It´s been a while
Yes, I think I slipped into a black hole since arriving in Peru (maybe I should re-phrase that). Well before leaving Bolivia I spent half a day trekking out from Copacabana to Yampupata along the lakeside and around through the woods of the mainland. From Yampupata I had to barter a decent price to get a boat over to the Isla del Sol, which ended up being a row boat. The island has legend of it being the birthplace of the Incas, or certainly their sun god.
I spent a night over on the island, rose the next day to trek about it before catching the ferry back to Copacabana. This town did not endear itself to me when I arrived back at my hotel at midnight to find it locked up and no-one answering the bell. With the prospect of freezing my bollocks off sleeping in the park with the dogs for the night I wandered around town trying to find somewhere else open with no joy until I bumped into the mexican girl who worked in one of the restaurants. She was my life saver as she not only took me round to her mates hotel who had a spare bed, but they also plied me with weed and wine and it turned out to be a better night than if I´d returned to my cheap-ass room
The next day however, I really had to escape this shitty town and caught a bus to Cusco in Peru. Two and a half weeks in Cusco, most of which is unprintable, other than making it up to Machu Picchu for a healthy break, from where I had one of those experiences that you´ll always remember, looking down over the site and the location around it blew me away. No photo* can do it justice, but this was a moment when I realised that the view was what I had in my mind when I´d previously thought of South America. Despite all the hype around it, and my cynical nature, it turned out to be every bit as stunning as it´s made out to be.
After returning to Cusco for one last weekend of debauchery, I caught an overnight bus out of the Peruvian party capital down to the slightly more sedate Arequipa. We visited the Colca Canyon in the first few days, saw a condor (the main attraction), headed back to Arequipa and did some museum stuff. Then I said goodbye to Ruth and Alison who went on ahead while I chose to hang around for a little while longer, partly due to my hangover from the Saturday night, though it may have something to do with the girls of this city! Well I´m currently holding fort running the bar in the hostel for a short while, gives me something to do and cheaper living, meanwhile I get to see many of the people I met in Cusco passing through. While my scheduled plans for Peru have all gone out the window, life´s good and that´s all that counts right now 🙂
*Photos are a sore point as I left my camera on the train to Machu Picchu and lost it. This is what happens when I´m made to get up at 5am! I´ll try to add some from other people in the future.
Tags: Arequipa, Bolivia, Cusco, Isla del Sol, Peru, South America, Travel
Ed
Sorry to hear about the camera, happened to me in Prague and I cursed all the gods that came to mind. And wept like a child. Hope you´ve still got your mp3 player and have managed to change the songs round a bit, you don´t want Uptown Top Ranking to lose its edge.
Just got a load of website commisions so brace yerself for an e-commerce site selling glasses frames wholesale and an Irish carpenter in San Francisco site…
Nice to read bout yer travels again, keep it up & cheers
watcha gringo , just last week i finally was sent the link to this site so sorry for not saying hello previously. I owe you:
Merry Christmas
Happy Birthday
Happy new Year
and a dead arm for old times sake!
Well i have read the whole bloody thing in a week (in lunch breaks im not that slow a reader!) and am not only impressed at the lengths and breadths you have travelled but also at your travel log writing skills, keep it up i have been thoroughly entertained ! More monkeys needed though! well i shall join forces with Emma and write more soon.
Ooooooooowwww! Is it a good ringtone? Where can I get it from? How much is it? Oh fuck off, you ringtone spammer you……..
Hey Ed,
Really enjoying your travel log thing. Keep it up. I shall miss bumping into you in a stooper at the fuckin’ court this weekend innit me babber!! I’m back in England for 3 weeks starting thursday – woohoo!
Sam 🙂
I hope Ashton Court was good despite Simple Minds. I seem to have dispatched the ringtone spammers at last so you won`t be tempted by the lastetst chav anthems.