The Moped Diaries

We have now been living at altitudes in excess of 10,000ft for some time and have become familiar with the peculiarities this brings. These include:-
Indigestion – The altitude slows your metabolism slightly so the alpacha curry I ate two days ago still seems to be working its way through me.
Diarrhea – Unfortunately not everything slows down and the curse of the western traveller can rear its ugly head as a symptom of mild altitude sickness (then again, it could be the alpacha curry).
Nose bleeds – Our delicate nasal passages that are accustomed to sea level, damp and humid air struggle with the thin dry air up here. I should have brought more hankies.
Exploding packages – Anything packaged or bottled at sea level becomes a dangerous item at altitude. Crisp packets look like balloons and fizzy pop bottles explode as if shaken for ten minuites when opened (funny when it happens to other people but not to yourself). Fortunately the local beer is bottled at altitude and can be opened and consumed in complete safety.

Here in South America the unemployment rate is extremely high (around 50%) so people turn to alternative forms of employment to get money. This usually involves selling local crafts (alpacha wool socks have proved to be very warm) but the best we have seen here in Cusco involves a set of bathroom scales. Basically the beggar stands on the street with a set of bathroom scales in front of him. Members of the public concerned about their obesity may then stand on the scales and the beggar will very kindly read the number off the dial for you. Dulcie tried this out and for one peruvian sol (about 16 pence) was informed she had lost nearly 6 pounds. Perhaps if she´d paid more she´d have lost more?

I have left Dulcie in charge of the camera for this trip and she appears to have developed (no pun intended) a strange disorder which can only be described as bullimic photography. When we are somewhere picturesque (e.g. the ... [Continue reading this entry]

We have now completed the famous Inca Trail and experienced the pleasure of portered treking. This means for the 18 of us treking there were 24 porters, one chef (with two assistants) and three guides! On arrival at ... [Continue reading this entry]

As a warm up for the Inca Trail we decided to hike the Colca Canyon (the deepest canyon in the world) as a two day trek. We hiked down in to the canyon on day one and had the ... [Continue reading this entry]