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Published: March 30th 2007
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Paddy's Day
Shes Lost that Loving Feeling Welcome back Bloggers, i know i know i am way behind in my blogs so i am going to try an catch up......what?......I AM .....I SWEAR.
Anyway, on to the topic of this particular blog, i will get to the Near Death Experience later, i am still too traumatised to talk about it.
Right, so Paddy´s Day, is still a bt of a haze even nearly 2 weeks later so i will do my best but cant promise much.
Now, the theme was fancy dress so along with the 4 plastic Paddy´s we had been travelling with (Fran, Neal, Ginge and Damo) as well as Fergus (our Canadian Mate), Ciara and Laura and Sarat aka The Doc we had the following ensemble cast for our day of madness.
Gary as FANTAMAN
Dar as The Hulk
Niall as The Swimmer featuring Ducky
Graham as Freddy Mercury
Myself and Fergus as Maverick and Ice-Man from Top Gun...you love it!!
Fran as Superman
Ginge as Granny with some horrible granny pants and a nighty
Neal as Mr Muscle....he loves the jobs you hate
Damo as SackMAN ....what else
Sarat as a Red Indian ....... much funnier if i could
Paddy's Day
Fanta Man and The Hulk find a pic of him.
All up at about 7.30 am to watch the Ireland V Italy game in the 6 nations, with our Full Irish and a bottle of beer of course.....you can se where this day is going.....way down hill.
As the game kicked off i was slightly suprised at how well the beer was going down, well it was 8am. A few minutes in and Ireland are on the board which is our que to ensure that everyoe in the hostel....Irish or nt is awake and ready for a long day of festivities.
Eventually Ireland win and myself Sarat and Fergus set off in search of our costumes. Foiled in my pursuit of an Eric Cartman costume my self and Fergus (Stellar) settle on Maverick and Ice-Man from Top Gun.... 'He can be my Wingman any time'.
Back to the hostel and we all head to our dorm to suit up, all 10 of us. Only to notice that there has now gathered a crowd outside to see us in all our glory...weird. About 3 pm we emerge and head straight to the bar where the drinking starts in earnest and keeps going
Paddy\
Swimmer and Ducky and going and going...... i should have dresed up as the energiser bunny. Anyway, half way through the day Graham aka Freddy Mercury mimes a world class rendition of 'i want to break free', feeling the competion myself and Ice-Man step up to the plate and perform a roof lifting version of 'She's lost that loving feeling' oh yeah baby you know you love that cheese!!!
Anticipating a long night ahead i hit the ack for an hour and emerge at 11pm fresh as a Daisy and raring to go....so we set off for the center of cusco and the many bars and free drink they have there. Along the way we hit, Mythology (FREE DRINK AND LEAVE), Uptown (Free Drink and Leave) Mama Africas (Free Drink and Leave) we then start the loop all over again including a visit to Paddy O'Flahertys were a stint of dancing on the bar turns into some stage diving, with DAMO the gobsheen that he is almost missing the mass of waiting arms, and where Gary somehow manages to know a lantern from the ceiling (Well he did head butt it).
After that it gets very messy and blurry, the last
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Freddy and Super Paddy thing i can remember is a horrible vision of Ginge stripping down to his boxers from his Granny out fit to the tune of 'You can leave your hat on'.....horrific. I eventually leave the bar at about 7.30 am and head home and leave Fran aka Superman as the last man standing.
As you can imagine the next day was horrible, i awake with a hang over the size of South America and can barely muster 2 words for the rest of the day, little did i know what was in store.
Feeling adventerous, myself Sarat, Fergus, Laura and Ciara sign up for a day of rafting on the 19th.......a day that will live in infamy.
We set off slightly late and aswe arrive weare told that the other two rafts and the safety kyaker have headed on without us.......now normally this would send alarm bells ringing but NOOOOO........anyway we suit up and are shown the launching point.....a class 3/4 rapid.....again no alarm bells yet, why i do not know.
In we go and the first 10ks are tough, all rapid very little time for a break. The river is above its normal height and more
Paddy\\\\
Granny!!! powerful than norman....still no f%cking alarm bells. Half an our from the end our guide Alex pulls us into the side and tells us that in 500m we have a series of Rapids that start with a class 4 hole then a class 5 (the strongest possible) and afew more class fours until the finish.......can someone please explain to me why there are no f%cking alarm bells.
Anyway, on we go and as soon as we hit the first cass four hole the raft jerks and we are all in the water apart from the guide. Myself and Sarat sitting at the front are the frist to go in.......we collide under the water and the river spits him upstream and myself dwn stream. So, there i am with nothing but my lifejacket bobbing my way through a series of class 5 and four rapids solo. The next 4 or 5 minutes are like hell as i try to swim to the shore only for the river to sweep me back into the middel everytime i get close....i begin to think this is really bad as i struggle to keep my head above water and genuinley start to pray to
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Fanta MAN!!!!! anyone who will listen.
As i round a bend i look back and cant evem see the raft, and i begin to think i am screwed, all ther while bouncing from one rock to another and class 4 rapid to another.
Eventually i hear my naem being screamed as i am on the verge of going under and (this is no exageration) with the last bit of energy i have left i manage to reach out and grab the ore that Fergus has streched out and they pull me in. They reckon i went 4 r 5 kms down stream on my tobler.
Now, i dont remember much of what happened next but Sarat was still not in the boat, he had been pushed too far up stream and had to swim to shore then climb out of a gorge and run about 5 kms in his wet suit. He everntually caught up with us by the bank and himself being a doctor he examined me......i still only vaugely remember this, but he said that i was blue and that my lips were purple......scary schtuff man.
After some recouperation in the back of the Jeep
as some serious hugs and tears with the rest of my rafters i get some colour back and vow.......NEVER TO DO THAT AGAIN.........well at least not in Peru without a safety kyaker.
Oh yeah, the next entry should be my exploits on a mountain bike down 'the worlds most dangerous road' here in Bolivia.
Until Next time, you keep it sexy San Diego.
Al
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michelle
non-member comment
one word fuck!!! scary shit!!