22/01/2012

Arriving in Puno I was so exhausted I decided to stay a night, I got a taxi from the bus station to a hotel that was fully booked so I walked around the town center looking for a place to stay, I found a place called titikaca backpackers which hosted to mostly people who were not backpacking. It was a small place with only a few rooms and the family that ran the place were super friendly. I chatted with them for quite a while throughout the day and because the father spoke very limited but useful English I was able to get a free Spanish lesson from him.
A loud street festival was held outside in the main square just a stone throws away that I went to check out, it was very colorful and well Choreographed but the spectators who lined the streets made it difficult to take decent photos.
After checking my mail and chatting to Chantal who right now is keeping me awake at night thinking of our situation I sat in my room watching films on my laptop, I did this to the late hours of the evening then went to bed.
Not the most exciting of evenings but it was good getting off my feet for a long time as they were still quite painful from hiking around Cuzco.

Street Parade in Puno

21/01/2012

Second day in Arequipa, despite drinkin too much last night I still felt the full effects of a huge night out.
My advice to anyone who feels this way is to drink more. Andrew, an Aussie I met last night decided to get on it too and the both of us just bantered till the early hours of the afternoon, playing pool on the more than difficult snooker table and table tennis. He was a good laugh but later he left to stay in another hostel.
A Dutch girl (Michelle) who I met earlier in the morning was hungry so we headed to the market and to check out some of the town, it was great wandering the streets tipsy, just being ridiculous trying to embarrass her but we both had a fun time.
We bought some groceries at the market to make a potato salad for dinner to contribute to the meal that Amanda and her family were making.
Adin, Amanda's 9 year old boy was very keen on learning another magic trick so I taught him all I knew and after practicing with all the passing through backpackers he is ready to show off to his friends.
Amanda was more than grateful for the time and effort I spent with her son to teach him all the tricks and as such they gave me their contact details for if I pass through Calgary in Canada where they are from.
Having only met Michelle for a couple of hours we hit it off a little but as I had to leave back to Puno I couldn't spend the night, I hope to see her again in Bolivia when she arrives there in a week off so.
I said farewell to everyone in the hostel and flagged down a taxi to the bus terminal. Still hungover I fell right to sleep.

20/01/2012

I slept so well in the bus last night thanks to the sleeping pill I took when boarding the bus but when the bus arrived in Puno I was so incredibly disorientated i booked a ticket to Arequipa. This was a silly move because I was going to be headed back through this city when I have to return to Lima for my flight back to Canada to see Chantal. This was even a stupider mistake because as of yesterday i found out that Chantal who I was seeing for a couple of weeks in Canada before leaving for his trip is now back with her ex boyfriend who cheated on her a dozen times (I know! WTF), I thought I had something special with this girl but apparently not, I'll be just having to keep a smile, thats all I can do.
Because of this girl I now have two months in Canada to kill before I start work. Thanks bitch!
Anyways I hopped on the 6 hour bus to Arequipa without looking at a map but hoping there was another border crossing into Bolivia from there but unfortunately there was not.
This meant had to book another bus ticket to Puno and cross over from there. Errrrgggg.
Arriving in Arequipa I made my way to the most highly rated backpackers hostel and checked in, this hostel was fantastic, kitchen for use, hammocks outside, small enough that everyone gets to know one another and had a good sense of security; staff were friendly too.
When I arrived I met two American guys who I went around town with and to also buy some groceries for food for the evening, it's really great having a kitchen as everyone gets involved cooking and sharing their food and this is always a good time around the table.
After teaching Adin, the 9 yo who was traveling with his folks from Canada some magic tricks I went out with the American guys and 2 Canadian girls I met, it was a chilled evening, just having a few drinks at a quiet bar sharing stories and was in bed by 1.30. Candace, one of the Canadians and I had a bit of a chat outside the room and I slipped in a quick kiss before going to bed, nothing could come of this as her and her friend were leaving at 3am to go on a trek that I might do when I head back this way in a month or so's time. Well, I suppose I could have made the most of it but it just didn't happen.

Adin and some of the food we cooked up

17/01/2012 - 19/01/2012

Cuzco. (Sorry, got lazy here and didnt update my blog) Although I did meet a great to be around girl from England who I spent these 2 days with. Fiona who was new to the backpacking scene and was keen to get all tips and tricks to backpacking from me.

around the market in Cuzco with mummified dried llama babies to boot.

16/01/2012 - day 4 - Machu Picchu

Waking at 4 in the morning isn't my favorite thing to do but for us to reach the site of macchu Picchu for sunrise but it had to be done.  I was told the record for climbing the countless amount of rock steps was 35 minutes, I managed it in 37, not a bad effort.
After watching the sunrise beside these inca ruins you can understand why macchu Picchu is one of the 7 wonders of the world; it was truly spectacular, we had all day to explore the site and the surrounding other attractions including an inca built bridge and two mountains you can climb to get superb views, I decided to hike the highest one where I was told it was going to take 2 hours, I managed to do it in an exhausting and sweaty 45 minutes. Reaching the summit of the mountain that towered over the Inca sight and where the panoramic view of the my surroundings were almost unbelievable to behold, well, until the clouds came in and ruined it all. I was able to get a panoramic in but it may not be posted below for the pure reason because I am very lazy to put it together and edit it.
I stayed at the summit of Machu Picchu mountain for a while chatting away to a Swiss French girl who didnt really speak english so we communicated in broken spanish – when most of the people left to get away from the rain she handed me her camera to take a pic of her bare backside with the view in the background.. a little unusual but unfortunately I have no proof – that picture would have been fun to post up on here.
My ticket to the ruins didnt allow me to access Wana Picchu (the mountain seen in all the postcards and pics) as it is limited to so many people each day although this didnt bother me so much as my legs were shot from running up crazy mountains all day.
I bumped into Simon and Emma who I first me in Quito here too... I have a feeling ill run into them quite a lot as they are headed in the same direction as me.
After I exhausted all the touristy sights and had taken my fair share of photos for the day I headed back down the hill with this Swiss girl and one of her friends.
Because things were so expensive around Machu Picchu I go some food back in agua calientes where got some beer too. One beer led to another (like always) and like always we found drinking in the street by far the best thing to do – meeting all the passersby and simply having a laugh.
I had a train to catch in the evening so I got ready but unfortunately I didnt have any more clean clothes and I almost certainly was releasing a foul odor around the train... meh, not much I can do.
Anyways on the train I sat across from a US/Israeli couple who  I could not believe they were a couple at all. I felt so sorry for the guy as his wife just walked all over him, poor guy. Maybe it was a greencard marriage?
Exhausted, smelly and falling apart I finally made it back to the hostel in Cuzco where I again checked in and went to bed.

15/01/2012 - day 3

Drinking last night was a bad idea because not only was it a shitty bar we went to but also my hangover was terrible, it's true that the older you get the worse hangovers become but also drinking the Peruvian fake equivalent to tequila really was a terrible idea.
Our group was divided in the morning as some of us went to go zip-lining over the forest canopy between two mountains which is what I paid for, this was fun but compared to bungee jumping recently it didnt give me the adrenaline rush I was looking for this sickly feeling to go away.
This tour so far has been good but there have been a few things that have been a little irritating like for example the portions of food were dismal, water and snacks had to be bought, our guide Ebert wasn't very knowledgeable about the area and the history behind it as he refereed to pictures and notes from a book.
We walked another 3 hours today pretty much following some train tracks to Agua Caliente meaning it wasnt at all difficult in comparison to yesterday but my $20 shoes bought from Walmart didn't help all that much to cushion the rocks that I stepped on, the view however was very impressive with enormous cliffs towering above us.
Arriving in Agua Caliente in a pace better than most with even Ebert having difficulty to catch up with us I went to the thermal bath which the ticket office was strategically placed away from the baths for good reason - they were not very clear, they were filthy and packed full of people.
I napped the afternoon away as I was ruined after the days activities until dinner where straight after eating I went back to bed – its a 4am start tomorrow for Machu Picchu which im sure is going to be one of the highlights of my trip.

Hiking towards Agua Calientes along the train tracks and some stuff in-between