14/01/2012 - Day 2 of Peruvian Jungle Trek

Another early morning start having to pack our things up and head for breakfast and then make our way on part of the Inca trail through the mountain passes following the river below the town.
Our group were faster than most so we overtook a few groups through the ups and downs of the Peruvian mountains.
Our lunch break was had in a tiny little village were we had some excellent food that did not have any rice (for a change)
Arrived at the hot springs to soak up the aches and pains from hiking for 7 hours were we had the option to go to Santa (sorry, forgot the name) by foot or by bus, we all took the wheeled option was more hiking for the day would have broken me.
After a terrible dinner (of rice) we were offered Inca Tequila, not the best stuff and in no way was it anything like tequila - essentially it was cheap and horrible rubbing alcohol with some salt and lemon on the side.
The evening consisted of some of us playing some drinking games in the hostel and going out to the discotek meeting some others on other tours – all the itineraries for all the companies are exactly the same, its just whether you can find the best deal.

13/01/2012 - Day 1 of Peruvian Jungle Trek

I paid $235 for the 4 day 3 night trip Jungle trip yesterday that included a bunch of activities from white water rafting, zip lining, trekking, cycling and of course seeing Machu Picchu.
Today was the first of these days and things started off early getting picked up at the hostel at 8.
A van took me and the others on the same tour (3 Russians, 2 Brazilian guys, a couple of Germans, and a guy from the States) 3 hours to the top of a mountain pass where we geared up for a downhill bike ride many kilometers from 4300 meters to 1800.
It was another 3 hours before we reached the final destination absolutely drenched from not only the rain but also the rivers of water and mud that flowed over the road, although fun to cycle through at first the rivers soon because irritating and at one point incredibly difficult to pass, having to dismount and carry our bikes across the heavy flow of water.
Included in the price of the tour was food, but unfortunately not enough, I had to eat two dinners having to pay for the second because I was ablsolutely starved after rafting the the river rapids.
The rafting was a blast, it really was quite a thrill, but more so watching the other boat bounce throwing two Argentinians into the white water they were fine after a little bit of struggle getting back to the boat.

Unfortunately i didnt take my camera on this trip because i didnt want to ruin it, so not many pictures

12/01/2012

Arriving in Cuzco at midday all disorientated from not sleeping as well as I wanted to due to the winding roads around the mountains that threw me around in my seat, not feeling well because of motion sickness and fighting the effects of the sleeping pills I took, arriving in a much higher altitude than where i was at sea level and along with the emotional feelings I had for this girl in Canada, all of this put me in a position making me feel like crap.
Normally I would try and get a local bus to a hostel but getting a taxi was a better option.
The hostel I went to was similar to one I visited in Máncora, a somewhat exclusive, party orientated hostel with many many beds and lots of noise in the evening from the on-sight bar.
I don't really like places like this because it dosent have that backpacker feel to it, the owners overcharge for everything and this and the exclusivity of the hostel take away the authenticity of backpacking in a different country; you may as well be back in the western world.
Although I could have moved to another hostel I was exhausted and decided to stay, but only one night as I wanted to organize a trip to Machu Picchu. I got a recommendation for a tour from 2 Dutch guys I met (Senna and Stein) who were both great guys to have a drink with and had their heads screwed on properly unlike a lot of other people I met at the hostel who were only looking for the better blow.
I tried to have an early night but as I had a lot going on in my head and as such I couldn't sleep - well this and the amount of noise from the bar downstairs.

11/01/2012

Leaving Lima was all straight forward getting the bus from there to Cuzco, a horrific 20 hour journey sitting next to this young kid who kept on knocking me every twenty minutes, if I knew how to say "fuck off" in the tone I wanted to I would have. At least the air-conditioning wasn't as cold as it normally is in south America.

10/01/2012

I had a few drinks last night on the beach with some people I met in another hostel earlier in the day, this meant I didn't get back till the early hours of the morning and this of course meant I didn't sleep as much as I needed to before I had to leave to get to Trujillo.
The local bus I hopped on from Huanchaco to Trujillo broke down half way worrying me slightly but I was able to get my money back and quickly flag down a taxi to get me to the bus station.
I paid a reasonable 25 soles ($10) for my ticket to Lima that I was told was 8 hours away, instead it took a gruelling 12! At least the seat was comfortable enough and the 5 movies they played in Spanish were all secret agent/ spy films... Including my favourite 'True Lies'.
When arriving in Lima I was wanting to go get another bus to Cusco (another 20 hours away) but i couldn't find a bus operator leaving this evening, this left me wandering around the streets at night trying to find cheap accommodation. I walked for at least an hour before I found a place that wasn't "occupado" that offered me a basic closet sized space with a bed in it. This 'hotel' seemed to accommodate “couples” at an hourly rate – so with that in mind I slept in my sleeping bag and used my headphones.

04/01/2011 - 09/01/2012

Huanchaco a surfing beach town that basks in the sun, where I can honestly say I did nothing! A week of SFA (Sweet Fuck All).
I did part ways with Jessica as she was wanting to do nothing for longer, I left because I needed to do something, anything to get my mind off this girl I thought I had something with back in Canada. I suppose I do have some restrictions to what I write on this blog... That's it for me, no more Quebecois girls – they are all so fucked up

 

Anyways here are some pics i took for the week i was in Huanchaco.

03/01/2012 - My birthday (Draft)

Left cabo blanco after packing our tents and cleaning up all the garbage that lined the beach Stayed in el alto waiting for the bus Bused it to puira where there were no buses heading south. Checked into a cheap but clean hotel and went for dinner where I bought a bottle of wine.  When using the Internet Jessica went back to the hotel but when I arrived she wasn't - incredibly worried but she was out buying a gift for me Ended the night watching the shawshank redemption. K
Having slept in my tent for the last couple of days has been great as I sleep so well but because of the lack of insulation
The climate control within the tent is uncontrollable especially when the sunrises and my tent turns into an oven.
Gasping for oxygen, drenching in sweat and cotton mouthed I poke my head outside my tent so catch the nice sea-breeze and feel somewhat normal again. When I say normal I don't mean that I feel great, actually now that I have today just turned 26 the hangover from only drinking 5 beers last night effected my greatly but a quick dip in the ocean sorted that out.
Cabo Blanco was a quaint little fishing village with very little to offer other than a nice beach but here is the problem, the locals don't treat it with much respect; I spent a good half an hour cleaning up the beach of icecream wrappers, empty bottles, yogurt containers and plastic cups - seeing this was a disgrace to such a beautiful area, why do the people treat places with such disrespect?
After my stint of cleaning up Jessica and I left Cabo Blanco and returned to the transport hub of El Alto where we had to wait 3 hours for the bus to Puira - so much for the early start.
Puira is another but larger transport hub where we were hoping to get another bus heading south but as buses running this direction are limited and the next one was the following day.
With no other option we had to stay in Puira having found a decent and cheap hotel in the center of town.
Normally my birthday is celebrated amongst many fellow travelers in a busy hostel but this time was quite with only jessica to keep me company, I suppose we could have gone out in the town to party but really I think I'm past the whole party scene here in Latin America, I thought peru was going to great with more to offer than the rest of South America been its all the same, hopefully his will change the farther south I head.
Dinner was half decent where I purchased a bottle of wine to share with Jessica and later wandered the busy streets looking for a bakery selling cake and a candle.
We didn't find all that much to do so I retreated to use the Internet while Jessica went back to the hotel. Some time went by before I returned also to the hotel where Jessica wasnt there. She had me worried sick and with no way to contact her I ran about the streets looking for her.
Close to contacting the police she showed up at the hotel apologizing holding a gift for me... Some colon she had picked up at the store nearby - a generous birthday gift, thank you Jessica :)

02/01/2012 getting out of Máncora (Draft)

We waited the morning away waiting for the local guy who was willing to sell us his Tuk-Tuk we did everything on our part looking for the correct paperwork and what processes were needed to claim ownership to a moto-rickshaw.
It was stupid of us to think that things could come together so easily and as it was the beginning of the year and people had slowed down even more than usual.
We packed up our tents (for the second time) and we were sure we both wanted to get out of this place.
Jessica and I were keen, so keen to get out of Máncora and the following bus we made our way to Cabo Blanco, we had to transfer buses to get to Cabo Blanco from El Alto using a small minibus, it's funny and fucking annoying as we were the first ones to arrive at the bus stop yet we could t hop on because all the locals pounced inside before we had a chance to even blink.
Same thing goes waiting in lines, these little bastards just cut infront with no etiquette and with clueless looks on their faces when you confront them.
Arriving in the very small fishing village of Cabo Blanco we started out looking for accommodation, still really pricey compared to Ecuador and even Galapagos and not having any real options we just camped on the beach but not before drinking a bunch of beers in a shop and calling dad to wish him a happy birthday as it was the 3rd in Australia.
Jessica and I invited ourselves into a family home where they cooked us a lovely traditionally family meal where they chatted with us intrigued with open eyes about where we came from.
Tipsy from all the beers we pitched our tents beside this home were jessica and I tried staying up past midnight (for my birthday) but failed.