http://www.travelblog.org/Bloggers/The-Jeff-and-Connie-Travelpolooza/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from The Jeff and Connie Travelpolooza en-us Mon, 28 Dec 2009 05:04:42 +0000 Mon, 28 Dec 2009 05:04:42 +0000 Hola Because its been so hard to find time to update you all on our travels I decided to cheat a little bit I am copying Brijs accout of our Sacred Valley bike tour and Salkantay Trek to Machupiccuhu including what almost turned out to be impossible to get from Cusco to Puno by bus. Just so you know we are at the Colca Canyon right now so we made it safely to Puno and Arequipa. The curr http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Peru/Cusco/Cusco/blog-340047.html Well it has been a wild ride since arriving in Cuzco acclimatizing to 10000ft3400m being panhandled constantly and spending a night in the hospital have all been a part of the Peruvian experience so far.Connie arrived on Sunday 1012 after 30 hours of flying on 5 different planes. The first day included getting oriented to the city eating and going to bed early with a huge headache. Cuzco http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Peru/Cusco/Cusco/Cusco/blog-335574.html We had 2 not so exciting days hence no updates even from SPOT. I should say that I did not have exciting days Jeff might beg to differ. Sunday night or possibly monday morning he caught a stomach bug that took him out for 2 days. He worked on strengthening his stomach muscles while I exercised them in different ways. The legend of my iron stomach lives on and if I am not trading places with http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Peru/Ancash/Huaraz/Huascaran-National-Park/blog-332654.html All is well here in Huaraz I recovered from my stomach bug which I feel came about from eating grilled pig in the outdoor market not a good idea no iron stomach here. Just could not resist everyone is so friendly and wants you to try their local food. Today we biked from Huaraz to 12500 ft through some of the most beautiful country I have ever seen. From an arid grassland to the base of the http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Peru/Ancash/Huaraz/Huascaran-National-Park/blog-332653.html This morning started off early for us. We arrived at El Fogon shortly before 8am and we waited for 10 minutes and thought we had been stood up by our Peruvian waitressfriend Ruth. Ruth arrived with her friend Jessica and we went to the meat market. Words really cant explain this place. It was loco I have never seen so many dead animals in my life Of course it was captured on video pigs were http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Peru/Ancash/Huaraz/Huascaran-National-Park/blog-332652.html So after the last travel update Aldo recommended a restaurant El Fogon that we should try out if we were looking for local cusine. Of course So we walked a couple blocks to the Plaza de Armas and then a couple more. Blocks are so small here very walking friendly. I kept watch as Jeff withdrew cash from an ATM. We passed another local eating place that had a sign outside for hamburgers for Sole http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Peru/Ancash/Huaraz/Huascaran-National-Park/blog-332651.html Hola de Peru Huarez is incredible Brij and I came here directly from the chaos of Lima we were there for 2 hours and jumped on a bus for 9 hours to Huarez. It was brutal It is amazing how poor this country is and how dedicated they are to farming and helping others. Everyone has been so friendly even offering us change to make a local phone call. After sleeping until 11 the next morning we me http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Peru/Ancash/Huaraz/Huascaran-National-Park/blog-332648.html After 36 hours of travel by plane and bus we arrived in Huarez 9500' last night. The connections were really good and everything went like clockwork except for the sleep. Couldn't get horizontal until we arrived here. The food ... what can I say. Starting from the bus ride we have been having one wonderful dish after another. It is so good it make me want to take cooking lessons. We had some my http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Peru/Ancash/Huaraz/Huascaran-National-Park/blog-332647.html