Map of Peru

Barb summed that all up pretty well, I'd say! I just thought I would add the map of Peru so people could follow along our fast-paced progress. We arrived in Huaraz Sunday at 5:15 am and managed to find a hotel room in which to crash. After we woke up we poked around the city to find some good tours of the mountains around here that are gorgeous. We managed to find a nice one day tour that would take us up to see these 10ft flowers and an ice cave. Sadly, that night I came down with a flu (now chest cold) so I wasn't able to go, but it sounded wicked (I am thinking about going tomorrow). Phil, Jon, Ave and Barb left this morning for a 2 day trek up mountain 69, which sounds wonderful. I am sure Barb will have a lot to share when she gets back on the blog!

I also wanted to add a picture of the wicked boats they had at Huanchaco. The fishermen would paddle out past the surf to fish, then head back using the waves a bit (the book made it sound like they surf in, but they just use the waves to ease themselves in). The're about 10 ft long and made of what looks like two bundles of reeds tied together. The town was nice, though cold, a great place to chill out (and it had amazing apple pie).

The plan is to head to Lima the day after tomorrow on another gorgeous night bus (the seats almost fully recline!). From there, we're going to spend a few days in the "poor man's Galapagos", then catch our flights. Hope all is well with everyone! Andrea

Peru!

Hello everyone! We're in Peru, in a town called Huanchuco (about 20kms west of Trujillo). It's a nice little beach town, and I'm sure it's nicer when its warm out! Right now it's cold and cloudy. We are trying to make our way to Huaraz, in the Cordillera Blanca, to do some day hikes and take in the beautiful mountain scenery. Unfortunately there's been a bus strike here in Peru, so things are a bit backed up. Not too bad, we were hoping to get on a bus tonight but we have to wait until tomorrow -- only one day, so it's not too bad.

We arrived in Peru on ... tuesday? I think? By bus, and let me tell you the border crossing was a treat. It brought back fond memories of trying to get stuff done in India, let's just say that! But we made it to Machala that night, a touristy beach town with a slow pace, lots of great food, and LOTS of surfers. The weather, once again, is not all that beachy this time of year, so we didn't hang around.

Nothing terribly exciting has happened... while in Cuenca, we checked out a museum of skeletons -- all kinds of mammals, birds, and reptiles. It was a really cute, kitschy (umm, no idea how to spell that) museum and they had some crazy skeletons (hummingbird!!). Well worth the $1 it cost to go through.

So I'm trying to figure out how to post a map of Peru on here, so you all can follow our progress, but the page is in spanish so I am experiencing difficulty... i may have to get Andrea to do it!

So, it's off to Huaraz on a night bus tomorrow (hooray, my favourite). We've booked flights from Lima to Cuzco on the 4th (me, Jon, and Ave) and 5th (Phil and Andrea) of October, which cuts a tasty 30 hours off our bus trip time in Peru -- well worth the $$, let me tell you! So we'll be in Cuzco with plenty of time to acclimatize for our Macchu Picchu/Inca Trail trip... so exciting!

Fun and random detail of the day:
While eating ice cream in a shop in Cuenca, this guy comes up to us and is all "do you speak english?" to which of course we reply yes, and he asks to know what a word means, this word printed on some papers he produces. the word is 'mutilated'. Understandably, we are all a bit taken aback, and not too willing to tell him what the word means without a context.... turns out his passport had got wet, and the picture was falling out, so the US embassy was telling him he couldn't travel with it anymore... i guess this guy did business in ecuador and the states, and he clearly had a good grasp of conversational english ("and i was like yo, man, give me back my passport, i don't have $97 to pay for a new one, this one is good until 2008. you know? i mean, i was kindof getting pissed off."). anyways it was totally random.

that's all for now!

Quilotoa Loop - Phil and Andrea

I know I am getting a bit behind, but we've been traveling like maniacs lately. Phil and I went up to the Quilotoa Loop last week - absolutely gorgeous. It is in the highlands so all the views are amazing. The bus trip was fantastic, we got on the bus and saw nothing but the typical bowler hats from wall to wall - I think we were the only ones without! The towns were incredible, very traditional. After several hours we ended up in Laguna Quilotoa which is about a 5 min walk from this gorgeous view of the crater lake. The place we stayed was a hostal but more like a house - we ate in the dining room at the same time as the family, etc. It was great. We took a bit of a stomp around the lake - you could walk down to it (about 1.5 hrs up and down) or around (5-7 hrs) so we opted for around since the views would be better. The track was a bit rough at times, but the dog from our hostal kept us company (he kept eating the sticks we would throw). We ended up walking (and getting a bit lost) for about 2-3 hrs, then got back to the hostal and ended up getting a camionetta to Zumbahua and a bus to Latacunga. After that we went to Baños to meet up with Jon and Ave and Barb - all of which I think has been written about by Barb. Hope all is well with all of you! Andrea

And today, Cuenca

Well today we are in Cuenca, a big city in the south of Ecuador. The past couple days have been jam-packed fun-filled with exciting events. Phil and Andrea spent some time in Latacunga, which I am sure she will tell you about. I met up with Phil, Andrea, Jon, and Ave in Banos on the 16th. We had some beers and reminisced about the galapagos -- very fun! Great to catch up, and for me to meet Jon and Ave finally. On saturday, Andrea, Phil and I rented bikes and headed towards Puyo t check out some waterfalls. We rode a cable car across a huge gorge, which was a great rush (and only cost $1!), and biked 22kms (mostly downhill!) to the Pailon del Diablo, a very powerful looking waterfall. It was a gorgeous sunny day with breathtaking mountain views and it felt great to get off the bus-boat-train and DO something for a change!

We then hopped on a bus to Riobamba, which was an adventure in itself. Crazy winding roads, high high along mountainsides, teeny bridges that looked too narrow for the bus but somehow we got across! Breathtaking views, when I could pry my eyes of the crazy roads! Got into riobamba for a bite to eat and hopped into bed, to get up at 5:30 on sunday morning to catch a train down towards Alausi, and see the Nariz del Diablo (Devil´s nose). It was a five hour train ride, and we were on the roof the whole way -- very cold in the morning and once noon rolled around it was very hot!!! We had great weather, making it possible to catch all the amazing views. The train only derailed twice (dont worry, we were going really slow!), and the train fellows seemed to have quite a good system worked out to get the cars back on track -- they would dig the dirt out from under the wheels that had come off, and put a metal bar underneath so that when the train moved forward again, the wheels would head back onto the track. very effective. The best part was the switchbacks down to the Nariz del Diablo, at the very end -- the train did switchbacks down this steep mountain side by actually reversing directions at the crux of the switchback! It was totally crazy.

Then hopped on a bus to Cuenca, where we are now. Tomorrow we´ll head down into Peru, and see if we cant find a little beach town on the coast to relax in for a couple days. It is a LOOONG way down to cuzco from here (where our Macchu Picchu/Inca Trail trip starts from), probably about 70hours by bus, so we need to get moving! Have to be there in just over two weeks.

Some random favourites:
the poster of John Stamos in Quito (who knew that the full house episode with the beach boys would lead to a music career in s. america!)
the policemen in quito who wore shoes, but then wore these ... cuff thingys.. over their calves so that it LOOKS like they are wearing boots.
the picture in my hotel room right now, which is a painting of a town, with mountains in the background, a few giant zebra-striped easter eggs that are bigger than the houses, and a flying train engine.

thats all for now, folks...

Galapagos!!!!

Hey everybody!

I am back in Quito after 5 days in the galapagos. Pretty amazing! I went on a boat tour for 5 days and four nights, onboard the Yate Rumba. There were 10 others along, plus five crew members. The landscapes are amazing, as are all the animals, most especially the birds and iguanas. There are about a bajillion sea lions that provide hours of entertainment if you watch them while sitting on a beach. I will try to post some pictures soon, i need to find a place with a card reader or something. my camera is currently having it´s battery charged....

Some highlights of the trip: my favourite were the giant land tortoises, they are so amazing looking! And I snorkeled with a sea turtle, also very big! One of the people I was traveling with, a crazy Austrian guy who builds and restors organs (pipe organs, not livers and hearts) grabbed onto the shell of a sea turtle and tried to get it to swim with him! Needless to say the turtle was none to pleased. The people on the boat were a great mix, very interesting and kind.

Lowlights include incredibly rough seas (well, rough for this landlubber anyways!), as at one point I was lying in my bunk , gripping the edges so as not to fly out of it, and opening my eyes to see that the boat was sooo horizontal that the curtains on the window were hanging directly towards my face!! The guide and crew seemed to think it necessary to adhere to such a rigid schedule that we always traveled at night, making it difficult to stay in our bunks let alone get any sleep!! Needless to say I am quite happy to be sleeping on land in a normal-sized (well, for ecuador anyway) bed tonight!

THe other unbelievable thing that happened was that one of the other tourist boats sank on our third night out -- we were in the port at the island Santa Cruz, the town is called Porto Ayora, and I guess this boat, called the Darwin Explorer, was quite an old boat so that a big wave came and the boat landed really hard on top of another wave, tearing off the back landing deck of the boat. It had sunk within one minute (so fast!), luckily all the passengers and crew got off safely. I think everyone in the port was feeling glad to be safe that night!

That´s all for now, I will head down to Banos tomorrow to meet Andrea, Phil, Jon, and Ave. I am sure I will describe more about the galapagos when I post pictures!

hasta luego

Quito - Basilica

Hey everybody!

Yesterday Phil and I went to the Basilica in the Old Town of Quito. Now, I´m not one for churches, but this one was amazing. You can climb about 6 flight of regular stairs which then takes you to 3 floors of circular stairs (a little scary for me who isn´t too good with heights) and for the final 3 floors you have to climb some sketchy rebar ladders (needless to say I made it up the first one and gave the other two a miss, though Phil went righ to the top). I felt compelled to go up at least one ladder since these 16 year old girls in huge heels weren´t having any troubles going up and down. Anyway, you get an incredible view of the whole city.

We met up with Jon and Ave yesterday and heard all about their adventures (some sounded pretty scary with a near robbing in Nicaragua and Jon having to give mouth-to-mouth with a near fatal drowning victim). The Galapagos sounded amazing - all the animals are supposed to be incredibly friendly and the scenery sounds lovely. I have to admit I am more sold than ever on going - another time.

Today we´re going to the Equator - there is a little museum with some experiments outlined that you can only do at the Equator! Tomorrow we start heading South to Latacumba then off to Baños - you can follow along on the map in the first posting if you desire.

Then ankle is doing well (no flippers for me, though) and I´m sure Barb is great - I can´t wait to hear all about her trip!

Quito - Old Town

Hey everybody!
Barb took off this morning headed for the Galapagos, she is going to have a wicked time no doubt. We´ll try to insert a few pics when she returns so you can see a bit of what she did.

Yesterday was our first day poking around Quito. We took a cab to Old Town which is much more colonial. The streets are steep with heaps of long, colonial buildings lining every street (see the photo). We went to the La Museo de la Ciudad (the museum of the city) which was fantastic - there were two great art exhibits and a visual history of Ecuador. Today Phil and I are heading off to the Basilica (also in Old Town) then likely out for Thai food - get it while you can.

In other news, the night before last I tripped on the second last stair at our hostal and either sprained or twisted my ankle. I am happy to report that it´s not that bad, though it´s cutting down on the amount I want to walk (read: hobble) around. Also, all three of us are feeling the effects of altitude, we´re all a bit worn down and hitting the hay early.

In Quito!

Well we arrived safely in Quito, with a fairly uneventful set of flights on the way down (the most exciting thing we saw was definitely a guy doing crunchies on a luggage belt into a plane....guess he hadn´t got to the gym yet this week...). Today I booked a trip to the Galapagos Islands, heading out on sunday sept 11 and returning on thurs sept 15. So i will have a lot more interesting things to say after that, I´m sure.... other than that nothing too incredibly exciting going on. Andrea and Phil had a very happy reunion, and we saw a guy playing a smallish saxaphone made out of ... something like bamboo. didn´t sound too bad, acutally! More soon.... :)

Our English/Irish Counterparts

Here is a picture of Phil, Jon and Ave (in that order) who we'll be meeting up with in Ecuador. They have been traveling in Mexico and Central America for roughly the past 2 months, so their Spanish should be superb.