And so ends my exploring of South America

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This is my last entry from South America 😞



As the title says, its the end of my South America travels, I have had so much fun, seen and done so many things and places and met some genuinely lovely people. But before I summarise, I'll finish my adventure for ye,



5^th May 2015, Puno Peru



Leaving Bolivia and heading to Peru, we went though another land border crossing, this one at least made sense, in that the Bolivia exit stamps were given in Bolivia and then we walked across the border to the next building where we entered Peru, it was then back on the bus and on to Puno to see the other side of lake Titicaca and to spend a night as an island local. Early the next morning, Ellie and my self set off, on a bus pick up that was on time!!!!!!!, to see the floating reed islands of Uros, On the floating islands the language spoken is Quechua as well as Spanish, we were giving a cheat sheet with some Spanish and Quechua phrases on it, we all practised saying Allillanchu, (Quechua, for hello) as we pulled up to the island. The islands them selves are cool, but as touristy as expected. Stepping on to the island was strange, as the whole island is made of reeds its kind of soft to stand on yet still very firm, unless another boat caused a wave the island just floated there and you could almost forget that you were standing on floating reeds.The president of the island gave a speech and demonstrated how the islands are made, each island takes about a year to make and lasts somewhere between 25 to 30 years. The reeds used are called Totora, theses are also used to make the reed boats. The reeds grow in the lake and have a massive thick mass of a root system, called Khili, which is about 1.5 meters thick, this root system is the base of the island onto to which layers and layers of reeds are places, the root systems are dragged into position and bound together with ropes, anchored in place with sticks and heavy rocks, this is the longest part of the island making as the lake is cold, the people can only be in the water for about 10 minutes at a time. Once the root system is ready the reeds are then layered in alternating patterns, the reeds below the level of the water rot away quickly so more and more reeds are added to the top of the island roughly every 3 months. The reed houses are them placed on to the islands, these can be transported from the old island to the new one on the boats. Cooking on the island is done using a flat cooking stone that the fire is built on. After the island construction demonstration, we got a personal tour of the island, including getting to enter one of the reed houses, I think the guide was trying to say a family of 6 lived in this house, I hope I misunderstood this as the whole house was only the width of a standard bed and the length was not much longer than that either. After the short tour our guide took us to see her market stall, where she tried very hard to sell us anything! The whole group them got to cross the island in a reed boat, to see another market island and also to get a cool passport stamp, (if we wanted it). Back on the normal boat we left the reed islands and continued on to meet our new island family on Amantani island for a lunch of soup and potatoes and cheese. There are over 3000 types of potato in Peru, so for lunch we got a few different kinds of them, I didn't like the purple finger shaped potato, it was too sweet for me, also the cheese is very squeaky and salty,but it was still 100 times taster than the strange semolina soup, Ellie and my self tried at a local diner back on Puno! After lunch we met the rest of our tour group and guide, we slowly walked to the top of the island to Pachatata temple, to watch the sunset and make a wish to mother earth (pachamama) at the temple. Back in the village we were met by our host families again for dinner, before getting dressed in local attire and heading with our family to the disco! It was very hard to breath in the local clothes, kind of like wearing a corset!, but the dancing was still fun, twirling and circling around, trying to copy the local women. The next morning there was time for a tasty pancake breakfast before getting back onto our boat, and crossing the rough waters of lake Titicaca, to get to Taquile island, where we had an enjoyable walk from one side of the island to the other, stopping at the top for lunch in a local restaurant, where first the differences in dress were explained, single boys under the age of 16 wear a red and white hat with the tassel straight down the back, at 16, if the boy is single the tassel is moved to the right hand side and if he is dating to the left. The women's signal of the marital status, is to do with the size of the pompoms on their black shawls, when married the women present their new husband with a handmade belt, that used to contain her own hair (but I don't think they still do this) and the man puts on a red hat and the woman puts smaller pompoms on her shawl. After a natural soap demonstration, washing some wool, we got to have soup and trout, I liked the soup but the fish had a lot of bones, that the others from the tour sitting around me, found very funny to watch me try and pick out all the bones. The boat ride back to Puno, was long but at least the water was much calmer than the morning. After a short nap, we went for a lovely pizza dinner before getting packed for the 8am bus trip to Cuso.



8^th May 2015, Cusco Peru



Arriving in Cusco in the afternoon, we were staying in the beautiful San Blas area. I decided not to do a trek to Machu Picchu, cost and time were some of the deciding factors, this way I would have time to see the Colca Canyon and the Condors. In Cusco, before Ellie left on her trek, we went to see the Chocolate Museum, that we had read recommendations about, it was free! and the coca husk tea was delicious, its made from the husks of the coca beans, and tastes like chocolate! On Sunday after moving to a new hostel, we went on a walking tour, which included a demonstration on how to prepare Ceviche, (raw white fish or can be made with trout, but I didn't like it) on the way back to the main square, we saw one of the fancy churches was open so we went in, looking at the huge gold framed paintings and ornate statues, we climbed up some very steep ladders to a balcony where we had a view of the the whole town. On Monday morning Ellie left early for her trek, and I went on another walking tour, with some people I had met in the hostel, it was very similar but included a pisco sour (a lemony alcohol drink) tasting also. I had an early night as my trip to Machu Picchu, started at 3am, the next morning.

After a long 3 hour trip on the minibus we arrived at Ollantaytambo train station, to take lovely train, complete with sky windows, to Aguas Calientes, where the bus took me to the sacred city of Machu Picchu. On the train I watched the sun rise on a cloudy morning, through the clouds I watched as huge glacier mountains appear and disappear until I arrived in Aguas Calientes and got the bus up the windy road to Machu Picchu. I don't quite know what I was expecting, so much has been said and so many photos taken of this sacred lost city. I think due to all the hype I had built it up to be more, more breathtaking, more spiritual, more just more, at first I was thought this feeling, not disappointment just not quite meeting my initial expectation was due to not completing a trek and thus not earning the "reward" at the end, but talking to other people who had just finished their Inka trail trek, they had the same feeling. This is not to say the place is not beautiful and breathtaking place to visit. I was very lucky, I had a clear, sunny day there. As I walked to the Sun Gate I had clear sunny views along the whole trail and at the end I had a beautiful view over the whole city, only the tiny amount of cloud, added to the beauty of the city not hiding it away. Back in the city I wandered around listening to the guides explain the uses for the different buildings. It is a magical place to visit and I am so glad I got to experience this place. As I walked down the 1700 steps back to Aguas Calientes, experiencing the different climates, the clear crisp air of the mountains and the muggy humid tropical jungle, I was thinking of my Machu Picchu experience I guess initially I had thought this would be one of the highlights of my trip and although amazing, I don't think it's going to make my top 3 experiences so far. I arrived back in Cusco late that night and went straight to bed, expecting to be up early the ext morning for a trip to the Sacred valley. I was up early and having breakfast when I heard that there would be no tour to the Sacred valley as there were big protests going on in the city and the bus I was going to get was not running. I was slightly disappointed I went to the Inka museum which had been recommended on the walking tour. I found it to be very interesting and much bigger than I expected.

Wednesday afternoon I spent in the hostel hanging out with lots of people, wondering if the protests would stop the bus from leaving to got to Arequipa, nobody could really give us an answer, at the right time I headed to the bus station, only to learn the bus was not leaving until the next evening, this was due more to the protests in Arequipa, which were much more violent than the ones here in Cusco, then hurried back to the hostel, hoping they had room still, as lots of people were in the same boat as my self, beds in the hostels were getting scarce. I got a bed in the 8 bed dorm, the next morning I saw some people had slept on blankets on the floor and on the sofa's in the common area. On Thursday evening I got to head to Arequipa, looking forward to my Colca trip.

15^th May, Arequipa Peru.

I arrived to the town early on Friday morning, at the hostel I was one of the first people to arrive, giving the other travellers hope that the buses were running again, some people had been stuck in the town for 3 days with the protests, while others had been stuck on buses for hours while rocks pelted the buses. At midday some of the girls in my room were going on a walking tour in the town so I joined them. It was a long tour almost 3 hours, but the guide had great English and was clearly passionate about his job so the tour was very informative. The first stop was at a church with lots of carving decorating the outside, this was the best example of the mix of Inca and the Spanish catholic faiths. On the walls, the Inca 3 worlds were represented by the snake, the puma and the condor. inside the church in the middle of the alter, there is a huge sun, this helped mix the two religions as the Inca's though as the Spanish and other settlers, were facing the alter that they were worshipping the sun. This is also why there are crossed on top of most mountains, as the local people worshipped their gods on the mountains, the Spanish told them now they had to worship using the cross. Also on the tour I visited another Chocolate factory, a factory where they handmade Alpaca wool items and a convent which had been a place to send the second daughter from a wealthy family, along with at least 3 servants to look after her, at one point there was more servants in the convent that Sisters. On the tour I met an Irish mother and son, who insisted I come for dinner with them, as I must be lonely! They were very funny, in that they didn't want to try any of the local restaurants and kept complaining about not being about to get a decent pint, there are no beer taps at the bar! It made the evening very long as they moaned and complained their way through dinner, they had chicken rolls, while I had Lomo Saltado (a Peruvian dish, a beef stir fry with onions, tomatoes served with rice and fried potato) the son was sick as we left the restaurant, they should have tried the local food, it was delicious and much better quality than the tourist chicken sandwich!

Saturday at 3am I started my tour of the Colca valley, canyon and the condors. I was very excited to see the condors up close, these birds are huge (males can be 1.5 meters) and I got to spend an hour in the morning, watching them swoop and glide in the air currents. I had to duck a few times are they flew so close over head that I could almost reach up and touch one. The Colca valley as well as being one of the deepest canyons in the world, is another great example of pre Inca terraced landscapes. On the trip I got to see lots of views of the valley as well as the deepest part of the canyon. For lunch there was a Peruvian buffet where I got to try lots of foods, including more of the 3000 types of potato, different local soups and vegetables. I was very tired that evening, so had a quite night in the hostel, watching movies and sharing holiday experiences with some of the others there. Ellie arrived the next morning, having survived her 5 day trek to Machu Picchu, after trading stories and eating a very tasty banana pancake breakfast, we went on the walking tour, when we arrived in the main square, there was a parade on, that the guide told us was to thank the police, every Sunday they thank the police with a parade, today was bigger due to the protests. The guide's English was not great so there may have been something lost in translation. This guide's tour was not as long or as enjoyable as the first one I had been on, but we still got to see the main highlights that Arequipa had to offer, we walked around in the afternoon, on the map there seemed to be a park along the river, we found an entrance to the park but as the country club was at this entrance and there was a guard, we didn't try to enter the park. That evening we had delicious hot chocolate in the Chocolate factory. All to soon, it was time to get the last bus in our adventure, the bus to Lima.

18^th May, Lima, Peru.

Arriving from the overnight bus, the taxi eventually got us to our hostel. The driver didn't know where our hostel was, and wanted us to stay somewhere else (properly so he would get commission) but Ellie had her handy map out and we arrived at the hostel. After showers and settling in, we went to a recommended sandwich bar for lunch. The sandwich bar (la lucha) has amazing sandwiches, in proper bread rolls. In Lima there is not too much to see, I have walked along the coast walk a few times watching the para-gliders run and jump off the cliff edge before soaring up high over the coast and then turning and gliding over the skyscrapers. Yesterday I went to San Francisco Church to see the famous catacombs. The library in the church was awesome with spiral staircases going up to the second floor of books, kind of magical like a library from Harry Potter. I finally got to see a rendition of the Peruvian Last Supper, in this painting the table is round, the main meal is guinea pig and behind Judas the devil is hiding. Tomorrow I am flying to DC, which I am looking forward to, however I will have to come back to South America, so many things still to see and do.

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