Madrid

This is day 3 in Madrid and I´m loving this place. Its got a kinda feel to it between London and Amsterdam with a temperature to match. Its only about 8 today...
Christmas in Mexico was great. We had a 5 course dinner at the hotel with the other guests and one American family remarked it was just like their Thanksgiving back home. If thats true I might just have to end up in the US for Thanksgiving next year just for the food...
I left Mexico on Boxing Day for a 10 hour overnight flight to Madrid. I´m starting to think I´ve filled my quota of good flights as I didnt get any sleep on this one thanks to being squished in between a window and a woman half my size taking up half my chair... This wasn´t helped by the gut flipping turbulence...
When I get to the hotel I´d booked in Madrid the nasty BIATCH at reception told me I didnt have a reservation and basically told me to get stuffed... Turns out Trafalgar decided to change hotels (not surprising given the service level from this rude cow) but they had taken the liberty top change my reservation to somewhere else without telling me... Not happy Jan as I´d already forked out 25 Euros to get to the first hotel... GRRRR....
Anyways... I´m now happily settled in to my new 5 star hotel and have been wandering round the city and finding some nice treasures... My tour officially starts tonight so fingers crossed I´m not a third of the age of the rest of the travellers.... Eeek...

Back in Mexico City

Just got back into Mexico City today after three nights in Playa Del Carmen.

Playa Del Carmen is a really pretty little town on the south coast of Mexico where Luis and I had some cool adventures to Tulum and Cozumel and he introduced me to his good friend Captain Morgan. Its probly a little touristy there (Americans EVERYWHERE!!!) but Luis informs me its not as touristy as Cancun and we still had a ball.

Cozumel was great for snorkling and we dove on three different reefs. I took a disposable underwater camera so cant wait to see if the pics worked out. Am gonna try get them on a DVD tomorrow. Only bad side of Cozumel is once again I´ve been attacked with itchy bites as the jellyfish have gone to town on me... I must be pretty tasty...

Have three more days in Mexico City before heading off to Madrid, Spain so will try have some good Christmas adventures before then.

MERRY CHRISTMAS to everyone at home. I´d send a Xmas text but still dont have a phone... :) CHEERS!!! xx

Mexico City

YIPPEE!! I´m in Mexico!!!
I´m lovin this place so far. I got in about 6am yesterday and after a good snooze ventured out to Chapultepec Park in the middle of the city and about 2kms from my dinky little hotel. This park is huge and has a zoo and the Anthropological (is that even a word?...) Museum. Basically I spent all day wandering around there and reading on the grass and playing with squirrels before coming back and finding something to eat.
Today I took a tour out to the Guadalupe Church (the 3rd most visited in the world) and then on to the Sun and Moon Temples or the Pyramids of Teotihuacan. These were much better than the ones at Huanchaco and this time I didn´t lose any ducks... :)
Tomorrow I fly off to Cancun and meet Luis so we can catch a bus down to Playa Del Carmen. Rumour has it the weather is hot and humid and absolutley perfect for sitting on a beach consuming Tequila and Coronas... Sweet.... :)

PICS

I got some spare time at the airport so I`m gonna TRY upload some pics... fingers crossed...

La Paz

This is my third night in La Paz and this little city (pop approx 3mil) is growing on me a little more every day. First impressions were pretty disappointing especially after Puno and Copacabana but we´ve done a little exploring here and its not so bad...

Now, I´ve only got ten minutes before we´re booted out of this internet joint but I have to tell you about my totally awesome day yesterday...

I rode down the infamous Death Road and have lived to tell the tale. This mountain bike ride is 64km´s long and is about half asphalt highway and half gravel and rock and is almost completely downhill with huge drop offs along the mountains of the Cordillera Real.







From approx 4600m asl, you descend about 3600m from snow capped mountains to the lush jungle below. We only had 5 people come off their bikes and I´m happy to say I wasn´t one of them (all boys!!!) and there wasn´t any serious injuries.







Sooooooooo much fun!!!!! I wanna go again!!!





I´m in La Paz now til Monday then I´m off to Mexico City via Lima. I have a 12 hour stopover there so I´m hoping on finding the day spa my tour guide recommended... Hopefully I´ll be allowed to leave the airport...

Copacabana, Bolivia

I'm not quite sure why we're staying here today as once again there isnt much to this town. It has a hippy coastal feel except we're still 4000m above sea level in the middle of South America... At least this place isnt as dry and dusty as Puno and the hippies make for an interesting crowd to watch over a beer.
We leave for La Paz tomorrow via a 2 or 3 hour bus ride and I'll finally be able to collect my new credit card from the hotel there. Thankfully I took two with me and only one got stolen by those feckers in Lima. Speaking of things those feckers stole, they also got my immigration card from Ecuador to Peru so I had to fork out a USD$20 bribe to border control here to let me out of Peru and into Bolivia... So much corruption here but hey - it works...
The sandfly bites on my legs are still pretty chronic and I've gone through two tubes of ointment stuff to help stop the itch but its just insane... Please god dont let them scar coz it wont be pretty...
My only other complaint is the altitude. The last week or so I've been feeling like I've had someone sitting on my chest and tend to wake up at night gasping for air. Really looking forward to getting back close to sea level... And sleeping in....

Puno

Here I am back in Puno again after our home stay in Lake Titikaka. There's not much to say about Puno... Its pretty much a dry dusty hole...

Our home stay on Lake Titikaka was a great experience. First we visited a floating island and learnt how they keep the island floating and renew the reeds etc. Very interesting and beautiful, colourful people. I bought a great little tapestry there... Hope customs let it unto Oz... Anyways, then we went to another proper island and were allocated our host families. Ours was very shy but looked after as brilliantly altho I've never eaten as much potato in my life... They basically live on potato soup as the carbs keep them warm (Lake Titikaka is about 4km above sea level...) and they can grow the spuds on their own land but thank god they gave us pancakes for brekky!!!

Tonight we are back in Puno and we'll be leaving for Copacabana BOLIVIA tomorrow and then La Paz before the tour is all over... Really looking forward to Mexico!!!

Back in Cuscu

Back in the hustle and bustle of the big smoke again but we´re only here for a day before we head off for a long bus trip on to Puno - about 5 hours away. Tonight however we´re supposed to be having a party at Zac´s house here in Cusco. Zac was our Inca Trail guide and is one of the funniest buggers I ever met. He also helped me get through the tough climb on the second day and we all have alot of respect for his knowledge and help over the last four days.

Today has been a lazy day just recovering and getting ready for the last week or so of our tour. All I´ve done is post off some stuff home, meet the crew for a super yummy lunch in the town centre and have a mega nap this arvo. I´ve just managed to lock myself out of my room now so here I am updating this... Ooops...

My legs and shoulders are still aching from the hike but the worst injury I´ve got is about a million sand fly bites on my shins... It happened at lunch on the last day in Aguas Callientes and I didnt even feel the buggers biting until I looked down and saw a million little drops of blood... At the time it didnt hurt and wasn´t itchy but today... OH MY GOD!!!... so painful... I´ve been taking antihistamines and have some gel from the farmacia but basicallyI think I might have to amputate... OUCH!!!!

One big help during the trek was our crew of porters and guides. For us 8 little aussies and our tour leader we had a total of 15 (yup... 15!!!) porters and a guide and a guides assistant... Not bad hey... The guides were amazing. They carry about 25 kilo´s each, pack and clean up after us, practically run the trail to pass us and then have lunch and dinner ready when we finally catch up to them. And they carry everything!! Tents, mattresses, kitchen gear (including oven, gas and fridge) and our 5 kilo duffel bags. All I had to carry was a day pack with items such as a jumper, raincoat, water, mozzie repellant, suncream, snacks and nibble mix. Our duffel bags held a couple changes of clothes, sleeping bag, liner, travel towel and loads of wipes for our sponge baths each morning and night. Three days without a shower reminds a girl just how much she loves being clean!!!

Inca Trail

YEEHAH!!! I made it!!

Not only did I manage to get passed the authorities with an emergency passport (the girl before me nearly didnt get in so I was packing it...) but I´ve survived the four hardest days of my life!!!

Day 1 was just getting there, getting in and getting to our first camp site. Generally the walking was pretty good and we got in just on sunset for our sponge baths and an awesome dinner.
Day 2 was total punishment. I honestly dont know how I survived except to say I had a very strong will and there was no way I was going back in a helicopter or on a donkey!!! We had to go through two passes and the first one had me in tears. It wasn´t so much the hiking as the lack of oxygen thanks to the altitude. You can train all ya want for something like this but its the altitude thats the maker or breaker...
Day 3 was much the same altho we got to camp early in the afternoon - thank god - for a rest and to be ready for a 4am start the next day... Except a few of us stayed up drinking... Oops...
Day 4 was today and the last day of our hike. Compared to day 2 it was a walk on the beach and I couldnt be happier that I made it. The view as you go through Intipunku (the Sungate) is absolutely worth all the hard work and its gotta be one of the most rewarding things I´ve ever done.

The walk is not just a physical challenge. It pushes your mind and will power to the limits too. I have to catch a bus and train back to Cusco now but will add more later.

WOOHOO!!!!

Cusco Pt2

Still in Cusco tonight but off to Inca Trail tomorrow...

I didnt quite make it to the Sacred Valley today... We were on the bus and had gone thru Pisac on the way to the Valley when tour leader Jhonn called and told me we had to get some passport and police report paperwork to the officials before 3pm or else so I jumped in a taxi back to Cusco and we´ve sorted it out as much as we can... Still wont know until we get there if they´ll let me in so not getting too excited about the trail yet so I´m not too crushed if I can´t go... :(

On a brighter note, I´ve found some new ducky friends to travel with. Jhonn and I were cruising the black market for a camera battery when I came across a big yellow rubber ducky with three little ducklings... So... The big duck will be staying in Cusco until we find something to do with her (Timmy suggested floating her away at Lake Tittikaka...) but the little three have been named as Jesus, Jose and Jorge (pronounced Hesoos, Hosay and Horhay)... Will get a piccy on here as soon as possible... :)

Fingers crossed for the Inca Trail pass tomorrow... xx

Cusco

Another day, another Peruvian town on the way to the Inca Trail...

We got to Cusco early this morning and have had a little wander round getting friendly with the markets and spending up big... I´m now the proud owner of two chullos (like beanies but so much better) and a jumper made of alpaca hair... soooo soft...

Tomorrow we are taking a day trip to the Sacred Valley and then we have an early night before taking off on the Inca Trail. Fingers crossed I dont have to get taken down on a donkey...

By the way while we were staying in the Colca Canyon I made friends with an Andean Eagle and spotted a Condor... Cant wait to get the eagle pic on here... You´re gonna be so jealous Azza... :)