Machu Picchu...I peed on Matts Shoe

I dont know what I can say about the Inka trail and Machu Picchu...it really was quite amazing. The trail was the highlight, as opposed to Machu Picchu itself. We hiked through the Andes for 4 days to reach a spectacular and over priced tourist trap. Not to say Machu Picchu wasnt impressive, but it has been bastardized into a site Japanese tourists can train then bus to to pay 7 soles for a bottle of water (about 2.50 but still very very expensive for Peru standards).
A brief summary of the 4 days: Day 1 was an easy walk but rained on us. Of course i underpacked and was soaking wet for the next 4 days. Day 2 is the most intense as you climb 1200 meters over 11 km. they say it takes about 5 hours to get to the peak and a 1.5 down to camp....I finished in about 3.5 hours - i was very tired. Day 3 is the longest, but relatively easy compared to day 2, it was about 17 km. Day 4 we woke up at 3:50 to get to machu picchu first, which we did. But, this may come as a suprise, but in the rain forest, in the rainy season - it rained. We couldnt see Machu Picchu from the classic view from the Sun Gate, but thats okay. we made it down, it poured, my hands died and turned a nice white/purple colour and shrivled up...but luckly it started to warm up right when we had tiem to roam around. we decided to climb waynapicchu (spelling?) which is the mountain in the background of all the famous photos...this was most certainly worth it and i think it provided better view then the sungate anyways.

okay, im back in cusco now and will be here for a the next couple days...
take a look at these pics...they dont do any justice as to how amazing the views and andes really are, but i suppose this is the best i can do.

Dogs on the roof...

When I asked about this the simple answer I recieved was ¨yeah, they do that here¨....fair enough.
Arrived in Cusco this morning and its gorgeous...here are a few pics from our hostel (they are the mountainy ones). Also some pics from Huachachina...if you didnt believe the sand sitation before, maybe you will now.

Check out andrews blog for some more pics...

Sand sand everywhere

We went sand surfing a couple of days ago in Huacachina, an oasis just outside the City of Ica. I think I had a heart attack walking up the dune, not only that but it was very windy and I brushed my teeth with sand and gave my eyes a nice sand blasting. By the time we got the top I was almost too tired to appreciate where I was...so I layed back, let the heart attack take its course then stopped and took it all in.

Sandsurfing itself is tough, and when you fall its not nearly as nice as falling on snow or water...as you can generally eat both substances with relative ease. Sand is not ingested nearly as comfortably. Nor does it simply roll off your body, but rather finds each nook and cranny that you would generally prefer sand not to be and lodge itself there for days on end.

I think I am now sand free, but I cannot garauntee anything.

Were now in Arequipa after a solid 14 hour bus ride. We paid for the upper end ¨royal class¨ seats, and did enjoy them for the first 2 hours. Until the bus broke down in the middle of the desert, only to get it started again (possibly by some hard hitting judging by the sounds). We had a small visit to Nazca to switch buses which was also royal class but circa 1988. We cruised through the night comfortably (with not a wink of sleep) and watched the sun rise driving on the edge of a rather large cliff dropping into the ocean with a full one foot between the road and the ledge and no barrier. It was comforting.
I feel as though buses do not agree with deserts as as soon as we started driving inland (and up the Andes) this bus broke down as well. For the last 4 hours of the trip we cruised at a steady 10km/h and saw 2 other buses on the sides of the road (side means off a small cliff).

Tomorrow we get to do it again, except through the tropical mountains of the Andes to Cusco. Im looking forward to it, though Arequipa is a beautiful city it hasnt been agreeing with us - and Cusco sounds like the place to be.

Things about Peru...

Peru...its great. i love it.
some things about it...
buses break down...cities arent actually that far apart but they apparently are. sand gets stuck in teeth and will be in my shoes for months. taxi drivers let you squeeze in, even though you clearly dont fit, as long as they get there 2 soles....ie. 50 cents....backpacks are heavy, whatever those cakey things i had from argentina are good...

and i haent slept in well,...9 minutes 4 days. and apparently ive had 4 beers and its like 20....

goodnight.

Lima

Well it turns out we have stayed in Lima a bit longer then we had anticipated. We were supposed to leave on sunday, but we wont be leaving until tuesday. Lima has been interesting...i very much enjoy the city but it really is quite dangerous and poor. The gap between rich and poor is incredible in peru, and its very much seen in lima. The other night even the cops tried to rob me...i was walking home after the bar at about 6am with a guy from manchester. Naturally, since we hadbeen at the bar all night we were a bit tipsy and had to pee, so we did. Cops pulled around the corner and stopped us...they wanted our money and passport...since we had been at the bar, we had naturally drank all our cash away, luckily. anyways, when they realized we didnt have anything they let us go after some very much broken spanish and slowly inching away from them. it could have been much worse. (while this was happening, about a block away an aussie from our hostel was robbed at bottle point and hit in the chest with a rock...he had no money either). this also explains the lack of pictures...obviously im not carrying my camera with me

But limas not all bad, being here and being white is like being a rock star and we have been enjoying. THe weather is incredible, there are beaches (dirty ones in the city, but we went to a nice private one with some friends). everything is cheap...everything is available, from free booze at the bar to a giant black market supplying all your fake product needs.

We are off to Ica and Huachachina tomorrow to go sandsurfing and dune buggying.

Lima

Well, ive made it to lima and its been very interesting.

this is a quick one, but here are some pics.
check out andrews blog to know a bit more of what weve been up to

iminsouthamerica.blogspot.com

ill post soon

oh, apparently i dont know how to use my camera...so these pics are really dark. i have since figured to out.

New Years