http://www.travelblog.org/Bloggers/Spudner/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from Spudner en-us Mon, 28 Dec 2009 00:59:21 +0000 Mon, 28 Dec 2009 00:59:21 +0000 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 Royrsquos 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 o http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Peru/Arequipa/Colca-Canyon/blog-90231.html 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 http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Peru/Arequipa/Colca-Canyon/blog-90220.html After getting back to Arequipa Laurence and myself chilled out for a couple of days before heading off to the Colca Canyon with Ysabelrsquos father Walter. Unfortunately during this ldquochill outrdquo 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 ever http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Peru/Arequipa/Colca-Canyon/blog-83071.html Further down the ldquosacred valleyrdquo 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 NoNo http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Peru/Cusco/Ollantaytambo/blog-82859.html 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 ldquoSouth America Explorersrdquo library I dreamt of fried breakfasts and relived my dreams every morning at ldquoJacks cafrdquo with a big ldquoGordordquo fry up. Cusco is basically a good place to recuperate eat food drink and dance http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Peru/Cusco/Sacred-Valley/blog-80400.html 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 a http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/blog-76255.html 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. Laurenc http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Peru/Cusco/Inca-Trail/blog-76010.html 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 FrenchPeruvian run. We did lots of things that sound a bit dangerous but werenrsquot. On the first night we went walking into the jungle to listen to the sounds this http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Peru/Madre-de-Dios/Puerto-Maldonado/Amazon-Rainforest/blog-70243.html 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 canrsquot see much but the whole thing was quite impressive. We also went to see the Nasca line cal http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/blog-65686.html 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 unexp http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Peru/Arequipa/Arequipa/blog-60733.html