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Published: December 16th 2006
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Boarding Baby
See the lessons and bruises did pay off. Finally arrived in Peru, after many changed flights, the sun was too good to leave in Brazil! and a few delayed flights. Stayed in Miraflores in Lima, not the greatest place in the world, but had a quick look around. I was surprised by the attention I got, although you expect it being a lone female gringo, every man I walked passed got me hissed or kissed at. Nice. Also every taxi assumes that you need them, so they all beep at you and pull over, but are never around when you need them
I left Lima pretty quick as there isn't much there and would be returning after Xmas anyway, so I got the bus down to Hucachina, the tiniest and cute little village in the middle of huge sand dunes. I was surprised at the Peruvian landscape, expecting all jungle greenness the desert was quite a shock. Hucachina was a nice warm break from Lima and gave me time to sit around the pool in the sun. Also gave me the chance to put my snowboarding skills to test with sand boarding. Went out on a tour over the dunes in a
buggy with the crazies driver going full pelt up, down, over and through the dunes, wicked fun bouncing around at the back. We stopped off a couple of times to go boarding and with a few practise runs my boarding lessons where paying off, good job too when we saw the size of the dunes we were going down. Luckily it hurts less to fall on snow. Although i took to it like a gringo to sand, I was thoroughly shown up when I saw the South American Sand Boarding Championships, with them doing jumps and crazy slaloms. Taxi for Pill, sadly not literaly as mine to the bus station, looking slightly dubious at the start and died on the way, an introduction to the quality of taxi´s I would be taking.
After being filmed on to the bus, not knowing if it was for identification if the bus crashes or just cos I was looking so stunning, no doubt the latter as 9 months travel is really taking toll on the clothes, I arrived in Arqupia, know as the White city.
The place was dead cute and chilled, but sadly not as
Arequipa
The Plaza Del Armes hot as Hucachina. Probably a good thing for the Ice Mummies that fame the town. Junita, a small Peruvian child had been found in the mountain over looking the City and had been sacrificed by the Incas in their time and preserved in the mountain in ice and only found by chance. A museum now homes the tiny mummified body, freaky looking but was fascinating to learn about the Inca believes and mountain gods.
Not thinking about the fact I was steadily heading up in altitude I booked on to trek the Colca Canyon, the second highest in the world, with the highest being a few miles away and only 200m deeper. Wasn't that taken back after the wilds of Patagonia, but was soon won over when we had trekked down to the bottom to our first nights accommodation in a small village San Juan De ChucChu, cutest little place and gave us opportunity to try Alpaca for dinner, nothing too special. the next day we walked through a couple of small villages with our guide stopping every few minutes to ask if we knew the smell of certain herbs and told us there uses.
All very educational and all good until she stopped, sniffed and asked if we 'knew that smell?´ all replying no she told us it was dead dog! Random, but if you ever need to know if it is or isn´t dead dog, you know you can ask me!
We head on trough the canyon and came to our second nights accommodation, small bamboo huts within a natural oasis and with a swimming pool. We spend the afternoon chilling out around the pool and topping up tans, the relaxing was much needed as we had to be up at 2.30am to trek up the canyon. Wow, hard, going from 2600m to 3600m in the pitch black with no brekkie, why didn't I take up the offer to hire a donkey, they carry everything else up and down the canyon, including the kitchen table, a source of amusement as I felt I was going to pass out from altitude sickness. On reaching the top, we bused it to ´watch the condors sore thought the Canyon´ , yer not that morning and I just felt sick, great for the bus ride home, which was packed with locals and
stopping every 2 feet as they don't walk to a bus stop here they wait for the bus an flag it down, and they say Westerners are lazy. After a few Midnight Milkyways I caught my breath again and felt a bit better.
Next me and an Ozzie chick from the tour head for Copacabana, sadly not back to Rio but to the shores of Lake Titicaca in Bolivar. Its so huge, the lake looks like and ocean, its also at 3800 m above sea level so altitude sickness was really kicking in. So really it was lucky the power had been kicked out by a big storm and gave us the excuse to chill in a cafe all day playing board games including a bad Bolivian version of Monopoly where Cameroon is worth more than the USA. When we finally did make it out into the lake we head to Isla Del Sol, so cute we had a quick look around before heading to La Paz, the Worlds highest Capital. Did some shopping, it soo cheap here its great, and did some good eating and went to the Coca museum. Coca leaves fuel
Peru and Bolivar as well as make Coca Cola and cocaine, so it was fascinating to learn all about it. They chew on it here and make balls of it in their cheeks like squirrels and make tea from it too, claiming it gives you energy, umm no thanks. We had the joy of attending a Bolivian wedding reception, two of the girls in the restaurant we had dinner in invited us out to a club, so we went along to Jackie Chan´s, what a name, and found ourselves in the middle of a reception. Very odd, we all scarpered as the bouquet was thrown!
Time for some real excitement namely cycling down the Worlds Most Dangerous Road. I use cycling in the loosest term possible as it meant just flying downhill trying to resist breaking as it makes it even more bumpy if you go slow. It stars at 4700m and descends to 1100m down the craziest road. We started off with a bit of snow (crazy snow in Bolivar!!) and moved on to rain. Just what you want on this road, plus the sexiest outfits, the road was so dodgy, very narrow,
pot-holed and very wet from rain and waterfalls spilling on the road. So dodgy in fact there were bits impassable unless you were on a bike as avalanches covered the road, so safe I'm sure. After some very hairy moments where I could have sworn I was going to fall of the edge or at least of the bike we made it to Coroico, the village at the bottom. Rose (my Ozzie buddy) had decided to stay the night so we could spend our time lounging around in the sun around the pool and jumping in and out of the sauna. Was a nice break from the grey drizzle and rain of La Paz and also had the nicest views over the valley. On the way back we thankfully went the safer new road, not sure I could manage the Death Road as its known again.
Next stop was Potosi, an mining town, once on the country's richest city's due to the mineral and silver mines, now not so exciting. We took a tour of the mines and stopped of in the market to buy the workers presents so bought the obligatory Coca leaves and
some dynamite, as you do a couple of gringo chicks can just rock up and buy dynamite!!! Only in Bolivar!! The working conditions in the mine are crazy, Health and Safety?? No, they tunnel within 2 meters of each other, its no wonder 50 workers die in collapses a year. Was crazy to see how they work. certainly wont be one of my options when I get home!
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