Machupichu jungle trek

Today I embarked on a 4 day jungle trek up to machupichu which included downhill mountain biking from 4000m down to 2000 and zip lining.

Day 1:

Marcel and i were picked up from the hostel in a van with mountain bikes on the roof and we were then joined one by one by a Catalonian guy and German guy and a group of Brazilians, we then proceeded to ascend from Cusco to a point at 4000m more or less where breath was short and rain was cold. It remindeweme of skiing in that you are flying along and your eyebrows are frozen and you can barely open your eyes. After a rapid 1000m decent the rain was only mild and we had great fun.

In the evening we arrived at a very small town called santa maria where we stayed in a postsiful little hostel in the middle of the jungle. We ate some dinner and chilled out playing cards for the remainder of the night.

Day 2:

We woke up bright and early and ate breakfast and set off on foot up a mountain where we were eating fresh fruits along the way such as avocado, mango, coffee, lemony type things and my favourite passion fruit.

The first stop was a lady who had a really cheeky monkey called hayro who would go through your pockets and untie your show at rapid pace he was also a serial sun glasses thief

The second stop was amazing and had some really cool stuff some kind of giant rodent which I forget  the Spanish name for and no one could help in English maybe You can help we also tried pure 100% chocolate which was amazingly rich and raw cocoa beans which we very nice too. They also had Inca tequilla which had a snake in the bottle used as a medicine of some kind. They then brought out this tiny monkey who would sit on your shoulder and hold on (maybe too tight at times) we then had our faces painted with traditional Inca patterns which was quickly washed of with sweat the second we left :-P the next Place we arrived at was in the middle of a raised point in the valley which I took a photosphere of which can be viewed here: https://plus.google.com/u/0/118350531057161466312/posts

There were all kinds of different plants and animals along the way 

Day 3:

We awoke at a reasonable hour and jumped in a bus to the zip lining spot. Upon arrival I was greeted by a giant German shepherd who I was fussing over for 10 minutes, after this we were given our safety brief and we headed off to the first point. This was my first time zip lining and it was nothing short of exhilarating. There are more pictures to come! After the 6 or so zips we jumped into the bus again and headed to hyroelectrica which, you guessed it was a hydroelectric power plant which is where the train tracks up to aguas calientes started. After getting a stamp on our passports we set off on our 3 hour walk along the tracks. About 10 minutes in we stopped for lunch to gather our energy and to reconvene with the other tour groups. A nice beef steak with rice a veggies and we were on our way, we spent the walk talking to the other travellers exchanging stories andadmiring the beautiful sscenery.

Upon arrival to aguas calientes we were shown to our (suprisingly clean and with hot water) hotel room and given a few hours to chill out before getting dinner. 

Day 4:

We awoke at 4 am to start the walk up to the machupichu entrance to try and get to the front of the que. We arrived among the first and rushed to the front to wait for the doors to open. They opened and we decided to ditch the guide who was being slow and helpful and we ran onwards to try and get pictures without tourists in (other than us of course) we were within the first 6-10 people in there and there were even rabbits which I'm told are a rare sight and only come out when there are no people. After a quick tour and pictures we headed up another 1000m metres to the top of machupichu mountain where we were above the clouds and could just see the tops of the neighbouring mountains. The views were simply astonishing and caused inevitable introspective reflection. 

https://plus.google.com/photos/118350531057161466312/albums/5956293854215138097/5956293853701664178?pid=5956293853701664178&oid=118350531057161466312

Cusco

On Monday Marcel and I departed to Ica to ride the 17 hour coach to Cusco (3500m) I helped the taxi driver with his English homework in return for a reduced charge.

The coach was more luxury than anything I had ever travelled in with full personal android entertainment system and almost fully reclining seats. After my ears popped about ten times and a few movies passed we had arrived in a beautiful mountain city which was a a big contrast to the stressless slow pace of the coast. We are staying in the kokopelli here which entitles us to 30% off as a result of working in the last one.

The first night was strange, feeling low on energy and lacking in appetite. Upon awakening the next day I felt rejuvenated although still slightly out of breath and ready to check out the town. Alpaca is a huge trade in this part of Peru and I had already got my eye on some woolen garments. So I headed eagerly to the Marquez San fransisco to sample the goods. I had a thoroughly good time going to each store and bartering to as close to half price as I could get and was generally successful, this was a huge confidence boost in both spoken Spanish and general bartering (something I'm not accustomed to)

We then went to the San Pedro food market to look for something to eat, they have endless rows of fruits, meats, cheeses and other inexplicaple food related items. Including brains, snouts, frogs and hearts from various animals. We settle for an epic meal time style sandwich with an array of ingredients.

Paracas

Please excuse the lack of updates

Last night was my final night in paracas and this post will be an attempt at a summary of the activities.

Generally paracas was a place for people to relax between long bus journeys or several day lenght treks however, it was first destination and I settled into well to low energy lifestyle. The people I met were amazing, from all walks of life both backpackers and the locals who worked there. I was very sad to leave but will be sure to return.

Activities included kayaking to go and look for dolphins (which I was sadly unsuccessful at) I will try again next time. I took the tour of the islas ballastas which had innumerable birds, also penguins (yes penguins! This is not a typo) and sea lions this was interesting and fairly inexpensive. We also tore through the national reserve on 200cc quadbike which was amazing fun.

My last night I was working and it was also a world championship kite surfing competition so we hosted the after party and got irespondibly drunk. The following day I said my goodbyes emotionally as always ands headed yo cusco with my companion Marcel.

Sunset in paradise

There have been so many amazing sunsets so far, and I finally captured one in time lapse:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4aN8N_T6Sdg&feature=youtube_gdata_player

I also took a photosphere for you viewing pleasure which can be found here:

https://plus.google.com/photos/118350531057161466312/albums/5951374636729039137/5951374637605131554?pid=5951374637605131554&oid=118350531057161466312

"Work"

My first  shift behind the bar started at 7 pm after a day of chilling on the beach playing my ukulele and an hour or so out at sea on a kayak where I typically got sun burned everywhere I forgot to/ missed with sun cream, luckily not my face this time.

I quickly learned how to make a basic mojito as they seemed to be the most popular drink that night. The other volunteers were super helpful and great fun. at around 1 am a fairly large group of what I'm guessing were rich Peruvian girls arrived and they brought along with them a whole new crazy, out of control party animal vibe. Before we knew it they had gotten behind the bar and were all jumping up and down shouting "shots shots shots....." They then proceeded to climb onto the bar and dance on it nearly falling and causing all kinds of mischief. By 4am (we close at 3am fri-sat) we had to cut people off and try to start moving them towards the exits.

I was told it had not been that crazy many times since the hostel opened 3 months ago. The following night was such a contrast, where we (the staff) sat and played card games while I chose the music, everyone was gone by two and this felt like half a shift in comparison, I forgot mention that I went and chilled out and chatted for an hour in the middle.

So far I couldn't be happier here.

Arrival

(Please excuse the hasty feel to this post, I had been writing it for 3 days and I managed to lose it :-( this is my best effort to recreate)

Twas November The 12th and the skies of Coventry were a brilliant blue. after a perfect send off from friends and family I began my quest for adventure and headed to Heathrow. I hopped across to Amsterdam where I was pleased to be able to leave the airport and indulge in the local culture I spent a few hours surrounded by chocolate covered waffles and strawberry haze, I then returned to the airport and boarded a plane headed for Peru where I was hit with an immediate realisation that I had forgotten my Spanish when the people sitting either side of me didn't speak any English what so ever. The journey was 12 hours 12 minutes which my tablet battery sadly couldn't survive for but KLM were a great air host and there was a wealth of entertainment at my fingertips including films, games, TV shows and music. They also brought out several meals, snacks and rounds of drinks which eliminated the need to ask for anything.

Upon arrival in the capital Lima I was swamped by taxi drivers all trying to coax me into their taxis, all in Spanish and all at full speed. After 10 minutes or so of broken Spanish, discussing safety etc and sifting through maps I made the decision to sleep in the airport and continue my journey the following day.

The next day I woke up and jumped in a taxi to one of Limas bus stations and boarded a surprisingly nice coach which included such luxuries as movies dubbed in Spanish, blueberry croissants and a nice Spanish lady who talked to me for hour despite me showing little sign of understanding.

I arrived in pisco where I jumped in a taxi with a really cool local guy from chincha who for some reason I had no trouble conversing with and we talked and laughed all the way to paracas where I quickly found the hostel where I was greeted warmly even through the reception stack were not necessarily expecting me. I was straight away shown my room and given a look around. I have taken a quick video tour which can be found here

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=91OVZTIOJ04&feature=youtube_gdata_player

Significant New Experiences

The new things I've experienced while in Spain have been numerous and I have compiled a list of the significant ones so far. Since being here I have tried:

Sea food beyond my comfort zone which included kalamari and weird looking but surprisingly tastely muscles and shell fish, squids. Sardines and many other things which I forget the names of.

Temperatures of over 35° which just turns me into a sticky potato :-)

Siestas or sleeping in the day I must say when successful they are great, but more often than not I just fall into a deep sleep and feel groggy when I wake. Ill continue to work on this.

Running, I've gone for a few runs just round the village and up some.pretty steep hills and its something I can definitely see myself continueing back in the UK and where ever the wind takes me beyond there.

Olives. Being as though Andalucia is the biggest producer of olives in the world (acording to what I've heard) when I arrived here I made it my mission to like them by the time I depart. Since ordering a small portion of them with most of my beers I think its safe to say that I now truely enjoy the taste.

And the final thing on the list was I bought my first bottle of wine and with the same attitude as with the olives I thinks its a worth while thing to acquire a taste for, however I think I'm along way off still, but there's plenty more time for that :-)

I couldn't find pictures to represent all of these, but this is what I have.

La fiesta de tapas

This weekend in as nearby village they were celebrating the Fiesta de Tapas (festival of tapas) where drinks were cheap and a free plate of tapas Acompanied each one.

It was also 36° so the kids were all running around throwing water at each other and the adults which I'm afraid to say included me were veging and babbling in Spanish in the shade desperately try to keep energy expenditure to a minimum. Overall it was great fun and lots (and lots) of tapas was consumed.