Blogs from Barranco, Lima, Lima, Peru, South America

For the last full day of our holiday, we decided to wander around Barranco, the funkiest and most attractive part of Lima we have found. Like St Kilda, it was once a seaside resort when the city was contained in what is now the centre, buy today its old buildings have been converted into restaurants, bars and galleries and in the streets are filled with street art, bougainvillea and bohemian young people. There are several small museums and galleries. We visited MATE, the gallery of photographer Mario Testino. He is best known for his glamorous celebrity shoots and fashion photography, including the last portraits of Princess Diana, and those works are certainly impressive. But our favourites were his stylised colourful images of traditional Andean costume - which makes anything b the modern fashion world invents seen ... read more

Hello everyone!!! We finally made it! - we had an awful journey here with a very long stop over in São Paulo! Celebrated new year three times but slept through two of them. Finally landed to discover- my boots have got lost in transit! We really aren't having the best of starts lol! I can laugh about it now but obviously wasn't amused at the time! They'd also stolen my cable ties from my bag too! We got a taxi from the airport into Lima- that was an experience in itself!!! They make the m25 look tame, cars nearly crashing into each other with about 15 people in 1 car- mental! We arrived at the hostel in 1 piece thankfully, our hotelier took pitty on us and let us have our room early. I swear to ... read more

Geo: -12.143, -77.0186For those of you reading this in "real time," there is a gap for the days we were out on the Inca Trail. Good news: we made it! Obviously we didn't have the time or internet connection to blog while hiking 26+ miles over and around mountains, so I'll have to go back and fill in the blanks when I return. I think the common reaction of everyone in our hiking group was that it was an epic experience, well worth doing and we never want to do it again.We got up around 7:30 this morning, still incredibly grateful for having had a shower and a night in a bed. I never really got fully acclimated to the altitude and my chest still felt a little tight so I was ... read more

Geo: -12.143, -77.0186We started our day at the "self your serve" coffee and tea station. Mike reported that the coffee was strong but lacked flavor. I was pleased that the tea water was piping hot. The selection of teas included "uña de gato" which means "cat's claw." The ingredient list included both that and "horse tail." A brief check of an promising web site revealed that cat's claw is the friendly term for a South American vine that is good for digestive complaints and arthritis. I stuck with "te puro." It was a short night and I needed caffeine, not surprises. The hotel has five breakfast options: all include freshly squeezed OJ. I had a mixed fruit bowl that included a lot of papaya, some melon, strawberries and a small yellow, round fruit that we had ... read more

Heute werde ich wohl mein letztes Update schreiben. Die Busfahrt von Arequipa nach Cabanaconde zum Colca Canyon war schlaflos, eng und unangenehm. In Cabanaconde habe ich mich deshalb mit einem ausgiebigien Fruehstueck in einem Hostal belohnt, in dem ich auch gleich den Grossteil meines Gepaecks zurueckgelassen habe. Danach gings los auf eine dreitaegigie Tour durch den Colca Canyon. Die wunderbar warmen Thermalpools, die ich nachts bei klarem Sternenhimmel besucht habe, die supernetten Leute, die ich kennengelernt habe und die Landschaft waren genial. Leider hatte ich am zweiten Abend wieder eine schreckliche Magenverstimmung, sodass ich nach einem langen Wandertag weder Essen noch was Trinken konnte und total entkraeftet schlafen gehen musste. Da ich nicht wusste, ob es mir am naechsten Tag besser gehen wuerde, habe ich sicherheitshalber fuer den meist 3h dauernden schweren Aufstieg... read more