South America Part 1

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When I planned to come to South America my initial feeling was a mix of anxiety and excitement as I had know idea what to expect. Not many of my friends had been and when I mentioned this leg of my trip I was immediately met with the 'oooo is it safe there, I've heard it's a bit dodgy?' Plus I was aware that I have never spoken a word of Spanish before. But after being in Asia for 3 months I felt pretty comfortable coming to South America and submerging myself in the culture and South American way of life. So far so good, in all honesty I haven't felt nervous or concerned for my safety at any point, hopefully that continues.



I arrived in Peru feeling pretty shattered after the long journey to get there and just wanted to sleep which was a challenge in itself as the rooms where so stuffy from the heat and rubbish fan! I had a few days to explore Lima before I headed over to La Paz and went to some pretty 'old town' parts and along the beach where you could surf. I was sharing a room with some guys who spoke Spanish which was handy as the transport system was pretty hectic and we wanted to head downtown to see some government buildings and churches. We visited one church that had some underground vaults that held bones from the cemetery they had to move to extend the church. Eeery but cool at the same time, I've attached a picture.



I had to endure a long bus journey to get to Cusco to break up the journey to La Paz, it was 22hours to Cusco then another 12 hours to La Paz!! Fortunately, the buses are pretty good and I could sleep along the way. It was really good to see Hilkka and we spent the first few days just yabbering away catching up and changing our plans to actually go down to Argentina and Brazil which was amazing as I wanted to see the World Surf Tour. This meant we needed to go back to Cusco so that we could do Machupiccu before we were too far away. Before we headed back to Cusco we decided to do the 'Death Road bike ride' which was a bike ride starting high up in the Bolivian mountains at 4300m with a tarmac road to get us used to the bikes and then we got stuck into the off road tracks which were amazing!!! Sketchy in some places as there were thin parts of the road with 400m sheer drops as you go around the non fenced corner. 55km later we were at the bottom and it was one of the best things I've done on my trip, definitely a new hobby when I'm home! The following day we headed to Lake Titicaca, a huge lake which straddles the border of Peru and Bolivia. It was really beautiful and 2 hours into the middle of the lake was an Island which translates as 'Island of the Sun'. We visited the Island and did a beautiful days walk across the Island from the North to the South, the views were stunning from start to finish. The sunset from the hostel was something I had never seen before, a glassy lake, with snow capped mountains on the horizon and the moon starting to appear whilst it was still daylight. Incredible.



We arrived in Cusco and got organised, Spanish lessons, booked a trek and met up with the boys I met in California - Zimmer, Lanners, Shaun, Cub, Kye. I wasn't very good at attending my Spanish lessons as I kept going out in the night and struggled to get up in the morning, so ended up only doing 4 hours. Such a bad student! One of the nights involved a beer pong competition which Lanners and I ended up winning and our prize was a free night in the hostel! One of the days Shaun, Lanners and I decided to go quad biking in the mountains surrounding Cusco which was such good fun, although the barking dogs that tried to follow us were not ideal as it made me accelerate at inappropriate moments! The next day we decided we should probably get a massage, one hour hot stone massage was £8 which was amazing and so worth the money. I was getting my muscles ready for the trek, well that's what I told myself to justify the luxury! Shaun and I also took in a walking tour which was really good and gave us a great insight into the history of Cusco and why it was built in the shape of a puma and also about the revolutionist Tupac Amur and his impact on Peruvian history. It fnished with a traditional Peru drink - Pisco Sour, very interesting and informative.



It was time to prepare for our Inca Jungle trek the next day which would lead us up to Machupiccu, something we were all really excited about. Insect repellant was a must, as was a poncho and baby wipes as we weren't sure what the hostels would be like. We were picked up at 7.45am and drove for 3 hours to get to the beginning of our bike ride down a mountain on a very bendy road. I had a little faux pas which was completely my fault as I wasn't concentrating as I was talking to Zimmer, ironically, about going faster. I then got my wheel caught in the edge of the road and splat, I was down on the road. I was very lucky to not end up in the ditch and actually only bruised my hip and my pride! After that I was very conscientious and didn't talk!! We cycled through rivers and ended up pretty wet but it was well worth it. The afternoon was as action packed as we were white water rafting along a pretty hectic river. Again, this didn't go without incident and I was out of the boat after about 20mins, pretty sure that wasn't completely my fault and in fact the it was the girl next to me? Well I ended up floating along the river on my back hitting rocks which led to a few bruises on my legs and drinking some delicious muddy water. Fortunately, I'm pretty happy in water, however the girl who also fell out looked very panicked bless her. But eventually we were all scooped up and lived to tell the tale. Next day was an 8 hour trek through the jungle, stopping at various little shacks on the way to learn about local produce such as coca beans, fruit and coca leaves. One of the river crossings was hilarious, literally a crate which fitted two people in, nothing strapping you in, and a guy on the other side pulling you across. We all looked at each other and laughed as that would just not be allowed in England. A beautiful vision was waiting for us at the end of the walk, natural hot springs, surrounded my mountains. The water was like bath water and it was exactly what we needed after our day of walking! We treated ourselves to a few drinks that night in a local bar, where the bar maid was also the DJ and bouncer! She definitely worked for her salary.



Day 3 started with some zip wiring across the jungle canopy, I'm pretty ok with heights but even I was was a bit nervous at the beginning. The zip wires varied in length with the longest one being 800m long. We were allowed to go in the super man position on one of them, that was scary but thrilling at the same time. Best zip wire courses I've ever seen and we all agreed we would have loved to have spent the day there. Apparently the resident dog has even had a go! 3 hour walk to our next location which was our base for the walk up to Machupiccu. The wake up time was 4am ready to climb the 1600 or so steps, this was traumatic in itself but coupled with the fact I woke up feeling sick and my tummy cramping, I knew it would be a long day. An hour and half, plus being sick a few times, we were up the top. The spectacular views of...white cloud greeted us! We couldn't believe it, we were all wet, cold, tired and miserable and felt a little under whelmed. However, we stuck it out and the weather cleared and finally the spectacular sight of Machupiccu was there in all it's glory. It really is as incredible as the pictures I had seen and a tribute to the 90 years of hard work that went on to create it all the years ago. We wondered around soaking up what was In front of us and took lots of pictures. The boys have proper cameras so I am looking forward to seeing what their pictures come out like. After 8hours up there we headed down to eat, shower and get ready for the train ride back to Cusco. We arrived back at 1am and I'm pretty sure all 6 of us got into bed and fell asleep as soon as our heads hit the pillow! An action packed few days taking in yet again more spectacular sights!!

Our last few days in Cusco involved Shaun, Lanners and I going on a horse riding tour around the ruins at the very top of the city, which allowed for great views across the whole of Cusco. Getting on a horse was completely out of my comfort zone and I was even more nervous when he told me three basic instructions and left me to it. I though I was going to be walked like a pony along the seafront?! To begin with I couldn't stop laughing as we all looked so awkward, but it was very apparent that the horses knew what to do and where very well behaved. Fun two hours to start the morning. Probably not something I'm going to pursue in England though.

Bolivia tomorrow for a local football game, salt flats and maybe some more jungle...

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