My travelling adventures...

I am back from the Galapagos Islands (sniff sniff).  
When we (16 of us) first arrived at the dock we were taking loads of photos of these crabs on the distant rocks and the marine iguanas - little did we realise how amazingly close, and how much we were going to see, in the following days. 
Pretty much the daily routine was get up for breakfast at 7, do a little hike, snorkel, rest, lunch, rest, little hike (hike being 1-2km in the heat - was very hot, was an effort), then snorkel, shower, drinks at the bar, dinner, bar, then bed...  Little bell would be rung every time a meal was served or we had to catch a dinghy for the landings to an island...  I became known as the dessert critic as I was not impressed when we consistently got fruit for dessert - esp melon!!!The bar was pretty good as the bartender was very generous with his servings.  I had a little cabin on the main deck all to myself which was pretty cool - prime location.
The guides told us a bit about the corruption going on at Galapagos... Only meant to be 120,000 visitors per year but 168000 went last year... There was meant to be a limit on teh size of cruise ships but after one large cruise ship with over 100 passengers hassled enough the government eventually gave them a permit to cruise the park...
Was crystal clear turquiose waters - absolutely stunning with volcanic islands dotted about the place... very nice and relaxing as well as being an unbelievable experience....  Had brilliant people on the boat as well - a lot of canadians, range of ages, all got on really well... 
Again so much wonderful stuff so will just do the highlights...

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(and some pics from today)
PS went out for mexican for dinner (at red hot chilli peppers) - very yum! But most importantly bargain almond mangnum for desert - $1! :) And how brilliant is this hotel - pay TV or whatever it is and then the house-keeping lady comes knocking on your door offering chocolates - I wasnt going to be greedy and just took 1 but she told me to take more!  Night night!

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Dont you love upgrades? 
Got to quito and they didnt have my room ready so got to use the net for a bit... and while i was waiting met an english couple staying at the hostel who invited me out to dinner with them later that night which was good...  Anyway ended up getting a little midget room with my own bathroom (was meant to be dorm, share bathroom) and it had a little TV too! 
Everything was closed in Quito - so bizarre - capital city and hardly anything open cos it was sunday. The guy at the hostel said the only thing to do was wander down to the park at the end of the street where there were some markets... Oh well off to the markets again! :)  Pretty much same stuff but they also had an artists painting section - there were some amazing paintings - some really different stuff as well... If i felt like i had a home (and was nearly at the end of my trip) i would have bought one...
On the way back i stopped off for chocolate caliente con queso y empanadas...  they actually put cheese in the hot choc. and it was surprisingly ok... and then sugar on the cheese empanadas - again ok... :)
After getting a bit scared - was told my rough guide and other numerous guidebooks that we had to carry our passports (original, copy not accepted) with us at all times... and to catch taxi anywhere after 8pm, a group of us walked round the corner to an english pub for some dinner and drinks...  was all good. 
Then went to the equator - centre of the world :) with the english couple this morning.. caught the local bus - was pretty good.  Where they have built the fancy monument etc is not actually the equatorial line - it is a bit north of that down the road - and of course they have another museum there... but the museum was really good... have different local houses (one made of pumicestone and animal poo - was nice and cool inside but did smell a bit)... saw a shrunken head (they boil it with 16 secret plant extracts - sounds a bit like KFC!)... then we did some equatorial tricks which were pretty cool... i balanced an egg on a nail (have certificate to prove it!), saw the clockwise and anticlockwise direction of water going down a sink (on the equator goes straight down), walked along the equatorial line with eyes closed - cos of the forces v. hard to do... and what i was most impressed with was we did a few resistance tricks: like i had my arms half way above my head and someone tried to pull them down - they couldnt do it in the N/S hemisphere but on the equator easy as! same with making an OK single with your hand - someone couldnt pull your fingers apart either side of the equator but when you stood on the equator you couldnt stop them...
Posted some stuff off home this arvo - amazing how many people i met in the PO!  Was kind of fun!
Anyway about to meet the group (in half hour) to get the low-down on galapagos - I leave tomorrow - YAY!

hey! how is it going?  Just a quick little hello from ecuador...  Flight was fine, altho not to impressed with the $30US airport tax - my travel agent had said wouldnt have to pay anything as all included in the ticket... going to be v. annoying when have to stopover in lima for the night on way to caracas!  I orgaised a taxi from the airport to take me to the hotel that the galapagos tour is starting from so could leave my main pack there while i went to otavalo...  Met up with Carmel there for a bit and she took me round the block to the atm etc...  then brgained with  txi driver to take me to the main bus terminal...  he ended up stopping on the edge of a main hwy (he didnt speak english) - but wht i cold make out was that the traffic was bad and so this was the best place to get the bus to otavalo - there was no way i was getting out of the taxi mid-hwy and he said ´no problemo´for me to wait in the taxi til the bus came (and it did! :) )  the 2.5hr bus ride was a bargain ($2).  Not exactly compfy seats tho - glad it was a nice thin girl sitting next to me.  Started raining along the way so at otavalo it was drizzly and no taxis in sight...  One pulled up and this old man got in - i must have looked miserable cos then he and the taxi driver spoke and the taxi driver asked me where i wanted to go - so ended up sharing a taxi which was nice... (only about 8 blocks but worth the $1 fare in the rain and the dark when you dont know where you are going). 
The place i am staying at is nice - yummy meals.  And you got to like a place that serves popcorn to nibble on while you wait for your meal.  I didnt end up getting up at 5.30 to see the animal market - glad i didnt - was disturbed enough seeing cuys/guinea pigs running around in bags and dead shickens being dragged around by their feet everywhere.
The markets were absolutely huge - sprawled everywhere all over the city - hard to know where to start - and no real organisation of course...  after  few hours went back to the hotel to have  break... ad then back out again :)  Also caught a bus to Cotacachi - nearby village famous for lether - Gabby and Rob told me about it... mistake -  ended up buying 3 bags (what am I going to do with all of this stuff!! - the post office is going to love me - particularly as it isnt meant to be too reliable... thinking i will send some stuff from here, then the really important stuff - like photo disks - from Costa Rica (ages away - can i last?) as it is meant to be cheap and reliable... (bit of info for you :) ).
Have had lots of avacados - didnt know i liked them so much - but v. tasty here and served with nearly everything...  What else - huge corns - massiver kernals but not very sweet tasting but still tasty...
(trying to think of things i will remember about the trip) - oh had enough of men peeing on the side of the streets - doesnt matter what direction they are facing - they just go anywhere (same in Peru and Bolivia as well)... blugh!  But ecuador is cheaper than Peru - gotta like that... unforunately havent seen any bargain jewelery tho (mybe a good thing tho !=
Anyway think that is about it for now... the´a´on the keyboard not working v. well so hopefully i got them all...
Off back to Quito in about an hour - booked in at a hostel for one night nearby to the fancy hotel...
Later!

Hi!  Just a little note while i am on the net to say hello... just about to get on a plane to take me to Quito... where i will quickly drop my bag off at the hotel where my tour for galapagos starts in a few days time, then hopefully find a bus that will take me to Otavalo ready for an early start at the markets tomorrow (have already booked a cheap little B&B for tonight)!  Exciting stuff. 
Had a last group drink last night and then had dinner with Gabby, Rob, Sarah, Mike and Carmel - was very yum!  During the day I wandered around with Mike and Sarah...  Sarah got Paddington Bear (he came all the way from deepest darkest peru - never knew that - he was orphaned cos his parents were in an earthquake and he lived with his aunt lucy - who i met yesterday as well :)  And his aunt lucy sent me over to UK when she had to go to an old bears home - very sad indeed!).  Anyway as we were wandering around this mad homeless woman attacked Sarah (as sarah was ushering me into a shop telling me to mind my bag cos the woman looked crazy) - she scratched sarah down her back with something - pretty yuck.  The shopkeeper was really nice and went to the chemist to get a bandage and alcohol to clean it, and locals stopped and helped Mike talk to the policeman about what had happened (cos of the english-spanish barrier) - so apart from that lady the people were great!  Anyway better go so about this plane business!  Later!

Howdy!  Well... had a nightmare night bus (well actually could have been way worse but you gotta complain about something ;) ) - was hot and the looongest 8 hours with seats that hardly reclined, was very stuffy - but made it in the end to Nazca...  Nazca was a pretty small town and unbeleivably completely not set up for tourists...  Went to this cemetary where we saw some mummies etc before doing the flight over the nazca lines... i was in a 3 seater plane (cessna 172 or something) - it was amazing - the lines were so clear... although there are lots of thermals up in those skies (felt a lot of them! eek!)  The lines are thought to have been drawn about 500BC and were only discovered about 50yrs ago...  people have thought they were put there by aliens (or for aliens) esp. due to some of the burial grounds around there - they have found lots of skulls with holes drilled thru them.  There are also lots of underground irrigation channels from those times, lined with bolders - all very neatly done.  So it is thought that the nazca lines were all part of some ritual - the nazca people used to walk along them (they are many geometric lines around them) to try and massage the land to give them water (apparently around that time there was the beginning of a mega drought).
The following day we went to ´this place´on the way to Pisco for sand buggies and sand boarding.... the buggies were so much fun - it just like being on a roller coaster going straight up adn down steep dunes, doing loops etc - heaps of fun... And then the sand boarding (most of us just went down on our tummies)... did 3 - they got longer and steeper each time - but managed to have an awesome time on each!  We also saw an oasis out in the desert where we were - full of banana and palm trees etc - pretty cool - just like you see in the cartoons :).
Then onto Pisco...  It suffered badly from an earthquake 15 August last year... was pretty bad...  we havent really been confronted too much with the poor conditions some people have to live in - but couldnt get away from it in Pisco... - pretty sad.  Altho having said that didnt stop us having a few pisco sours to celebrate Ruth´s last night on tour with us (she left today to go to the US to join up with a new tour group).  So am now in Lima and it is a bit sad - another session of goodbyes... But I am so looking forward to Ecuador - Otavalo markets here i come!!!! Gabby has shown me some of her bargains she got so i know the prices... and i have to send stuff back anyway - may as well make it worthwhile!
Lima - we are staying in Miraflores - a nice neighbourhood - and have been for a wander and dinner.  I also went for a walk with Carmel to book my hostel for tomorrow night (1/4 of the price of the hotel) and it looks ok - only there for 1 night this time... and then i will be coming back to lima one night at midnight as a stopover on the way to caracas...
So will be wandering the Lima streets tomorrow... and maybe adding some pics for you to look at :)  Otherwise the next time you hear from me will be in Ecuador!
Later gators!

:) Well had an ice night in Arequipa... hotel is pretty good.  Have had triple share (with Carmela and Ruth) due to 2 other gap tours at the hotel.  Lots of the hotels seem to have nice little courtyards in the middle - very spanish. 
Left at 6am (2.5hr earlier than normal) to go to the Colca Canyon due to a strike being held at the edge of town.  The our guide was great and very information, unfortunately everyone wsa pretty tired so a lot of us fell asleep during his talk on the way out there.  We stopped after 3 hrs to hav an early lunch, and then kept going to our little village near Chivay.  The hotel was beautiful - had a pet (not very freindly) alpacca.  We all went for a dip in the thermal baths (complete with pina coladas) in the evening.
Got up early to have the 2hr drive to the canyon´s rim.  Apparently it is the 2nd deepest canyon in the world.  The other is also in the Andes and they think that there could be a deeper, undiscovered canyon...  Saw heaps of condors  - was lovely to watch them coar above us - soem of them got really close (less than 5m)... and we saw a flock of about 11!  We were pretty lucky.  Then thre was the long bus ride back to Arequipa.  Have been taking it pretty easy.  Have an 8hr nigt bus to Nazca tonight - and get to see the nazca lines tomorrow - v. exciting.  Then onto Pisco the next day (visit the Ballesteras Islands) and then Lima the following day, and then the end of the tour!
Have booked to go to Otavalo when i get to Quito (on friday) to go to the weekend markets... - not sure how i am going to handle that - have a pretty full backpack waiting to get somewhere with a cheaper postal system!  Another bag might need to be purchased :) (cant pass up bargains!)
Hope all is well for everyone...

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 Day 1
 Day 2 - top of dead womans pass
 Day 3
 Day 4 - Macchu Picchu
 Forever Young Orchid
 Another orchid :)

 Some peruvian weavers
Amazon photos
 Funky-looking bird
 Tarantula

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Howdy!  I survived the Inca Trail - yippeee!  And surprisingly enough not to sore - apart from my poor little footsies...  It was beautiful scenery getting there - stayed in ollyantambo (excuse the spelling) where we bought some wooden walking sticks and saw an inca sight, then started the inca trail the next day...  Was great... you walk and the porters have everything set up for lunch (usually in a little tent), with a bowl of water each so you can wash your hands and face - and the food was delicious!  Then at the end of the day - same again - have tea about 5 and then dinner around 7.30...  with all your tents set up when you arrive at the campsite.  The porters wake you up with a cup of cocoa tea and a bowl of hot water in the morning, you have breakie and they pack everything up for you - that is what i call camping! 
First day was relatively easy... I bumped into a guy i met at easter island which was pretty cool...  The second day - over dead woman´s pass (about 4200m ASL) (called that cos they found a mummy up there apparently) - the altitude was a bit rough - especially for a few people who had to resort to sniffing alcohol to get them going... lots of steps - up and down so although only 9km walk was good to get to the campsite.  I thought the thrid day was the roughest - our guide called it flat walking but there was definitely an upward slant and lots of steps involved.  But saw a few inca sites along the way - the best of which was near our campsite, and had beautiful scenery and some very pretty flowers along the way (that was 16km of walking - took about 8-9hrs incl. lunch).  On our final day we got up just before 4 - although hardly slept at all due to a noisy campsite and the porters bustling around in the middle of the night fixing our tents when it began raining.  We were the first group queued up at the checkpoint to get to Macchu Picchu - we got there about 4.30 and the gates didnt open for another hour so that was a nice wait in the dark ;)  It took about an hour to get to the sun gate - fog everywhere -which unfortunately hadnt cleared by the time we got there.  Apparently the trail that we walked on was the same that the incas used (only about 15% has been restored) - they had a very steep staircase - have no idea how the short little peruvian incas got up that one!  So when we arrived in Macchu Picchu unfortunately couldnt see too far in front of us because of the fog...  We went and had a drink and came back up to MP fairly certain that the drizzle and clouds were not going to lift... and as we were walking back up to the main site the clouds started lifting - and it was amazing!  All of us were concentrating on climbing the stairs... and we just rounded a corner and could see the whole site and we all were very impressed.  It was pretty cool in itself to watch the clouds rise like that, and to see Macchu Picchu was breathtaking... We had a tour of the site and then went back up to the caretakers cottage for the postcard picture after all the clouds had completely cleared and just lazed around MP. 
Caught the train back for part of the way - again brilliant scenery among the mountains seeing a few inca ruins along the way.  Then bus for 2.5hrs back to Cusco - feels like home to everyone - but we are moving on tomorrow to Areqipea.
Will add some photos soon!