Official Photo´s from the World´s Most Dangerous Road

The Road of Death!!!

The Road of Death!

I spent today mountain biking the World´s most dangerous road, but I survived! Statistically more people die on this road than any other in the world, this includes the streets of Baghdad. Okay, so I´ve built it up, are you impressed? Okay more facts, it´s a 64km ride, with a 3,650m descent. So on a mountain bikes that´s lots of fun. But the start is at an elevation of 4,760m, at 8.00 this morning it was really frosty and of course difficult to breath!


One of the many waterfalls on the road.

We rode through waterfalls, on loose rocks, a little pavement and through two large streams. I booked the tour with Gravity Assisted, they are one of the best outfits, expensive but I got to ride a full suspension bike and we ended the day at an animal sanctuary with great hot showers and a pool. At times it was easy to forget the 800m drop on the side of the road, other times it was really terrifying. There is a lot of loose rocks on the road and one guy had an accident, luckily he only scraped himself. We were all given really good protective clothing at the start of the day. The goggles came in handy too, as towards the bottom the climate is completely different, very hot and dry and the dust from the road clings to the air. They took photographs and video of all the riders, so at some point I´ll try and upload them here. Oh and to top it all I got a free t-shirt!


A parrot at the sanctuary.

Tomorrow night I´m of to the Salar de Uyuni (famous Salt Flats), it´s a 3 day tour that ends in San Pedro, Chile. I´m looking forward to being at a slightly lower altitude and somewhere warmer, well at least in the day.

Lake Titicaca

The Peruvian flag on Lake Titicaca.

After the Inca Trek, I caught the bug that had been making it´s way through the group. Unfortunately this meant I missed the night out we had planned in Cusco. I also don´t have anyone´s email address, it´s really frustrating.
After two days in the same hotel room, feeling sorry for myself I thought it was time to move on. I have a pretty tight schedule if I want to see as much as I´ve planned to see in South America. So I bought a bus ticket for Puno, Peru, it´s a port on the shores of Lake Titicaca. The Lake itself is the world´s largest high-altitude body of water, it´s 15 times the size of Lake Geneva.

Okay enough of the statistics. My reason for visiting Puno was to take a trip to the Uros Islands. They are floating islands made of reed that have been occupied by Uros Indians for over 500 years. Their original purpose was to hide from invading tribes. But in the mid-sixties (I guess realising there were no tribes left?) they showed themselves to the main-landers. The population has dwindled since to some 1000 people. They are not recognised by the current Peruvian government, so tourists and fishing are their only forms of income. Most of the islanders don´t speak Spanish, but the ancient language of the Inca´s Quechua.


Huts on the Uros Islands.

I took a guided tour to two of the islands, our guide Juan told us how the reed islands are made and how in some serious storms, islanders have woken up 3 hours away from where they went to sleep.


Me and the captain.

We also had a chance to meet one of the island chiefs and took a reed boat between the two islands. Although it was all very touristic, I really enjoyed being somewhere so peaceful, well while it lasted.


On the boat, to our second island.

When we arrived at the second island, we were greeted by a very unexpected sight. A group of Peruvian men in shiny red suits shooting a music video. And who gets dragged in to dance? Yeah that´s right the one tourist without rhythm, me. So if you ever see some dodgy looking South American music video with a very over-excited man in a shiny suit dancing with a woman who looks disturbed, let me know.


Dancing shiny suited men, going for the U2 on the roof pose.

My Inca Trail Post

It was a BIG effort to get to the top of Wayna Picchu for this photo.


Well I´m afraid my memory is a little sketchy from feeling so ill when I returned to Cusco, so it´s best I try to recall this now.
Well I was hoping for an unfit group so I could naturally take my "middle of the pack spot", unfortunately this didn´t happen. As Toucan travel didn´t have any other tourists wanting to hike that day I was put with a group from Toucan´s sister company, Budget Expeditions. The group of 14, were on an organised trip from La Paz to Lima. I was a little disappointed at first. The reason I´d booked the tour with an independent company was so I would have the chance to meet other travellers I could possible travel on with for sometime. It also meant the group wouldn´t be staying in the same hotel as me the night before the trek and when we all returned to Cusco after the trek. I put all this aside the night before the trek as Julio my guide came to my hotel to explain the route and what I should and should not pack. I was given a small duffle bag (limited to 5K) and took a day sack. I would carry the day sack, it contained water, first aid kit, toilet roll (very important), extra clothing, poncho, waterproof trousers, camera and snack pack provided by the chef each day. Our group had 19 porters, it sounds a lot but there is so much for them to carry. Before the trek everyone believed the weight limit of 5k for the duffel bags was to stop the porters carrying too much. Well they are strict at the checkpoints and weight the bags. But the porters carry all the camping and kitchen equipment and they have to walk ahead of us (most of time running) so they can set up camp, whether for lunch or for the night. I think it´s one of the most physically demanding jobs.
I met Julio (my guide) the first morning at 6am to take the bus two hours to Ollantaytambo, where the others had spent the night. I was quickly introduced to everyone, Julio said my name about 20 times and then would quiz me throughout the trip on who was who.


Julio, our guide and his assistant Monche.

The bus took an hour from Ollantaytambo to the 82k point of the Inca Trail. This is the most popular starting point for the 4 day hike. We posed for a group photo.


At the starting point of the Inca Trail.

We then set off on the trail. We all had bamboo walking sticks as Julio had advised. I was concerned how fit everyone looked, I think I was about the oldest in the group. It was mostly a mix of English and Aussies, with two French Canadian girls and a Polish woman from London. The pace of the first day was very easy to get us all used to the trail. Everyone was very friendly and I soon forgot any concerns about a group that already knew each other really well and wouldn´t be open to a newcomer. We stopped for lunch after only about an hour and a half of walking. No one could quite believe the lunch set up. There were two tents, one for the cook and one for us walkers. Outside our tent were small bowls of water, soaps and hand towels. Inside the tent we settled down to a delicious salad, followed by soup and a main course. All this was followed by a selection of herbal teas and hot chocolate.
After that everyone stumbled out of the tent and struggled to walk. Luckily we only had to walk a further two hours, relatively flat section, to make it to camp. Of course the porters had passed us on route, even the one carrying the oven...
Everyone felt very Western and very fat.
Thankfully the second day was a real challenge I felt we might deserve our pancake breakfast, our lunch, afternoon tea and evening meal. Oh but wait I forgot the snack pack for the day, heaven forbid we become hungry we also carried chocolate bars and fruit.
Everyone I have ever come across who has hiked the trail talks of the 2nd day and how difficult it is. This section of the Inca Trail involves an accent from camp (2650m or 8692ft) to 4200m. This is aptly named Dead Woman´s Pass. I´m grateful now I was so terrified of the the pass before the day began, it actually made it easier. I mean in my mind I was thinking Everest, an airlift, loss of fingers, documentary spin off, etc. Surprisingly it wasn´t like that. It was tough, the steps are huge, even for tall people, so my walking stick came in handy. But here I really have to give credit to our guide Julio, he is apparently one of the best guides on the trek (he´s been a guide for 21 years) and I can see why. The night before day 2, he explained the layout of the trail (as he would do each night), so we knew what to expect. The best advise being, go slow, walk in a zig zag, remember how to breath (sounds stupid but it´s amazing how quickly that jaw drops open when you are exhausted), let your walking stick take some of the strain from your legs, only stop for a minute long break and don´t sit down.
It was amazing to see the number of people from other groups doing the exact opposite and really struggling. I´m not saying it was easy for our group but it made a huge difference.
I found myself towards the front of the group, this always helps me to stay positive, but it also drove me slightly crazy as I constantly feared someone overtaking me. See I devised a game that if I could be the first woman, being English, this meant only one thing, I would win the Ashes back for England. You will all be pleased to know I succeeded, at the risk of my own mental health.




I ended up walking much of the time with Mika, an Australian girl. As we saw the top of Dead Woman´s pass we took out our camera´s, quite an effort as we had on our poncho´s to protect against the rain. I didn´t care that with a poncho and walking stick I looked like Yoda, I was having that photo taken. We took turns taking photo´s (don´t worry I made sure I got to the top just a few steps ahead of Mika), and then I decided to have a look around the corner and check out the descent to camp, some 400m. It was an awful sinking feeling when I realised we had another 30 minutes at least of steep uphill climbing. I left Mika behind (Australian remember?) and headed to the top. I was pleased to win the Ashes back, but it was too cold to bask in the glory, so I started the descent.
Many parts of the trail are difficult because of the amount of water on the steps, this is from all the high waterfalls in the Andes. The ascent was really difficult and I took it easy, while porters with gas canisters attached to their backs wearing flip flops ran past me. Victory is hollow people.
The campsite for the 2nd night was the most spectacular with views of a sweeping valley and snow capped mountains in the distance.


Our picturesque, if a little high campsite for the second night.42

As with each night on the trail there is little to do after the evening meal, the porters sleep in the dining tent (yes it was all very us and them) so each night we were all in our tents by 8pm.
On the third day we stayed together as a group and Julio stopped at a lot of Inca ruins to explain them. He is very passionate about his ancestors and loved to tell us as much as possible. The only downside is everyone is so tired it´s hard to keep all the infomation straight. I felt this on the final day too when we arrived at Machu Picchu. Julio suggested we wake at 3.45am, so we could be the first group at the final checkpoint. From the checkpoint it´s a 40 minute hike to the Sun Gate and our first view of Machu Picchu. The checkpoint didn´t actually open until 5.30am, but being the first group to arrive allowed us time to wait undercover. On the final night my tent mate, Lindsey was really sick. There had been a bug going around the group and it seemed to give everyone the runs and vomiting for about 4 hours and then pass. Poor Lindsey had this on the final night. She was okay to walk, but very weak so either Julio or his assistant Monche walked with her.



The final morning was cold and damp, it had been raining most of the night. Finally what felt like hours of waiting, the checkpoint was opened. It was a shame the last stage became such a frenzied race. Our group had the lead and we maintained it. The reason people do this is so they can see Machu Picchu first, yeah kind of silly hey. But once something becomes a race all my logic goes out the window and all I can think about is staying in front. So with hardly any breath left we arrived at the Sun Gate, to see a lovely covering of mist.
Yeah I know it´s not meant to go like this, but to be honest it didn´t really make a difference to me. The hike itself was a fantastic experience and learning how hard I can puch myself, regardless of whether I get to take a nice picture postcard photo at the end. In fact I did get to take plenty of photo´s during our free time to wander the site independently. This was after Julio first gave us a tour.
It was strange later on walking around Machu Picchu with so many tourists, by 10am there are so many day trippers, it kind of took away some of the magic. But I did feel an amazing sense of accomplishment and aches in my legs.
Julio challenged us all to make it to the top of Wayna Picchu, the mountain beside Machu Picchu that looms over it. At first I thought no way, but eventually I had the energy, again it gave an amazing view. But the ascent was really tough, there were a number of people who looked very uncomfortable, the only advise at the start is you should be fit and healthy. Of course fit and healthy in the West simply means you don´t need a stair lift yet. There were people who took to the climb that looked like they belonged in nursing homes!
The Inca trail for me was a fantastic experience, it gave me the chance to think and gaze at amazing scenery and win the Ashes back.

I am back, well kind of.....

No I have not forgotten this blog, the Inca Trail was brilliant and I have plenty of photographs. But unfortunately I have caught some kind of viral infection, it was going around the group, but I do feel a lot better now. But I still feel weak. I have arrived in Bolivia, via the floating Uros Islands, but I plan to take it easy for a day or two. No I did not leap over the islands, although from that sentence it is easy to wonder.
I was hoping to update the site from here in La Paz, but if this computer is anything to go by I may wait. You may have noticed I cannot use apostrophes, question marks, brackets and the space bar is temperamental.
Anyway that is all for now, will hopefully post about the Inca Trail soon.

No internet on the Inca Trail?

Can you believe it?

So I will be out of touch for awhile, did I hear a collective sigh of relief, "thank god I don´t have to read this damn blog or leave a comment"? Well don´t worry I´ll be back Sunday, with a full report of the hike and some photographs.
I´m a little apprehensive as I´m still struggling to catch my breath when I walk too fast around Cusco. Thankfully oxygen will be available, but I hope it doesn´t come to that.
I have a briefing tonight with the rest of the group, I´m hoping for a room full of seriously unfit people.

Hasta Luego,
Karen

On the move...again

When I first arrived in Cusco, the place I wanted to stay at was fully booked, so they sent me to another hostel. At first Hostel Loki seemed fine, a huge colonial building with amazing views and plenty on offer. But then it all changed and I blame the Irish.
Yes St Patricks day was celebrated at Loki as if it were the second coming. People began to arrive in droves just to celebrate in Cusco. The hostel became really full and very noisy. Normally I expect in a dorm room it´s not exactly going to be quiet but this was ridiculous. One girl (English unfortunately) came in so drunk one night she peed on the floor! When a group of 5 men arrived in the dorm all with guitars, I decided it was time to move out. I can´t imagine what the place was like on Saturday or if it still stands.
I moved to a small hotel and found a private room with en-suite for just a few dollars more. It was certainly quiet only about 8 rooms in the entire building, but God was it cold! I don´t understand why most hotels don´t have heating, it´s not as if the freezing temperatures at night take them by surprise! All the staff wore hats and scarfs, inside the hotel!
So this morning I moved to a really exclusive hotel, it´s actually part of the Inca package I booked back in the UK. I got my dates confused (no not the first time) and thought I was meant to check in today and start the 4 day hike tomorrow. But in fact I start the Inca Trail on Wednesday. I decided to pay for the extra night and stay somewhere warm, before I have to sleep out in a tent for 3 nights. Do you think the tents will have central heating?



This is the central terrace of my current residence.

Photo´s from the Sacred Valley

Mountain Biking around Cusco

Me at Sasaywaman, Cusco behind me, fyi I´m wearing my new Alpaca jumper and scarf, and yes they do look like Marks and Spencer clothing.

Yesterday I took a guided mountain bike tour around the Urubamba area, just outside Cusco. My guide (Fernando) and I set off on our bikes, fully cladded with helmets, shin pads and gloves and headed to the bus station. Yes that´s right, our bikes were loaded on to the top of the bus. The journey took about an hour through beautiful winding mountain roads.
The bus stopped just outside the town of Urubamba, so we could start cycling. We took small track roads that passed farms and small houses, everyone whether man, woman or child seemed to have a Llama or an Alpaca with them.
It felt good to be away from the confines of Cusco, to see people in traditional dress who don´t want money for a photo.
Fernando is an experienced mountain biker, he competes around the country. As it was just the two of us, he said not to worry about speed.
I was feeling great for all of about 20 minutes, and then it hit me, how difficult it was to breath. At first it was the normal feelings when exercising (well normal to me) breathing a little harder, but a new feeling occured, not been able to catch my breath. I had to stop quite a bit, I explained to Fernando I thought I was feeling the altitude. Between gulps for air I managed to ask him "How....high....are....we", (kind of like the asthmatic kid in Malcolm in the Middle), well the answer 3800 metres. Yes that´s higher than Cusco....


This is me, smiling between gulps for breath. Oh and that´s my top, from Toppy Top.

Fernando suggested I could cut the day short and take a different route. But being stupid and stubborn I wouldn´t agree. I really wanted to keep going. Most of the uphill would be before lunch, I felt if I could make it to lunch I´d be fine.
We kept stopping, well I kept stopping and Fernando would politely wait. My symptoms grew worse, I had a headache and the tips of my fingers had turned blue, yes the last one did concern me. And no Gaz and Kev it wasn´t like the time I got blue dye on my fingers from my new cords and thought I was having a coronary! They were really turning blue. I pointed this out to Fernando, he seemed impressed. "You have all the symptoms!"


One of the "climbs"

The surroundings at this point were incredible, nothing looks real here. The mountains actually look more like matte paintings. So between gasps for air I took a few photo´s. It was also a chance to pretend I was just fine and only needed to stop to take a photo.
Fernando told me we were close to Moray now, our lunch stop and famous archeological site. But the rugged path kept going up and up, at one point I startled a pig as I nearly rode into it. I was never exactly sure how close we were as Fernando only speaks Spanish and by this point I was thinking I was talking Spanish when I was actually talking English!
Finally we made it to Moray. I had no idea of what to expect of Moray, other than Inca ruins. But I had actually seen a really interesting documentary about the site. Moray is were the Inca´s made agricultural experiments. They dug deep into the earth in concentric circles and grew different plants and vegetables at different levels. It´s amazing to think one is looking at a huge Inca science lab and that it still exists.

Moray, our lunch stop, can you make out the people?

After lunch, we headed downhill, well mostly downhill. This is what I would call the technical part. I have no idea of the gradient, but at times it felt vertical. It took all my concentration to avoid the huge rocks and stay on the path, otherwise it was a 100ft fall or further down sheer rock face. Dave I really needed your padded cycle shorts! It was impossible to slow down, this actually only made it more difficult to stay on the bike. The vibrations through the bike into my arms, actually caused my watch to come loose.
Suddenly we came to a flat area and another Inca site. A series of salt terraces, still in use today. When it is sunny the terraces are a blinding white. Unfortunately the sun wasn´t out. But looking in every direction the views were incredible, huge mountains, glaicers, deep valleys and colourful patchwork fields.
After another huge descent, we made it to a river crossing, thankfully there was a bridge although I was covered in mud by this stage. After crossing the river we took a small path, past rural homes and it began to rain. It was actually quite nice as it cooled me. However the path was really tough to cycle on, again huge rocks, a series of streams and lots of farm yard animals. Thankfully the bulls were tied up.


Me before another huge descent.

After riding a few more miles on a highway we made it to the bus station, once again our bikes were loaded on top. I felt really tired and cold on the ride back to Cusco. We actually had to get off the bus, before we reached the centre of town, I´m still not sure why. We rode downhill thankfully, but then hit the cobbled streets. I´ve never tried cycling on a cobbled street before and I wouldn´t recommend it!

I´m High!

At 3500m´s Cusco is quite the city. I flew in from Lima yesterday, although I still feel quite out of breath, I think I´ve escaped the worst of altitude sickness. My plan for today was to take it easy, but it´s hard to stay indoors when there is a new place to explore and Cusco has much to offer.
It gets very cold at night here, so having slept in my fleece last night I decided it was time to buy some warmer clothes. I haven´t needed any winter clothes in the past two months, I have plenty of T-shirts and shorts, so today was for shopping.
Most of the backpackers here look ridiculous. Seriously who would ever think it a good idea to buy pink cotton striped trousers and a multi-coloured poncho? Oh and everything has to be alpaca. I don´t have anything against alpaca, but really is there a need for every colour in the rainbow in one jumper? Everyone looks like a children´s television presenter.
So it was with caution I began shopping. Many shops burn incense (got to draw those hippies off the street), with the lack of air and the strong smell I coughed my way out of those shops. Cusco really is wall to wall alpaca, but I think I´ve managed to hold on to my dignity. I found the one jumper in Cusco, without the rainbow effect, a green scarf and I also have a bag made of hemp. I know who am I to ridicule, I have a bag made of hemp. It was one of those purchases that made no sense whatsoever, I just had to have it. Really it looks great on me, it was begging to be bought. But I draw a limit with hemp bags only, well and a little purse, it´s so cute. I also bought a long sleeved t-shirt, I had to buy something in a shop called "Toppy Top".
Now I´m bankrupt I intend to stay in my dorm and eat noodles, but at least I´ll be warm.


She really doesn´t look happy...


The view from my dorm.

Visual Aids

The final stop on the Chan Chan tour.



The ruins of Chan Chan....possibly.


This is the main square in Trujillo.

Chan Chan

I did the Chan Chan yesterday, although that sounds delightful in a Moulin Rouge, Disney kind of way it is actually the site of Pre-Inca ruins dating back some 2000 years BC discovered on the outskirts of Trujillo. This I learned from my "Rough Guide", unfortunately the 5 hour tour didn´t supplement my knowledge.
This really wasn´t the fault of the Spanish speaking guide, occasionally she would explain some of what I was looking at in English. No, it was down to me being in the kind of mood where my mind wanders. I do this quite a lot, I often say "sorry I wasn´t listening can you repeat that". Obviously in my native tongue it´s easier to zone back in. However this is difficult when the person I´m "zoning into" is talking about ancient ruins, temples, rituals and all in Spanish. The guide seemed bored at times, I would be too if I was giving a tour for the 300th time or something.
I thought the tour bus taking us from one site to the next was on a metre, we dashed from one ruin to the next, we were literally running through ruins. Okay maybe that isn´t completely true, but everytime I looked up it was time to move on.
After a temple, a museum and a place I now realise I don´t actually know what it is, it was time for the final stop. By then I was just going with the flow, not too concerned what the next stop would be.
Ultimately I was surprised on the excursion billed as "your chance to visit the ancient ruins of Chan Chan", that the final stop was the beach. There were no ruins in sight, but I did see the cuious sight of a woman carrying a six foot pole with bags of candy floss attached. I suppose this is the British cultural equivalent of Hadrian´s Wall and Blackpool in one afternoon.
The lesson learned? If going to an ancient archeological site in Peru take a swimsuit.

Long, long bus journeys

Leaving me feeling a little out of it. One of my big concerns before leaving the UK, was how my "issues" would effect my travel plans. Number one issue, travel sickness. For as long as I can remember cars, coaches, planes and boats have made me feel sick. I´d even have to cut journeys short on the tube sometimes from fear of throwing up. My second issue, that for some reason I´ve decided to share is small spaces, the fear of that is. So it was with some trepidation I took my second long bus jouney today. But so far so good, well that´s as long as I don´t eat.
I´ve felt a little sick even without eating, but by leaning into the aisle and looking directly ahead it usually passes. Obviously this can be difficult with the window seat. Then I have to use my incredible extending neck and lift myself onto my seat by perching on my hands and stretch that neck, I then have the "E.T" look.
It´s odd the things they are strict about in Peru. Showing porn on a bus in the daytime is fine, men, women and children constantly spitting out of windows is okay, but God forbid someone sit in the incorrect seat on a bus!
They are very strict about sitting in the correct seat, I´ve even had my fingerprint taken and my seat number written next to it on one journey. I wasn´t even crossing any border.
I´ve seen a conductor on a half empty bus approach a passenger and ask them to move as they were in the wrong seat. Today I was in seat 37, luckily it was an aisle seat, no need for the E.T neck extension today. My bus travelled from Mancora to Trujillo, I think that´s about 350 miles. In Peru that takes from 9am until 7.30pm, don´t ask me how.
There were a number of short stops were locals use the bus for short distances. For me this meant getting out of my seat each time to allow someone to take the window seat. There was no possible way I could scooch across, never mind the important seat allocation, the person in front had reclined there seat to a 180 degree angle (no doubt to watch the porn), so the window seat next to me occupied enough space for a very small Hamster family. I´d gotten up a few times to let people into the space, but finally I had the two seats to myself. That is until Latin America´s largest man needed the seat.
I´ve really gotten used to the average height here being so much shorter than at home. I fit right in, Dad you would love it here, they´d call you Big Sam! Sometimes I even have that self-satisfied feeling of towering over people, it´s wonderful.
On seeing this giant of a man, both outward and upward I felt a little mean for making him take the window seat, but not that mean. Unfortunately he didn´t have room for his knees and ended up taking alot of my space. I had to sit almost diagonally. This also meant ours arms touching, in Latin America there never seems to be any concern for personal space. Touching is all the rage, however the giant had a huge open wound on his arm. There was only one thing to do, I used the ET position to create space. Thankfully he got off the bus soon after.
I arrived in Trujillo a few hours ago (my neck slightly longer), as is usual a taxi driver was available at the station. It´s always the best option at night and actually anytime I have my back pack with me, we travelled for about 5 minutes and it cost around 20p.
After long jouneys it always throws me when I´m asked a question in Spanish. I should be used to it, as no one speaks English, but I need time to re-adjust after a long journey listening to my ipod.
I thought the taxi driver was introducing himself, "Chessy" he kept saying. "Well hello I´m Karen". Formal I thought but I´ll go with it. But he was actually saying Chelsea. I grinned, what more could I do? He asked me whereabouts in England I´m from, it started off as near Liverpool, but really when people only know London what difference does it make? Occasionally I get, "The Beatles", but I mean how can I respond to that? Yes they apparently lived in Liverpool, but they never came back, okay McCartney opened that school that no one ever hears about now. Anyway back to the taxi. European football is big news here, so we talked a little about English football, I told him how he shouldn´t support Chelsea (sorry Trainor and Gaz "I know nothing about football anyway" Hynes) because they just buy everyone. Yes I know I hardly support some struggling little team. Anyway the driver asked me another question, this one had me really stumpted. "How many years England play football?" At first I thought I´d misunderstood, then paranoid thoughts crept into my mind. Is he trying to say its been years since we won the World Cup? But no he actually wanted to know how long we´d playing football for in England. I told him we invented football, which sounded as bad as it reads. It difficult to communicate in Spanish when you are used to using 300 English words to say one tiny thing. I understand the history of football in the grand scheme of things isn´t so important, but it hit something with me, something I´ve noticed since I first arrived in Costa Rica, no one seems to have a sense of history. Of course I understand British history isn´t important here, but they don´t seem to be bothered with there countries history either. Okay this is a rather sweeping statement based on a handful of encounters. But it is actually quite freeing, rather than carry all that guilt of being from a wealthy nation with an Emperial past, here when you say you are English you can just talk football. Thank god Liverpool made it to the last 8, otherwise I´d have to talk about the Beatles.

Mancora, Peru

Hopefully some photo´s

The Jungle

I made a two day trip to the Amazon. Just so I can now say, I´ve been to the Amazon. No not really, I went because I love nature and trekking...I made the trip from Baños with a guide called Milton (pronounced Meeeltooone) and a French couple, Gael and Olivier. We took a bus from Baños for one hour past some amazing waterfalls to Puyo, where we met a taxi. The taxi drove us 5 miles or so to a small group of cabins. We expected a traditional lunch. We were served plantain (fried bannana), vegtables and a small mound of rice with a ketchup smiley face. Yes you didn´t just hallucinate that last part, a tomato ketchup smiley face.... This is obviously very popular in the Amazon.
Once we began our trek into the Amazon, the noise was incredible. A constant chorus of insects and animals. Milton insisted we paint our faces before walking any further, we wanted to be "legit" and all. So we set off again looking ridiculous.
Milton stopped to show us medicinal plants and explain our surroundings. I found it difficult to understand everything he said, mostly because alot of the words were new to me. Yes he was speaking Spanish and not English! He persuaded a monkey to take some food from his hand, Kev you would have been terrified!
We arrived at a group of cabins near the river and waited for our canoe to be emptied of water. Yes that´s right it had about a foot of water inside. The three of us watched the parrots and managed to take quite a few photo´s.
Milton warned us the river is know for its Anaconda´s. I was glad to see we would be sitting on a blank of wood 6 inches above the bottom of the canoe. I felt all safe and warm inside... I soon forgot the Anacondas as we approached the rocky waters. I expected to see some local knowledge come into play, surely the "captain" would navigate these waters like the back of his hand. Well no, we just kept getting stuck on top of huge rocks and the little canoe would sway from one side to the other. The river was full of rocks and we navigated our way into everyone of them. At the end of the boat trip I was glad to stand on firm, if a little muddy ground.
There were a series of cabins for us to sleep in, I was thankful for a mosquito net but would have liked a torch too.
Unfortunately it rained quite abit so on our night walk we didn´t see any crocodiles. But I did get a big kick out of just walking around the jungle at night. Surprisingly I didn´t feel as frightened as I thought I would. For some reason watching a documentary about the jungle is far more terrifying for me. I guess reality is never quite so frightening. Although I was pretty frightened at night, at one point I heard something quite large drop from the ceiling of my cabin and hit the floor. After that I lay awake for most of the night! I was really pleased when light began to appear, I decided to get up and take a little stroll. Unfortunately it was raining, so I snuck under a canopy and began to relax after a terrifying night. It was around this time a bat flew directly into my face! I ran from under the canopy and decided I was safer in the cabin!
After breakfast the sun reappeared and we took another wander into the jungle, Milton directed us to the most beautiful waterfall, we had a swim and walked some more. Another guide then joined us and took us higher into the jungle, he had to use a machete to clear the way. In a huge cabin he lit a fire for us to dry off (it was raining again) and began carving a crocodile out of a piece of wood. We had a little competition blowing darts through a huge tube (I forget whats it called) towards a target and I won, (Harry and Emily expect a wooden crocodile in 6 to 10 weeks) much to my surprise.
This was the end of my trip to the Amazon, although it tested my nerves it was a great experience.

I´m having problems with Blogger so I´ll try adding some photo´s later.

Baños

Typical view in Baños.

Well it´s been awhile so I´m going to jog the old memory banks and try to update everyone here. Now I´ve really started travelling, I feel like I´m doing so much in so little time. I´m now in Northern Peru, yes oddly as I´ve arrived in a hotter climate the weather icon to the right seems to have grown. How odd.

Anyway Ecuador, well what a country. I now wish I´d planned more time for Ecuador, it´s such a wonderful country and so diverse, from beaches to jungle to mountains. I really think I will go back one day for a holiday. Only in my third country of about 20 and I´m planning my holidays!

From Quito I travelled south to the resort town of Baños. The town is nestled in a valley surrounded by mountains, waterfalls and a very threatening volcano, Tungurahua. It last erupted in 99´, destroying part of the road into Baños, but the people moved back into town. It´s a thriving tourist town with plenty of excursions to the Amazon, whitewater rafting, horse riding and Spa treatments. It felt good to be somewhere so safe, after Quito.

I spent my first day in Baños looking up. The views are incredible, it´s hard to take in the scale of the landscape. I enjoyed the wide choice of good food too, I had a choice other than beans and rice!

On my second day in town I treated myself to a massage at one of the many Spa´s in town. It felt very good.

Baños is a hippie town with plenty of relaxed places to enjoy a drink and read a book. It felt like every cafe had it´s own book exchange.

I took a night trip to see the volcano, thankfully it wasn´t active. But the view of Baños was incredible. As the other tourists on the excursion were Ecuadorian, the guide spoke Spanish. Thankfully I could follow. He explained how Baños has a warning system in case Tungurahua erupts and a few times each year the town practices an evacuation. Apparently the town of 24,000 can be emptied in 20 minutes without using cars. Safety lies across the bridge out of Baños. But I assume people have to be moved on again quickly.

Okay my plan was to add lot´s of nice photo´s to this blog. But I´m not having much luck with computers, so I think I will just publish this now and try and add some more photo´s later. I have updated my Flickr account.