Finally on our holidays!

18th - 22nd September 2012

We were flying from Iguacu to San Paulo in the afternoon of Monday 17th. We had heard pretty bad thing about San Paulo so we decided not to bother staying there and to leave directly for Paraty, a small coastal town which was 6 hours on a bus from Paraty. We had decided to have a little holiday in the midst of all the travelling and literally chill out and do nothing for a week so we had planned 4 nights in Paraty and 2 nights on an island Ilha Grande. 

There weren't many buses from San Paulo to Paraty. There was one at 4pm and not another until 10pm. We were due to arrive in San Paulo at 2.45pm which gave us over an hour to collect our bags, get from the airport to the bus terminal and find our bus in the largest bus terminal in South America!

The plane landed in time which was great, our bags came out fairly quickly so we were thinking great we'll make it! We decided to get a taxi into the bus station as it was only €6 more expensive than the bus and it would be faster. We were delighted when we arrived at the bus station at 3.40pm leaving us 20 whole minutes to buy bus tickets and get on the bus. Score we were thinking. Running panicked around the huge terminal we found the company that goes to Paraty and asked for our tickets only to be told - 'sorry bus is full 'NOOOO! This was something we hadn't even thought of! There was only one company that went to Paraty so we were stuck getting the bus at 10pm and had 6 hours to kill in this bus station! There was nothing around so we couldn't go anywhere. I was thinking surely the biggest bus terminal in South America has a McDonald's but no! There wasn't much there, not even wifi but we have gotten really good at passing time so eventually 10pm came and we got the bus. It wasn't a sleeper bus but it was fairly comfortable. The worst part of this is that we were due to arrive in Paraty at 4am but we had already booked our hostel for this night so at least we had a bed once we arrived.

We reached Paraty at around 3.30am and Ronan made a beeline for the only taxi in town before the rest of people getting off the bus tried to take it! He woke up the snoozing taxi driver aided by the local homeless wino who just happened to be hanging around. We had sent an email to the hostel owners at Praia Serena to let them know we were arriving at this hour so they were waiting for us. We felt bad but what could we do!

We got some sleep and got up around 9am Tuesday to an amazing feast of breakfast. Fantastic homemade juice, local breads, homemade peanut butter, ham, cheese fruits, three different types of homemade cakes and freshly made eggs! It was delicious and we spent about 2 hours eating and chatting with the owners, Simon and Helen, and feeding the monkeys that hang out in their back garden!

Ronan feeding the monkeys banana!

Evil looking monkey!

We had a really relaxed day just chilling in the hammocks and around the pool before heading into the town for the first time that evening. It's another UNESCO protected town and is extremely pretty! We went to a Thai place for dinner! Interestingly a tiny town like Paraty has two Thai restaurants - the first one was owned by a couple, she is German and him Brazilian, who separated and then she opened another Thai place with an almost identical menu!

Pretty little town

It was actually hard to walk on the cobbled streets!

Curries in our house will mostly be served in pineapple from now on!

It was good food but came at a hefty price tag. I realised what good value we were getting in Iguacu with Claudio's 12 riel dinners when we paid 50 riels for one main course tonight!! The caipirinhas were 18 riels here for one vs three for 12 in Iguacu! So this is the expensive Brazil that people talk off! We went to a bar with live music but the music was so bad we had to leave!

The next day, Wednesday, after another delicious feast we decided to go to the beach. The weather was fab so we headed out to a beautiful beach with typical white sands and blue waters. It was fabulous and as it was a weekday it was almost empty!

Beautiful beach!

We spent the day out here before getting the bus back into town. The hostel was located about a 2km walk  out of town so we walked back. Then we came back into town later for dinner and walked back out to a beachside bar to meet Jodi and Dave from Iguacu. Even though we were having a relaxing day we ended up walking about 8km between going in and out of town and around the beach! We had a great evening chatting to them and having a few drinks!

The next day was Nicole and Ronan's day of fun! We got up fairly early and had our amazing breakfast before heading into town to wander around and do some shopping. I think I was the only person in Brazil wearing flip flops that weren't Havianas so we needed to remedy that! I got two pairs of nice ones that were fancier than the normal flip flops for €20! So much cheaper than home but they are a Brazilian brand. So I was well chuffed with that. I had spotted two paintings earlier in the week that I loved so we bought them aswell. We had a good wander about before going for lunch complete with a couple of cocktails! Afterwards it was time to hit the Shambhala Asian Day spa! We had booked a couples package which started off with an hour of yoga. I had really been missing yoga and Ronan had never done it so an ideal place to start was a gazebo in the Brazilian countryside! However it wasn't like yoga at home where we ease our body into positions - if we didn't do it right she was forcing our bodies like we were contortionists, Ronan even attempted the headstand - twice but unsuccessfully! It was a really tough workout actually but we did get to relax for the last 20 mins! I definitely prefer our type of yoga so looking forward to getting back to it next week!

Converted!

After this it was time for my facial and Ronan's massage. Ronan was delighted that we were both in the same room for this as he gets a bit nervous having massages in foreign countries! Finally we had a beautiful hot tub to finish off and truly relax! It was a fantastic experience and was the first time we properly relaxed in ages!

Afterwards the spa owner dropped us back to the hostel (the spa is the top rated thing to do on Trip Advisor so the service was super). Then we had an hour to shower and change before heading out to meet Jodi and Dave again for something to eat and few drinks. Another couple had checked into our hostel while we were  there and turns out they were on a 6 week honeymoon through South America - the only other couple we met on honeymoon through our whole trip!

Breakfast took a long time in Paraty, partly as there was so much food and partly as we spent so much time chatting to the owners. They were lovely and made us feel so welcome, particularly as we were the only guests for 2 days so we really didn't want to leave as we had such a nice time. But Friday was time to go and it was off to a paradise island called Ilha Grande for two nights.

We were collected by our bus from the hostel in Paraty and brought to a port about 2 hours away (although it probably could have been done in a hour of they didn't keep stopping for toilet breaks etc!). We were hanging out at the port for a few minutes waiting for our boat and it started to bucket rain. The heavens opened and it rained and rained! We had to stand for an hour on the boat journey across as it was too wet to sit!

Ilha Grande should look like this.... (google images)

...but it actually looked like this!

We got to Ilha Grande and it had eased off a little but we still weren't seeing anything resembling a paradise island! We went out to grab something to eat as it was 4pm when we arrived and we hadn't eaten since breakfast but got stuck in the restaurant for about an hour because of another shower. Everything to do on this island is very weather dependant so being honest, it's a bit shit in the rain. We tried to have a bit of a walk around between showers. Later that evening  we went out in our rain jackets for dinner and that was the height of excitement on our first day on Ilha Grande!

The next day was Saturday 22nd. We got up for breakfast and had planned to do a boat tour but the weather had other ideas! So we didn't bother as we couldn't see past the end of our arms so just went back to bed for a while. We spent the day killing time before heading out for lunch where we met Jodi and Dave as they just arrived off the boat. We had lunch with them before moving to a beachside bar as it had stopped raining. A few caipirinhas and a paella later, 6 hours had passed and the waiting staff were looking to go home as it was after midnight! We aren't gonna meet them again so it was time for another goodbye!

Drinks with Jodi and Dave

Ilha Grande beach by night

Sunday it was time to leave 'paradise'. We thought we left too little time for here but it turned out just right given the weather!

The nicest weather we had was the day we were leaving - still overcast!

Iguacu - where three countries meet!

14th - 17th September 2012

We were collected by taxi from our hotel in Arequipa and brought to the airport at 5am. As we were so short on time we booked a flight from Arequipa to Lima rather than taking the bus of 18 hours. This was because our flight from Lima to Iguacu was booked in Trailfinders as part of our round the world ticket from home so we had to fly this day. We knew we were short on time but we really wanted to do Arequipa but as it turned out flying was $15 cheaper than the bus so double score!

Our plane landed in Lima at 9.30am and we were flying again at 1pm but we hadn't much time after collecting our bags,checking in again, going through security and eating! We were flying to Iguacu Falls in Brazil and we weren't sure of the time differences so we knew we either had a 4 hour flight or 9 hour flight and finally the captain announce it was 4 hours so we were delighted! We landed in Iguacu airport 7.30pm Brazil time. We had no Brazilian cash whatsoever and this tiny airport didn't have a cash machine so we were lucky that the taxi took credit card! This was the first sign that we were in a more developed country as we couldn't pay  for anything on the credit card before this in South America.

The town we were staying in is called Foz do Iguacu and is the intersection between three countries - Brazil, Argentina and Paraguay. We got to our hostel, Iguassu Guest House and were so impressed with our room. It was huge and had loads of towels, fridge, tv and wardrobes! We haven't had any fridge, tv it wardrobes anywhere in South America so it was fantastic! It was about 8.30pm and we hadn't eaten properly all day but the hostel had a BBQ on for 12 riels (€4.50) so we decided to go for that. They also had caipirinhas, a traditional Brazilian cocktail, on a special of three for 12 riels. I said no no I won't drink three, just the one please! We were sitting out chatting to the other guests and Claudio who runs the bar having a lovely time drinking away and before I knew it, I was three caipirinhas down! I said I'd had enough at this stage, there was only ourselves and an Australian girl left but then Claudio decided to give us a cocktail making class and a free drink! It would be rude not to.

Cocktail making class!!

Unfortunately I found out just how bad these drinks are for you when I had to heap two tablespoons of sugar in to counteract the harsh alcohol cachaca which is made from sugar cane. There is no mixer at all in the cocktail so they are pretty strong - its just sugar, lime, cachaca and crushed ice. So delicious! I couldn't be tempted by another and we went to bed after this one.

The next morning we were up for breakfast - not sure if I've mentioned how bad South American breakfasts are but they are pretty terrible with a stale bread roll and jam but this breakfast was a sight to behold! They had brown bread, cereal, ham, cheese, fruit and CAKE! Two types of cake for breakfast. I learned that the brazilians love sugar when I dug into my cereal resembling frosties and even realised the milk had been sweetened! I couldn't being myself to eat cake for breakfast, not being a big lover of it anyways (don't think I ate any wedding cake!) but Ronan enjoyed his chocolate cake even adding some caramel sauce which is usually reserved for pancakes!

After the delight that was breakfast it was time to visit the Brazilian side of Iguacu Falls. Iguacu Falls are a collection of 275 waterfalls which are 20% on the Brazilian border and 80% on the Argentina border. We decided to visit the Brazil side today so took a public bus - finally something we could do on our own!

The Falls were breath-taking, just spectacular! I will let the photos speak for themselves as words cannot describe them. Definitely one of the natural wonders of the world and the best natural site we have ever seen!

First view of the Brazilian side of the Falls

Afterwards we went back into town and went to the supermarket to buy stuff for lunch before heading back out to go to Paraguay! The nearest town in Paraguay is only 4km from Foz  is called Ciudad del Este and is known for having cheap electronics so of course Ronan wanted to go across. It used to be notorious for being dangerous for tourists and despite the hostel telling us it was perfectly safe I must admit I was a little nervous. We got the public bus across - no immigration control or anything so no passport stamp. Claudio had given us the name of a very reputable shop (Audiophone) and we checked the opening times online and it said 8pm. We got to Paraguay at 4pm Brazil time, not realising it was an hour ahead and everything was closed including Audiophone, despite what it said online! So it was a wasted journey but was pretty safe.

By the time we got back to the hostel it was about 6pm so we had some chill out time in the hostel. Claudio was cooking beef stroganoff so we decided to just eat in the hostel again and it was delicious! I did indulge in more caiprinhas also while we were sitting around chatting to other travellers.

The next day, Sunday 16th, we decided to do a tour to the Argentina side - we could have done it alone but it can take over 2 hours as the public buses leave you at immigration rather than waiting and the hostel said it was easier to take a tour. We were collected at 9.30am and driven 20km to the Argentina side of the falls. The immigration was hassle free as the tour guide sorted it all for us. When we got to the Argentina side we were walking with the guide for about an hour before we even saw any waterfalls as we had a couple of kilometres of a walk and he kept stopping to talk about plants and trees! This was annoying as the Brazilian side yesterday was instant gratification and we saw the falls straight away! We were in a large group of about 15 people so it was slow progress.

Where the 3 countries of Brazil, Argentina and Paraguay intersected

Start of the Argentinian side

 There was an option to take a short boat ride under the falls so we decided to do that! We knew we were going to get really wet so I had brought a change of clothes and a bikini. Ronan just brought a spare tshirt. I had decided I would just wear my bikini under the life jacket if there was anyone else in one. One other girl was in her bikini so I stripped off all my clothes and put them into the waterproof bags we were provided with. Ronan just had his shorts on but they were his heaviest pair and he had no change with him. We all got into the boat and got some close up photos before being told to put away the cameras as we were going in close. We went under the falls and the weight and sheer volume of water literally took our breath away!! It was crazy how difficult it was to breathe! We were soaked to the skin but it was amazing looking up from the bottom of the falls and seeing it coming down on top of us! Incredible experience!

Boat going under the falls

Afterwards!

When we got back to shore I was able to change into full dry clothes but Ronan was stuck in his wet shorts for the rest of the day. It was only 2pm. We decided to leave the guide at this stage having only done the Lower Trail with him. There were two more trails but we couldn't face doing them with the guide!

Our hostel had warned us to bring food with us as it was so expensive to buy anything here. We bought a bottle of water for €6 so they weren't kidding! We had brought sandwiches with us so ate our lunch before going exploring the High Trail.
While these trails were really good we weren't blown away the way we were on the Brazil side which we were surprised at.

The final trail was the Devil's throat. We had to get the train to this one as it's so far away so myself and Ronan went to the train station. We were surprised not to have seen any of our group in the last couple of hours. Once we got off the train we had a bit of a walk before we saw the Devil's Throat and then we understood what all the fuss was about! It was spectacular! We got some extra time here as our group finally turned up 40mins after we got there so we left at the same time as them.

The Devil´s Throat!

We were supposed to be meeting the bus at 5pm but with all the guides talking about trees it was after 5.30pm by the time we got back to the bus. The others in the group spent 5 hours in the park but only got 20mins at the most important part whereas we had an hour so I was so glad we went off by ourselves!

We were dropped back to the hostel wrecked after walking about 14km between all the different trails! We decided to have dinner in the hostel again as why ruin a good thing! Another fabulous meal! We met Dave and Jodi in the hostel this evening - the third day here and they were the third different couple we had met but they get names as we met them again (and Dave is a Leeds fan so him and Ronan got football chat out of their systems)!  It seemed to be the nature of Foz that people only stayed one night on this side of the border and one night on the Argentina side so we were unusual. We had a great night with them and they were doing the same trip as us for the next few week so we arranged to meet them in Paraty again.

We left Igassu Guest House at 11am the next morning to get the bus out to the airport for our flight at 1pm.

Off to the nunnery!

10th - 13th September 2012

After such a crazy few days on the Inca Trail you would figure that we would have scheduled some downtime, right?! Wrong! Monday 10th September was our last day in Cusco so we had a few last bits of souvenirs to buy and needed to post stuff home. We checked out of Loki at 1pm and headed off shopping and in search of a post office. This would be our fourth time posting home on the trip and it was by far the cheapest and easiest. Much easier than Australia where the people actually spoke English!! A lovely little man who owned a shop in the post office sold us a box, wrapped it in loads and loads of silicone wrap and used a roll of Sellotape to seal everything in for the grand sum of €1.50. Then he proceeded to march us around the long queue, through security and in behind the desk! We were standing there behind the desk and security panels extremely awkwardly going what do we do now until the lady behind the desk sorted us out with the necessary forms.

Afterwards we went for an early dinner before heading back to Loki and hanging around there for a while before getting our bags and heading to the bus station.

We knew it was a risk getting an overnight bus when we were still going to be wrecked from the Inca Trail but all we had heard from people was how good the buses in South America were, specifically Peru. We had paid the most we could for what we thought was a bed and with the best bus company (Cruz del Sur). Imagine our disappointment then when we only had seats. Yes they were comfy and reclined slightly more than aeroplane seats but they weren't the beds we were expecting! The sleeping buses in Asia were much better. Ronan had his seat reclined and was told to put it up half an hour into the journey so they could serve food. No chance of getting any sleep yet. Then imagine our horror after dinner when the bus bingo started with the numbers being read over the PA system really loudly! Finally bus bingo ended and they had the telly on with a South America documentary on really loud. It was awful! Eventually around 11pm the lights dimmed and with our earphones in we managed to get some sleep. Such an uncomfortable night though.

We eventually arrived in Arequipa at 6am but of course we couldn't get checked into our room in the hostel at this time. We were hungry so went wandering around town to see if there was anywhere open to eat. There wasn't. We ended up just wandering around the town for about an hour before coming across the only two places open at 7.30am - of course McDonalds and Starbucks! We went to Starbucks for a couple of hours seeing it as the lesser of two evils! At 9am things started to open so we went to book our 2d/1n tour to the canyon. We had such a short time in Arequipa that we had to do this tour tomorrow, Tuesday. To be honest another tour was the last thing we wanted to do - not being able to control what you do, what you eat as the lunches and dinners are always buffets so you can't order off a menu or even plan when you go to the bathroom!! But a tour was the only way to see the deepest canyon in the world (twice as deep than the Grand Canyon!) so we had to do it. One disadvantage of South America in my opinion is the fact that almost everything has to be done in tours and there isn't much scope for independent travel.

After getting our tour booked we went back to the hostel and got our room so we could shower and change. This is our only day around Arequipa so all sightseeing had to be done today so napping was not an option!

We headed out to Museo Santuarios Andinos. Now some of you may have noticed a lack of references to museums in our travels so far as its not something we are usually too interested in but this museum was fascinating! The Incas believed in human sacrifice of women and children to their gods after a big event like the death of an emperor or a famine. This museum  houses the body of Juanita, an Incan princess who was about 12-14 years old and was sacrificed. There were hundreds of sacrifices done by the Incans but Juanita is special because her body was frozen at the top of the Ampato mountain and preserved because of the ice. When she was found her hair, muscles, tendons, skin etc were fully preserved. This has allowed scientists to do many tests including DNA tests so they have learned so much from the discovery of her body. Another interesting fact is that her body was only discovered because of the eruptions of the Ampato mountain in September 1995 where the ice melted. Now her body is kept at -25 degrees to preserve it. There were no photos allowed in this museum and frankly you wouldn't want to see it anyways but the story was super interesting.  There are a couple of graphic pictures in this link if anyone is really interested: click for Mummy Juanita

After our museum visit, it was time for lunch. I wasn't sure if I would be able to eat after the gruesomeness of the museum but Ronan had found a creperie that was supposed to be amazing so I was tempted. We had the most amazing savoury crepes with a strawberry milkshake followed by a dessert crepe! We couldn't help ourselves as it was just so delicious!

Afterwards we wandered around the town looking at the main buildings. It's a really beautiful city all built from an unusual white stone called sillar. Then it was back to the hostel to change and head out to the Santa Catalina monastery at around 6pm. We got a tip from Jennifer (Mark's girlfriend who we met in Vietnam) to do this by night as it was extra beautiful. She wasn't wrong! We were lucky in that it only opens late Tuesdays and Thursdays and by coincidence Tuesday was the only day we had for sightseeing in Arequipa so it worked out well.

This was another fascinating story - basically the monastery/nunnery was set up by a rich woman who demanded huge sums of money from women to enter (equivalent of US $150,000). Women were put into this nunnery by their families as it was cheaper than allowing them to get married - in those days in Brazil womens´ families had to pay extortionate sums of money to the grooms family upon marriage so the nunnery was the cheaper option! It then became a bank of sorts loaning out the money paid by the 'nuns' and the nuns were given the interest earned as there spending money. They had very big opulent rooms and generally lived in luxury and had an easy life drinking and gossiping with friends - they even had personal slaves! Spirituality didn't come into it. We got a guide here as it wasn't expensive and it meant we could get the full background story but it was so interesting. Aside from that there was no electricity so the nunnery was lit by candles, lanterns and log fires so it was extremely beautiful and a great experience. For us Arequipa was worth the visit to see these two things alone!

Afterwards we went to an amazing restaurant called Zig Zag. Ronan got the trilogy of meats served on a hot lava plate and had to wear a bib cos it spits as it is still cooking on the lava plate when they bring it out! I had an antipasti which was delicious but I was still pretty full from the crepes earlier. I also had my first good mojito in ages!

All in all despite the tiredness we had a fantastic food day and cultural day! Loved it!

The following day was Wednesday 12th and we were collected at 8am for our 2 day canyon tour. Imagine our disappointment when first view of said canyon wasn't until 4.45pm that afternoon!! We spent almost 9 hours wandering about looking at llamas, alpacas, birds, vizchuas etc which was extremely boring to us as we had seen them all so many times before. Ronan has a photo of a llama in a shop in San Pedro de Atacama, so a tiny dot of a llama far off in a field that we weren't allowed walk near didn't come close!

Llamas were dots in the distance!

 We finally got to the canyon which was good but we had seen much more impressive scenery on the Inca Trail that this didn't even come close. There is a viewing point called Cruz del Condor where you can see condors - now this is something I hadn't seen before and really wanted to see. The company pride themselves on avoiding the large volumes of tourists visiting this area and when we got to the Cruz del Condor, we were the only tourists there. But there was a reason for that - all the condors were back in their nests for the night so we didn't see any! So despite missing the tourists we also missed the birds! I said to our guide that sometimes there is a reason for all the tourists to be about! We were finally brought to our hotel at 6.30pm after a crap, disappointing day and brought out for a crap, disappointing dinner before everyone headed off to bed! There were 10 people ranging from 22 to 35 in our group but everyone went to their rooms at 8pm. Right barrel of laughs, not!!

First look at the canyon

Waiting for condors to show up!

Thursday morning we had a crap breakfast before heading on a 'hike' which turned out to be a walk along a main road which was the same road the bus later drove along to collect us - pointless and bizarre I would say! Afterwards we went back to the Cruz del Condor at about 9am where we did see a couple of condors but most of them leave between 8 and 8.30am but again we were avoiding the masses of tourists! By the way I have loads of condor facts like the fact that they only eat once a month and then eat so much that they are too fat to fly but I won´t bore you with any more!

The eagerly awaited condor!

There were a few more stops on the bus to see more of the same and myself and Ronan didn't even bother getting off the bus! It was time for the hot springs which we were looking forward to but that ended up being a big heated swimming pool. After another disappointing meal it was time to head back to Arequipa finally! It was a terrible tour and definitely the worst one we had spent money on.

We felt we deserved a treat after two days of crap food so back to Zig Zag with us for another trilogy of meat for Ronan and a fabulous duck for me before going up to Crepisimo for dessert! Of course I also had to have a mojito to get over the shock of it all!

Back in the hostel it was packing again and an early night as our taxi was collecting us at 5am for the next chapter of the adventure!

The Inca Trail to The Lost City!

6th - 9th September 2012

So finally Thursday 6th September, the time I had being dreading since trekking in Nepal had arrived! It was Inca trail time!

We were collected from our hostel at 5.30am and driven 3 hours to the starting point of the trek - Kilometer 82. Here our bags were weighed to check we didn't go over the allotted weight as the porters are only allowed by law to carry 35kg, which is still a serious weight. Our group consisted of five Germans travelling together, a Canadian couple and two American sisters! I reckon we were destined to be surrounded by siblings!

I think we made people nervous when we arrived on the bus complete with our own sleeping bags, trekking poles etc as they all thought we were seasoned hikers with all our own gear! In response we pointed to the numbers on our shoes (felt like they should say L for left and R for right like kids or something!) which showed we rented all our gear but from our hostel. Our company, SAS Travel, rented sleeping bags for $25 and walking poles for $20 whereas we rented trekking boots, sleeping bags and the walking poles for $33 in total!

Our guide Javier explained a few things to us like the fact that the porters run on ahead to set up the dining tent for lunch and the camps for the night. One group of porters leave for the lunch spot first thing in the morning and another group leave for the night camp to get the best space and get everything set up. When a porter is coming behind us on the trail we had to move to the side to allow them to pass as they would be running and carrying so much weight.

The first thing we had to do was show our passport and get a stamp entering the national park - random I know! The plan for today was a 15km trek with an ascent of about 600m which would take 7 hours. It started off with a relatively easy level climb for 3 hours with a visit to an archeological site along the way before reaching our lunch spot.

The set-up for lunch was insane. We reached the lunch camp and saw a tent had being set up with table and stools but there was even cutlery, napkins and a tablecloth! Bear in mind all this had to carried on some poor porters' back. We were even more surprised to be served an amazing meal with soup to start following by amazing potatoes, chicken, vegetables etc. I can't remember exactly what but it was full of flavour and tasted amazing especially considering it was cooked by a camper stove. We also got mint tea afterwards which helps digestion and stops cramps from doing strenuous exercise after eating! It worked amazingly well!

After lunch we started off on our trek again while the tent was packed up and the porters set off to the night camp to set everything up again! We had a couple of easy hours where we walked at our own pace so the guides could figure out the pace of the group. Surprisingly myself and Ronan were almost always the fastest and at the head of the group. The others had only being in Cusco two/three days so being used to the altitude probably gave us an advantage. We regrouped regularly when we were taking our own pace but ended up leaving some meeting points without the slowest members of the group. Myself and Ronan got to night camp first, after a difficult 1.5hour uphill climb. The backmarkers eventually made it about 40mins after everyone else. The rest of the tour basically continued with us waiting for them for breakfast, lunch, dinner etc!

We reached camp finally and had a wash in a small basin of hot water. After sweating and hiking all day we needed a bit more than a quick wash but no showering facilities available until Day 3! We got afternoon tea, popcorn and biscuits when we first reached camp then sat around chatting. As it started to get dark they turned on the light which involved lighting a plastic bulb which was fuelled by propane gas.  Our guide was telling us stories of different treks he had done and had just told us about a young woman in her thirties who had died from severe altitude sickness a few months before. Suddenly Catherine, one of the American sisters complained of feeling hot and dizzy and then she passed out. It was so scary. The guide and assistant guide got her the oxygen tank and some smelling salts and she came around after a few minutes. Obviously her sister, Chrissie, was so distressed and upset. It was awful. She was back to normal within 20mins, thank god. Afterwards she said she had all the symptoms that Javier had being describing when he talked about the woman who died! So that was fairly dramatic but we reckon it was caused by the lighting of the gas burning the plastic combined with all the people in the small enclosed space of the tent. For the rest of the trip Javier ensured that the gas was lit in advance with none of us in the tent and that we ate with the sides unzipped to allow more air in to avoid a repeat!

After all this excitement we were served an almost-gourmet dinner at around 7pm. It was so good, we were so shocked at what they can do from a tiny camping kitchen! After dinner we were told to retire to bed at the grand late hour of 8pm! To be honest though we were wrecked and sitting on plastic stools with no back support after a 15km hike didn't help!

On Friday we were woken at 5am with a cup of coca tea in our tent! Ronan slept like a log but I was awake for a while before having heard porters running around at some ungodly hour of the morning! This was to be the hardest day on the trail and I was worried about it! Although it was another 15km trek it was to be significantly harder than the previous day with a steep uphill ascent of 900m across two mountain passes.  Ronan was delighted with breakfast this morning - pancakes! We were late leaving as we were hanging around waiting for some of the group again! We started off at around 6.30am and it was a hard uphill climb for the next 4 hours as we ascended to reach the top of the mountain called Dead Woman's Pass which is at altitude of 4,200m, a full 1,000m higher than we went in Nepal! We really noticed the reduction of oxygen due to the altitude and how much harder it was to breath at this part of the trek. After a rest stop at the top (where we were provided with tea and a sandwich - best sandwich of my life!)  it was time to start the descent for 1.5hrs to our lunch camp. 

I reached Dead Woman´s Pass - result!!

Almost all the group at the summit!

I think the most disheartening part of trekking is the fact that we spent so long going up, only to go down and back up again in the afternoon! After the trimuph of reaching the summit of Dead Woman´s Pass it was hard work to do the 1.5hour tough downhill stretch to the lunch camp.The Canadian couple were last to camp for lunch again, we didn't wait for them at the rest stop at the top of Dead Woman's Pass as they were too far behind (the assistant guide Andy was with them as he always has to stay at the rear of the group).

Lunch was another fabulous feast and much needed at this stage! My feet were starting to get really sore, I was shocked with the blisters I had when I took off my shoes to soak my feet in the stream! All too soon it was time to head off again, for the last 3.5hr stretch of the day, another ascent to cross our second mountain pass of the day before starting the descent to camp for the evening.

We visited 2 archeological sites in the afternoon - after all we were on the Inca trail which is dotted with different relics all along the way from watchtowers to farmers houses to dwelling houses used to house visiting pilgrims. We finally reached camp at around 5.30pm - the toughest day was over. We were all wrecked though and my feet were truly in bits. I could barely walk for the blisters. We had afternoon tea but the chatting was a subdued affair as everyone was so exhausted. Dinner was amazing but none of us ate much and all ended up in bed by 7.30pm. I would say I was about 6 the last time I was in bed at this hour! This was the coldest night of the trek so I ended up in two layers of thermals, two pairs of socks and my jacket inside the minus 10 degrees sleeping bag! It also ended up raining so everything was slightly damp come morning.

The Saturday trek was only to be a half day but none the less we were woken at 5.30am to be ready to set off at 6.30am.  Today was consisting of an overall descent of 1,000m down to altitude of approx 2,600m. The early part of this morning was gradual up and down slopes but nothing too taxing. This was our first full day on the actual Inca trail, the paths from the previous two days had been done by the Peruvian government in the last 30years. We visited 2 archeological sites along the way before starting a descent of 700m or 2,000 steps to reach our lunch and night camp for about 1pm. This was really tough going on the knees and you would be surprised at how hard downhill is. We were all excited about it (just because it wasn't uphill but it proved just as hard!) until we realised the concentration it takes and it's impact on our legs! We had some downtime after lunch where we hung around chatting and enjoying the sunshine. The weather was better here as we were in the jungle and at a lower altitude. There were supposed to be hot showers at this site but alas they were out of order so cold showers were the order of the day. When I say cold I mean cold as the water was being directed from glaciers at the top of the mountains but it wasn't an option not to have one!! At 5pm we all regrouped and visited the spectacular archeological site of Intipata which is adjacent to the campsite. After exploration of these ruins it was dinner and bed!

Throughout the first 3 days of trekking, much to everyone's frustration, Ronan found all the uphill struggles to be a 'stroll in the park'. Himself and Javier spent most of the trek up front, a few 100 meters ahead discussing spuds and farming - along with the worlds' economic woes! I would have being fine, had it not being for the pain in my feet from giant blisters. Everyone was telling me I should take a photo of them as they were so bad but I couldn't scar Lorraine with her feet phobia by putting up a photo! The week we spent in Cusco beforehand really helped as we were acclimatised to the altitude so I reckon our bodies made them necessary extra red blood cells! Now all I have to do is keep them until I get home and I will be a 10k running champion!

So Sunday 9th September was the day we had being working towards! I had a crap nights' sleep as I was constantly being woken by the rain and was just hoping for it to clear for our visit to Machu Picchu.  A 3.30am wake up call was followed by breakfast (pancakes again!) and a swift exit from camp to get in line at the Control Station. We were all waiting here for over an hour before finally being allowed enter at 5.40am. This is the easiest day, with what should have been a 6km stroll, but my feet were in such agony that it was torture!

After finally getting through control we then had a brisk 1.5hr uphill walk to reach the Sun Gate. This is traditionally the first view of Machu Picchu and despite it not offering the best view, we were all so eager and excited to get our first look! Imagine our disappointment when this was all we could see:

Machu Picchu should  be over my left shoulder but we were in the clouds!

We hung around a while hoping it would clear but to no avail. We were walking towards the site when it finally started to clear and got our first view through the clouds:

A further 40min walk around the mountain finally brought us to our destination! We had reached Machu Picchu, the Lost City of the Incas, a Wonder of the World! It was a great feeling especially when we worked so hard to get here and we really felt like we had earned the right to be here.

My feet were killing me but if I thought the walking was over there, how wrong I was!! The site is massive and we still had the whole tour to do! We started off at the best viewpoint you can get without a further 1.5 hour climb up a really steep mountain. Unfortunately due to the clouds we didn't get the best views ever which is a little disappointing considering we are probably only going to be here once in our lives. The weather was highly unusual as this is the dry season and the rainy season doesn't start until November. We had a tour included as part of our Inca trail package so Javier brought us around the main sights for 2 hours, this was brilliant as he was a very enthusiastic and passionate guide who is actually a descendant from the Incas!

It really is an awe inspiring place and it definitely lived up to any expectations we had. After our guided tour we had some time to ourselves to explore. It would be an amazing place just to sit and admire your surroundings but unfortunately Mother Nature had different ideas. We walked around for about 45mins looking at different parts not included in our tour before making our way to the bathroom. Then the heavens suddenly opened and it rained and rained. Then rained some more. We couldn't get back into the site as the rain was just so heavy and time was getting on. We were due to leave Machu Picchu at 1pm to go to meet Javier in the nearest town, Aguas Calientes for lunch.

The crowds just emptied as the downpour continued.

It was a disappointing end to our Inca Trail experience as we had three beautiful days during the trek and we didn't get all the photos we wanted to get. Our experience on the trail was fantastic with a great guide, great food and the best camping we could have asked for (tents being put up and down for us, cleaned etc) and the weather couldn't be controlled so c'est la vie!

We got the bus into Aguas Calientes at around 12.30pm for lunch. At least we were reunited with our overnight bags so could change into dry clothes. We had time for a quick wander around the markets where we got 'I survived the Inca Trail' tshirts before getting the train at 4pm. We had a 2.5hr train journey before transferring to a bus for 3hrs back to Cusco. We reached the Loki hostel at around 8pm tired and smelly! It was time for showers, some food and a glass of wine!  Think I earned it!

I survived the Inca Trail cheesy tshirts!

Cusco...like a box of chocolates!

30th August - 5th September 2012

We were up at 5.30am to get the bus from Puno to Cusco on Thursday 30th August. We had decided to get a different type of bus than the normal transportation - this was a sightseeing bus with a tour guide to stop at different sites of interest during the course of the journey. I wasn't feeling great that morning and only got worse during the day. I actually don't remember much of the journey as I basically slept most of the day - slept for 8 out of 10 hours! Ronan, Kate and Alice all really enjoyed the journey and seeing the different sights along the way.

It was more expensive than a normal bus but definitely attracted a different class of traveller than we were used to! All the others except us actually had suitcases not rucksacks! It was a crazy comfy bus with cup holders, very fancy compared to what we are used to these days! I honestly don't remember what the sights we visited were but I just remember the relief of getting to the Loki hostel in Cusco at 6pm that evening! The Loki hostel is seen as a party hostel but we liked the fact we could get a double bed and private bathroom with an on-site bar for a decent price. The first evening I hadn't eaten all day so managed a toasted sandwich before heading to bed.

I should mention that Cusco is at 3,300m altitude and it is recommended to stay there for at least 4 days to acclimatise to the altitude before doing the Inca trail. We had read this and spoken to other travellers who told us how much there was to do in Cusco so we decided to spend a week there. This was amazing as we hadn't spent a week anywhere since Jaipur. We got to keep the same room in the hostel so no unpacking or repacking for a whole week - that is bliss!

Cusco at night - home for a week

On Friday 31st August we had a lazy morning in the hostel and the Irish lads from the Las Pampas tour turned up in Loki after their trek so we were just catching up with them. I was feeling better so we decided to do the free walking tour of the city offered by the hostel to get our bearings and see the highlights of the city. We have never done a walking tour with a guide before but this was actually really good as it wasn't a boring historic tour but really fun! The rest of the afternoon we spent around the markets and confirming the details for our Inca trek. We went out for dinner as we didn't want to fall into the same trap as in the Wild Rover in La Paz of eating in the hostel every night!

Saturday 1st September was a lazy day which we spent booking tours for the following days, going around the markets again and just generally chilling out. We found the prettiest McDonalds in the world:

We were very proud of ourselves for going out for dinner again even if it was only to the highest Irish owned bar in the world!

The next day was white water rafting! Myself, Ronan, Kate and Alice had booked to do this together and there was another girl from the UK in the group with us. We left the hostel at 8am and got to the starting site around 10am. It was 1.5 hours away 'Peruvian time' which means just over 2 hours! Myself and Ronan had done white water rafting before when we were in Malyasia but hadn't experienced anything like the safety talk and safety procedures in place here. The company was Peru Activites set up by two brothers who worked in the US so brought their health and safety training from there to Peru.

This might sound like standard practice at home but it's a very big deal here in Peru where no safety procedures exist at all. For example we saw a zipline as we were going down the river - this consisted of a piece of rope going from one tree to another tree across the river I kid you not! Our guide for the rafting told us how they had to rescue a woman who did it but the harness broke and she fell into the rapids in the river. Personally I thought it was her own fault as anyone who takes a piece of rope as a zipline should get their head examined!
So we had an amazing two hours rafting for about 12km down the river which was only up to Grade III+ because it is the dry season but still so much fun! I did not think it would be such a workout though and so much paddling!

Ronan goes from a dip from the top of the rock!

When we came to the end of the rafting there was a table and plastic stools laid out at the side of the road for lunch! It was a gorgeous lunch with rice, chicken, vegetables, bread etc and even a table cloth, all produced from a picnic basket in the back of the van! Random but delicious and fun! Afterwards we started our journey back to Cusco and got back to the hostel at around 4pm.

We were so tired and sore from all the hard work that we allowed ourselves to have dinner in the hostel that night and not bother going into the city. I decided to have a couple of drinks while we were sitting around chatting to the Irish boys as they were getting a night bus later that evening. Alice had been out for the last two nights but between me being sick and getting up early for rafting I hadn't bothered so tonight was the night myself and Kate decided to let loose! Loki is the type of place that removes the cups and kettle for free tea and coffee at about 10pm so as to free up the table they are on for dancing! Classy! Needless to say we availed of the empty table facility and danced the night away! We kept requesting songs so it was basically our own personal playlist for the night but it doesn't feel right to be dancing in runners with no make-up! I kept standing on my tippy toes as if I was wearing heels. One thing I am looking forward to when I get home is dressing up in a nice dress, heels and makeup.

Needless to say when I woke up on Monday I wasn't feeling my best! Well it was tough luck as we had a horse riding tour booked for the afternoon! I spent the morning drinking tea and willing myself to feel better. All too soon 1pm rolled around and we were collected for our trip. We started off on the horses by walking and then doing a bit of a trot before visiting an ancient Inca site. We could also see one of the sights that it cost $40 to visit from the top of the hill so no need to go to that! Afterwards we took a trip through the woods going up the mountains to a height of 3,900m and got a great view over the whole valley. On any of the flats we did some cantering and even galloping! I have never galloped before abs I was terrified at the start but it actually was really enjoyable! My horse was a little frisky though and knew the parts to canter and gallop before I did, as it knew the route so well, so I did get a couple of frights where it took off before I was ready!

There was a real wild west feeling to cantering through the forest particularly as the equipment on the horses was pretty old school! If I though I was sore from the rafting, it was nothing compared to the aches, pains and bruises I had after this! Ronan's legs were actually rubbed bare and left hairless from the friction with parts of the saddle hanging down. We were black and blue it was insane. We brought back to the hostel and I was in bits so it was dinner here again. I just wanted to go to bed but Kate and Alice had checked out of Loki earlier that day and were coming back up to meet us for a table quiz in the bar. That went on from 9-11pm and I was never so glad to see my bed as afterwards. We lost by the way.

The following day was Tuesday 4th September.  Today's activity was a nice, physical-free (or so I thought) chocolate making class. My broken body struggled with walking up and down the stairs, standing for 2.5hours and grinding chocolate with a pestle and mortar. We had a great couple of hours learning about the different types of chocolate, the chocolate making process and making our own. I asked to make mine with milk chocolate rather than dark but it turned out dark anyways so I don't like it! Never mind - all the more for Ronan anyways!

The last activity we did together as a family!!

The finished product!

Afterwards we went out for dinner with Kate and Alice as we were saying our goodbyes for good! Whole out for dinner we decided to delay the inevitable and meet for lunch tomorrow afternoon aswell!

Wednesday morning and early afternoon passed in a haze of preparing for the Inca trail. This involved buying things like a water bottle for Ronan as I still had my camel pack from Nepal, head lamp, knee support, toilet paper and all manner of random things you would never think of! We also had to buy snacks like cereal bars and nuts to eat along the trail. All shopping done we met Kate and Alice for a late lunch/early dinner and it was time to say goodbye! It was strange as we had being travelling with them for almost a month, even if we didn't spend every day together we saw each other every day at some stage. So long Kate and Alice!

That afternoon Ronan got a haircut and we decided what to pack for the trail before heading to our orientation meeting. We were meeting our guide and the rest of our group at 7pm for a briefing. This gave us an idea of the schedule for the next few days. The guide was great, very passionate and enthusiastic so I started to get excited about what was ahead! Afterwards it was back to the hostel with the bags provided by the company to get packed. We had paid to hire an extra porter each to carry clothes and toiletries for the next 4 days. We got 9kg each but once the sleeping mattress and sleeping bag were taken out this left us with 6kg each for clothes, toiletries and snacks. It can get down to freezing at night because of the altitude so we had to ensure to pack thermals and warm clothes aswell! We were warned to pack for the 4 seasons! We also had our day packs to carry things we would need during the day for the trail like water, sun hat, suncream, raincoat etc.

After this it was time for bed as we were being collected at 5.30am the next day so needed a good sleep!