Deepest darkest Peru...where's Paddington?

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Lima
So Lima again, good job we quite like it. Had to relive the monster journey back and hoping to re hydrate with the glorious Dunkin Donuts and shower, we had an unforunate occurance that the booking we'd made had been long forgotten. Shit! Luckily, he guy who runs the hostel, Jose is so amiable, that he took us to his other apartment. A luxurious abode if ever there was, with ensuites, lounge, tv, new kitchen etc. An extra problem seemed to be however, we'd acquired a certain Carlos Hoffman from Washington D.C. who'd tagged along with us and needed somewhere to kip, but really it seemed a little awkward, as an introduction for Janette and Bryan on their first night. He kindly took the hint and so we rushed unshowered and quite frankly looked, smelt and felt disgusting to the airport to meet the parents!

It's bizarre seeing people from home in such an incongruous place, but so nice, especially for Sarah...as she immediately felt very tanned...at last!!!!!!
I think Janette and Bryan were quite impressed by the standard of accommodation we'd managed to swing, but unfortunately this was not to be the norm.

Huaccachina
Wasting no time, bar me trying to wedge a full set of keys under the door and flicking them so far across the room, I've no idea where they ended up, we were whizzing off into the desert the very next day. Not too bad a start, only a 5 hour journey to Huaccachina, an oasis, literally amongst Sahara style sand dunes. A sporadic mix of hotels and restaurants fringe a circular pool of not so inviting water, but at sunrise and sunset, it becomes a serene mirror.
Sarah and I were a little lazy here, but really we were absolutely shattered. So while Janette and Bryan, fresh for adventure went to the coast on a boat trip, we lazed a little and practiced poi....with our new glow-balls!!!
I did go for a climb up the dunes and watched the dune buggies race through the sand mountains-bouncing scarily, but reminds me of the song by The Presidents of the USA......little dune buggy...in the sand...

Nazca
After losing some clothes to the laundry fairies ( I swear with each wash, a donation is taken from the load and really that's not fair, I don't have that much stuff to give). We were next off to NAZCA!!! So excited! Travelling through some tremendous landscape of barren desert, with a moonesque feel, a sudden change into lush green valley was like a painters contrast in dramatic artistic license. Nazca was sweltering but we were only there for a day to see the infamous lines!!! We had a 3 o' clock flight!!! So excited!!! The tiniest little moth like plane, where I got to sit up front with the pilot! How cool, I became in my head co-pilot, or news-breaking reporter. The tour was half an hour of ducking and turning, not for the faint hearted, I lost my stomach and head a couple of times, especially trying to remain focused on taking photos of the ground below, losing the horizon is a very strange experience, kinda pleasant if it doesn't last too long. An intense intoxication is how I'd describe it. Room, spinning? Try world. Anyway, it was awesome. To think these strange lines depicting shapes like monkeys, whales, hummingbirds and even a spaceman (more like gingerbread man) have been there and remained so intact in the middle of barren land. It's bizarre. Puts crop circles into perspective. It was brilliant and kept us on a high for the rest of the day.
Ended our day in Nazca having dinner where the waiter insisted on bringing cutlery over in one piece installments to each of us...employment in South America is a joke, employ 10 people for one person to work.

Arequipa
So Sarah's and my first and last First class cama bus journey to Arequipa. Buses here are divided into classes and as you'd imagine we have always gone economy in fairly alright seats, but for one time only, thanks to Janette and Bryan, we were going 1st class with seats that laid right back, blankets and snacks thank you very much. Such an experience.
Found a really nice place to stay before inhaling the fresh air and exploring the cobbled streets. Beautiful archways lined the main plaza, where we enjoyed the view if not the god awful coffee and dried fish snacks from a balcony overlooking the queue of yellow taxi ants below. Not sure Guinea pig milk exists, but if it does, I think the coffee was made with it.
Such a change in temperature had me in my home made sock-gloves and jumpers and we explored the vibrant walled city monastry. Beautiful post-card visions of potted plants in wooden doorways, aging steps and furniture, left like an abandoned theatre set, but actually still used by the nuns.

Colca Canyon
The next day we were off on an overnight tour to the Colca Canyon. We'd packed a few things with us and left the rest at the hotel. We had a very enthusiatic guide...German (pronounced Herman), who repeated everything no less than 10 times in various ways and orders but essentially saying the same thing, followed by a soon irritating HUH? or eh? after each sentence. Persuaded to buy Coca candies, a gimmick for sure, but something to suck, with hard core coca addicts, Janette and Bryan were onto the leaves. Not as yummy as the toffees. We enjoyed a very scenic drive through mountains and National Park up to 4,800 m asl. En route we stopped to stare at alpacas, llamas and other camel family related furry things, girls and women in traditional dress, lots of bright layered petticoats and skirts, woolly cardis and impressive hats on top of long dark plaits, posing for photos as always.
German was great, we certainly learned a lot, I felt I was on a school trip.
We arrived in Chivay, a bit of a one horse-town tumble weed kinda place for lunch, ferried into the appropriate tourist restaurant to try the alpaca and guinea pig delicacies.....unfortunately Janette was suffering from the change in altitude and came over quite unwell and went to bed for the rest of the day. Such a shame, though apart from having a short walk before the heavens opened, we returned back to our very cold cell-like room til dinner.
We decided to brave the itineried folk dancing, but as soon as we entered the community centre full of arranged tables of coach parties I got the sweats and knew it wouldn't be our kinda thing. We lasted a couple of songs from the poncho clad pan-piping guitar strumming mini me child exploiting band, before the manic dancers came and typically threw themselves around like ping pong balls on acid right by our table and we snuck out at the next available opportunity to go for pizza instead!

Having to get up at 4.30 ridiculous am, the saving grace was a bloody hot shower, a luxury Sarah and I have rarely experienced. Bliss. We were on the minibus and ready to go to Condor Cross. Unfortunately upon arrival the valley was filled with low cloud and really misty, eerie but nice it had that looking down on the world feel. Luckily there was a Condor, perching on a rock, they are huge with bald heads, this was an adult male and we stood watching it for ages...and ages....and ages and everyone was in hope it would take flight. Eventually it did, probably knocked off like a coconut shy, but it showed how enormous the wing span was and for such an ugly bird how graceful in flight it can be. It swooped low overhead and soon joined by hawks and kestrels. It was worth the early start and wait.
We returned to Chivay and then back to Arequipa, stopping at the highest pass where it was hailing and super foggy, like a scene from a horror film, but when else do I get to create my own cairn and make a wish at such altitude?

Puno
Onwards to Puno, we had a bit of a farce to get there involving being left short of an hour or so as the bus driver couldn't be arsed to go the rest of the way, but made it we did. Super searched for a hotel, where Sarah and I had a room overlooking the whole city. Nice but rather cold as 3 of the 4 walls were windows and we were still in cold temperature territorty. Puno had one main pedestrianised tourist street, where waiters try and entice you in with free drinks (there'r a reason they are free...ugh...), desperate for custom and kids wave finger puppets of sponge bob square pants at you...more appealing actually.
Unfortunately with Janette being so poorly, we were unable to make the Lake Titicaca tour to the floating reed islands, but to be honest, it sounds like a man made lily pad, that´s somewhat precarious....and the Lake also smelt.
In the end, we opted to take a coach tour to get to Cuzco, so we could learn something en route and break the journey with various sites of interest. Our guide took on the custom tour guide lingo and made everything seem just a little bit dirty or seedy, repeating it with a slight nod of his head or wink making it seem suggestive, even the most mundane of topics...weddings, huh....? ... WEDDINGS? Potatoes....huh? POTATOES! Well it made it faintly amusing. The drive was fantastic, because of the scenery, not the actual quality of driving The landscape changes so dramatically from barren lifeless plains to rich, fertile valleys with terraces and mists hanging amongst the hills like they were sleeping dragons...ok, I get a bit carried away on bus journeys, my mind tends to wander and imagine things...Saw several spookily small girls dressed up with their baby alpacas tucked under their arms for photos...you´re picking the wrong gringo girlies, sorry.

We visited an Inca temple of Viracocha at Raqchi and a seventeenth century church, where untimely enough a funeral procession was just heading in. This was bizarrely a tourist photo opportunity as some people seemed to think, I remained at a distance, not rushing in to get a glimpse of where the coffin was going to be laid.
A buffet lunch was included where we were subjected to traditional pan pipes..the bane of our lives before being taken to a local artesanal jewellers probably in the hopes of purchses for commission, but I was more interested in the dogs, guinea pigs and alpacas they had roaming around. Blue eyed llamas...a little fallen cloud of fluffiness with long fluttering eyelashes.

Cuzco
So we arrivied in Cuzco late afternoon and negotiated a hostel. Not the nicest but fine for the night. We went and explored the beautiful city. The air was crisp and every cobbled street or alley way was inviting with warmly lit Alladdins caves of shops. With many open plazas, each is lined with archways of wooden balcony buildings, impressively lit churches and monastries, colonial splendour dotted with twinkling lights that gave an air of festivity or Christmas and magic.. This is by far one of my favourite cities.
And the food, man alive, you get so much for what you pay for, the tourist menu is the way to go sometimes, embrace the tourist label if you want a decent fill.
The next day we moved hostel to hotel as poor Bryan ad Janette didn´t feel quite ready to give up on comfort and decent sleep. Can´t blame them and indeed we were invited to join them in the nicest hotel we´ve been in for a long time. It was like a little grotto of cavernous rooms, all with layers of blankets and sheets, hot water and tv..pure luxury if you ask me!! Simple pleasures for guys I know.

Cuzco was our base for our trek to Machu Picchu, which we were due to start a few days away. Being so high it´s recommended to acclimatize beforehand at this city of 3, 326metres and also recomfirm the booking. Time was spent sorting a few bits out..we´ve had probs with the camera as you may have guessed...
We went for a mini trek up to Cristo Blanco, an imposing statue of Christ overlooking the city and valley, reached by climbing the steep steps between narrow streets leading through a rather Bohemian part of town, a bit Clovelly ish actually, and we all got pretty puffed out. The view was worth it though and to get away from the town´s one downfall of persistant touts for restaurants, loitering along the streets trying to get you to go to their club-bar-cafe-restaurant with promises of everying and anything for free...not usually on the menu if you know what I mean.
Brilliant timing, remember our lovely friend Lu, we met in Montañita? Well he was also about town and we arranged to meet up. It was so nice to see him again. We left one bar for the entertainment of pan pipes was on the door, and unfortunately ended up at one where a fiddler of the lost traveller variety was jamming to reggae and rock with a hint of American folk I believe he said....the only way to get through such an act was to have a sublime icey lemon Daiquiri the same size as my head...mmmmm.....brain freeze.....

Had the best sleep ever, the bed was literally pocket to try and get into, I love the challenge of trying not to distrurb the sheets to I am like a human in an envelope...sad, but....
We were off to Pisaq Market. So many stalls, all selling more or less the same, but with slight variations, enough to keep you interested and looking at each one without the Asain "Same same but different" lie. Sarah bought a very cool hat (later, becoming a theme to the photos) I´d say a bit Cow girl-ish, but actually very Peruvian. Had a really good day and later met Lu ending in a fun night of silly photos and lots of dancing. I randomly had my face painted by a little pixie lady.

Inca ruin day...pretty much as it sounds we went on a jaunt around the Cuzco area to various sites of archaeological interest. It is bad I know, but we soon got a bit ruined out...most people do. Just as Janette was recovering well, poor Bryan was taking the brunt and with our next day being the start of our trek, I don´t think that helped. We got back to pack what we needed to take for our 4 day trek and had a meeting with our guide at 6.30pm. You have to have a guide . Ours was Ro, a nice enough middle aged stocky little chap, that seemed ideal for our small group of us and one other young girl from Sweden. Her friend had altitude sickness and was in hospital and would not be able to come. Poor girl. We said our sad goodbyes to Lu and prepared ourselves for the 4.30am wake up call......I must admit I was rather nervous....

4.30 am and my it´s a bit nippy, we picked up our other Swedish member en route and before we'd made it out of Cuzco, she decided that she didn't feel too well and so hot footed it off the minibus. I fear this is a survival of the fittest kind of trek... now I´m scared.
After 3 hours of driving and a nervous breakfast stop we were at KM82, the start of the trek where clusters of minibuses had grouped and people were getting their walking poles polished up, waterbottles at the hip and high energy bars in pockets. We had an entourage of 7 porters, including a chef; Edgar or Gordo, more affectionately termed, Fatty. They ranged in age from 21 to 55, Jeffery, Leo, Cederic, German, and Mathais, I think. They were all super lovely.
Day one was good, though I´ve never eaten so much in my life, there was a 3 course lunch! Complete with folded napkins, tent and chairs, not just a sandwich on a blanket as I'd expected, it was insane. Even providing hot flannels like in aeroplanes. The first camp site was cold and misty, but set amongst green hills and mountains, with donkeys and ever present frogs..
My boots already broken, deja vu from Sarah´s in Nepal, the increasingly wide grin couldn´t be tamed even by German´s super glue. Nevermind, could be worse. The next day we were greeted by a very misty and eerie hanging fog within the mountains, and after breakfast, we were off to the highest pass. Ro, kept telling us to wait at the Benders...this was always funny, and we were a little worried as to what this actually meant...luckily...venders...the ladies selling drinks or fruit, no need for benders to expose themselves on such a route..heeeheee. So we made it to Dead Woman´s Pass, a place that we feared, I thought it was as the name suggested, but it´s just that the landscape looks like a lady lying down, no one has died there....well, maybe, but the very peak looks like a nipple (apparently). Here it was so cold, wet and windy, not a place to admire the view at 4, 220m, in a vest top and shorts. I shared the route down with Edgar, the chef and managed rather well, a conversation that if I wasn't careful would have me meeting up with him for dancing back in Cuzco.
I´ve never run downhill so fast to keep up, it was dangerous. Our second night was at a really cold camp, but the stars were so clear, it was beautiful. All my things were sodden, I was offered a couple of dry t shirts from a guy in my adopted group - the SAS, as I kept up with them at some parts and was nick-named Lady Croft. Thank you Gary!!! A life saver..literally! We had copious amounts of warm food and drink, all our Merry men, you just wanted to pinch their cheeks!! Flip-flopping our way across frog marsh to the toilet block was like a scene from The Hole, I wasn´t sure we'd make it back. ...Sometimes it´s best not to shine a torch in dark places.....

Woken early with a cup of morning tea!! I know...spoilt-it´s better than home! Sarah and I headed off in search of the sunlit path, hoping to dry our saturated clothes off that we reluctantly were wearing! We caught glimpses of the snow capped mountains and the path winded through caves and jungle, it was a really nice stretch (Mum-reminds me of Rosemary!). We were heading downhill mostly and found the best way was to crab it, legs low and wide! It was nice as we kept meeting up with different people we'd seen along the trek so far and a sense of commerardary was building. We were told to give our porters time to get the camp set up and were directed by Ro to take the longer, more sceneic route there. Quite hard as we always seemed to be with the porters, whether ours or another groups. Still, we slowed our pace and enjoyed a terraced view from some Inca ruins, another lot of storage places, according to Ro. A nice guide, but lacking in a variety of historical information. Get him on orchids or Ladies Slippers and he was a mine of information...that and the French dictionary that he occupied his free time with reading. Got to camp by 12ish, for lunch, another masterchef banquet supplied by Edgar. This was the luxurious of camps, complete with museum and bar!!! And hot showers if you paid for it. Cold is better, more bracing, complete with a rock for a buff and a precariously closed door via a piece of string. Sarah and I spotted a Toucan, or the more humorously termed Pecan, according to Janette, who I also went to the museum with. More like Zoological morgue. It was horrible, a collection of stuffed and rotting decrepid looking wild creatures and pickled snakes, pinned butterflies and cockroaches...why...why...why?!! The bar, was actually like a scout hut or youth club and I found it only to be useful by having a proper toilet, which we had to negotiate to get to in the pitch black, avoiding the landslide and narrow path that gave way to another camp below. Fun times!
As our final night with our crew, it was sad and Sarah and I had so often asked if we could help in some way, washing up, preparing food or something, that we'd always been promised..tomorrow, tomorrow. Well, we were determined to help, so donned with bottles of beer, we distracted them enough, to get ourselves amongst the kitchen utensils. Edgar supervised and allowed Sarah to add packet soup to water and stir and me to stuff my already hollwed tomatoes with already diced vegetables!!! So, not so helpful after all, but they found it amusing and and appreciated the gesture.

The next and last morning we were up super 4am early and it was pitch black and all a bit crazy. We said our goodbyes to our team of merry men and it was really sad. We were told to make sure we stuck to the left, not the right, where the porters go and when we got on the path to keep close to the left as the right drops away into jungle...eekkk! We blindly fumbled our way like a troop of army and got to the gates for 6am, where passports are checked. There's an hour´s walk to the sun gates, in which there is a real sense of anticipation and excitement, but unfortunately it was so misty, there was to be no beautiful sunrise. Ro, as so often was the case was behind us, but didn´t turn up. We got news that he'd left the oxygen tank behind...again and would catch up with us later. We had another guide as we joined forces with another group and actually learned the most I had throughout the whole trek. We arrived at Machu Picchu around 8am and I have always wanted to see for myself the photo that the bcak of the Sunday papers boasts-I was living the dream! It was misty, but that gave an air of mystery and softened the ruins. I can make anything positive, when I´ve walked 4 days in the jungle to get there. We met the 2 Swedish girls at the entrance point on the other side, who were going to have a tour around with us and Ro. There is a road on the other side where daytrippers step out of their air con transport all glam and fresh, to see what we have trekked 4 sweaty days to see. I bet we stank.
It´s a much bigger site than I excpected and it´s such a photo oppotunity at every turn. Our camera had limited battery so I was on special photos only time. The ruins form a maze like labrynth opening up to terraces and spaces where alpacas and llamas roam. It was stunning, with a backdrop of intense green almost blue forest. I left Sarah and her family to rest as I decided to tackle Wachupicchu, a mammoth monster hill, that I´d been challenged by Ro to get to the top within 25minutes. I did leg it. Only 400 people are allowed up there and I was 360. I made it so far, but it was so scarily steep and precipice edges all the way, that at the secondary summit, I crawled through the cave to the other side for the remaing few steps but my legs and head froze and couldn´t take one step more. The only way as back. I caught up with my fellow SAS crew and again it was sad to say goodbye.
We then got the bus to the next town, Aguas Calientes, where our things would be waiting for us in a cafe. A strange old fashioned little town built along the railway track and river, with more traditional crafts than you could imagine.
We had to take a train back to Cuzco, which itself was very amusing, as we sat with two guys from England and one from South Africa, living in England, that had also just done the trek. I think we were all suffering from exhuastion as the conversation became unintelligible, from inventing a head rest you can store popcorn and drinks in, to the discussion of the train being able to zig zag back and forth downhill, and what actually defined the motion of a zig and a zag. Funny at the time for those involved, but ridiculuos for those sane. Finally rolled into Cuzco at 9.30pm, so shattered and so hungry. We downed the first flavoured water for days and slept soundly, back in our little luxurious grotto.

Had another couple of days back in Cuzco, offering a chance for some final museum and temple ruins visits.We took a flight from Cuzco back to Lima, and the airport I was targeted as the token interviewee by a troop of students holding cardboard cue cards and shaking a wobbling camera in my direction. The guy tried to be smooth, but really didn't listen to my answers, but made sure he gave me a smacker on the cheek before he left. Why me? I sat next to a lady constantly saying her prayers to a picture of the Holy Mary, scary no, where we went back to our trusty little guy Jose, who owned the hostel we first went to and hoped for room. Unsurprisingly we had to wait for one, but could leave our things in the meantime and sort out various buses an do some last minute craft market shopping with Janette and Bryan. We walked to the seafront, where we tramped our way down to a very posh bar at the end of the pier, in our walking boots and combats, somewhat a different attire to the surrounding floaty dressed ladies and refined young gents. This, surprisingly, was where I finally found Paddington!! He was sitting in a little boutique shop window, along the pier!!! I couldn't believe it, all this time and he was by the sea!

We returned to find that we were going to yet another apartment that our friend had tucked away. This was first rate luxurious, with en suites and jacuzzis, tv and all mod-cons. How lucky are we?! With enough time to introduce the folks to a few episodes of Flight of the Conchords, before heading out for a final meal together.

Our final morning was a little interrupted as Sarah and I had to move our things to the other hostel, as the apartment was being rented out. Still, at least we weren't homeless. We then went to the old town to watch the Changing of the Guards again...deja vu for us, but wanted to show Janette and Bryan. I was interviewed yet again, by some students..it's always me, I take it for the team, and had a camera pointed at me while the group giggled their way through questions and I giggled out my answers. I swear I'm in every High school project throughout South America.

The afternoon had us saying farewell to Janette and Bryan and it was really hard to say goodbye, I was close to tears, so goodness knows how Sarah coped. It had been an absolute pleasure having their company on our trip and I am so pleased we got to do all the things we did together, it definitely has made some awesome memories for me.
There was only one way we were going to cheer ourselves up and that was as we were heading up to Colombia, to break our journey via Montañita, in Ecuador.....

Had the usual trek of hours on the bus, our second home in which time I managed to realise I'd accidentally sent our plane tickets home with Janette in a bundle of leaflets and crap I'd been carrying around..oooops.....how to break it to Sarah...mmmmmm.....could be a long uncomfortable journey, but best to put it out there....she was a diamond, my one responsiblility and I f#"ck_! it up..ooopps!

Long travel short...by 9.00pm the next day we were crammmed into the tiniest little bus ever on our way to Montañita, breaking down and hairpinning bends, rocking up at 11pm, exhausted we knocked on a door til someone answered and took the available room, cockroaches and all, with a fridge though!!!
So the next few days saw us partying and chilling out on the beach. We were only supposed to have a stopover for a couple of days, but it ended up being just over a week! That's the kind of place this is. We got fewer than a few steps down the main drag on the first morning, before being recognised by people from before. Always nice.

Our hostel had hammocks over looking the sea and Calin, a fellow traveller and artesan, (as they all are) played his bongos and made his bracelets to the sounds of the waves. Such a sweetie. Before long, we had acquired "boyfriends" unknown to us, but any conversation lasting more than 5 minutes immediately has this commitment. We made friends with Mike and Chinch, a couple of guys from North America and were really good fun and were looking at real estate in the area. We had planned to leave, but apparently a Full Moon Party was coming up, well, got to stay really, would be rude not to, although not the greatest of evenings as the party was spread between two clubs, miles apart. I think it was on this crazy night that I managed to leave my room key in the room and had quite a time picking the locks before finally giving in to asking for the spare.

So, we were still in Montañita, perhaps putting off the scary thought of Colombia, and now we have been crowned as The Queens of Montañita by the locals.....time to go...we actually got up for 4am and made the early bus to Guayaquil, and Chinch and Mike had left the day before. We sorted out a bus to Colombia, but alas...there wasn't one for another 3 days!!Eeek!!! So, we spent a day shopping (like kids in a sweet shop, we could smell the clothes and stores and got heart palpitations!) and met Mike who was returning to Montañita, and so we went back with him as we didn't want to stay in the smoggy city for 3 days, when Montañita is only 4 hours away. How embarrassing to return, but I'd acquired another girl for safety in numbers, Taryne from Canada, a lovely lass who had been doing some volunteer work and was rounding off her trip with some free-time travelling.
We went to yet another hostel. Our last not being the most pleasant, and this was lovely, with a cute little old lady that always seals the deal. I rigged up a mock door to our bathroom involving the mosquito net and boot and we were right on the beach front. Ideal.
Watched a surf competition, where I again happened to be pushed in front of a camera for the promo vid, stumbling out terrible Spanish. People came from all over, South America, Australia and North America. It was funny to see that Voodoo child-remember from previous Montañitan accounts? turned up straight from a night out, warmed up by dancing and as he is so small had to have his rash vest tied up in a knot behind his back. He's so cute, you could put him in your pocket. He made it through to the next round the next day, but unfortunately through too much partying, he never made it on time for his heat!! Such a shame as it was his first International competition. I myself, hired a really gorgeous balsa wood longboard one afternoon, so heavy I carried it on my head and thought I'd smash it in like a boiled egg. I had to keep my cool walking through the town as the wolrd and his wife were all out and kept stopping me and saying they'd meet me at the beach. I really hoped not, with their little nippy shorties and oozing cool, still I said ok and donning the brightest orange rashie I was easy to spot. Still, when else am I going to go surfing with the fifth ranked surfer from Ecuador, my friend Hamilton, and as the only longboarder bar the lessons, I luckily was way under their league. Had a wicked surf though.
I also wanted to live my dream of riding along the beach!! So we roped Taryne into coming riding with us and returned to the place we'd gone to before. It was late afternoon so we caught the sunset. Unfortunately Sarah's refused to move, and the guy was on a push bike so was of really little help. I got the go ahead to go off down the beach and so I did. It was so bloody painful as the stirrups dug in and the ropes chaffed my legs and ankles, but damn it I was going to live the dream. I tried to tuck the stirrups up behind me at one point and ended up with the biggest multicoloured granny bruise that lasted for about a week afterwards. It was awesome though. Poor Taryne gained some raw sores that Sarah could relate to, a lasting memory for sure. At least Srah was saved from such pain again!!!

Eventually the day came that we really did have to leave. We were off to Colombia, as our bus was booked bound for Cali at 8.00pm.........

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Photos

Machu Picchu
See the silohette of a man´s face lying down.

Cuzco at night
Albeit a little hazy, the Cathedral in the plaza.

Mad Hatters strike again!
Not sure what happens but hats require posing...
Night out in Cuzco

Wild child in the club
Seemed a good idea at the time...

Pisco Market
One of Sarah´s day outfits, apparently a trend soon to hit England.....

Merry Men
Our group of porters and us at first camp.

Janette
Looking like a little green pixie

Machu Picchu ruins
The hill to the right, is Wachupicchu.

Machu Picchu
Probably more storage ruins...

Machu Picchu
View across from Wachupicchu

To boot
Only a few more months to go...please hold out...damn you Hi Tech, yes, if anyone reads this from Hi Tech, I logged my complaint...this happened within the first month of my travels!!

Paddington Bear
At last!

Hat 1 Fedora stylee
We had a night of hats....

Hat 2
Sarah with Chinch's Rasta cap

Hat 3
Looking insane, but it's another hat.....

Hat 4
Sarah rude girl

Hat 5
Sarah with some random - Montañita

Hat 6
Another of Chinch's caps...