Otavalo - 10th November 2007

Otavalao is, apparently, one of the most famous markets in South America, and its all for tourists!!
There is so much to buy so of course I obliged just a little.

Tomorrow I head off to the Galapagos Islands for 8 days to snorkel with penguins, iguanas, sea lions and perhaps the odd hammerhead shark!!

Wish me luck!

Banos - 7th - 9th October 2007

Volcan Tungurahua



After Cuenca I decided to head off to Banos which turns out to be a really lovely little town situated on the flanks of the active volcano Tungurahua. The volcano has been pretty active in the last couple of days so I thought I´d try my luck and on the first night go volcano watching!


Well it seems that one night is the one night that nothing is going on! A great view of the town though.



Banos is very well know for its outdoor activities, with rafting, cycling, trekking and horse riding available. Also the town has a really nice friendly feel to it, far more than Cuenca had and to be honest far more than I have felt anywhere yet in Ecuador.



For my experience of the outdoor life I decided to head off on a cycle ride 15km to the east of the town on the edge of the Orient (part of the Amazon), the route takes in several different waterfalls before reaching the spectacular Pailon del Diablo waterfall just past Rio Verde.



When I look back at the days activities I´m not really too sure what possessed me to think I was gonna be able to cycle that far, but obviously something did and I gave it a go!


About an hour down the road I was beginning to feel the strain but still persevered deciding it was gonna be sooooo good for me!



After about another half hour I came to the conclusion that good for me or not it was gonna be an impossible ride so headed back to Banos and hired a quad bike! Now I´m talking!


The locals found it funny it seems that me, a girl, was hiring the bike, the locals along the way also stopped and stared, apparently its not the norm here!



The ride was now gonna be so much easier, at least it would have been if it hadn´t started raining as soon as I left Banos and again guess where my waterproof jacket was? Certainly not with me! It seems I´m bound never to learn!



Despite the rain the ride was good and so much better now that an engine was involved.

Along the way I came upon a type of cable car across the valley, it was $1 a ride so I gave it a go it looked a bit scary and a little strange on my own but it was good fun, on the other side we picked and entire Ecuadorian family and back we went again.

Me looking slightly nervous about the cable car experience!

Waterfalls on the way.














It rained all the way to the huge waterfall but nicely managed to clear up once I got there.


The waterfall itself was magnificent and very very wet but hey I already was so no problem there!


Theres a little cafe at the bottom of the track for a well deserved drink and a dry place to rest the body, then it was back on the quad bike to head back to town and a nice hot shower but still no volcanic activity!!





Next stop Otavalo Market before the Galapagos on Sunday.

I can´t seem to get any more pics up on this blog, if I manage later I will if not it´ll be after the Galapagos.

Cuenca - 4th - 7th October 2007

Arriving in Cuenca after the long bus and train journey and it was gonna be really nice to hop in a nice hot shower.

I arrive at El Cafecito in the centre of the city and found that my room mate for the next couple of days is a very tall (6´4") Aussie guy, Ross. Who really loved to chat and proceded to do so for the next two hours!

He´s a nice guy though so we tended to hang out together over the next couple of days which was good. He was funny though, he had just spent a week in Quito and I don´t know if it was this or just him but he was very very nervous of the local people and what might happen, which for the short amount of time I spent with him then made me nervous, which really in reality isn´t a great way to feel! A couple of times when we were walking down the street a car or bike would backfire and he nearly jumped out of his skin, luckily I was there to save him (with my grand height of 5´3" in comparision!).

I did wonder if the same would apply with regards to our other room mates. I, apparently (according to Ross) had the best bed, what didn´t factor into this bargain was that I also had the mice!

Each time I went anywhere near my bed all I could hear was munching! And if that wasn´t enough, when I awoke early in the morning and tried to get back to sleep all I could hear was squeaking and lots and lots of it very very loud!! Those mice really wanted to get out of the wall, fortunately for me, during my stay, they never succeeded!

Cuenca is really just another city and although attractive it doesn´t really have too much else going on, unless of course you like cities and I don´t really.

While we were there we visited the cathedral and a museum or two but because of Ross´s nervousness he kept advising against going anywhere else. I didn´t mind really, on the first day we saw a few places that I wanted to see but after that I was then sick AGAIN so wasn´t up to much else really.

The cathedral.

I took the oportunity of not wandering about to book a place on a Galapagos cruise, then the rest of the time to work out exactly how I´m gonna pay for it!

That was another experience in itself - I had to tranfer money into a bank account which the bank couldn´t do because my card was international, thats ok I thought I´ll just go get the cash from an ATM then pay it into the account, but the ATM I used would only give $100 dollars at a time!! So I then stood there taking out a $100 dollars at a time with Ross keeping watch and counting the receipts for me until I reached my daily limit! I guess in Ecuador 50 pounds goes a long way in one withdrawal, they obviously hadn´t anticipated the cost of a Galapagos trip, neither had I, I don´t think!

The Square.

Tomorrow off to Banos.

The Devils Nose Train Ride - 4th November 2007

The Devils Nose Train.

The Devils Nose train ride is a very famous journey that goes from Riobamba to Aluasi where just beyond it takes an extra little journey out and descends the Devils Nose mountian which it does by a series of switch backs! Very exciting, although the most exciting bit about it is that you can ride on the roof of the train, at least you used to be able to!!

Health and safety has arrived in Ecuador and ruined our plans of riding on the top!

There is one carriage that has seats on the roof but no-one was even allowed on that, I opted for the space between the carriages as that was as close to the roof as I was gonna be able to get!

The journey begins at 7am and is due to take about 5 or 6 hours in total!

Along the journey.

Well an hour out of Riobabama I´m standing between the carriages when the train swings first to one side then the other and finally grinds to a halt, the carriages had come off of the track!!!!!!!!!!


I had heard about it happening but thought that, that fact belonged in the same box as riding on the roof and no longer happened!




It was really amusing, I had no idea how on earth they were ever gonna get it back on the tracks but after about another hour and a lot of brute force they managed it, I´m still amazed by it all! Unfortunatley though another half hour down the track it happened again!








Digging the train out of the ground and back on its tracks!


















When we arrived at the Devils Nose mountain we began the switch backs in order to get to the bottom, it really is an engineering amazment (Mick, this train ride you would love!).

The Devils Nose mountain.












There was some amazing scenary along the way as well as some amazing sights, I saw both sheep and pigs (alive) on the roof of buses on different occasions, unfortunately I didn´t manage to get any pics of those!

A great train trip out though which was a lot of fun with the derailing etc!

Then it was back to Alusai for the bus to Cuenca.

Riobamba - 2nd - 3rd November 2007

I arrived from Peru, the non backpackers way I´m afraid, I flew!!

Time is pretty short now and I didn´t want to waste 2 days plus on a bus, its not cheap though thats for sure!

I arrived in Guayaguil and immediately opted for a bus straight out again! The cab ride from the airport to the bus station took about 2 mins (!!) and cost $4 the bus journey to my first destination was due to take 5 hours and cost me $4, oh the joy of private and public transport!

My plan was to head for Guaranda then Ambato then Banos staying the night there then heading off to Riobamba the next day to do the famous train journey on Sunday. My reasoning behind this plan was that along the journey I was gonna get some great views of the volcanoes of Ecuador. What I hadn´t figrured into my plan was that the bus journey take soooo much longer than they say in the book and way before I hit my first port of call it was pitch dark and to be honest I could have been on the rim of a volcanic crater and I wouldn´t have known!!

With a little amending of my plans I decided to head straight for Riobabama and as it was only about 7pm I thought getting another bus for the 2 hour journey was going to be pretty simple, think again!! I ended up getting a cab (!!) in the end but it was at a very good price, I was lucky. The next morning I got this great view of Volcan Chimborazo, the highest mountain in Ecuador and due to the earths equatorial bulge, it is also the furthest point from the centre of the earth!

Volcan Chimborazo.

In the morning I headed off to the local market which had its best day on a Saturday and people come from far and wide and oh what they bring!

The most crazy was the animals, I think it always is huh? There were more chickens than even this town could consume, guinea pigs (a local delicacy!), rabbits, ducks, pigeons and I´m afraid kitten and puppies. I didn´t spend too long in this area as wasn´t sure how I was gonna get all the cats and dogs back home if I actually went ahead and bout them all! It was one crazy market though, you name it and literally they sold it. Industrial freezers and fridges, BBQs, ovens, clothes, food (both dead and alive!), fruit, veg, flour (and you saw it being ground) really there was everything there.

Guinea pig for sale!

One or two chickens!

After my fill of market life I headed back to the train station to get my ticket for the morning.

Cusco (post Machu Picchu) - 30th Oct - 2nd Nov 2007

So what could follow the Inca trail and Machu Picchu I hear you ask, a lay in we all answer, and really really mean it!!

I´m staying at the same place as Leanne and Ant when we get back from Machu Picchu and then spend the next couple of days hanging out.
The first day all we did was recover from the last 4 days but then on the next day we decided we hadn´t seen enough Inca ruins and went off in search of more!

There are 4 sites that are within walking distance of Cusco so off we went.

We took a bus to Tambomachay, the furthest away, which had a still working crystal-line spring water fountain running right through it It´s said that this water can turn back the hands of time, so there was Leanne and I splashing on as much of it as was publically acceptable before heading off to PukaPukara across the road!

The famous waters of Tambomachay!

The third site we visited was Quenqo, and after emerging from the underground font area we came across what appeared to each of us as a strange little group. There was no one else at the site, just us and this group, there were two older guys, then a young girl and boy. To be honest I was too busy clocking one of the older guys to take too much notice of the others but Ant called me over and pointed out that the girl was infact Princess Beatrice!! With her boyfriend and two bodyguards (one of whom I had been checking out!!)

Ant then embarrassed both Leanne and I by asking her if it was in fact her, lucky for him he got the right sister huh?!

It was kinda surreal though, in the middle of nowhere just outside of Cusco in Peru, just us and them and we happen upon Princess Beatrice on holiday. We felt embarrassed that we had already intruded on her private space but as we passed her by she wished us happy travels and we did the same to her before heading off to a safe distance for the all important photo of her to prove she was actually there!!!

Princess Beatrice and her group!

The last site we visited was Saqsaywaman (or sexy woman as it´s known), it’s a huge and very impressive site which really needed a guide (which we had) to really appreciate it´s significance.

Saqsaywaman.

Back in Cusco it´s Halloween! And all the city´s children are out in force wanting candy and all of them are dressed up in all sorts of fancy costumes! There are so many Spidermen, it’s a wonder none of us developed arachnophobia!! J They were all very cute though and the party went on all night!

The next morning, after Leanne and Ant had left for Arequipa, I headed off on my last day in Peru to do the Sacred Valley tour.

We visited Pisac and Ollantaytambo and although extremely interesting and very very impressive, nothing really compares to Machu Picchu and all the other sites we saw along the way!

Pisac.

Ollantaytambo.

The Inca Trail to Machu Picchu - 26th - 29th October 2007

I know its taken a while to get this post up but there has been sooooo much to write!! I´m not sure I´m gonna be able to do it justice either but I´ll try!

This morning saw a very early start of 3.30 am, on the road by 4.45am!

The Team at the start!

This is where we´re gonna be hiking.

Our guide, Casiano, wants us to be the first to get to the starting point of the trail as well as the first to get to each campsite as well as the first up the mountains!! Oh dear! Not liking the sound of that too much! I`m planning on bringing up the rear each day!

Day 1

We drove to Ollaytaytambo for a spot of breakfast before we met with our porters and cook, our team are nicknamed the Red Army as, yes you´ve guessed it, they´re all in red! They´re a great team of all ages and from all locations as we were to find out during our introductions, the youngest was 19 and the oldest in their late 50s and still they were faster up the mountains than any of us!

Around 9am and after our introductions we and our porters got loaded up and headed off to KM 82 to start hiking.

This is what some bring on the Inca Trail!

It`s a lovely sunny day to start hiking and as we do it gets warmer and warmer until to be honest it`s too hot, typical huh?!

As we`re hiking the porters from different companies as well as ours are overtaking us, at speed, while carrying soooooo much more than us! Each time a porter comes up behind us the back person yells "porter" and we all stand to one side as they pass us by.

I choose Llama Path as a company because of the way they say they treated their porters, they give them proper decent warm clothers and gear, as well as backpacks and weight belts with which to carry stuff, complete with water bottles etc, in addition they give their porters insurance and provide a house in Cusco for them to live in. On the trek at every pace it was clear that I had chosen the right company, everyhting they said they did for their staff they did do and then some it seemed. Some of the porters from other companies didn`t even have proper packs to carry all the stuff in, it was just tied to their backs by ropes.

The Red Army always stuck together as a team which was really nice to see, while other groups were really disjointed, also the Red Army was always on hand to give us encouragement when we reached each stage of the trek claping us and shaking our hands as we went past.

I`m sure other trekkers were jealous of our little team. I know we were all really proud of them and extremely grateful to them for all the gear they carried.

So on our first day of hiking we eventually stopped for a very welcome lunch.

The team had arranged for us 8 bowls of hot water to wash with, had put up a dinning tent for us as well as preparing and serving us with an amazing 3 course lunch with as much food as we could possibly manage with then loads left over! You would not think they could carry and prepare all that food half way up a mountian, but they did!

With renewed energy we headed off on the next part of our trek. Casiano told us that today we were gonna trek quite a way up towards Dead Womans Pass, usually tours only trek to the bottom of the mountain then on the second day, their toughest day, they trek up to the pass. By doing it Casianos way meant that our second day wouldn`t be as bad, our first day however was gonna be pretty tough! Better now though we thought before we got really tired!

It was a long trek up the first afternoon and as we got higher and higher our breathing also got harder and harder, or it could just have been me and Leanne chatting at the back that took our breaths away, in addition to the amazing scenary we were seeing at every pace!

We finally reahed our camp for the night at 6.30pm, the sun had gone down and it was begining to get dark and cold, still with the encouragement of Casiano we continued, making it to camp in time for "happy hour" of hot chocolate, popcorn and biscuits. Mmm!

Dinner was another extremely elaborate affair, still not sure how they do it with just a small gas hob, but they do and they continue to amaze us with their culinary delights, chocolate pudding for afters, thats what mountaners recommend when at altitude (apparently) so who are we to argue!

After attempting to learn an Israely card game, and failing, we headed off to bed at about 8.30pm, sharing a tent with my French man!

Day 2

The view from our tent on the first morning up the mountain.

This morning was a relatively early start, although not as early as yesterday, and after waking to amazing views of the mountains and llamas outside our tents we had an amazing breakfast and continued up the long trek to Dead Womans Pass.

Dead Womans Pass, and I think it nearly was, is at 4200 m or 13650 ft.

The team at Dead Womans Pass!

We did really good actualy, and did it I think in just 2 hours (or so). Nik had already been at the top for half hour and the others had made it just before Leanne and I, and because of this we had time for just a few postcard pictures and a quick snack then it was off back down the other side!

Me at Dead Womans Pass.

The weather was begining to look not so great on the descent down the other side, but with the thought of lunch half way down the other side we carried on with renewed vigour!

After lunch Casiano asked us whether we needed anything from out duffel bags (which the porters were carrying) as some of the porters were gonna head off to set up the night camp, I stupidly said no and 10 mins later it started to rain, guess where my waterproof jacket was? Fortunately I had with me waterproof trousers and a poncho which did the trick, just about. Some of the others didn´t have waterproof trousers and were soon soaked through though, shoes included which made the climp up to the second pass a bit uncomfortable.

View from Sayac Marca.

By the time we reached Sayac Marca (meaning Dominant Town) the skies were clearing and the sun was coming out, we could see our campsite for the night in the distance, about another half hour walk but in the meantime we enjoyed a well needed rest and a chance to soak up the amazing views,as well as the sunshine, and learn more about the Inca history and culture.

The ruins show the Inca tendency to incorporate the natural structure of the site into the architecture. A large projection of rock is surrounded by several of the interior rooms in what looks to be a temple and there is a lot of stonework built right out of the existing stone surface of the site. Steps lead up and down to the various levels of the site as it conforms to the shape of the ridge. There are also the remains of an aqueduct system still visible coming coming off the ridge above into the top of the site.

Another half hours walking had us arriving at our campsite 9 hours after we had left our last camp. Once again it was happy hour and after a succesful game of trumps we headed off for an early night grateful in the knowledge that the hardest first two days were behind us and we had survivied!

Day 3

This was to be our easiest day with just a pleasant sedate walk down the other side of the final pass to reach our final destination of the hostal and bar at around lunch time.

The walk down the final pass was very steep in places and generally accompanied by many many many steps! Apparently the descent is 1 km in about 3 kms of walking!

And oh how the Incas loved their steps. Now I know I´m not tall but the Incas were even shorter and I´m still not sure how they managed them, especially without the aid of my trusty trekking poles and my new favourite footwear, my boots!

Steps, steps and more steps!!

On our decent down the pass we passed many different orchids, there are some 150 different species in the highlands of Peru but I think we just saw a couple.

We arrived at the campsite area bang on time for lunch.

The number of tourists that are allowed on the Inca trail per day is 200 and with porters this makes about 500 in total, and tonight is the first time that all 200 tourists that set off on the same day as us will be camping at the same place. On the previous two nights the groups and camp sites are staggered, with us tending to be the front group each time.

Our camp for this evening was no exception, we were right next to the bar and of course the showers, we had the perfect spot with fantastic uninterupted views from our tents of Machu Picchu mountain, can it get any better?

After lunch a relax and a shower (!) yes this is the way to do it (!) we headed off for a 15 min walk to Winya Wayna which was an amazing site and really beautiful, there is terraces down the mountainside, stone ruins up high and down low, a string of ceremonial baths connecting them and a beautiful waterfall as a backdrop behind the ruins. This is a really beautiful site, the most beautiful so far, which can only be matched I´m imagining by what tomorrow holds.

Winya Wayna.

Back at camp we treated ourselves to a well deserved beer, or Pisco Sour, and a nice relax before dinner.

That evening, our last with the group, we had a small ceremony with our porters and chatted about our expereriences on the trail and what it had all meant to each of us before we sang a few songs together and discused our strategy for the following morning.

The key is to get to the checkpoint as early as possible to be the first through the gate and then the first to the Sun Gate, which is about another 1 and half hours walk away! Casiano was very keen for us to be the first to the gate and sent off one of his porters to find out what time all the other groups were leaving, the result was that we needed 2 be up at 3.40 am to aim to get to the gate for 4.30am.

Day 4

Nik was very keen to be the first at the gate and after breakfast of a fully iced cake at 4.30am he ran off to reserve our place. While we were packing up we saw another group head off but we were secure in the knowledge that Nik was racing for our team!

It was pouring with rain and the gate didn´t open until 5.30 am, Leanne and I were chatting about how strange it was to get there so early etc but as soon as the gate was opened the two of us and Ant dashed off almost at a sprint, eager to stay ahead of the other 200 people and eager to be first to view the magnificent Machu Picchu.

Nik had shot off like lightening but were we keeping a good pace folowing on behind, with the other groups way behinds us. We made it in 50 mins, 1 hour 40 ahead of schedule! I was 5th to the top just behind Leanne, Ant, Casiano and of course Nik and the sight that greated was truly amazing!

The team at the Sun Gate.

There was cloud cloud and cloud as far as the eye could see, we didn´t even have any idea which way we should have been looking to catch our first glimpse. It was still great to be there though, at the Sun Gate to Machu Picchu, WOW!

Our first view of machu Picchu, or not!!

We started to head down towards machu Picchu in the hope that the sun would soon come up and burn all the clouds away, it did eventually and we were soon awarded with our first view of the famous Inca site!


Our first real view of machu Picchu!

Some of us were tempted to return back up to the Sun Gate to get that perfect first glimpse, but four days walking had got the better of us and physically we really couldn´t have made it!

Reaching Machu Picchu was an incredibly amazing feeling after walking for so long and really for looking forward to it for so long. It really was amazing to be there, and I can honestly say that at the end of the 4 days I felt at one with my hiking boots, my poles and my very good rucksac (thanks again dad!).

Casiano then gave us a two hour very informative guided tour of the site, pinting out all the extremely important parts of the area and all the history behind it all, without his knowledge there´s no way any of us would have had a clue!

Pictures from Machu Picchu.

The Brit team at Machu Picchu!

Following our visit to the site we headed off into the nearest town of Aguas Callientas for lunch and a beer to celebrate.

Aguas Callinetas

Aguas Callientas is a strange little town which seems to serve just Machu Picchu and the route between here and Ollantayambo where the tour buses pick us up to take us back to Cusco.

What was strange about this town was that the train came right into and through the main street, we were sitting there having pizza for lunch when straight past us went the train!

A great little town though and the perfect spot for a beer to celebrate our triumph before we headed back to Cusco, exhausted but happy!