Peru

We took the 7 hour bus north to Puno from where we were headed to lake Titicaca. I had had a completely different inage in my head of how it would look but i didnt think it was as big..
We were going to spend a night out on the lake with a family so first things first we had to go and get some groceries and presents for the kids to bring with us. We thought it was hilarious that a tin of tuna was named after a womans bodily part so off course we had to give it a go.. haha

The boat took us all out and the first island we got to was called Tequile, it took 2 hours to get to so i thought i would check mobile signals on lake titicaca and sure enough .... technology is great so i called Paula jane in London! which Ger thought was unbelievable..lol

We stopped off at Tequile for a walk about and lunch and from here you can get the best views of the lake, it was stunning and the traditional dress was amazing as well, all the loacls were so colourful... little did we know that we would have the same outfits on later!

From here we went to Alamanta island to meet our families for the night, it was like the price is right come on down you´ve won 2 irish folk for the night... the mums were all waiting at the port in the hope that their family got picked... quite embarrassing really, but we ended up with a mum called Juana and she was lovely...i actually think she had gotten in contact with my mum judging by the choice of pictures on the bedroom wall that myself and Ger were to share that night!!

After getting settled in Juana was making dinner and we decided on a game of football with the locals before going to see the sunset, the lads lost 2-3 but not bad when you factor in the altitude and not being able to breathe! At least they all looked good which is the main thing!

That night after dinner Juana dressed us up to join the others for a traditional night ut and titicaca disco... it was hilarious not to mention boiling as the girls had to put on about 5 layers to get the look....but i still managed to get the dubs socks on as a wee surprise for Ger!! haha We danced and drank all night and it was great craic..

The following morning after fab pancakes for brekkie we said goodbye to our island mums and headed to the islands of Uros - the floating reed islands.. These were mad as you thought you would sink when you tried to walk on them but nope loads of families lived on these every day there were even schools, nurseries, doctors and clinics on top of them..very cool!

We even got to go out out on one of the reed boats and chill out, which Ger took full advantage of! lol

Even though a lot of these have been made for the tourists they were still fab and it had been a great few days away..

We had to get up early again the morning after our machu picchu celebrations so the heads were extremely sore... i think we were still drunk but they let us onto the flight anyhow to the jungle and we arrived in 90 degree heat at about 10am!
We were met by our jungle guide Jonny who was well cool and from here we went by bus to the port to get our boat into the jungle depths...
First though we got to stop off at the local markets to check our all the medicinal jungle potions and remedies..apparently the dragon blood cures all ailments.. but i was more mesmerised by the size of all the fruits and vegetables, they looked as though they had been grown on steroids everything was massive!

We got onto our wee canoe boat thing and were sailing down the river for about 2 hours, it was fab the noises alone all around us were mad, however come night time they increased and you would swear the jungle was having an animal rave.. there were macau´s everywhere beautiful big birds...and when we reached our lodge it really was gorgeous and we no longer cared about our hangovers when we seen the hammocks and the wildlife all around us, we even had resident agouti´s ( like huge hamsters) that lived next door to our cabin! Not to mention the cute wee ducks that rocked about the place.

We got to relax for a bit and then went out for jungle walks at night to see the nocturnal dudes.. Ger became Dr Dolittle and wanted to hold and touch everything incuding this baby boa snake!

The only thing i held was the erotic root tree member... so called for its shape...i´ll let you work that one out yourselves!

The following morning we went out jungle trekking and in true rain forest style we got drenched! This didnt stop Ger though and away he went with Jonny piranha fishing this time....

It was great even though i found a huge spider in my pants when i dared to go to the jungle loo! That night we got taken out to look for caymens.... small alligators! And when they dont want to come to you jonny and henry our giudes didnt let that stop them, so they went into the water and got them for us! And yes Ger got to hold them!

It had been a fab few days but we flew back to Cusco to join the rest of the group to head to Puno and Lake Titicaca...

And just so you know there is plenty of money to be made in the jungle as we found that gold digging is a huge industry out there as well...!

We got an early morning flight to Cusco further south in Peru the view in the morning was gorgeous but it didnt help with the 3am earliness....

Although we still managed a few hours sightseeing in Cusco before we headed off...

We were scheduled for our prep meetings for our 4 day inca trail. We joined a group of about 15 other young people mostly from England and Ireland again so we were of to a great start as the banter and excitement was rife.. We went from Cusco to a place called Ollantaytambo to start our trail and stopped along the way at a community weaving community where yes ger kicked off a game of football in respect for the dubs as this was also the day of the dubs quarter final win, so ger was well dressed for the occasion!...and we also got our first glimpses of inca ruins, they were well cool.

We were to get picked up the following morning to start walking and had to pack a duffel bag of no more than 7kg, which one of the 16 porters would carry for us! It was a huge operation as there was us lot in the group of hikers and then our entourage bumped the numbers up to near 40...
The day before starting everyone was taking it easy and trying to chill out as much as possible before the 4 days of toughness started, so yes we had a celebratory pint in the square at Ollantaytambo before we went!

We got picked up at 8 the next morning and off we went. The sky was blue and it was roasting weather so we were off to a good start...

The scenery was amazing and the smaller daypacks that we all had ourselves for water and that was grand to carry, but we had been warned that day one was known as the "easy day", it was crazy though watching the porters running past us with 25kg each on their backs - tents, tables, our luggage, food everything, they had to get to camp and set up and cook lunch before we got there, they would put you to shame, but as soon as we started myself ger and 2 friends from england - trainee doctors ( very handy!) hung out at the back of the pack and adopted the tortoise strategy as opposed to the rest of the hares that thought it was a race... we knew burn out wouldnt take too long so we had a right laugh at the back! And besides the scenery was too good too miss...

We stopped for lunch half way up the first mountain and headed off again and actually got to camp for the night at the same time as the porters god love them... we were all too eager but that would change come day 2 though.. the campsite was well cool and the dinner and food was fab, 3 courses and our tents and mattresses and sleeping bags all set up for us, we had been expecting a lot harsher conditions...... Oh and we even had a incan shopping centre beside our first campsite...but not too welcoming though was the trantulla in our tent with us that night!

Day 2 - the "hardest day" started early as usual as this was the day i wasnt looking forward to... we had to climb dead womans pass mountain all 4215metres of her.. with altitude it was gonna be tough.
We all started with enthusiam but very quickly everyone was quiet and all you could hear was heavy breathing.. we stayed at the back of the pack as usual but not out of choice this time haha i was finding it particularly difficult with the altitude and my chest and breathing and god love Ger he stayed behind me every step of the way with water and encouraging words. we stopped for lunch after having walked up constantly for 4 hours, but we only got to rest for about an hour and then off we went again as not only did we have to get to the top but we had to then make our way down from the top on the other side to the camp for the night! Someone was obviously having a laugh but oh no on we went....
It took a further 3 hours to get to the top and when i got there i got so emotional and cried, it just felt like a great achievement and we hadnt even got to the main event yet!

Going down the 1000metres to camp then was a breeze as we were delighted with ourselves for having mad it to the top with our 2 lungs still intact, and we got an applause from all the porters for having made it as well...and as it turns out the tortoises won the day making it down to camp first as the burn outs arrived 45 minutes later!!

Day 3 the " unforgettable day" started with sore legs from previous day, everyone was as stiff as a board and we were all waddling like ducks to try to get going again. We were lined up to pass by 4 inca ruins today before arriving at campsite that night, where i might add there would be running hot showers and a pub!! Until now we had been getting woken up at 630 each morning by the porters with a cup of tea and a basin with water and soap to have a wee wash in, or as my mum would call it a "quick lick"...

We had such a good day and the views were amazing, not to mention going through an incan tunnel of love that me and Ger decided to go to long way home by ourselves to see more ruins one of which was known as forever young, before getting to the showers and the pub..oh yes and to show my support of the dubs i wore my socks...

The 4th and final day we were up at 4am in the morning as we had to walk a few hours to reach the sun gate and be on time for sunrise. Even though our legs ached everyone was in great form and excited to get to the finish point - Machu Picchu.
Myself and Ger headed off and when we walked though the sungate and got our first glimpse of Machu Picchu is was just breathtaking, it had been worth every minute! Even though we all looked exhausted we felt fab! Even the Alpacas were up early to welcome us...

Team Rueben - the slow tortoises at the back pulled through in the end and we were the first ones to arrive at site!

Myself and Ger stayed at Machu Picchu for a few hours then just walking around the ruins and taking it all in, we just had such a feeling of achievement that we didnt want to leave the place, i even got mobile signal from the top and was able to call my mum!

Our train was leaving at 230 so we left Machu Picchu at about 1130 and headed to the hot springs to meet the rest of the group and start the celebrations. The train back to Cusco would take about 4 hours but we didnt mind as the scenery along the way was great.

Even though others...namely our tour guide opted for sleep instead!

We got to Cusco at about 630 and had all arranged to meet up at 9 to had a good few pints, starting may i add in paddy o´flahertys irish pub in the main square! This was also the night that the earthquake hit Peru and we all felt the tremors, it was very worrying but we were all grand and it didnt stop us celebrating in the wee small hours for having completed our 4 day trek.. i even treated the peruvians to some famous ´dry the back´, ´floss the teeth´and ´do the shopping´dance moves on the bar!!

Unfortunately the following morning we were scheduled to fly to the amazon jungle so as you can imagine the hangovers were not goodat 7am having only got to bed!!

We arrived in Arequipa after the night bus tired and cramped so the following day we all just chilled out around the town. Its a well cool place and we managed to find an irish pub called Farrens - Hugh farren gers mate who owns farrens pub in Malin Head Donegal, would have been proud! so yes we stayed for beers and to sample their famous farrens burger...we even seen santa!

The main square and general town is gorgeous and we could have chilled out here for a week, shopping was great as well and i did my best to buy as much as we could post home! Another early start the following morning though meant snacks and a movie in bed for me and ger - just what the doctor ordered though as we were up at 6 to go to the Colca Canyon the next morning.

We met our guide Hilda who told us all about the canyon and the altitude... all 4920metres of it! Apparently to stave off altitude sickness though cocoa leaves are given to you to suck and chew in your mouth as people can get very ill from the altitude, the leaves however were pure minging... so me and Ger just stuck to water! We were actually grand and when we reached the highest point - Patawasi, we all got to get out of the bus and make a wish and build some rocks that would be a gift to the canyon/mountain... oh yeah and i also had the novelty of using the highest loo in Peru!

Some of the others in the group didnt take too well though to the altitude and were very sick so a few stops were made along the way, but we didnt mind as the views and scenery were stunning and there were small little stalls and markets the whole way selling all their hand made crafts, the kids were gorgeous too, they all just look like wee Dora the explorers!, some got so upset because they wanted to come with us! ahhh

The road signs had also changed on the way!!

We were staying at a lodge that night in Coporaique in the canyon called Mama Yacchi´s and the place was fab, the views from our room alone were stunning, they even had their own pet Lama that roamed about the grounds and got bottlefed each morning... his name was spot!

We had a practice hike up the mountain that afternoon as a way to see if we would be ok for the forthcoming inca trail! All was cool though and we got to see the sunset, visit an old religious burial ground and met some interesting characters along the way - one lady who looked like a nice version of the wicked witch of the west from the wizard of oz! The kids however were funny as they would dance and sing for us at any opportunity and they were all dressed in traditional clothing- so cute!

After a gorgoeous buffet dinner that night and a quick dip in their hot springs we had an early night as we were leaving at 4am the following morning to go and watch the early morning flight of the condors in the canyon valleys... Even though this was well painful, it was so worth it as the views were amazing and there were loads of condors in flight , we could have stayed there all day just watching them glid about the place, and we also met a wee dog at Maca on the way!

Unfortunately though we were headed back to Arequipa that afternoon as we needed to get prepped about our 4 day inca trail to Machu Picchu, which for me and Ger was the main event!!

We started our GAP tour in Lima and arrived ok into the hotel and met our group, only 7 of us compared to China it was quite small but cool- couple from Galway, a couple from england and one girl called becky a yoga instructor!
We had the day then to walk about Lima and Mira Flores, not really that much to see and do so, big city lots of shops etc etc, so we were happy enough just to chill out and eat some junk food for the day!
The following morning we were up early though and on a bus south to a town called Pisco where the famous Pisco sour drink originated and yes of course we headed out that night to try some!!... pure rocket fuel! bit like the south american version of potcheen.. but this little place was well cool we were staying in a hotel just off the main square but inside it just looked like a small castle and after hostels it was luxury!

We left Pisco the following morning for the Ballestas islands which is just like a small version of the Galapagos so myself and Ger opted for the extra 2 hours lie in bed instead and met the others later that morning. We drove south to a place called Ica ( incidently this is where the epicentre of the recent earthquake was and by all accounts what we saw and did there is now no longer there... very sad), in Ica we got to visit a vineyard called El Catador, well nice place where we got the tour and where told all about the processes and the huge botejas that housed the wine...and yes again a spot of wine tasting and more pisco sour, the lads over here really love the stuff, and for me even a sniff has me wobbly!

We stayed here for lunch and they had musicians and the whole lot it was well nice and obviously we didnt want to leave!

In the afternoon we arrived at a place called Huacahina and had the next few hours booked for some sand buggying and sand boarding. This was completely brilliant, huge big dunes and you got into a big sand buggy and just raced up and down them and then if you wanted you got a sand board and we were able to go sand boarding down them instead, it was well cool, no pics though unfortunately as sand in our camera wasnt a risk we wanted to take!
We got back to base late afternoon and lay by the pool for a bit and had more pisco sours before we heading south again to Nasca to our accomodation for the next few days. We even meet a friendly bird at the pool who chatted away to me!

We arrived oin Nasca that evening and after dinner just relaxed as the following morning was another early start! We got picked up at 8 by out guide Suzi and taken first to the Chauchilla cemetery which was in the middle of a desert but which was mad as it was famous for its preserved mummies, their hair clothes everything...

from the cemetery we went to the Nasca airport. I was looking forward to this part of the day as we were going up in cessna planes - 5 to a plane, to look at the famous Nasca lines. These lines were designs of like monkeys, spiders, an astronaut, birds but huge drwawings that could only be seen from the sky properly.

Unfortunately though some people didnt take to the small planes bobbing about so much in the air, and becky in our group in particular left the plane with no less than 7 small bags with her breakfast in them! was quite funny really as all me and ger could hear from the back was ´more sick bags.... more sick bags´ ah well we enjoyed it anyhow!

We had a chilled out evening then in our hotel as the following day we were headed fro Arequipa on a night bus...