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Published: November 19th 2009
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7th-9th November
We touched down in Peru and collected our bags, now to tackle South America where we’d been made aware of possible scams and annoyances. We fought our way through the airport and after asking a police man for a taxi service we were pointed to a taxi man who took us to our hotel in the Miraflores region of Lima where later that night we would meet our group accompanying us on the Inca trek. The taxi was cheap and took us straight to our hotel. With bags dropped off and an hour to kill we went for a little walk to check out the local surroundings. The first thing I noticed was they drive even more crazily than the Americans with everybody just hitting a junction together and then ramming their horns on. It certainly was a huge culture change from the States, massive cars/pickups replaced by tiny cars with about 8 people crammed inside. We returned to our hotel and met our group of fellow Inca trekkers, Jon, Kat, Chanj, Jen and Suz. There were others but they were already in Cuzco awaiting our arrival. We were informed of the procedure of events for the following
day and then informed up to the eyeballs we headed for as bit of food before bed.
Early to rise and breakfast eaten in the hotel with the waiter who looked unsure how to deal with the demand of food required by the guests who indulged it faster than it could replaced, we headed to the airport once again, this time on a flight to Cuzco with our new found friends. Our flight to Cuzco was somewhat eventful as when we came to land we went through some horrible turbulence, so much so we were forced to abort landing and try again due to such high winds. The second approach was no better with the plane swaying to and fro, it was doing little for anyone’s nerves and the plane was deathly quiet. The attempts persisted and after two further attempts we were forced to detour and land in nearby Arrequipa with a raptorous applause from all on board. We were a 15 hour bus journey away from Cuzco but the pilot wasn’t going to give up that easily and an hour later and use all still sat on the plane, news came through that the winds had dropped
in Cuzco so with plane refuelled we took to the skies once more, this time landing in Cuzco on our first attempt with an even greater rapturous applause from relieved passengers. Another severe case of sweaty palms.
We were picked up from the airport by one of the tour representatives and taken to our hotel. Cuzco was a lovely little town set in a valley at a staggering height of 3300m+. The altitude certainly showed its affects and both Bowks and I found ourselves out of breath, never mind hiking up mountains for up to 8 hours a day which we had to look forward to over the coming days. We wandered around Cuzco along its busy little streets, bustling with people and traffic, with battered little cars with their neon lights beeping their horns continuously for both attention and in frustration of other vehicle and pedestrian movements. We headed for dinner with some of our group, then went back to the hotel to meet the rest of our group and tour guide. The group consisted of a range of nationalities and ages including our native tour guide Percy, who didn’t want to be known as our guide, but
preferred to be our Andean partner´. We got some instructions for the trek and received our duffle bag in which we were allowed 6kg of clothing, sleeping bag etc for the porters to carry for the next couple of days. We had a couple of beers with Kat and Jon before packing our stuff and heading to bed.
The next morning was spent in the Sacred Valley of the Incas which is a large agricultural region. We visited a small community that Gap Adventures (our tour company) supports and found our how to spin and dye the alpaca yarns. We bought some warm hats and played a bit of football with a local child. For lunch we ate at this great buffet place, there was a huge selection of fresh food. I tried to make fiends with a llama but unfortunately it wasn’t feeling too friendly and spat at me all down my leg.
That evening was spent in Ollantaytambo a quaint town based in a valley near the start of the Inca trail. We, along with a few others from our group, climbed up a steep hill to see some more Inca ruins and watch the sun
set. It was tough on the old legs and certainly gave us an idea of what was to come. We explored the town some more and I showed some local children my trick of walking on my hands which they found very funny. Back at the hotel we sat in the roof terrace chatting with the other group members and then retreated to bed where Bowks tried to teach me a bit of Spanish and I successfully managed counting 1 to10 and to ask ´where is the toilet?´.
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Mel
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Scary Planes & Spitting Llamas
WOW this beats cold wet Shropshire even the scary plane and spitting llama beats Maries car journey to work & Rory spitting his lungs into the servicios every morning!!! Hope your legs hold out! Adiós xx