Merry Christmas
Hi all
Had a lovely chilled out Christmas here, I hope you all had a good one too. Having my friends Justine and Pippa here made it ten times better, otherwise I reckon I would´ve been pretty home sick.
Christmas eve was a big one, this is definitely a party hostel, a bit too much so actually. There are some serious drinkers here, I feel a bit old! So Christmas eve we went to a club on the main square which happened to be the club every gringo went to. It was good fun though, we drank way too much rum and coke and danced loads, at 3500 metres it´s hard work, I felt like I might have a heart attack. The main square looked like a war zone, Peruvians really love fireworks and there aren´t any restrictions on them so kids as young as 5 were setting off rockets and god knows what.
Christmas day was pretty much spent recovering from the hangover. It was lovely to get some prezzies though, I got some great stuff from James, so nice to receive a package from the UK. Justine, Pippa and I decided to exchange prezzies too. I got those things called poi from Pippa, they´re like the fire chains that people swing around but without the fire. They´re very cool although I haven´t dared to try it in public yet, I keep hitting myself. Justine and I both gave each other chess sets, they have these really decorative hand painted ones here where one side is the Spanish and the other side the Incas, they´re very cool.
Yesterday we had a wander around a fantastic cathedral and watched Harry Potter in the evening. Today was fun, I was really ready to do something big so we went out to the inca ruins nearby. There are 4 in a row, aobut 7km apart so we got a taxi out to the furthest one and walked back in. The ruins were great, incas really knew how to build walls! After the 2nd ruin the skys were black and we could see sheets of rain coming down over the mountains on the other side of the valley, it was so dramatic. Then the storms started, fork lightning coming down in about 4 different places and really serious thunder, it was absolutely fantastic. At one point we could see the rain pouring down only about 100 metres away from us but we were totally dry. Didn´t stay that way, by the 3rd ruin it was chucking it down so we took cover and watched for a while before getting a bus back to the town. We´ll have to do the last two ruins another time.
Justine is doing the inca trail to machu picchu from 2nd January so we plan to stay in Cusco until then, we´ve loads more touristy stuff to do, then Pippa and I plan to do the sacred valley (which is all the stuff on the way to machu picchu but without the trek) and apparently a white water rafting thing. Hmm, this could be another time for me to overcome a fear. We´ll both get the train out to machu picchu to meet Justine there for sunrise on 5 January, followed by a dunk in the hot springs, I can´t wait.
Tags: Peru
December 28th, 2005 at 10:24 am
Hey chick
So Glad you’ve got buddies there to spend the days and nights with!! How do people send you stuff? You have to let me know - I’d LOVE to send you a tiny something on your travels!
I’m the only one at work today - seriously - my floor is DESERTED!!! There’s an echo from my keyboard when I type. Its boring. I’m over it already and i’ve been here 10 minutes
Catcha later sweet pea!!
Love J9xxx
December 28th, 2005 at 1:05 pm
Hey Sharleen,
Regarding the 4 ruins in the outskirts, wait until you see “Saqsaywaman”, it’s the biggest of the lot overlooking Cuzco and by far the coolest :o)
While you’re in the Sacred Valley, try to get to Pisac for a Thursday morning (I think it’s also there on Tuesdays) — the market there is a real treat and the street food is pretty safe. I miss the fresh corn on the cob with that green sauce thing.
If you’re planning to stay the night in Aguas Calientes on the 4th January, I highly recommend Rupa Wasi. It’s a little out of the way, but worth it. It’s a paradise of huts lovinjgly built into the side of mountain, each with an exceptionally beautiful view of Machu Picchu. They’ll also make you a lunch box breakfast for you to take up to MP and draw a map.
Good to hear that you’re doing well,
’tish.
PS
* If you’re going to walk up to MK from AC — I highly recommend as it’s the guaranteed way to miss all the tourists who all catch the bus at 06:00 and give you a sense of discovery. Take the following with you — a spare t-shirt (in a plastic bag — it’s very humid and once you reach the top you’ll freeze in damp top), plenty of fluids and bug spray. If you’re still not used to the altitude, allow for 1.5 hours walk time.
December 28th, 2005 at 4:42 pm
Tish: thanks so much for the recommendations, I´ll definitely check out the Aguas Calientes place, we´re planning to spend a couple of nights there I think. Also the sim card is a life saver over christmas, it´s helping to combat the home sickness feelings, thanks!
J9: you´re at work? How ridiculous! As for post, it´s tricky because you have to plan ahead as everything takes 2-3 weeks to get here plus I need to be staying somewhere for a while so I can keep checking for it at the post office. So really it´s probably not going to happen. But if I plan to stay somewhere else for a couple of weeks I´ll let you know. Miss you loads!