irrigated. You can’t see much but the whole thing was quite impressive. We also went to see the Nasca line called “The loom” which was quite good and we could see it from the slope of a hill. The next day Laurence arrived off the bus looking pretty suave in felt hat and a corduroy coat and looking like he needed to sleep for a few days to recover from partying in New York. The next four days were pretty good, We ... read more
On monday i went on a day trip to see ubinas, but this time to get really close. I was with a german guy Erhard and two Peruvians. We drove out there in a four by four and saw. Llamas, Alpacas, a rare type of deer and flamingos. We got within 3 km of the volcano and could smell the sulpher in the air. There was also a noise emminating from the creater that is similar to a jet engin. This was unexpected and pretty cool. Enough of that though. here is an BBC artical I found on the internet. Its more interesting than volcanoes. Potatoes spark Chile-Peru dispute A US study found that all varieties can be traced back to Peru.The historic rivalry between Chile and Peru has in the past seen them arguing over ... read more
