Blogs from Peru, South America - page 1143

We´ve been living amongst the Incas now for about 10 days here at the centre of their mighty empire. On Friday we will set off for the Manu Reserve - the deepest, darkest, steamiest, primevalest jungle we´ve been able to find in Peru. If this is the last blog you receive, assume we have been chewed to pieces by the mosquitos or perhaps pounced on by a man-eating anteater in the night. With luck, the trip could be as great as our visit to the Galapagos Islands. If nothing else, it´s jaw-clenchingly expensive, albeit nowhere near as expensive as the aforementioned Galapagos. After Manu, it´s off to Arequipa, then Puno, and onward to Bolivia. Meanwhile, some thoughts on the Incas: As everyone knows, they built their amazing mountain-top fortresses without the aid of the wheel. Gigantic ... read more

Days 39-43 We caught an early morning flight to Lima. We'd heard really bad things about Lima, but it wasn't as bad as all the hype. Saying that, we didn't venture too far for fear of being robbed/stabbed/beaten/killed. We went for a little wander and chilled out in the hotel, watching a coupel of films. We went out for dinner and had a couple of drinks. The next day was much of the same. We went to a supermarket to get provisions for Christmas Day as everything would be closed. After filling our trolley with Pringles, sweeties, nuts and (very cheap) champers we headed back. In the evening we went to a more upmarket district called Mira Flores, with one of our pals from the group. Everything was closed as it was Christmas Eve, we eventually ... read more

C'est juste pour souhaiter un joyeux Noel a tout le monde, et mettre quelques photos suplementaires. On part le 26 pour Lima et apres on verra bien... bises... read more

We'd heard about the gigantic sand dunes in Ica and how they were best explored by sand buggies and sand boards. This was too tantilising a suggestion so off we headed for Ica. We arrived late at night after another long bus journey from Huaraz and checked into the Princess Hotel. It was very quiet as most families were getting ready for Christmas at home and I think most fellow backpackers were either in Arequipa or Cuzco. But, it had a lovely pool as the sun shone all day so we made the most of it and topped up our tans while supping cold beer, as you can imagine, it was a hard couple of days...!! About 5km away is Huacachina, which locals refer to as the Oasis of South America. Oasis it maybe, but it ... read more

It is indeed the 21st of December, and Mike and I are madly packing up our apartment in Vancouver for our south American adventures to begin! Quite frankly, I'm feeling about done with this part of the adventure, I've scrubbed one too many disgusting appliances for my tastes and am totally anxious to be on our way. Leaving for Hawaii pretty damn quick here and then, I'll be back to Vancouver for a day to collect Mike and we're off!! Thank God. That's where it's at now, highly uninteresting.... read more