Margaret's Bolivia and Peru Trip

In the words of Frank Sinatra .......

"Yes, there were times, Im sure you knew, When I bit off more than I could chew. ......."

Well it's been a tough but enjoyable experience in Bolivia and Peru. Today is our last full day then it's a LONG time travelling home.

Cusco has been jumping since we came back from the Inca Trail, full of street entertainment, parades, singing and dancing. It's so nice to see everyone full of good spirits (metaphorically and literally!). The big day was yesterday where they had re-enactments on the mountain in Cusco.

This is just a short update to say adios. Cheers for tuning in and until next time .........

M.x

Hola,

Since I last wrote, Mico and I walked into the main square in Cusco and were surrounded by hundreds of little primary school children who were taking part in a parade in preparation for the Festival of the Sun (Inti Raymi). I was so colourful and sweet and lovely to see them all so happy. We have some stunning photos.

OK on to the Inca Trail. We did it! I can't believe it. But we did it. Mico was a wee star and got right into the swing of it and was always first finished. And in true Margaret style I was always last finished. But I made it and that's the main thing.

It was sooooo hard though. The first day we were up at 4am to get picked up and to travel to our starting point. It was meant to flat the first day but it was pretty hilly and I soon realised that "Inka Flat" is different from flat!!! LOL. I struggled the first day with the heat too and thought I was going to pass out at one point but I got there in the end.

We passed a few Inca ruins and plodded on to our campsite. I was worried about the next day as I struggled the first day and I spoke with the guide and he suggested myself and an American woman got up 30mins earlier and start before everyone. We did and I was still last home to the campsite. LOL. Day 2 was extremely difficult, however, I'm not going to go on about that as I completed it and I'm proud of that fact.

We found out that we were really lucky as we could see the snow covered mountains and in the last year the guides had only seen them three times as they are normally covered in cloud. Also we arrived at Machu Picchu for Winter Solstice which is meant to be really lucky and all the Shamens go there to pray to the Sun God. Wow. We didn't even know that!

I was really really, surprised to find out we were getting 3 course lunches and dinners on the camping trip. But this at a price as the porters need to carry all the tables/chairs/food/water/camping equipment on their backs! Omigod .... the amount they carry! I felt really embarrassed about it actually as they get paid peanuts (although we did find a reputable company that look after their porters) and they carry so much and get there so fast. Some of them were running up the hills. It´s law now that they aren't allowed to carry more than 20kilos. 20kilos!!!.......up a munro! They carry gas cannisters, full big water bottles. everything! I found it particularly embarrassing when I walked in for a days hiking and they all clapped to say well done. We should have been clapping them. They get up in the morning before us and prepare breakfast then pack everything up and get to the lunch destination WAY before us and setup camp again then cook lunch then pack it all up and get to the evenng campsite and set everything up again, then cook dinner and clear up. The guide, Marcelo, told us that he used to be a porter and before the laws came in he used to carry up to 55 kilos!!! It amazed me.

Anyway back to the Inca Trail, Day 3 was all uphill at first then after lunch was my favourite part, meandering through the mountains. It was a fair bit of uphill and the only bit of flat (real flat not Inka Flat) that we had the entire trail. The scenery is breathtaking. The trek seemed to be either uphill or downhill. And by both I mean climbing/descending really steep steps (3000 steps to walk down at one point). It was sore on the old knees. Day 4 we were up at 4am and trekked to Machu Picchu. Wow, as per usual I was wee greety wummin at the the Sun Gate that looked on to Machu Picchu. I couldn't beleive I'd actually go there. I honestly did't think I would do it. And it's the first time on the entire trail that I kind of strated to feel the spiritual side of it all. And the closer you got to Machu Picchu the more you wondered how the hell they did it! How did they manage to build all this with huge stones and minimal tools and it was halfway up a mountain!?

We had a tour round Machu Picchu which was interesting but went on for a while ;o). Supposedly if you put your hands out towards one of the stones on winter solstice you will receive energy from the sun. I tried it. We will see ;o).

Oh man-oh-man-oh.man. Our legs were sooooooo sore! You should have seen me trying to climb onto my bed last night. Ha ha ha ha ha.

We're still in a wee town at the bottom of Machu Picchu waiting on a train back to Cusco where we will have a couple of chill days then the festival of the sun. Looking forward to it. Then home - boo hoo.

Buenos tardes amigos. Until next time ......

M.x

Hola Amigos y Amigas,

Well since I last wrote we have travelled to Cusco on the Andean Explorer which was v.v.v. posh. It was a lovely trip actually the scenery was absolutely stunning. It was really nice to do this in South America as you travel right through the Andes plus it's not as expensive as back home. We HAD to treat ourselves to a cheeky wee bottle of red too ;o). The journey took 10 hours but it didn't feel like that amount of time.

And so we are in Cusco, our final destination. Right now I´m going to explain what crap backpackers we really are! We got to the hostel and it was nice, but it was cold, noisy and not too clean so we dumped our bags and went looking for another hostel which we found so we moved to that one. Unknown to us the new hostel's room was on the ground floor beside reception and had glass doors and windows without curtains and in the shower room there was a huge pane of "glass" missing so it was freezing. LOL. So the next day we went looking for somewhere else and ended up in a hotel!!! It's lovely and quiet and sooooo much better. I am sooooo not a backpacker! You find out what the important things are when you are travelling e.g. en-suite, comfy, quiet room.

Thankfully Mico felt the same was as me so it's all worked out well in the end. Originally Mico was travelling for a full year so cost was really important but it's not as bad now as her trip is now 5 months.

Cusco is soooo beautiful, just my kind of place. Lots of wee windy, cobbled streets with art & crafts shops (not that I'm much of a shopper but I love art/culture). So yesterday after we moved to the hotel we went exploring. The Festival of the Sun (Inti Raymi) which is the Inca Culture Festival takes place on 24th June and everyone dresses up, mainly in tradional dress and there's processions and dancing. It sounds magic. When we were out yesterday we didn't realise it was the official start day of the festival so we were lucky to catch some it. Everyone was in very high spirits and it's so colourful.

We then took a wander uphill to San Blas Plaza where we had a beautiful view of Cusco and we sat outside a bar and had a beer. A couple of kids came up to chat and it was sooooo funny. The girl who was 9 asked our names then ages. So in Spanish I told her that Mico was 25 and I was 40 and when I said I was 40 she looked so shocked. I thought this was pretty cool as obviously I don't look 40 then until about 15mins had passed and I realised I had told her I was 14 instead of 40!!!! Ha ha ha ha ha my bubble was burst. I should have realised tho when 2 people asked me yesterday if I was Micó's mum ;o).

This morning it was raining. Boo Hoo Hoo. We walked down and paid for the Inca Trail and got our briefing. OMIGOD what have I let myself in for. Seriously. We need to be ready to leave at 05:20. The first day looks OK but the 2nd day is 10hrs worth of climbing uphill. And the height we climb is the same as Ben Nevis. Hmmmmmmm. Plus if/when we get to the top we will be 13,776ft above sea level!!!!! Eeekkkkk.

I'm seriously worried about it now but I can only do what I can do eh? Will give it a go and see how I get on. Thank god we have a nice hotel now to get a decent kip before the start of it. Wish us luck!

Right another difference I've noticed between Bolivia and Peru is the Bolivains say Ciao for goodbye and the Peruvians say Adios. I also thought Ciao was Italian anyway. Oh and talking of Italy ..... both in Peru and Bolivia the main type of restaurant you find is Italian. Weird. I expected lots of Tapas bars but we've only seen one so far and we are going there tonight. Mico's going to try the local delicassy of Guinea Pig but I thought I would get pelters if I had that as I need to remember poor wee Minstrel and Snowball (nephew and niece's pet guinea pigs).

I won't be updating my blog until after the Inca Trail so that will probably be around 23rd June.

Adios.

M.x

Hola,

Since I last wrote, Mico and I have been chilling out in Copacabana, Bolivia. We stayed in a lovely hotel and appreciated the rest and recuperation period. And it worked! We feel ready for the next part of the adventure.

One day we just had a wander round Copacabana then met up with a couple of guys from Argentina and Paraguay and we went out on the pedalos which was fun then drank beer which was also fun 'o). It´s soooo nice to relax and not pack up your backpack every day. That evening we were sitting outside and we could see "a storm a' comin (uh huh, uh-huh ...yeah yeah). It ended up really windy really quickly and all the locals were running around trying to pull in their goods from their stalls before it blew away. It was cool to see but it only lasted about 15mins (thankfully). A weird fact for you ..... the guys we met speak Spanish as their mother tongue language and since travelling around South America (Spanish speaking countries) they have spoken more English than Spanish. LOL.

The last full day in Copababana we wandered round then in the afternoon got the boat to the Isla del Sol. The boat ride is 2hrs and we checked when the last boat was and it 18:30 so we knew we had at least 3hrs on the island ...... or so we thought! LOL. Due to our lack of Spanish we soon realised the last boat was at 16:20 so we had about 30mins on the island. Shame as it looked lovely and would have been nice to have a walk around. Maybe next time 'o).

So, Bolivia ...... we had our ups and downs but it is a beautiful country and I would definitely go back. Today we got the bus to Puno in Peru and it sure is a different country. As soon as we crossed the border the fields seemed greener, the mountains looked like mountains back home (the Bolivian mountians were kind of stepped/tiered). The people seemed to dress better and it's obviously a richer country. The 3.5hr bus journey today was great. It´s fantastic to travel during the day and see the people at work/scenery etc. Actually maybe Bolivia was green but we only seen it in the dark!!!!

We are in Puno and the good news is my travellers cheque card now works...Yay! This is a really big, busy city but we are only here for the evening then off on the Andean Explorer (part of Orient Express group) to Cusco at 7am tomorrow. I am soooooo looking forward to that a bit of luxury and stunning scenery. Bring it on! The guy who runs the hostel is really, really weird but in a funny kind of way. Reminds me of Basil Fawlty.

Right one thing I wanted to mention was that the good news is there is no McDonalds or Tesco so far on this trip. Yay! I will be soooo disappointed if we get to Cusco and there´s a McDonlads. WIll let you know.

Oh and another thing I found out about the bowler hats ..... depending on how a woman wears the hat means she is married/single/divorced/rich etc ..... I´ve not yet found out what each tilt actually means yet. I probably won't now.

Other good news is that it has benn 3 full days and I do not have a headache. It is fantastic. You have no idea how good it feels to waken up without a headache.

Right I'm rambling now so I'll sign off.

Take care everyone.

M.x

Yo Ho Peeps,

Hope you are all well. Well what can I say expect this adventure has certainly been an adventure. After our Journey from Hell we went on the Uyuni salt flat tour for 2 days. Wow, the salt flats are amazing it's the biggest salt flat in the world and as the guide was Spanish, I couldn't understand what he was saying so I've just looked up a few facts on it. It's 110m deep and 4,085sq miles!! Wow. The altitude in Uyuni is 3800m compared to Bolivia which is 3600m.

The salt flats just looks like a huge expanse of snow. We took all the usual pictures of things looking near and far away etc so I'll upload all them when I get back. We stayed overnight in a salt hostel which was pretty cool as the hostel was made of salt and so was the beds, tables, chairs etc. We were with a very good group of people too, 4 Australians and one Dutch girl. The salt hostel was at the bottom of a volcano and it looked onto the salts flats so it was really pretty as we had all the colours together, red's from volcano, green from plantation, perfectlly blue sky and the white of the salt flats. Just stunning! The llamas and flamingos were all just wandering over the salt flats.

Oh and we tasted llama for the first time too - it was really nice. In the evening we had a candlelight dinner as there was no electricity and it was really nice. Mico got very attached to a wee ginger kitten to ... awww. However, it was f-f-f-f-reezing at night (below freezing). I had 3 pairs of trousers and socks on and 5 layers on top then my sleeping bag and 2 blankets! And I was still cold. I didn't realise I wasn't well though as I got a touch of altitude sickness - not a nice thing to have :o(. Anyway, I missed the morning part of the tour and slept it off and felt much better. We travelled to a National Park in the afternoon where there were big giant cacti. Then it was back to Uyuni and on to the Journey from Hell II back to La Paz. Well all I can say here is it's a LONG story so let me cut it short and tell you we ended up on a bus full of Bolivians and it was quite interesting to see how they manage to carry the amount they carry and more importantly ...... where did they hide it on the bus!!! LOL.

Instead of staying in La Paz we decided to go for it and got the bus to Copacabana and we intend to stay 3 nights here for a bit of rest and recuperation. Copacabana is on the Bolivian side of Lake Titicaca and it is beautiful, we will take a day trip to Isla del Sol and just chill out for a bit. We arrived yesterday afternoon and had our first beer of the holiday on the beach looking out and Lake Titicaca. It's really weird as we've went from wearing our thermals and multiple layers to only vest tops here. However this morning I got up early to go a walk and it's pouring with rain. Ho Hum, maybe just need to go the pub to watch some Euro 2008 instead ;o).

Seriously though I think we have done too much in our first week. We are travelling so much that we are not getting a chance to take in the places we visit properly. Hopefully that should all change now as after Copacabana, we have an overnight in Peru at the Bolivian/Peruvian border then the train up to Cusco in Peru which will be our base for the Inca Trail. Hmmmmmm now the Inca Trail ...... I'm a bit worried about that just now as I am finding it difficult with the breathing. I'll just need to see how I am once I get there.

Oh yeah, I looked up the Bowler hat thing in Bolivian and found that:

"supposedly a shipment of bowler hats was sent from Europe to Bolivia via Peru for use by Europeans who were working on the construction of the railroad. The hats were found to be too small and were distributed to locals" and the Bolivian woman (and some Peruvians) have been wearing them ever since.

OK that's all for now folks.

Ciao for now.

M.x