Hostel People

The best thing about staying in hostels is meeting the other travelers. Hostels are usually laid out in a manner to encourage the tenants get together and mingle. The last hostel I stayed in, Hostel Loki, was particularly enjoyable. It was located in a refurbished Spanish mansion, high on a hill overlooking the Cuzco's Plaza De Armas.

On the top floor of the building they had a large bar with an incredible view of the city. Every night many of the 100 or so tenants would met and drink before heading out to one of the many bars and clubs of the city.

In the bar I was able to meet many interesting folks. Almost all that were my age were shared the same living situation. They had just quit their jobs and were taking time off to travel. Most of the of them were traveling for much longer periods of time ranging from 6 months to 2 years.

One of the ways I will start conversions with new people is to talk to them about the movies or TV of their country. The English are particularly amazed by the amount of British television I've seen. Apparently they have not met many Americans who have seen 'Only Fools and Horses.'

While talking to a Irish guy named Brian, the movie the 'Commitments' came up. It turns out that Brian's uncle is Joey 'The Lips' Fagan. He said that he was a strange man, very much like the character in the movie. They very rarely saw him because he toured with stage companies most of his life. Brian said he did thousands of performances as Estragon in Waiting for Godot.

I hung out with a Brian and a Scottish couple until just a little while before my bus to the Jungle picked me up the next morning.

Manu, Day One

The majority of the tour group had left around 8 hours before I signed up for the trip. Luckily the organizers were willing to arrange for me to catch up. The trip is a grueling two days, on what the Lonely Planet guide calls the worst stretch of road in Peru. I was going to condense that trip to one day.

On Monday about 4, I set out in a tiny Toyota minivan with two German naturalists, a local named Alvin and the driver, Ringo. About 4 hours into the trip, my companions were inexplicably dropped off on the side of the road. A couple of locals appeared out of the dense jungle and began to carry off their mound of equipment. I was left alone with the driver.

The road was all that the guidebook promised. It was very bumpy, with sharp curves, precipitous cliffs and was frequently covered with swiftly moving water. Twice, Ringo had to change a tire. He was dressed like he was about to play a round of golf. I felt sorry he had to lie in very deep mud to do this work.

In a small town called, Pacartambo, we stopped for breakfast. While we ate a small boy removed a wheel from our van and hammered out a very large dent. In no time we were back on our slightly less bumpy way.

Ringo did not speak, but sang quitely to himself for hours. I tried to read, and not pay attention to the speed at which we were taking sharp, muddy curves.

After another few hours we stopped in a small town for lunch. It was one of the restaurants where there is not a menu, you just take what are given. In this case it was a soup with spaghetti and what I hope was a chicken neck. It was topped off with a glass of water that looked like it was taken from a creek in Alabama after a night of rain. The cook looked disappointed that I didn't touch my fine cut of meat or my thick red water.

We picked up a man off the side of the road who said he was another guide. I never caught his name. He was dressed solely in a pair of 70´s track shorts, and had hair reaching almost to his waist. We were guided down to a very large river called the Alto Madre Dios. Here I left Ringo behind and boarded a large motor canoe with a few locals.

The river is amazing. It is dark and muddy with waves like the ocean. The currents are so bad that they turn back on themselves and river seems to completely change direction. Entire trees float next to the boat. Rather than logging many locals just pull trees out of the river and sell them.

Like every other trip locals are deposited in the most inhospitable places and scamper into the woods. I reach my stop after half an hour. It is surprisingly nice cluster of thatched a-frame buildings.

I am shown to a very nice screened in room with a bed an mosquito net. Naturally think this is the end of the day and lie down. Yet another guide appears and tells me I need to meet the rest of the group at the canopy tour.

We head off into the jungle. After about twenty minutes I meet the group of 7. I´m immediately fitted with a harness and ushered high into the trees. This isn't my first time riding zip lines and rappeling, so I volunteer to be first. The canopy tour is enjoyable. It is not quite as exicting as the one Kimberly, Danny and I did in Costa Rica, but it is a lot of fun.

Mercifully, after dinner I´m finally allowed to sleep.

Back from the Jungle

After a harrowing flight out of the jungle, I'm back in Cuzco. I'm too tired to write this afternoon. I'll work on a recap tomorrow.

My Hat

In the transportation riots outside of Puno, Peru, I lost my beloved Detroit Tigers/Magnum PI hat. When we reached Uyani, Bolivia I had to find a hat to replace the lost item. To my complete suprise I found an Auburn Tigers baseball cap. I was really shocked. The shop owner told me he had many if if I wanted another.

Cuzco, Peru
(After a marathon session in this internet cafe, I´m actually caught up to the present date.)
I arrive in Cuzco and go straight to Hostel Loki. I´m in a room with eight other guys. The beds are so nice that I fall asleep until almost eleven.

I go out to begin planning my last trip. While I´m searching for a recommended tourist agency, I happen upon a Culinary and Bar tending School graduation. For 3 soles, a little less than a dollar, you can sample the students meals. It must be some sort of contest because each student is recruiting customers. For three more soles you get to visit the bar as well. I have a very good vicuña lasagna and a drink called algorrin. Vicuña, case you don´t know, is a wild relation to the llama and alpaca. It resembles a long necked deer. It is a very good meat. Much better than llama and alpaca, which I think are a little dry.

After lunch I book my trip. I will be going to the Manu Biological reserve for 7 days and 6 nights. This is a rain forest preserve about half the size of Switzerland. The government protects the wildlife and the indigenous people. I will be hiking and rafting during the trip. Only 9 companies are licensed to guide tourists into the area. I was very lucky to get a space at this late of a date.

This will most likely be my last post until I return from Manu. If everything goes according to plan, I will return to Cuzco Saturday night, spend one more day here, and fly Cuzco-Lima-Houston-Atlanta on Monday the 30th.

Colca Canyon, Day 2
Today we continue up the mountains to the best view of the canyon. We stop at Cruz Del Condor. The site is incredible. The Colca Canyon is the deepest in the world at almost 3200m.

The scene is to large to fit in a camera image, so my pictures will never do the view justice.
I am lucky enough to see a condor. From this distance is look like a regular buzzard. But since it is able to fly to almost 6000m high and it can have a wingspan of 10 feet, it is surely very high above me.

After about 2 hours we head down the mountain. We reach Arequipa early in the evening and I splurge ($12 !) on a Peruvian bus with beds. Once you go semi-cama (half bed,) you can´t go back.

Colca Canyon

The next morning I board a bus headed for Colca Canyon. Time limited me to a bus tour rather than the trek I originally wanted to do. After a couple of hours on the bus I´m happy I did it this way. It has gotten cold again and we even drive through a little snow. The volcano I was going to climb is completely covered in clouds. This means it is is either raining or snowing up there. I´m happy to be warm.

The group of 12 is predominately local. I am the only English speaker again.
Many of the people are on the beginning of their vacations. This is their first taste of altitude sickness. I must be very used to the altitude now, because I don´t notice anything. Other than the days in Chile I have not been under 3000m in a long time.

The first day is uneventful. The most interesting thing we do is go to a mountain where you can see 7 volcanic peaks.

That night we visit a very nice complex of hot springs. At dinner we are treated to a folk dancing seminar. I don´t know what is about me, but I am always pulled out of a group as a volunteer. The dancing is actually very fun and the entire group stays there for hours. I am recruited after wards to go to a disco and learn salsa, with minor success.

The hotel we are in this night is one of the unfinished buildings I mentioned in a previous post. The rooms have ceilings but the rest of the hotel is still open air.

Arequipa, Day 3

My original plan was to climb the volcano just outside of Arequipa, El Misti. The other main attraction in this area is the Colca Canyon. I can´t work out a good way to do both, do I ditch the volcano.

After making the arrangements for the next few days, I relax some more. I´ve finished my book, so I go looking for an English book. The only thing I can find are books for an college English literature class and a couple of Danielle Steele novels. I finally find a historical fiction novel by a Russian author (Boris Akunin) translated into English. It looks like something Adrian or Dad would read.

That night I go to a local Karaoke/Disco. Neil Dimaond must speak a universal language because he is a hit with the locals. I am invited to join a birthday party, and sing for the guest of honor. It is a very fun evening. The group tries to teach me dancing and feeds me tequila until just about two hours before my tour bus leaves the next morning.

Arequipa, Peru, Day2

Spent the day relaxing. Since my trip has been so hectic, it is nice to take a day to do nothing.

I eat that night at a wonderful Turkish restuarant. and have a few of the local brew Arequipeña.

Arequipa, Peru

An early morning bus reaches Arequipa by the afternoon. I know I have said many cities were pretty, but next to Copacabana, I think this may be my favorite. The city is more upscale than Cuzco with many cool shops and wonderful restaurants.

On this day I visit the Monasterio Santa Cantalina. This convent is a city within a city that has only recently been opened to the public. It was formed by a rich widow in 1580 and only excepted daughters of the richest Spanish families. The families paid large amounts to insure a place for their children. Unlike most convents these nuns did not live in poverty. They had individual houses with as many as four servants each. They threw extravagant parties and lived as they had in their estates back home.

After 300 years the Pope got wind of the antics and sent a Dominican nun to straighten things out. This nun sent all the money back to Europe and freed all the slaves. None of the 450 remaining nuns ever left the convent again. The convent remained very secretive until it was opened again 1970. The 30 nuns who still live in the complex are separated from tourists.

That night I went to an Irish pub, drank mojitos and played pool. I lost, but in my defense I am used to playing with a tip on the cue. The locals don´t seem to need it.

Arica, Chile

Arica obviously a much richer city most I have been through. It is very different in both people and architecture. The city seems to have retained more of a Spanish influence than Peru and it feels more European. The churches are much more modern. The main cathedral and square were designed by Eiffel of tower fame.

The people hear have no desire to communicate in English. Their accents are so different that any communication is difficult. It makes me appreciate the very, very friendly Peruvians.

The water is pretty but very rough. I fight the temptation to run and jump in the undoubtedly freezing ocean.

I spend the day looking around and relaxing

Uyani, Day 3
In the morning we get up at about 5. We head out toward the Chilean border.

On the way we stop at volcano spring fed lake. An English woman named Rebbecca and I are the only ones brave enough to get in. After my freezing night of sleep I need to be heated up a bit. Several more tour groups arrive and many more get people get in the pools. A Swedish couple I talk to are disappointed that there is no cold water for them to jump in after wards.

The guides cook us a nice pancake breakfast. After breakfast we head to the geyser fields. The geyser fields are several hundred yards of geysers and boiling mud pits. These geysers are not like old faithful, they erupt constantly twenty or thirty feet into the air. Large pits of boiling mud throw mud far into the sky. Walking through the fields become difficult after a few minutes because of the heat and the intense smell of sulfur.

From the geysers we head again towards the border. We come to a rock formation called Dali´s Rocks. The formation is a group of strange boulders, perfectly spaced in a line across a sand dune. It really does look like the boulders were positioned for a painting.

In another hour we reach the border on the edge of anther giant volcano. At the border there is a small hut with an army official inside and a gate. The gate has no fence attached to it. It is just a gate in the middle of the desert. One could easily drive around it.

A bus meets us here and drives us down a very steep, winding road from the volcano. There are signs everywhere not to exceed 20 km down the hill. We pass the burned out skeletons of many eighteen wheelers in the canyons on either side. I assume the government leaves these here as a warning.

After another checkpoint we enter the Chilean desert town San Pedro. San Pedro is nice but there is very little to do. I have to kill eight hours here before I head to the coastal town of Arica.I sit on a bench in the Plaza De Armas, napping and reading.

Chilean buses are expensive, but they are far superior to those I have been in so far. The seats recline almost completely and become a full bed. After my last couple of nights this is paradise.

Unyani, Day 2

At 7 in the morning we get back out in the truck and head out into salt flats. Soon we have left the salt behind and we are in a standard desert.

The terrain looks like the pictures from Mars. The land is flat with large rocks every few inches. The placement of the rocks looks almost regular, like the were laid out on a grid. Huge mountains and volcanoes are on every side. Almost all the nearby peaks exceed 6000m.

During the day we come to several large lakes. The first lake is incredible blue and filled with bright pink flamingos. The lake is lined with beaches made of the white crystalline chemical called borax. In the US borax was used a laundry detergent. The borax makes the lake suitable for a large number of plankton. This abundance of food attracts the large flocks of Flamingos.

We pause here to eat lunch. As we are eating, several desert foxes come out of the grass to forage our scraps. I find the foxes fascinating. The English members of the group are completely nonplussed. Apparently foxes are quite common in London and you can feed them like a squirrel or a pigeon.

After lunch we head into the desert again. We encounter large rock formations and more lakes. Some of the lakes are green and blue and lined with beaches of sulfur, borax and salt.

At the end of the day we enter Euduardo Avardo State park. In this park we see the most amazing lake, Lago Colorado. This lake´s chemical make-up and temperature promotes the growth of red algae. The lake is impossibly red; a very deep rust colored red. The lake is also fed by volcanic springs. Large clouds of steam encircle the water. Many Flamingos are here as well.

Unfortunately the wind has become so cold and violent that we can only stay about five minutes.

We head to a small group of buildings close to the lake. The accommodations are very simple and we all sleep in one big room. The temps dip to zero again that night. The sleeping bag I rented looks like it was meant for children´s spend the night parties. All the bag is missing is a picture of a smurf printed on it. That and the fact that I´m sleeping under a window, that does not shut properly, make for very uncomfortable evening.

Uyani Salt Flats

I meet up with my tour group that afternoon. There are six of us packing into an old Toyota Landcruiser.

We start out into the desert. The first think we come to is a locomotive graveyard. Uyani was at one time a railroad center, now it is dependent almost totally on tourism. The trains once used in the city have now all been laid to rest in the desert.

Next we visit a small town that processes the salt by hand for sale in Northern Bolivia. It looks like awful dry work.

Walking around on the salt flats is a very strange experience. It feels like you are walking on very deep snow. In some areas you sink an inch into the ground. Every so often you see small pools of red water bubbling up out of the earth. Unfortunately our guides don´t speak much English so I am not really sure what causes these pools. I think I caught the word oxygenation.
Later in the day we come to a small mountain named Isla Pesca. Again, because of the language barrier, I´m not really sure why it is called fish island. It does resemble an island in a very white ocean. The entire mountain is covered in impressive twenty foot cacti.

The views from the top are amazing. Nothing but white stretching 100´s of miles to high mountains in the distance.

After about 6 hours of driving we reach the far side of the salt flats. The speedometer on the truck is broken, but I think we were traveling in the 70´s for most of the trip.

On the edge of the flats we get to our hotel for the night. It is a building made completely out of salt blocks. The salt block beds are a bit hard but the building is very cozy, despite the very low temps. They get to nearly 0 that night.

Getting to La Paz and Uyani

The next day I board a bus to La Paz. The trip is long but uneventful. The Bolivian country side is very barren, but the hundreds of mountains you pass are beautiful.

A funny thing about Bolivia is that no house appears to be complete. There is almost always a second floor missing windows or pillars with re-bar sticking out of the top. After asking around I found that it is a form of tax evasion. Uncompleted buildings are taxed differently than completed construction. I´m not exaggerating when I say 90% of the buildings are in this condition.

We reach La Paz and contact our next tour planner. He is a fast talking German man named Ralph. He sets up my next trip to Uyani, Bolivia, frequently shouting at his Bolivian wife, "Draw up the necessary papers Isabella."

Uyani is on the edge of the giant Bolivian salt flats. I would never have thought to visit this area but is highly recommended by everyone I meet. I decide to take the night bus rather than spend the night in La Paz.

Buses tend to be very uncomfortable, especially if they are packed and you are in them for more than 10 hours with no bathroom. But they are equally horrible in the daytime. At least in the night you can attempt to sleep and you don´t waste a day traveling.

This bus is without a doubt the worst experience yet. It is a double decker and I am seated in the very top in front of a huge window. It is a bit like being in an IMAX theater. The Bolivian deserts get extremely cold an windy at night. The road is so bumpy that it continually knocks open the windows across the aisle from me. I ask an older man next to me to shut the window, but he eventually ignores me. He seems utterly immune to the cold. The front of the bus gets so cold that the windows ice over from the inside.

At one point I rub the ice off the window so I can see where we are headed. The bus appears to be hurtling through nothingness. There is no road to speak of, just unmarked, unlit desert. Only 5% of the roads are paved in Bolivia. We have obviously entered the other 95%.

We arrive at the very small desolate town of Uyani early in the morning. I got a room in one of the luxurious local hotels, so I could clean off before the Salt Flat tour leaves. Unfortunately $2 does not buy you a shower with hot water or much of a roof.

Copacabana and Isla del Sol

Copacabana is a very pretty city. It reminds me of the coast of Italy. The hotel I´m in it very nice as well. I have a big balcony overlooking Lake Titicaca.

Here I have my first experience with a and electric shower. When I read about them they seemed like a very bad idea, and I was right. Inside the shower head there is a little electric coil that heats the water as it comes out. The secret to getting actual hot water is to only have a small bit water coming out. Otherwise the water cools the coil and you have a lukewarm shower at best. Plus, don´t touch the shower head and the water knobs at the same time it gives you very painful shock. I´m quite sure these shower heads would not be legal to use in the US.

We joined another group today to visit Isla Del Sol. This island is legendary for being the birth place of the Sun and Manco Capac the first king of the Incas. It is a nice island, but it is more of a resort island than the others we visited. In the harbor there are some very large luxury yachts. Other than a short hike there is not much to do on the island. I spend most of the time at a small restaurant drinking beer, watching boats come in the harbor and pack llamas wind up and down the mountain.

On the way to Bolivia

As we are driving along the road to Bolivia we come across a couple of road blocks. They are not quite as threatening as those earlier in the day. The small town roadblocks consist of a circle of taxi´s with a party in the middle. you can see dancers and people having a barbecue.

In order to curry favor during election season, the incumbent party repeals unpopular laws and steps up road repair. We pass many road crews working. There is so much work that at one point we are forced to take a ferry across Lake Titicaca rather than continue on the road.

Everyone gets out of the bus and is loaded on a very large but very rickety flat bottomed boat. Boat may be to grand a word for the craft, it is only long wooden planks nailed together with a small outboard engine attached. The passengers are loaded into an equally rickety fishing boat to follow the bus across.

The border crossing reminds me of something from a movie. The bus stops again, and we are herded through Peruvian immigration. After we are stamped out of Peru, we have to walk across the two hundred yards of no mans land to the border of Bolivia. The Bolivian immigration guards are very similar to extras from a spaghetti western. Only if the guards wore bandoleers could the be more like a movie.

After we are allowed back on the bus, we head to Copacabana on Lake Titicaca. We arrive late in the afternoon.

Getting to Bolivia

The next morning we head for Bolivia. We are only a 30 or 40 kms from the border so it should be a pretty short trip.

As I mentioned before my tour planner Oscar is a good operator but seems a bit shady. All the travel around here operates by a tour planner handwriting a voucher explaining buses and transfers and any other pertinent information. Sometimes this work fine, other times you are greeted by a puzzled look and asked, "What is this?" It is a strange system but I´m getting used to it.

Oscar does not show up to give me my bus tickets the night I return to Puno, nor the next day. After many unanswered calls, I finally reach Oscar. He said don´t worry I will be there"everything is bueno." This has become his favorite phrase.
"Why are you mad?"
"Everything is bueno!"
I told him that he is almost two days late and I don´t trust him anymore. He gets very quiet and says in a low tone "Terry, everything is muy bueno, be happy." Then he hangs up.

About an hour before my bus leaves a Representative of Oscar arrives to take me to the bus station. Catherine is still with me and she is not very happy with Oscar either. The rep tells me that there is a transportation strike and that is why thinks are so hectic. I think this is just another ploy to placate me.

When we reach the bus ticket station there appears to be no record of our tickets. The rep looks very worried. He tells me to stay here while he finds Oscar. I said no I think I´ll come with you. I would like to see Oscar as well.

The rep walks me behind the bus station to a small neighborhood. He says again "you stay here, I´ll get Oscar." But this time he takes off running. I chase after him to a small shack. He enters before I do and I hear yelling. When I enter the shack I see Oscar sitting at a table with other men drinking coffee and beer. It is 7 in the morning after all.Oscar is yelling at his rep. When he sees me enter, he bounds up "Terry, everything is bueno!"

When we get back to the terminal Oscar works his magic and gets us two seats.

It turns out there is not only a transportation strike, but a transportation riot. Riot police, people throwing rocks, burning tires the whole nine yards. The terminal employees are herding people onto buses indiscriminately. It looks like they are trying to get as many vehicles out and past the protester's road blocks as quickly as possible. We get to the edge of the roads blocks and they stop the buses and tell us that we have to get our baggage and walk through the chaos to the buses that reached the other side. Luckily most of the fighting seems to have died down in this area. There are still riot police but they are now moving boulders out of the road. It was very surreal walking a mile through large rocks and burning tires to our buses.

We get to the other side with out incident and we are on our way.

Isla Tequina

The next day we say good-bye to our families and head to a neighboring island; Isla Tequina. Flora has been very nice, but business like, so our good-bye is brief. I think she is afraid I was damaging the structure of her second floor bedroom.

The one time I was able to engage Flora in conversation it was very enlightening. I asked her how she could identify her 15 sheep from the hundreds roaming the the hillside. She looked at me in a very puzzled manner and said "They have always been mine."

We reach Is la Tequina after about and hour. When we get there it is another hour to hike to the town on the top. The neighboring islands are unique in the fact that Anamatani is 70% female and Tequina is 70% male. One would think that enterprising men would have figured this discrepancy out and made a move across the lake. But the populations stay about the same year after year.

At our lunch we are explained the complicated messages conveyed by the way men and women wear there clothes on the islands. The men wear tall hats with pomp pomps on top. From the color and position of the hats on the head, you can identify a man´s age and marital status. The women wear long, black, embroidered head scarves. The position of the scarves denotes their marital status and their willingness to be approached by a man. I think this a system I could get behind in US.

I met a few women from Boston on the island. Amazingly they are the second Americans I have seen so far. A majority of this tour group are Israeli men just released from their mandatory military service. They say that it is very popular for the men just out of the army to spend 6 months traveling through South America. I picked them out as soldiers as soon as I saw them. They remind me very much of the young men that would come eat Sunday dinner at the Yelverton house.

We return to Puno, Peru early that evening.

Isla Amantani
When we reached the island I am assigned to a woman named Flora. Every activity in Peru is either started or ended by a hike, sometimes both, reaching Flora's house was no different. She took off, straight up the mountain. Lake Titicaca is 3800m above sea level so the altitude is still a factor in any strenuous exercise. Luckily I think I´m is finally getting used to the height. When we get to her house she shows me to my room. I assume this room at one time must have been for children. The door way is only about 3 1/2 ft tall. I have to bend at the waist to enter. The ceilings are about 5 feet high and I stick about 18 inches off the edge the bed.
Flora speaks no English, and my Spanish has not improved in the least. She is very accommodating and feeds me very well. No one in Peru seems to have much money, but food is plentiful and very cheap. There is not much meat but you can eat your weight in grains and potatoes. The have 300 types of potatoes and I get about 6 different types every time I eat.
One interesting note, Potatoes are so important in Peru that there is a cabinet level position in the government called the Minister of Potatoes. A Belgian man on the tour is actually in Peru doing graduate work in the Potato Ministry.
During the tour we do several different hike to the peaks of the island. The island rises to about 4300m.
On the last night all host families dress us in traditional Peruvian clothing, and take us to a party in the local recreation center. I honestly think Flora cut a hole in rug to make the poncho she gave me. The thing is absolutely huge. Since I'm approximately 2 feet taller than anyone around me, there is no way this poncho could fit a Peruvian. The band at the party is fun, but I think they only know one song. The song is about five minutes, and between each rendition they take two or three minutes to re-tune their instruments. After the party our guides lead us back down the mountain, to the various houses. There are no lights on the island and the locals don´t seem to need flashlights. I almost kill myself several times trying to keep up in the dark.

Next trip

After saying goodbye to the treking group, I spent the next day in Cuzco trying to figure out what to do next. I decided to head south to Lake Titicaca and Bolivia. One of the treking group, Catherine is heading that direction as well so we book our tour together.The bus left at 10 that night for Puno, Peru. The bus was packed with locals and as the bus makes stops through the night it becomes even more full. At about 2 Am we stopped at what appeared to be a barn party and picked up the band. The bus is so packed now that the band is forced to sleep in the aisles.
After a very long 10 ride we arrive in Puno, and meet our tour planner Oscar. He is a very nice man who seems to be connected with everyone. Oscar never seems to have things completely finished but is somehow able to get everything worked out at the last second. After just a couple of hours in Puno, we board a boat on Lake Titicaca.

The Lake is very polluted near the city, but once you get farther it becomes very beautiful.

Our first stop is the floating reed islands. Peruvians fled wars on the main land hundreds of years ago and build reed island on the lake. The islands are quite large. They have schools, hospitals, restaurants, and most importantly solar powered satelite TV. We take a tour around the islands on a large reed boat and continue on to our next stop, Isla Amantani.

The ride to Amantani is about 4 hours. When we get to the island we are each assigned to a family that is going to house and feed us for the next two days.

Machu Picchu

We got on a bus the next morning around 6:30 in order to be some of the first people to Machu Picchu. After about a 20 minute bus ride up from Agua Caliente along steep switchbacks you enter the the city. It is not hard to see why this city was never found by the Spanish. The mountains enclosing the site are huge, and thick clouds can completely cover the area.

Most of the buildings are still completely intact except for what would have been the thatch roofs. The engineering is as impressive as any of the other ruins we have seen and the scenery makes the city even more amazing. It is to do the sight justice with just words.

After touring the city we climbed the tallest mountain overlooking the site, Wychu Picchu. In this picture it is the large mountain in the center. Our guide said it would was no problem, a 45 minute gentle climb. He lied to us again. The climb is anything but gentle. The stairs are so steep and far apart, cables had to be attached to the walls to help people with the climb. It was a very tiring 45 minutes, but the view is well worth it. From this height you are able to see the intended shape of the city. The Incas built each city in the shape of an animal when viewed from above. Cuzco is a a puma, Ollyatatambo is a seated llama and Machu Picchu is a bird with wings spread.

After above 4 hours in the city, rain started in and we moved back down the mountain. On the way down a small boys run straight down the mountain and meet the buses each time they comes around a switchback. The boys always beat the buses down the mountain. Like all unrequested entertainment in Peru they expect a tip when you exit the bus.

Later that afternoon we took a train back to Cuzco to finish out the tour.

Lares Trek - Day Four

I woke up the next morning at about five. I opened up the tent door a saw that it snowed during the night. The ground was so wet that only about an inch had stuck so far, but the snow was still coming down. The guide wanted to eat quickly and get through the pass before the snow got worse. When I strted this I never thought I woud be hiking through a 4600m mountain pass in the snow. We made it through the pass in about an hour. The downhill side was harder because the rain and melting snow made the path very muddy and slippery. The horses going in front of us compounded the mud problems.

We were able to hike out of the snow after an hour. The rest of the hike was much more pleasant. The day got much warmer and we hiked down and along ridgelines for about 4 hours. We reached a small town at the bottom of the mountain and had a big lunch.

After lunch we boarded a bus and head back to Ollaytatambo to retrieve our other trekkers.

Everyone that had to be taken down form the mountain had recovered after a nights sleep a shower.

From Ollyatambo we took a train to the town of Agua Calientes. This is a beautiful little town with no cars or roads. It lies at the base of the mountains containing Machu Piccu. The name comes from the hot springs above the town.

The hot springs were not very impressive. They were only lukewarm and they were filled with what I think was sulfur. It was nice though to be able to clean ourselves after several days of hiking.

Lares Trek - Day Three
We are awaken by the porters at 6. We have a breakfast and are hiking by 7. By noon we have made it up and down through another pass at about 4300 m. The altitude is effecting some of the group so much that the guide is making plans to have them taken down the mountain. Three people with two spouses following are taken down the mountain on donkeys. When we meet them again, a few days later we find out they were not able to make it to a town until 3 am.
As we see many and women running through the mountains. As soon as any of the mountain inhabitants see hikers they run and gather anything they can sell. We hike by many makeshift blanket shops selling llama/alpaca wool creations. Everyone here wears sandals, even our porters, no one wears shoes. Keep in mind the tempature is in the 50-30's.
After our lunch we strike out for our highest pass at 4600m. About 4Pm were have hiked into very thick clouds. It begins to rain. After about an hour the rain turns to sleet. Our guide decides that the conditions are to bad to make it through the pass that night. We camped at about 4300m. It turns very cold. No one has much appetite and a couple of more people have gotten sick. We try to eat and go to bed early again.

Lares Trek - Day Two

Unfortunately my notebook with the names of the mountains and passes we hiked is not with me. I'll have to add the names later.

In the moring we were bussed to a small village about an three hours above Ollaytatambo. After lunch the donkeys were loaded up and we headed op the mountain. We started at around 3600 m. The pass which we were to make it through that night was at 4100 m. It took about 2 1/2 hours to hike the 5 km of very steep mountain. Down the other side took about 2 hours. Luckily I'm a much faster downhill hiker than up. I was able to make it to the campsite before dark. Most of the group had to pick their way down by flashlight.

The two Irish women did not seemed to be phased by either the steepness of the ascent or the lack of oxygen. They were rarely more than a few feet from the guide. The rest of us had considerably more trouble. I firmly believe my body was meant to enjoy a near sea level existence. I didn't have as much trouble breathing as some, but it was very, very difficult. At points I would have to stop ever minute or so.

The porters, who are capable of running up the hills we struggle with, arrived before us and fixed dinner. We ate a very good meal and were in bed by 8. Sleeping at this height is difficult because the lack of oxygen wakes you up frequently.

Sorry I´m so behind, I haven´t had much time to write in the last few days.

Lares Trek - Day One

We began the day early with a long bus ride into the mountains near Cuzco. Our first stop was at the ruins of an Incan farming town. Here we were able to see the enormous terraces they Incans would build into the sides of the mountains. Each terrace was around 100-150 yards long, 20 yards wide and 10 feet tall continuing far down the mountain. It made for a tough hike to the town above

In the ruins we were able to see the three types of stone walls made by the Incans. The most interesting are the walls of the temple buildings. Very large stones of all shapes and sizes are joined so closely together that they never need mortar. When the walls are opened you can see that each stone has a slot or a tab fits into the either the stone above, below or next to it. They would also carve small channels in the stone before they were placed together. Into these channels they would pour molten metal which would cool and form metal bars holding the walls together.

We boarded our bus again and headed to the Incan fortress of Ollaytatambo. This fortress was one of the last to avoid capture from the Spanish. The Incas diverted the very large river running near the city to block the entrance. It also boasted a system of lookouts, storage centers, troop garrisons visible in the surrounding mountains. The fortress itself was heavily fortified, the walls are incredible thick. Some of the stones are twenty feet long weighing tens of tons. From the composition of the rock scientist are able to tell they were dragged from a mountain top quarry miles away. The engineering and construction of the city was so strong that it was able to hold off the attacking Spanish for two years.

That night we stayed in Ollaytatambo. I ate at a small restaurant with no menu. You just sat down and they brought you food. I had a strange soup, macaroni casserole and coca tea for about 70 cents.

Peruvian elections are in November. The city was hosting a large Political rally/concert/party that went on long into the night making it a challenge to sleep.

Trekking Companions

I was very fortunate to have a wonderful group of people to share in the trekking experience.

Eva and Lorna are a veterinarians from Ireland. They had come to do volunteer work on domestic animals in Iquitos, a large city on the edge of the Amazon. The work consisted of neutering thousands of stray and pet dogs. It seems as if every person here owns at least one dog, and the roam freely. As a fundraising effort Eva participated in The Great Amazon River Race . The race is 130 mile sprint down the Amazon on log rafts. She said it was the most grueling and awful thing she has ever done. None of her team of four vets had ever rafted before an none had been on the Amazon. After 3 days of rafting 9 hours, they came in 2nd place in the international competition. They finished a mere 3 hours behind the Peruvian team. Lorna watched the race from the relative safety of a spectator boat.

Andy is a network tech for a Canandian cable company. He is around the same size as me, and sticks out in the crowds of 5 ft men as much as I do.

Linda and Jim are a Australian couple living near Brisbane. Jim works in hardware store and Linda is an elementary school teacher. If you substitute hunting wallabies with deer hunting, growing up in rural Australia sounds much like life in the rural south.

Nicola and Alex are originally from Russia and now live in Canada. They both are excellent photographers and brought along the most expensive looking camera I have ever seen.

Tanya and Alex are another couple of Canadians. Alex wore shorts through almost our entire hike and Tanya kept asking why he signed them up for this.

Ara is a Armenian man who grew up in Iran and now lives in California. He owned a construction company and now works as an investor. Ara was my roommate/tent mate for the trek.

Linda is a Doctor from London. She seemed to a have an infinite knowledge of pharmacology and would have long conversations with the vets about what drugs they used on animals.

Cat is a web designer from Wimbeldon. She has a very funny laugh. We heard quite a bit of it after the combination of altitude and coca tea made her a little euphoric.

Umberto is our trekking guide. He life story is like something out a novel. He was the youngest of thirteen children. In the highlands, as soon as you are to big to be carried around by your mother you have to start working. At the age of five the career path for Umberto was shepard. At thirteen he went to live with an uncle in Lima. There he when to school and worked in a theater as and actor and folk dancer. 18 years ago he became an Inca Trail guide. He has made the 42 km walk almost once a week since 1988. His most amazing achievement is running the annual Inca Trail race in 6 hours and 30 minutes. The hike usually takes 4 days.

Arrival In Cuzco

I met the group last night. There are twelve of us. The majority of the group are Canadian, there are also a four Brits, a couple of Australians and one other American. Ara the man from the US is originally Armenian and now lives in California. I am the only one even approaching southern.

As often is the case, conversations with the southerner turned to grits . Opinions on their composition ranged from balls of fried fat to a fried animal. There was a common consensus the grits must be deep fried. I said that cheese grits were one of my favorite foods, and that they were a part of every Yelverton holiday. I was met with very puzzled looks.

This morning we took an early flight to Cuzco. The plane was surprising large with spacious seats. After my experience in Coast Rica I expected much less.

The trip was absolutely beautiful. There is a thick cloud cover over the coastal city Lima. When you near the central desert the mountains cut right through the clouds. The line is so straight and distinct it looks like giant white waves lapping at the brown desert mountains.

We flew over many beautiful mountain lakes that appear completely inaccessible. I could not see any roads leading to them nor buildings surrounding them. After about an hour over these very high mountains we took a very sharp banking descent into the valley containing Cuzco.

I will right more about the city when I return form my hike and have more time to look around.

We start the first leg of our trek tomorrow with a slow 6 hour bus ride up to a height of 3700 m. We will be stopping in several small towns along the way to make the altitude adjustment easier. The altitude is not bothering me yet, but it is definitely noticeable. I drank several cups of coca tea and took a nap and that seems to have helped.

I may be able to write tomorrow, but this will likely be the last you here from me for a few days.

Central Lima

Today I spent the day in central Lima. I saw many impressive buildings and cathedrals. I enjoyed a couple of tours, the Convent San Francisco being the most interesting. The tour took you through the catacombs beneath the church. The tunnels were so small I could rarely stand-up straight. Over 2500 bodies were buried beneath the convent. When there was nothing left of bodies but bones, the bones were taken out and laid in a circular pattern in giant wells. It was very creepy to see hundreds of skulls stacked on top of each other. Franciscan monsk still live in the convent, and unbelieveably they can still be buried in a reserved section of the catacombs if they wish.

After leaving the Convent I happened upon a large parade. It was a group of Lima residents from Lake Titicaca. Most wore traditional dress, but inexplicably there was also a large group of men dressed as 20´s gangsters with toy Tommy guns. They appeared to be protecting a large float with a statue of Mary caried on the shoulders of several men.

I bought a plate of ceviche calamarie from a small cafe across the street. It seemed a good deal at about $1,50. I was surprised to learn that two more courses were also included. This was the first time I have not been able to finish a dollar and a half worth of food.

I have checked in to the hotel with my tour group. I will everyone this evening. We fly to Cuzco at 7am tomorrow.