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Archive for October, 2008

Quito and Montanita

Friday, October 17th, 2008

Chloe, Pete and Pete before the match...We arrived very early

Chloe Writes: Ecuador was most definitely a short but sweet visit. Desperate for some sun and a beach, after over 24 hours on various buses, we started off in the touristy surfer town of Montanita. Big waves, lots of bars and restaurants, the most amazing chicken, rice and beans…… but no sun! We met some friends there so stayed a few days but decided to keep moving and head north to Quito.

Quito, a modern city with an interesting old town as well as electric buses, shopping malls and lots and lots of torrential rain. We did enjoy the best football match.. Ecuador vs Chile in the world cup qualifiers, although we got soaked waiting for the match to start (we were advised to get there 3 hours early to get a good seat), it was definitely the best fun I have had at a game and will probably remember Quito for this reason.

The Mitad Del Mundo (middle of the world) was also only a couple of short bus journeys away, so we couldn’t´t resist the opportunity to stand on both the Northern and Southern hemisphere at the same time. Unfortunately the line was plotted with help from the stars a couple of hundred years ago and is therefore off target by a few hundred meters south, not a bad guess though to be fair. But go north to the Museo Solar Iti Nan and you can stand on the real equator line, plotted with the modern technology of the US military GPS. There we had an interesting tour and was shown a few tricks and demonstrations to do with gravity… such as balance (as its supposed to be easier on the Equator) and water being poured down a sink swirling the way the earth spins, so anti-clockwise for the southern Hemisphere, clockwise for the northern and straight down for the equator line.

Had it not been for the weather we could have stayed longer as there was so much to see, beautiful landscapes and some fantastic food… but the sun beckons in the last month of our trip so heading up to the Caribbean is at the top of the agenda.

Chloe... the only one to hit the target with the blow pipe!

Pete Writes: Ecuador was lots of fun, it was just a shame that the weather did not stay on our sides. Whilst we were on the coast I managed to grab a few waves and felt like it had been a long time since I had been in the sea.. So I am really looking forward to the Caribbean (although there are not as many waves!) but I am sure it will be a lot warmer than the Ecuadorian coast. Although there was a big fiesta on the weekend coming up we decided that we would rather catch the International game in Quito so we hopped on another 12 hour night bus (which I believe was driven by Nigel Mansels twin brother) thus dropping us both in the Capital at 5am with approximately 2 hours sleep (who said traveling isn´t hard work).

We arranged to hook up with Pete (one of the guys from our trek) before the game and then proceeded in waiting for over 3 hours for the kick off. Being hawked to buy plastic ponchos on the way to the ground in the bright sunshine seamed like another waste of money, however we were proved wrong an hour later when we were forking out 3 times the original price to keep ourselves slightly dry!! So the game ended up with 3 red cards and 1 goal to the home team so everyone was happy, and it was the best atmosphere so far!

When we were at the equator Chloe managed to show me her blow pipe skills by hitting a target smack in the middle with a dart. I am definitely feeling at ease that we could survive in the jungle, what with the fishing and poison darts!! so now we are off to Colombia for hopefully some heat and sunshine :o).

Sorry about the lack of photos but due to the grey weather we werent overly inspired… maybe next time!

Page Gallery

3 of us in rain
Still before the game… Soaked!!

stadium smoke
Just before the game

standing astride the line
Standing astride the equator line!

real equator
Now for the real one…

shrunken head
A real head, shrunken using steam to preserve the soul of the deceased

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Cusco and Machu Picchu

Thursday, October 2nd, 2008

Us at Machu Picchu

Pete Writes: Heading into Peru was relatively painless and after catching 3 buses over 9 hours we arrived at Cusco, the gateway to Machu Picchu. As a City Cusco is probably the most beautiful one we have seen on our trip, especially the view we had from our guest house, although a good view does not come without a little climb up a steep cobble street which had us out of breath more than once!

We spent a couple of days wandering around the City enjoying the buildings and the laid back atmosphere, and we even stumbled upon a woman walking a Lama which we decided would be a great photo opportunity. After the lady posed for photos she asked for some money, I then realized that it was a definite tourist trap and she must just walk around every day with a Lama in tow, it did give me an idea for some extra cash when I get home, (all I need is a cow, straw hat and a glass of cider).

After a lot of debating over whether or not to do a Trek we decided why not and booked ourselves onto a 5 day trek (which we later found out was the hardest of all the treks) to Machu Picchu via a pass of 4600m and then down into the jungle. Imagine our concern when we started to pick up the rest of our group and they all looked like they climbed mountains on a weekly basis

The Jungle

The trek was one of the hardest things I have ever done especially when we had to climb over the pass stopping for breath every 5 meters but when we reached the 4600m sign I knew that it was all down hill from there :o) Four days after we set off we reached Aguas Calientes ready to head up to Machu Picchu the next morning. So at 4.30am I joined the rest of the lads to climb 600m with the aim to beat the first bus that arrived at 5.50am, I did it with not long to spare, and it felt so good I decided to trek up another 500m to Wayna Picchu and get a great birds eye view of the ruins. Machu Picchu did not fail to impress and I can see why it is one of the 7 wonders of the world, and I am glad I walked the long way round as I really appreciated the beauty of the Inca ruins and also made some good Friends along the way.

Fountains

Chloe Writes: Cusco is a really vibrant city, completely tourist orientated but amazing none-the-less. The city has so much character with its cobbled steep streets and beautiful buildings with old-style wooden balcony’s. Theres a real party atmosphere, with something going on each night in the Plaza Del Armas, whether its live music or dancing in the streets. All for the benefit of us tourists as the gateway to Machu Picchu.

After saying for the last few weeks (mainly due to my struggling with the altitude) that i didn´t want to trek to Machu Picchu, upon arriving to Cusco we got caught up in the buzz and ended up booking a 5 day trek witch takes us up over the Salcantay pass at 4,600 meters. Not that high for those hardcore trekkers out there, but plenty high enough for an unfit traveler with dodgy lungs.

After struggling and feeling like giving up before lunch on the first day, especially when we were picked up in the morning with a bus load of young fit lads, who by the sounds of it had extensive experience in climbing mountains a lot higher than the one on our trek, and the 3 hours sleep I had the night before certainly didn’t help with my Positive attitude, I eventually made the 4 day, 80k walk to Aguas Calientes (the town-ship at the base of MachuPicchu), although mostly at the back of the group trying to catch up. The first 2 days were very difficult and getting over the pass was taken very, very slowly as due to the altitude, breathing alone was hard for me, let alone climbing a very steep mountain.

Snug as bugs, camping at 4k meters wasn´t so bad

From there though, it was mainly down hill and on the third day we ended up in the jungle. That afternoon we all made our way to the hot springs and had a well deserved 2 hour soak in the hot water…heaven!!. At our camp that evening we were entertained by the antics of a squirrel monkey who took a bit of a shine to me and snuggled up on my lap for half an hour. By bed time I tried to put the monkey down and it got very upset and wouldn’t let go of me. It latched on to me with its arms leg and tail and tried to bite any one who tried to remove him. In the end I had to take my jumper off and make a run for it. When i went into the bathroom before bed, he somehow knew i was in there and waited outside for me. What a cutie, I could have taken him home.

Heading into the Mist

The 4th day we arrived in Aquas Calientes in a cloud of biting sand-flys, knackered, with swollen feet and ankles. By the 5th day and our visit to Machupicchu I was so tired and sore I couldn´t face the 600 meter 4.30am climb up to Machupicchu so I opted for the bus instead. I also opted not to climb the steep mountain of Waynapicchu and to save what little energy I had for the walk around the Inca ruins. Although very tired I really enjoyed the day and walked down the mountain instead to appreciate the boy´s effort getting up there.

After the trek it was back to Cusco for some well deserved “tranquillo” & “Un Poco fiesta” to celebrate the end of the trek.

Page Gallery

View from guest house
Cusco from our guesthouse

Kids playing
Thats one way to get around

Woman and Lama
Women walk around the town with their Llamas hoping an unsuspecting tourist will take a picture….. She wanted 5 soles for the privlidge