My travelling adventures...

(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!

Howdy!  Realised had done a major typo in last entry so thought would do a quick other one about the most fantastic meal i just had - at the Fallen Angel - was a brilliant restaurant...  They had fish in bath tubs with glass over the top, which you ate on, pictures of angels and flying pigs, weird and wonderful lights and paintings everywhere... and the food wasa amazing...  I had a ´5 elements´steak - had 5 hrbs/spices on it incl cinnamon, it smelt gorgeous and was absolutely delicious - nearly as good as chocolate!  Then for desert shared a mouse that was made from ´converted´white chocolate and fresh strawberry puree - yum!  It was really the atmophere of the place that made it tho...  Anyway hopefully will be able to post some more pics soon!
Take care,
Em

Howdy folks!  Well lets start from the beginning... the bus ride from La Pa to Cuzco was good - had some good movies (Lilo and Stitch 2, the breakup, and the Bucket List) with some beautiful scenery.  Got to Cusco mid-arvo and went and had lunch at ´Jacks´which was pretty good prices and yummy fresh food.  It is nice wandering around a place where so many people have enjoyed and recommended places to visit and eat at etc...  got side-tracked by a few jewellery shops on my way to a massage (hmmm nice)... and then the next day 8 of us (NZ couple - Gabby and Rob, Pia & Katie, Sarah & Mike, Ruth and I) were off to the Amazon... 
Katie got up early and went and visited the church nearby...  We all left at 8 to get our 10am flight...  As we were delayed on the runway I remembered I hadnt given my insuance details to Loula (our tour leader) so wrote them out for Sarah - just in case...  When we finally took off, it took ages along the runway and when we finally achieved ´lift off´the plane was shuddering and making an awful noise and we were all thinking ´that doesnt sound right´.  10 minutes into the flight when we are flying over the andes the captain comes over the speaker and starts with ´importantia´or something and then goes on more in spanish and the next thing we know the stewardesses are going over the emergency procedures and showing us the emergency exits and brace positions and saying we have to do an emergency landing!  Poor Katie is scared of flying as it is, and because most of it is happening in spanish and it is hard to get a handle of what is happening it was pretty scary! Turns out we were turning back to Cusco and landing back there...  That was a looooong way back to Cusco.  We all got out that little flight card and reviewed the brace position...  but then we were seemingly flying along nicely...  And then we started getting lower and lower and it seemed like we were just coasting (we possibly were)... getting closer to the airport, and then finally the captain comes over the speaker again, says something in spanish and then all of a sudden ´brace brace brace!´- crumpets!  So we all have our heads down etc and the landing went pretty much same as usual - but no one looked up til we had slowed right down...  The plane smelt a bit funny (enginey kind of smell) and when we got off you could see one of the propellor things had heaps of black smoke coming out of it... (for you boys it was an airbus 319 plane).  They gave us a soft drink and we ony had to wait half and hour for the next scheduled flight to P. Maldonado (the Amazon) which we were all able to fit on.  Just seemed a bit bizarre how Katie had done the church thing in the morning (she normally wouldnt have gone in at all) and I thought about my insurance  - not that that was required...
Anyway we fianlly made it to the amazon basin safe and sound - was absolutely brilliant to be down from altitude (we were under 2500m ASL) -could breath easier, ( sorry about the details ) didn´t get blood when blowing your nose and the little sandfly bites and sunburn that i got at the beginning (1st and 5th day of tour) finally started to heal (your body takes ages longer to heal at altitude).  We went for a night walk, then a day long walk to a lake and row on the lake, then a night boat ride while at the Amazon...  Saw a toucanet (mini toucan), tarantula, tamarind monkeys, lots of other spiders and birds and bugs, and caiman (like mini crocs) as well as some beautiful (huge) trees and plants...  Was hot and humid - but have been days in Brissie that have been similiar so wasnt too bad... and was pretty cool to be in the Amazon...  We had really good guides that knew lots of info about all the critters that we saw. 
When we were on the night boat, we had a german girl that was doing the tour with us... she was busting to go to the toilet (was only an hour on the night boat).  Anyway we pull up to the hotel jetty, thinking she is going to do a mad dash up to the hotel bit and go to the toilet but no - she giggles and drops her pants beside the jetty in the squelchy mud - was pretty funny - no one could believe it! 
The meals where we were staying were amazing - a french lady owned the place (it was only 5yo) so was pretty tasty - and were more traditional kind of meals as well.  Had limited electricity so only the common room had lights - everywhere else was lit by candles - we had a candle each for our room ad one for the bathroom (just cold water shower but that was fine).  We were in thatch-roofed bungalows which had mosquito nets over the bed so felt like a princess at night.  The curtains in our room were fine and just had mosquito netting for windows, so could see fireflies going by during the night (ahhh lovely!)
The flight back today was fine... went back to Jacks for lunch and going to The Fallen Angel for dinner tonight hopefully.  Been wandering round the shops (got bulk discount fo a couple of things that Ruth and Katie and I have bought) - love bargaining...
Off to Sacred Valley tomorrow and then starting the Inca Trail the following day!
Thats enough stories for now :)
Later gators!

Hi!  Just got back from Lake Titcaca - was lovely...  The bus ride into Peru went ok - didnt feel like 9hrs of travl or whatever it was... some people had problems at the border and got charged 20bolivianos to get their passport back cos not having this slip of paper (as I came thru an airport I had the bit of paper so was ok). Puno is OK - but v. expensive for postage (looks like I am going to be lugging a couple of kilos of alpacca goods :)  )
We went to a couple of ´natural´islands on Lake Titcaca - it was very nice and peaceful - not may of them have electricity so it was a nice rustic lifestyle.  the people were all very friendly and we had an absolutely delcious meal with the host family. They mostly eat vegetarian - for some reason they dont fish.  Then that night we all dressed up to go to a dance that they held for the tourists that were on the island (there were a couple of groups) - was fun. I gave our host family some food and a toy koala - the koala was a big hit, it was passed around and they were all patting it - not sure they had seen a toy like that before.  Then today we visited the floating islands which were very cool - just made out of reeds (they do fish on the floating islands).  We had a really good local guide that told us lots of legends and history of the islands, incl how it was where the incas originated...  We have our last night here in Puno before going to Cuzco (yay!) for a night, then the Amazon!...
here´s some photos!

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Howdy folks!  Well i did death road today with 8 others from the group and we all survived!  We had a bus ride to the top of the road and then mountain biked it down (which took about 4.5hrs all up)...  They actually have built a new road about a year ago to replace the old one (which we came back on - still a few substantial landslides on it tho)... So the first 32km was on bitumen on the 'new' road (that replaced the old section)  and then the last 31km on the original dirt death road... was so beautiful up there -  very rainforesty... but crumbs - no wonder they had to build a new road!  Big rocky overhangs, so narrow in some places with those steep drop offs that you see in all the photos, rode thru little waterfalls, and sharp corners - a few nearly 90degrees and on the 'snake' section it did a 180 within ~50m.  Of course I was the slowest in the group and the only one to fall off!  I was too busy watching the scenery and rode over a rock that didnt want to be bicycled over... no impressive somersaults or anything - just a tear in my pants/trousers and a bit of a swollen knee.  It was on trumpter corner (cant remeber the name in spanish) - apparently a lot of the sections are named and this one was because they used to blow trumnpets there to warn people of the danger... it had a few gravestones there (which is what attracted my attention)  -so i suppose i picked a good corner!  The 3hr bus ride back to La Paz seemed very long and we got back about 8.30 in time to meet the 4 new additions to the group and the new tour leader... all seem nice and the new tour leader more informative and organsied which is good.
Unfortunately have to leave early (8am) tomorrow so wont get another chance to wander round La Paz - is gerat for shopping - and the witches markets with all the herbs and dried up animals is pretty interesting to look thru.  We have about 9hrs travel time to get to Puno (Peru) where we spend a night before catching a boat across Lake Titicaca.  And the soon after that we hit the Amazon!  And then Inca Trail!  Exciting times!

Howdy folks!
Well i am back from my excursion to the salt flats!  Very good stuff but first...
As I think i said we spent an extra day in Sucre cos the tour leader thought potasi was a hole and like the sucre hotel a lot better... but it was all good...  Got taxis to Potasi (same nice interesting curvy roads with the driver falling asleep towwards the end!) and did the mine tour... Think we got more of an adventure experience rather than cultural  whihc was a bit disappointing... A lot of people I had spoken to had loved their mine tour - got to talk to the miners etc.  We met three miners and were told about their working conditions - start working there when 14, work 7 days a week, life expectancy of about 50 on the upper levels, but if work in the lower levels then only 10-20yrs after they start working due to the bad conditions (is around 45 degrees and has high levels of arsenic) and then we let of a stick of dynamite and explored some of the mine.  The tour operator hadnt gone the way she took us out before and it was pretty interesting at times...  Had a little rock face had to climb, a tunnel had to crawl thru on your tummy and get dragged out of, and then after we´d been walking down there about an hour the guy points to a hole in the ceiling (about 4m above) and say we need to get up there... so he clambers up the wall like a monkey and goes in search of a ladder to help us get out... the ladder didn´t fit down thru so we had to get a ´leg up´from the guys to clamber onto the ladder which was wedged against the opposite wall and make our way up... - got some lovely bruises from it all.
Potasi is a UNESCO site and I thought it was really pretty around the historical part - I really enjoyed it, even tho the hotel we were staying at was still in the process of being built, it was all good.  Then got a private bus to Uyuni...  Just had dinner and got ready for our 4wdriving adventure...
Visited the train graveyard, had fun at the salt flats (will add more pics later as they are on a different memory card), and then did a whole lot of driving.  We went up to 4900m - most of the time we were around  4200m.  The only time the altitude has really affected me was when I was in La Paz when i had those bad headaches...  And just get a bit breathless sometimes...  Carmela got really bad altitude sickness and was feeling pretty nauseous, but after some of the tablets she is making a good recovery.  Our 4wd man was chewing cocoa leaves for altitude - and they smell like  silkworms i reckon...
The things that stick out about the three days are all the llamas, the bumpy dirt roads, the dust, and the red-brown-grey andean mountains, and the most beautiful night sky ever - was hardly a spot without a twinkle in it! We also saw heaps of the andean deer whose fur is apparently the finest natural fibre and is worth 5times its weight in silver...  We had a long drive back on our final day - got up at 4 to see the sun rise, however our vehicle getting bogged right beside a geyser (right after our driver had told us not to get too close to them due the gases being not good for you)... and then we got a flat tyre later on but arrived back in Uyuni at around 5.  Caught a night train at 12 - was pretty funny as we got into this carriage with no lights and were just waiting there...  this fancy lit up train pulls up beside us, and because we all have so much faith in our tour leader we were asking whether we should check we were on the right train... In the end our carriage got shunted to join the other one and we got electricity.  A little man then hands out blankets and little pillows and a little cake snack... If you had already fallen asleep he tucked the blanket around you (very cute).    Anyway now back in La Paz and had super fun shopping this afternoon with Jo.  We are now off to our final group dinner - 5 are leaving tomorrow (including Jo) and 4 are joining us.  Will write again soon!

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