Blogs from Urubamba, Cusco, Peru, South America - page 3

...we've got fun and games! We got a colectivo (little people carrier that waits til it's full) from Cusco out to Quillabamba on the jungle side of the Andes. For the first time in a while, we were in a town with very few westerners, so it's quite funny seeing the open mouthed stares from the locals - especially the kids. This place was pretty laid back, and had a massive market where we got some essentials for the jungle. And Kees got a massive machete. Our plan was to head to a port on the Urubamba river (the same river we rafted on) and get a boat, as that's as far as the road goes. We had a 5am bus for the port, but that day didn't quite go as planned! About 1hr out of ... read more

The last 2 weeks have been hectic. The major event here in Peru has been the floodings due to all the rain we had last week. Lots of houses have been flooded, forcing people out with nothing. Also, lots of the houses up the mountains especially in Cusco, have collapsed as they're pretty fragile. Lots of people are living in the schools and there's also a lot in the sports field just down the road from our house. 2000 tourists were trapped on Machu Picchu as the roads and train tracks were all washed away - they were all flown down by helicopter. According to my host mum, Machu Picchu wont open until April - there's so much work to do. It's pretty much all that's in the news over here.. I'm thinking we'll be helping ... read more

Something I forgot to put in the other entry and something I think deserves it's own entry: I have seen the Peruvian Johnny Depp. It's quite fascinating really, as he now joins the group of non-white Depps out there. I saw the black version in Tanzania (he was one of the drummers at the circus - obviously they're all in the entertainment business). I have now to find the chinese Depp - must go to China. x... read more

Hi everyone, It's Nat! Yes I'm still alive! Ok, first things first. Health Update: One of the reasons we went to Urubamba today was so I could go to a health clinic. What an ordeal in itself! We kept going to different clinics and the doctors wouldn't see me because they were on lunch for 2 to 3 hours! Finally ran across one who saw me right away and the doctor spoke a little english and we managed to communicate ok. Mom you'll be happy to know that when the doctor took my temperature, I did not have a fever. So now I've got some antibiotics and something for inflamation of my throat (I think) which I'll take for about 4 days. But the good news is that I was out all day today and even ... read more

First half of the day was getting to Cusco (also spelled Cuzco). Up at 5:30, on the bus for trip to the airport at 7:00. Check in went pretty smoothly, Mauricio was able to print out most of our boarding passes and security was fine. One thing about this trip that I've forgotten to mention that is a bit annoying is that we have to hand our passports in at every hotel. So, Mauricio has had my passport almost as much as I have. Flight to Cusco was good, only 53 minutes. But I 've got to tell you, coming over a mountain to land in the valley was a weird experience. Mauricio collected our bags and off we went to our buses. Because the streets of Cusco are so narrow, they can't use big buses, ... read more