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Published: December 18th 2006
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Macho Machu Man!!
Finally here after 4 grueling days. Picture postcard shot for the fans! As Chris Rea once sang, Ill be “Flying home for Christmas”! Indeed the end was Saturday as I flew into Heathrow after an eventful and fantastic 10months out of bonny old England. Seeing the grey and drizzly weather just reminded me how good it is to be English!!
But before home-time, I had to visit Inca country. So in the last chapter of Jonny’s travels I travelled through Peru and of course, did the Inca Trail. I left La Paz on a wet Saturday morning and travelled to Copacabana where we spent a few days relaxing by Lake Titicaca. The town is very relaxed with loads of hippies selling jewellery everywhere. However, yet again the South American cuisine wanted to crush me and kindly gave me a bug that would last for over a week. We did manage to trek to Isla de Sol, the home of the Inca gods, where we saw possibly the most beautiful sunset of the whole trip, yet this was interspersed with stomach cramps and diaorreah. Luckily I managed to cope with the 9hr bus trip to Cusco, Peru.
I had 3 days in Cusco before I started the Inca Trail. One of these
I was in bed with a bug and the other 2 I chilled in the city. Its possibly the most beautiful Inca city with huge stone wall fortifications and loads of party places- does that make it beautiful? In my eyes it does! We stayed at the best hostel I have stayed at in all my 10months travelling, called Loki Hostel. It used to be an old monastery but was renovated around 2 courtyards to become a party-based hangout. Met some real cool people here and had loads of fun. When I came back off the Inca Trail I pretty much ruined my body for almost a week as muchos drinkage and partying ensued in the classic gringo bars and clubs of Cuzco.
The Inca Trail was incredible. It was the best trekking I have ever done bar none, and loved every single minute of it, minus the first day when I was still getting over my stomach issues. In my group there was only 5 of us- an English couple, a Dutch guy and an Australian girl, and we were lucky in that we all got on well and walked at a similar pace.
The first day
The 1st appearance of my favourite trousers EVER!
Standing infront of the Winya Winar archaeolgical ruins-pretty spectacular! was tough for me, especially after the 3am start after an alcoholic Australian pissed himself in our dorm and woke up everyone with his urine seeping into a random girl’s rucksack! We trekked for almost 6hrs seeing the odd archaeological ruin. It was baking hot and when we finally arrived at the camp I was a tad red! The food on the trip was also incredible, with the chef cooking some of the best and most varied food ive had in all of South America on a small hob in a tent. Our guide, Domingo, was also great, with such enthusiansm and knowledge constantly that it really helped the group when we were tired. Our group had 6 porters to go along with the chef and our guide, who carried tents, eating tents, food and cooking equipment. These guys are incredible as they bomb along the track and up hills carrying upto 30kg on their backs like machines. They always beat us to the camp and had everything setup before we got there. Some say its their job but I think they do it just to get a big tip of us tourists!!
Day 2 and I felt tonnes
Contemplation!!!!!!
Thoughts:
1. Home in a few days!
2. Nice archaeological place!
3. Even nicer trousers! better, which was good timing as we had a 3hr climb in the morning. Slowly but surely, as Steady Eddie won the race and reached the top of 4200metres with thunder calves! We had a second large pass at a height of 3950m in the afternoon which took it out of all of us before descending really steeply to camp. I actually prefer going uphill rather that down, as Im scared Im gonna trip and go bouncing down the hill on my head and belly! Once we arrived at the freezing camp on day 2 I knew we were over the worst of it and the final 2 days were going to be piss.
Day 3 was great for seeing Intipata and Winay Wayna archaeological ruins- both pretty much farms and buildings built on the side of a very steep mountain! Then it was onto day 4, and a 4am start didn’t hampen the morale. Up and packed and away by 5, we marched the hour or so to the sun gates where we first saw Machu Pichu. As the clouds descended there the city shone in all its glory. It was an incredible sight. We strolled down to
The important people.
From left, Guide Domingo, Chef, Main Waiter and other porter. The waiter was hilarious as he delivered our food with both aplomb and a childlike grin!! the city taking about a trillion photos along the way before taking “the money shot” of us infront of the lost city. I absolutely loved it here and is definitely one of my highlights of my entire trip. We did, as a group, egg each other on to go up Wayna Picchu, the great big meathead mountain behind Machu Pichu, yet it was worth it as the 360 panoramic views across the valleys and over Machu Pichu were incredible. I could have stayed up here hours, yet we had to go down and explore all the nooks and crannies of the city. Based at just 2400metres, the city isn’t as high as I thought it would be in comparison to the surrounding mountains. But that does not take anything away from the sheer scale and inaccessibility of the city, based on a ridge. It was built for the main reason of in the summer it gets the most sunlight out of all the nearby mountains. Whatever the reasoning behind it, its bloody great and a true manmade natural wonder of the world (what, garage?!)
I returned to Cusco on the Tuesday night, partied till Sunday and left the great city on Monday. I had a great time, including doing some classic Andean shopping of panpipe music (I love it!) and more stupid hats. Even tried Guinea Pig, which was a bit strange as I used to have a pet one when I was younger- it tastes like lamb!! A particular highlight though was waking up one morning to the sight of Kate, my travel mate getting injected in her arse by a doctor! Was quite a shock but one which I obviously took a photo of! We caught a night bus to Ica along with Ian from the hostel, which was pretty bad as we winded over the Andes in a freezing bus with the bus driver going mentally fast. We finally got a taxi to my final destination of the entire trip, Huacachina, a small town in the middle of the Peruvian desert from where we could do sandboarding! We spent the day recuperating our bodies from the escapades of Cusco, sitting by a pool in the boiling hot sunshine eating pancakes and drinking beer. It felt like we were on a package holiday! The final day and my final activity of sandboarding down the sanddunes. We went in these massive trucks that sped across and over the sand like a rollercoaster. And they sounded like tanks. We hit 3 dunes whereby people could either try and board down them (I tried but I was truly shit so I gave up!) or go down on their bellies to the bottom. This way was so much better as it meant you go faster. Overall, we had so much fun on the dunes, and we randomly bumped into Paul and Georgina, two people who we met in Bolivia.
So it was time to leave Peru and head home. I left Hannah and Kate with an emotional farewell, having travelled with them for 7weeks. Its been absolutely amazing and loved every minute of it girls- muchas gracias muy bien! I caught a bus to Lima, then flights to Miami and then onto Heathrown in a bit of a mental day of travelling. Hated Miami airport and particularly the arsehole Americans on power trips! But anyway, to end on a positive note, I met up with my sister ok in the airport, and she had a stomach bug- ITS NOT JUST ME THEN!!!
So I arrived home, predictably with a viscious cold and cough from the plane. Its back to normal now as I put up the Chistmas Tree today and took our new dog for a walk. Job soon! I’ve had an amazing 10months away from England, with so many highlights and memories. 3 continents, 12 countries and about loads of night buses!! Ive made some good friends along the way and seen some brilliant places. Next destination- Central America to brush up on that spanish; anybody want to donate??!!
As they say in the movies, hasta luego cica!!! (name that film?!)
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Linz
non-member comment
Sounds great but....
..how much do you love frodo? Enjoy crimbo and I'll see you in the new year. Ciao for now. LinzXX