Gaynorstravels

This March, I’m taking part in the Himalayan Trust Summit Challenge and walking 8,848 steps a day (1 step for each metre of the height of Everest - 8,848m) to raise funds for the people of Nepal. Ever since Sir Edmund Hillary built the first schools and hospitals in the Everest region in the 1960s, the Himalayan Trust has been transforming lives in remote mountain communities: opening up new opportunities for young people through quality education, providing life-saving medical care, building water systems to provide safe drinking water and increase income from farming; and rebuilding schools following the 2015 earthquakes. I’m taking part in the Summit Challenge because I have always admired Sir Ed, not just his physical achievements but his passion to help the people of Nepal. I visited Nepal many years ago and feel ... read more

We are the only ones on the minibus this morning as we set out for our half day tour of Orongo and the volcano Rano Kau which is close to Hanga Roa. It is pretty obvious why as we approach the summit. There is a total whiteout and the wind is fierce. We shuttle into the information centre and our guide gives us a really good run down on the site and it’s significance but there is no way we can go exploring. This southern tip of the island became the focal point for the Makemake or birdman culture that supreceded the building of the Moai. Every year in spring, the representatives of leaders of each ‘tribe’ would race from here across to the neighbouring small islands and the first to bring back an egg of ... read more

I try to get a couple of photos of the prison this morning but it looks all quiet in the rising sun despite the very heavy police presence outside while we were having breakfast. Our taxi ride is much quicker than we expected, given it is rush hour on Monday morning and the whole checkin process is painless. The little lounge is really comfortable and even worth a photo. We hang out with ElShia and her Nanna, who we have all adopted. By coincidence we are all wearing our (almost) matching ‘baby’ lama cardigans that we bought in Puno on our way home from dinner. At 40 sol each (about 20NZD) I doubt they are the genuine article but they are soft and warm. We fly to Santiago and navigate customs, find the check-in, almost get ... read more

We wake up early to the sounds of our donkey braying and Mama and PapI chatting about the day ahead. When we surface we meet PapI who had been away the day before. He is a lovely smiley man who ushers us into the main house - a single room where they appear to live with table and chairs, cooking facilities and a bed behind a curtain. He serves us breakfast of fresh sweet bread rolls, jam, boiled egg, potato and tea. Mama arrives and explains she is off to a wedding, we should have guessed as she is wearing here bowler hat rather than the triangular one of the previous day. She is apologetic that she has to leave before seeing us off but PapI will take us to the boat. Hugs and kisses and ... read more

Today we take a public bus from Cusco to Puno, about a nine hour trip. However the bus exceeds expectations. It is a double decker bus with spacious seats that recline to ‘160 degrees’. We have seats up the top near the front so we get a good view of everything passing by. The countryside continues to be big, open and dry with many villages and farmlets along the way. It is warm on the bus so everyone is stripped back to singlets and shorts and a fair amount of napping takes place. There is a toilet on board which is simple but seems to keep fairly clean - perhaps due to a lack of holding tank. Lunch is at a roadside diner - Mike, our guide, knows the traps well enough to take our orders ... read more