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Published: October 22nd 2007
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Hi everyone,
You will be pleased to know we have made it back from the Inca trail alive......only just. Stacey reckons it was the most hideous experience of her whole life, as she pick up a parasite which made her very ill.
The peru trip started with us almost being abducted at Lima airport, as we were being stalked around the airport whilst trying to get a taxi. if it wasnt for Stacey being so vigillant (!!) we wouldnt have made it out alive!! What might of helped was me actually getting transportation to our hotel at 1am rather than stressing about being kidnapped!!
We didnt think much of Lima, especially when someone was standing outside a family resturant with a shot gun!! Lima is the noisiest place in the world as everyone is a bit horn happy and some of them substituted it instead of a wolf whistle!
Our group was cool, and luckily enough (for Stacey) we had a pyschiatrist in the group who had medical training 20 years ago but was on hand 24 hrs a day, literally, for emergency councilling situations and to hand out drugs....we cleared him out! We particually enjoyed the
codine and sleeping tablets!!
Unfortunately for us half our group were triathletes and Iron men which made for an interesting race up the Andes!!
After Lima we fly in to Puno where we acquired the altitude sickness and could not breath after walking up one flight of stairs to the hotel reception. We had to wait an hour and half before we could stand and walk another flight of stairs to our hotel room. Apparently chewing coca leaves helps the situation......it didnt! Even the iron men got the altitude sickness, so its not just us wimps.
We went to Lake Titicaca, the highest lake in the world and the home of Staceys parasite....who she named Gary!?! We had a home stay in Amanti island where we were each allocated a "mama" for us to stay with. Our Chechuan was not really up to much so we couldnt communicate with our Mama, so we resorted to sign language, which is quite difficult in the dark... We all had to dress up in the local traditional dress, and dance thr night away with our Mamas with was highly amusing. When we got bored of that (after half hour) we
made the local shop (only one on the island) open up and serve us alcoholic beverages until 1 in the AM. Apparantly this has never been heard of before, it normally shuts at 5pm.
We then went on to Cusco which was the most hellious journey on the public buses but also highly amsuing. Not unlike London transport actually except for the chickens and having to throw your bags on the roof of the bus, which was difficult as i still cant even lift mine!
Cusco was more like civilisastion so we enjoyed a few beverages. The next morning we took more public buses to Olyantambo (the sacred valley) where we brough and named our walking sticks. We had to get up at a ridiculous hour, yet again, to start the trek at kilometre 82 which unfortunately was at the bottom of the Andes!!
The inca trail was 45 kilometres, however was no trek, it was clearly a 4 day mountain climb above the clouds at 4,000 metres above sea level which we walked. Day one of the trek took us 6 hours, and we practically collapsed at the end of the day. The porters however were
amazing and ran the whole trail with 50 Kilos on their backs.......our bags, tents, food, stoves etc......good lads...!! Day two, Dead Womans Pass, was by far the worst day ever. I actually thought we would be dead by the time we got to the pass. The whole day was up hill for 5 hours, which was 1,100 metres climb up a mountain! We could have cried when we got to the top of the summit as it was freezing cold and where above the clouds so couldnt actually see anything. We then proceeded to spend the next two hours walking down the peak to our camp. We were only an hour and half behind the triathletes which is pretty impressive!! We got there at 1.30pm and one woman turned up at midnight!!!! Everyone cheers when people turn up at camp, it was going on all night. Day three was the longest day, 16 kilometres but it was all in the rain clouds so it was torrential rain for most of the day and our plastic ponchos, although attractive, didnt do the trick. The rain did make us walk much faster though, almost off the edge of the cliff! Day four,
we had to start at 4am in the dark to queue at sun gate to get to the macchu picchu. It rained all day again, so we had enough by the time we got to the macchu picchu and asked if they could cut short our tour so we could go. Steve the psychiatrist assured us we wouldnt get hypothermia, however we were all savagely sick that night with food poisoning!! I have never felt so ill in my life!! Although Stacey had been feeling like that for a week due to Gary.
The camping was also an experience, the first night we were all sitting round the tents on the floor and someone switched on their torch and we realised we were being circled by a pack of rabied dogs.....they also jumped on the tent in the middle of the night, which of course made stacey scream!!! The whole toilet experience was also something to be forgotten.......natural toilets were defino the way forward.
We got a train back to Cusco, which was also an experience as the train attendants do a fashion show up and down the isle to keep you entertained and then tried
mama's kitchen and dining room!!
no wonder stacey picked up a parasite!! to sell off the dodgy Alpaca clothing.
From Cusco we then went to the Amazon.....well I did anyway. Stacey was still ill, so had to go to the doctors who told her that she couldnt to the jungle, by which time we had already checked all the bags on to the plane. Stacey had to go on to the tarmac to retrieve her bag and then went back to the clinic for blood tests and spent the next two days having a great time without me lying in bed watching the TV. She even managed to book a flight, and get on it on her own!
The jungle wasnt as impressive as i expected. Maybe because when we went for our trek (another 5k trek!) it was pouring down (again) and we were actually wading through the jungle up to our knees..... Not something you really want to be doing when there are loads of anacondas around. We were walking for hours, and i have never been so wet in my life. How jealous was I of staceys parasite! We then went for a canoe ride in the lost lagoon...but we had to row for 3ks and none
of the other guys (in another group) were willing to participate. My muscles are getting rather large!
We left Lima and our group at 4am this morning, only to find out that our flight was delayed for 5 hours. That cheered me up, as I have never had so little sleep in my life! HOwever, we are now sitting in the VIP lounge at Santiago airport having a glass of vino........its a hard life this backpacking malarcky and quite frankly we deserve it. We leave tonight for Sydney and some civilisation.
Hope we havent bored you too much. we will add photos when we get to Oz.
Chao Chao......
Love Louise and Stacey
xxxx
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