Peru
Day 208: Tuesday October 12th 2004. Decided to stay another day here in Tacna, as it really is very nice here! Even though there is not much to see, I took some photos of the town square (Plaza del Armas):
|
|
|
|
| Around Tacna | ||
Day 209: Wednesday October 13th 2004. Took the 7 hour bus journey to Arequipa. Checked into a cool hostel with a roof terrace and views over the city.
Day 210: Thursday October 14th 2004. Spent the day wandering around the city and relaxing on the hostel's terraced rooftop.
Day 211: Friday October 15th 2004. My birthday. Quiet one this year, a few drinks (and a bottle of rum), food and games of pool.
 |
 |
 |
| Views from the Hostel's rooftop | ||
Day 212: Saturday October 16th 2004. Hangover day...
Day 213: Sunday October 17th 2004. Just played computer games all day - seem to be in a lethargy rut - blaming the altitude...
Day 214: Monday October 18th 2004. Booked up for a hiking tour to the second deepest canyon in the world for tomorrow. Got money changed, tried to send home a parcel (jiffy bags don't exist here!)
Day 215: Tuesday October 19th 2004. Left to go on tour, bright and early - well, early... En route to the Colca Canyon we came across some wild Vicunas (wild cousins of the Llama). We were lucky to get right up close to them, which was cool, as they are very shy.
 |
 |
| Vicuna | Vicunas and Volcano |
The whole journey from Arequipa to Colca took 5 hours, much of which was on bumpy dirt roads. We made stops on the way for coca tea (for altitude sickness) and photos. Just so it's clear, there are four Llama type animals (Camelids) here in South America; The Llama and Alpaca are the domestic ones, used for making wool and for meat. The beautiful Vicuna and very rare Guanaco are their more elegant, wild cousins. I've seen all bar the Guanaco...
 |
 |
 |
 |
| Stop en-route | Local craft vendor | Alpaca | Llama |
We made a stop at a peak just short of 5000 metres, where it was time to see how the altitude affected us. I did have a bit of a problem keeping my cigarette alight, but that was all really...
We arrived at the village where we were staying for the night, and went for a walk around the old (1700 years) farmed terraces surrounding the village.
 |
 |
 |
| Terracing | Locals | Cactus flower |
In the evening we were treated (subjected?) to a performance by a local band. It was an excellent night, singing a dancing with the locals. Aaron and I were pulled up to dance first...
 |
 |
| Dancing | |
Day 216: Wednesday October 20th 2004. Got up at 5:30am! Had a hazy breakfast before heading out to the tallest part of the canyon - 3200 metres. It just so happened that it is also the best place in the world to spot the magnificent (3M / 10ft wingspan) Condors.
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
| Condors over the Andes | ||||
The canyon also happened to be the same height as most of my skydives; 11,000 feet. As usual with these enormous heights, it's just impossible to give the impression of scale with a photo. There was also a rainbow coloured corona around the sun, also very hard to capture.
 |
 |
 |
| Colca canyon | Corona | Cactus flower |
Day 217: Thursday October 21st 2004. Returned to Arequipa and spent the evening hanging around in the square with the locals and their guitars. Ended up being a late one, with a bit of a misunderstanding in the morning...
Day 218: Friday October 22nd 2004. Dozed for most of the day. Got on an overnight bus for Cuzco at 8pm, and slept very little, again.
Day 219: Saturday October 23rd 2004. Arrived in Cuzco at around 5am, feeling pretty ropey after two pretty much missed nights sleep. Recovery day...
Day 220: Sunday October 24th 2004. Spent the day wandering around Cuzco, trying to get used to the altitude (3300 metres ~ 11,000 ft). Although neither of us are suffering from classic altitude sickness, we are both finding ourselves breathless after even the shortest climb upstairs...
Day 221: Monday October 25th 2004. We managed to find a fairly reasonably priced tour to Machu Picchu for Wednesday, and so booked up. Spent the rest of the day walking around Cuzco, getting used to the lack of oxygen!
Day 222: Tuesday October 26th 2004. Eat, drank, smoked. Cuzco is a very easy place..!
Day 223: Wednesday October 27th 2004. Packed everything up for the Machu Picchu trip and got our lift to the train station. Got on the train and arrived in the village at the foot of Machu Picchu; Aguas Caliente. It was a full moon and a full eclipse. I couldn't get pictures whilst we were on the train, but I got one of the moon whilst totally eclipsed.
 |
| Eclipsed moon |
Day 224: Thursday October 28th 2004. Got up at 4am for the hike up Machu Picchu. It was an exhausting climb, but only took just over an hour. When we got to the top, we took a further hike up to the 'Sun gate' where the sun appears at sunrise. Aaron and I then spent the day walking around the ruins and chilling in the sun on the terraces. Although very touristy, the whole place was amazing and it was really good to spend time walking through jungle and just sitting about appreciating how unlike any scenery I have encountered before this part of the world is.
 |
 |
 |
 |
| The path up | From the sun gate | From inside | From Machu Picchu |
Day 225: Friday October 29th 2004. Got up at 5am to get the train and bus back to Cuzco. Checked back into our hostel and booked up for Spanish school starting Monday. Then slept!
Day 226: Saturday October 30th 2004. Big party night! There was fireworks going off in the main square, and lots of typical South American atmosphere floating about. Got home around 10am...
Day 227: Sunday October 31st 2004. Halloween - another excuse for some Peruvian festivities! The town was brimming with locals in Halloween fancy dress. Didn't have a big night, as had school in the morning. Not that that stopped Aaron!
Day 228: Monday November 1st 2004. First day of school. Well, actually it was all saints day, so it's time for another Peruvian holiday! School lessons were cancelled, but we had a test to ascertain our level of Spanish, and a tour of the city's graveyard, where everyone was tending their loved ones graves. Had a 'welcome dinner' in the evening with the rest or the students.
Day 229: Tuesday November 2nd 2004. First day of school proper. It's good to be learning again after all these months!
Day 230: Wednesday November 3rd 2004. School and early night
Day 231: Thursday November 4th 2004. School and early night
Day 232: Friday November 5th 2004. School and another early night!
Day 233: Saturday November 6th 2004. Went to visit some of the local archaeological sites with some of the girls from school. We got a taxi up to Tambomachay, where the original Inka irrigation system can still be seen in full working order. From there we walked (most of the way) back to Cuzco via Qenko, the temple de Luna, Pukapukara and Saqsaywaman (pronounced sexywoman). For a good part of the walk, we were accompanied by some poor local guy trying to catch an errant pig!
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
| Tambomachay | Zona urbana | Q'enko | Pukapukara | View over Cuzco from Saqsauwaman |
Went clubbing in the evening, managing to get home before sunrise for a change!
Day 234: Sunday November 7th 2004. Slept most of the day, getting out for a suberb Full English breakfast in San Blas at 4pm!
Day 235: Monday November 8th 2004. school.
Day 236: Tuesday November 9th 2004. school.
Day 237: Wednesday November 10th 2004. school.
Day 238: Thursday November 11th 2004. school.
Day 239: Friday November 12th 2004. school. Went out in the evening with some people from school. Ate Cuy! (guinea pig) Despite there being very little meat, he was actually quite tasty! Not like anything I'd tried before.
 |
 |
| dinner party | poor little cuy! |
Day 240: Saturday November 13th 2004. Quiet weekend.
Day 241: Sunday November 14th 2004. Starting to plan the next bit...
Day 242: Monday November 15th 2004. Back to school.
Day 243: Tuesday November 16th 2004. School
Day 244: Wednesday November 17th 2004. School
Day 245: Thursday November 18th 2004. School
Day 246: Friday November 19th 2004. Last day of school! Big night out.
Day 247: Saturday November 20th 2004. Duermo
Day 248: Sunday November 21st 2004. Lazy day. Spanish improving thanks to Lucy - gracias bonita!
Day 249: Monday November 22nd 2004. Starting to gather info for next mission. Looked at going to Manu nature reserve, but is too expensive. Will try to get to Mididi, Bolivia's equivalent, when we go through there...
Day 250: Tuesday November 23rd 2004. More mission organisation. Itching to get into the jungle, despite the fact it's going to be a little wet... the Amazon is calling!