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Published: February 10th 2009
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conniving little kids
Check out the happy faces on these kids! We've had a busy few weeks! We finished up in Argentina with a winery in Mendoza which was fab, and then we flew from BA to Lima.
We didnt plan on spending any time in Lima, but Garrys good friend Drouyn (Jesus!!) said he was hanging out in Lima for a bit so we decided to spend a night with him. Lima turned out to be pretty cool in the end.
From here we got the long and bumpy night bus to Cusco. We did do it cama style - which is the plushest bus we've ever seen (Sinead, does the picture look familiar???) We were pretty wrecked after the journey with some mild altitude sickness but it was all worth it when we finally organised our tour to Machu Picchu, an ancient city built 600 years ago on the top of a mountain in the andes. Garry is convinded that he can build everything he has seen so far, but Machu Picchu finally got the better of him! We didnt do the famous inca trail, we decided to get the train instead which was still pretty expensive, but it really is a must if you're ever in Peru
(Sinead and Siobhan, train is soooooo much better!But it sure has changed). We had to get the more expensive train back with the glass top roof and after a nice snack and a beer, we were treated with a cheesy tradtional show (buy in a dodgy decorated balaclava) and even cheesier alpaca wool fashion show to the music of dancing queen, the models being the train staff - yes you read right, they then tried to sell these items for US$200!!! Surprisingly we declined, considering you can get the same thing for 10% of the price in any market in Peru.
We spent another day in Cusco on a tour checking out some other ancient Incan ruins around Cusco. We've put up some photos of these for you to check out - look out for the angry looking mans face carved into the side of the mountain face, dont ask us how they did it!! And check out the stone work in the photo with Carol.
We took another long and dangerous bus journey to Nazca which was downhill all the way so we felt like we were falling out of our seats the whole time. When we
got to Nazca, we organised a flight over the lines and ended up paying a little more than we should have thanks to shifty peruvian salesman - and this was on Garrys birthday too!!! We flew over the lines that ancient Nazcans somehow carved into the desert which cover 500sq kms. These are the source of some of the iconic shapes we see in lots of Peruvian jewellery and art - condor, hummingbird, monkey, astronaut athough they dont really know what this astronaut was...
A short journey after this we ended up in Huachachina, a cute little oasis town nestled amongst some gigantic sand dunes. Our first night here was Garrys birthday, and typically we ended up spending the night drinking with a bunch of aussies and a half wit kiwi who apparently is a actress/model/genetic scientist/wine consultant/drug counsellor/part time vegan/part time lesbian/full time wanker!! Despite this it was a great night and Garry got a few free drinks. We managed to fit in some sand boarding which crazily we enough we had to pay a tax to do. In Peru, you get charged for everything, there is a tax on departing buses and you even get charged for
machu picchu
600 year old city built on a mountain in the andes. using any toilet, even in Machu Picchu where Id like to point out they charge 1 sole to use the bathroom and they get on average 2000 people a day - who ever thought running a toilet could be such a lucrative business!!
And incase you were worried, we managed to get some seal visiting in...again! We did a tour of the Isla de Ballestos, apparently the poor mans Galapogos. There were laods of birds, it was kinda scary how many there are here. Garry was the victim of some guano droppings - commonly known as bird shit.
Lastly, we spent some more time in Lima with Drouyn drinking and eating very cheaply. Make sure you check out Drouyn awesome air guitar and hippy bling - this is what happens to you afte two years of travelling!!
In Brazil now, still having a great time. Wish you were all here....
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Matt
non-member comment
Cool
Funny comment about the kiwi.