Day 11 20th November 2006 Altitude Sickness - Coporaque to Puno (Altitude 3,855m)

The up and journey through the mountains played havoc with my system again, after nearly 5 hours by bus we arrived in Puno, which is on the edge of lake Titicaca. The highest navigable lake in the world at 3,800m.

On arriving in Puno a few of the group including Shelley were feeling exceptionally rough with the altitude, luckily the doctor was on hand within minutes with the hotels oxygen tank. The prescribed drugs arriving 20 mins later by moped.

My expectation of Peru was that it would be very disorganised and chaotic but it seems quite the opposite. The hotels, the public transport, the restaurants are all very well run and organised. There appears to be very little bureaucracy which is very refressing, with people willing to work for just a few sol. Even the laundry is great 5kg of clothes washed and ironed within the same day for a few sols. A Sol is the equivalant to about 20p in UK money.

Highlights: Cheap laundry

Day 10 19th November 2006 Condors and Lamas - Coporaque (Altitude 3250m)

Coporaque lies at the foot of the Colca Canyon, which is twice as deep as the Grand Canyon in the US. Reaching a depth of almost 4,000m at one point. The canyon is home to the Andean Condor, which has a wingspan of approx 3m. We travelled to a peak of about 4,000m to catch a glimse of one of these magnificent birds, the worlds largest flying bird soaring in the thermals.

After a half hour wait were we graced with the presence of one of these birds, sending tourists running to and nearly over the canyon edge.

The canyon and surrounding valleys are lined with Inca terraces which are still farmed by the local communities, different crops are grown at differnt heights, each terrace with its own slightly different micro climate.

Taking some time out to relax at the hotel I had a run in with Manci the pet llama who didnt take well to me sun bathing on his lawn and quickly chased me off before trying to tip Shelley out of the hammock, according to the gardener he just wanted to play. We continued our relaxing afternoon at a local thermal spa which although in the middle of knowhere was guarded by the army.

Highlights: Soaring condors and amazing examples of Inca terraces

Day 9 18th November 2006 Coca Leaves and Lamas - Arequipa to Coporaque (Altitude 3,250m)

Continuing our journey higher into the Andes we reached 5,000m today on route, most of us passed out on the bus before we arrived at a cafe close by. Here we were able to stock up on coca leaves, the main ingredient for cocaine but used legally in Peru as a source of energy and a cure for the affects of altitude sickness. Coca is available in serveral forms including

1. Raw leaves - the most effective but sour tasting leaving your mouth numb and your tounge green
2. Candy & Toffee
3. Biscuits
4. Tea

At the cafe the tea was served fast and furious to the bus loads of toursits but also to the local flock of sheep who seemed to be addicted to the stuff. One of the sheep was using every tactic possible to get the leaves, hiding under the table and then tipping over the cups. The sheep was shortly joined by a llama, equally addicted to the coca leaves.

The effect of all the left over leaves on the sheep can be seen below.

I found the tea to be incredibly effective soothing the headaches quickly with the added bonus of also soothing my stomach. I also took the opportunity to aquire a local style hat made from Alpaca wool (a close relation of the lama)

I would say now that we in are the Peru I was expecting, vast mountins interlaced with rurual villages steeped in history. With villagers still working the land as the Incas had done 500 years ago, using terraces and irregation systems, with water supplied from the snow on the mountian peaks.

On route to Coporaque we stopped for a bite to eat and for the first time ever I ordered soup. We were met outside the restaurant by two little girls in traditional Peruvian dress accompanied by their pet lama, posing for photos, at a cost of course. The locals in all the villages are very friendly people, many of which asking their friends to take pictures of us with them.

On arriving at our hotel in Coporaque we were gretted by the pet llama before emabarking on a 2 hour walk to try and adjust to the altitude. The village is surrounded by Inca graves completed with bones but no gold. According to the locals there are some tombs still intact with gold and silver but their location is a closely guarded secret as grave robbing is still active throughout Peru.

Highlights: Beautiful scenary, lots of llamas and the friendly locals

Day 8 17th November 2006 El Banos - Arequipa (Altitude 2,380M)

Arequipa lies in the shadow of El Misti an active volcano, apparently long overdue for a big blowout. Luckily Arequipa doesn´t offer a lot in the way of tourist attractions as I have spent most of the day running from one el bano to another.

Nearly all the towns we have visted so far have very well maintained town squares with Arequipa being no exception.

If you ever wondered where all the pigeons from Trafalgar Square went to then look no further they are here in Arequipa, the locals are only to happy to interact with them.

The taxi grand pri got off to a slow start

A couple of other people in the group were feeling a bit under the weather either because of the altitude or the food, after a visit from the tourist doctor it would appear that I have some sort of gastro bug, despite being careful with the food. Apparently the local produce is grown using water that has often been contaminated with sewage, nice.

I am now on a 5 day course of antibiotics and a strict diet of boiled food only. Off the menu is the following

• Meat and Fish
• Salada and vegatables
• Pizza
• Fruit except bananas
• Dairy products
• Alcohol

Left a little bemused as to what I could actually eat the Doctor supplied me with 2 liters of super charged lucozade. So the llama and guinea pig are off the menu for a while but after 5 days I should have adjusted to all the new bugs in the water and food and be able to eat anything I like again.

One other interersting point about Arequipq is that people seem to keep their dogs on the roofs of their houses, you hear a lot of barking, look up and two dogs are disputing the color of the sky from their perspective penthouses.

Highlights: Being put on a Gillian McKeith style diet

Day 7 16th November Mysterious Lines and Ancient Mummy´s - Nasca to Arequipa 566km

Last nights drinking or some dodgy food has caught up with me, the upside being that my Spanish is improving "Donde esta la banos" roughly translated to "where is the bathroom?" I need to find out the word for quick.

We took a flight over the Nasca lines which can only be viewed properly from the air, frpm he ground you wouldn´t know you were standing in the middle of them. The lines are a bit of a mystery, drawn 200BC - 600 AD, some of which are drawings several hundred meters accross. There are plenty of theories one of which is that the ancient Nasca civilation mastered flight with hot air ballons almost 2000 years ago. http://www.delange.org/Nazca/Nazca.htm

This is a map of what you would see looking down from the plane

Just down the road well a 15km dirt track is an ancient Inca cemetry where some excavated mummy´s are on show. Many of the tombs were robbed of the gold, silver and pottery that was buried with the mummy´s but those that survived have been perfectly preserved by the dry climate. The desert plane surrounding the tombs is littered with bone fragments in every direction from the robbed tombs. In terms of the tomb robbing much of this was legal and authorised by the Peru Government during an economic crisis.

One of Peru´s largest exports is minerals with the north of the country rich in Gold, hence the "Gold of the Inca´s" We visited a processing factory run by the singing minner.

We caught the night bus to Arequipa at 10:45 with the bus actually ariving at 1am. The only way I can describe the start of this journey before I fell asleep was a rollercoaster in the dark, without the seat belt I would have fallen out of my chair as the coach raced round the mountian roads. The coach journey was 9 hours but the seats were more comfortable than on most planes I have been on.

Highlights: Ancient Nasca lines

Day 6 15th November 2006 Bird Poo and Sand - Pisco to Nasca 207km

On route from Pisco to Nasca we stopped of at the Ballestros Islands, a large sea bird and sea lion colony. The islands were previously farmed for large quantities of guno (bird poo) which is used as a fertiliser. The sheer quantity of birds was amazing and before climate change reduced the population drastically a 1.5 meter layer of guano was farmed form the island each year.

As we travelled towards Nasca the landscape started to change with huge sand dunes looming in the disctance, some of which higher than the mountains, the largest being Cerro Blanco which at 2,078m is the highest sand dune in the world. There is almost zero rainfall here which is one of the reasons for the preservation of the Nasca lines.

Before arriving in Nasca we spent the afternoon on dune buggies and sand boarding, well sledging. Highlights: Sand buggies and sand boarding

Day 5 14th November 2006 Dancing Girls and Local Elections - Lima to Pisco 237km

We travelled by bus to Pisco the home of Pisco Sour, along the route the poverty outside of Lima was evident with miles and miles of straw shacks and huts lining the road. Pisco is a fishing town hence the name, being a fishing town it is a little on the rough side with only a couple of streets safe for tourists.

The main square was occupied by a fiesta put on by competing local election candidates, there was a large stage at each end of the square complete with dancing girls. If only UK politics was so intresting. Also in the square were 3 army lorries full of troops, I wasnt quite sure whether they were there for the party or to keep the peace. Either way they were more than happy with everyone taking their picture.

There is a lot of police presence in the cities and you can spot a bank by the two armed guards that stand outside each one.

A quick fact: In Peru you have to vote or you incur a 50 Sol fine, you can void your paper but you have to vote. Sounds like a tax the UK government hasn´t thought of yet.

Highlights: 1st Spanish Podcast Lesson "Hola", Peru Local Elections

Day 4 13th November 2006 Starbucks and the Cinema - Miaflores, Peru, Lima

Shelley put me to shame today spending an hour working out in the gym, my excuse, im saving my energy and my fat reserves for the upcoming Inca Trail. After 2 days in smog covered downtown Lima we headed off to our next hotel in a suburb called Miraflores, which translated means look at the flowers. It is also the site of a Gaudi park with a rather interesting statue of 2 giants kissing. The park was opened with a kissing competition which even the Mayor competed in.

Miraflores is where the rich and famous of Lima hangout, with penthouse appartments overlooking the Pacfic ($200k) and an american style mall complete with Starbucks, which Shelley dragged me into before a visit to the cinema (not quite treacking in the Andean Mountains)

It was a nice place to spend lunch away from all the smog of Lima and Taxi horns, we ended up drinking far too many Pisco sours with a Dutch guy who claimed to own a string of restaurants in Holland, the more he drank the more restaurants he owned, until finally he staggered off to try and pick up one of the waitresses.

The cinema listings are a couple of months behind the UK so we had to settle for You, Me and Dupree haha

Highlights: Having lunch in the sun overlooking the Pacific

Day 3 12th November 2006 Tour de Peru and Ancient History

We were awoken today by what seemed to be the start of the Peru version of the "Tour de France" with one notable exception, everyone wears a yellow jersey.


In the afternoon we took a tour of Lima´s city center which is full of impressive war hero statues, many of which saved the country from the Chileans at some point in time. It all sounds a bit like England vs France. The current feud is a bit more modern and relates to the national drink Pisco, which both countries claim to have invented, after hearing the Peru side of the argument probably not for the last time, I shall wait until we´ve been to Chile in a couple of months before passing judgement. Either way at 43% you only need to drink a couple to get a good nights sleep.

http://gosouthamerica.about.com/cs/southamerica/a/CulPisco.htm

On the city tour we visted a very cool arhcieological museum and as it turns out that the Inca´s were not Peru´s only ancient civilisations, they were only in power for about 100 years 1438 AD to 1532AD. Before these guys came the Nazca, Moche and Chimu.


The price of everything is still amazing £4 at a nice restaraunt in Lima buys you a whole roast chicken with side orders for 4 people (or in the case of my brother Paul dinner for one)

Highlights: Cheap food and Ancient Peru History

Day 2 11th November 2006 Madrid, Spain to Lima, Peru 9,497km

After a great nights sleep induced by a combination of sleep deprivation, too much food and drink and the Moroccan Baths, I awoke for once very refreshed.

After navigating the Madrid underground and realising my backpack was far too heavy, we checked in for our flight to Lima only to find out we had some of the worst seats on the plane 45E and 49E, great for a 12 hour flight, middle row economy.

Mark's House to the Airport (circled in green)

After half an hour of depression the situation rectified itself and we got upgraded to Business class. Finally my BA Gold card earnt hauling my backside around Europe for the last 3 years at completely unsociable hours, had paid off.

Shelley slept for most of the flight whilst I missed the opportunity to teach myself Spanish, preferring to watch films for 12 hours.

On arriving in Lima it seemed very much like a Spanish city, with the exception that all the cars seemed to be Taxis. The advantage of this is constant sound of car horns, apparently the local Taxi drivers have the magical power to change the color of a traffic light by honking their car horns continuously. They can also unblock traffic jams but I have yet to see this. It also appears that to ensure their magical powers are working it is also necessary to test their car horns every few seconds when driving.

No sign of Guinea Pig on the Menu as yet

Highlights: Arriving in South America, night chorus of car horns

Day 1 10th November 2006 London to Madrid, 1,261km

On our way to Peru we stopped off to see Shelley's cousin Mark in Madrid. After staying up half the night before and getting up at 5am to get to the airport, I was knackered if not a little hung over from our final leaving party the night before.

We spent the afternoon trawling the Tapas bars of Madrid before heading off to some Moroccan Baths at 10pm.

Shelley and Mark in Madrid

This was particularly lucky as I had pulled my back the night before trying on my rucksack, the hot waters and massage certainly helped.

Today's highlights : Saying Goodbye to Heathrow Airport for a year, Madrid's greatest Tapas Bars and Moroccan Baths