Back to Lima

Today we flew back to Lima after a restless night in Cuzco due to lots of fireworks and rain storms, the flight back was pretty smooth and once we arrived we were pleased to find that our luggage hadn't been stolen. We chilled at the hotel for a while and then went out for a chinese, as usual we ordered far too much and asked for the leftovers which we took out and then wandered around Lima trying to find a family to give them to, and as usual we couldn't find one person who looked in need of a meal... in the end we did find a lady who was begging in the street and she looked very pleased, and somewhat bemused to receive a massive bag of chinese takeaway! It's also halloween here and the people really embrace halloween and everyone dresses up and walks the streets with pumpkins and little bags and all the shops and hotels give the kids sweets, it's really nice and even Sam got a lolly.

Tomorrow we will book our bus ticket to Nazca and Sam and Will are going to surf.

Here are a few musings on Peru so far:

1) It smells of wee

2) The people drive like lunatics

3) The indigenous people have beautiful faces and the women have long plaits

4) It has cool places to visit

Hope you're all well. Here's a pic of me and Will drinking Coca tea to combat the altitude sickness - I didn't realise it was made from cocaine leaves... still it made me smile!!

Cuzco

Today we drove from Ollantaytambo to Cuzco - we hadn't booked any where to stay but for once we aren't carrying the enormous surf boards so we were able to just turn up and find a place to stay. In the end we found a little hotel with a nice room with three beds and a bathroom with a bath (but only luke warm water!) It also has a little balcony which overlooks a lot of rooftops, not quite the amazing view that we have been treated to for the last few days but it's clean and cheap and in a nice area of Cuzco.

After we arrived we called our families and spent a couple of hours catching up then we went for a walk around Cuzco to see what the town is like. To be honest I am really pleased that we stayed the extra nights in Ollante as Cuzco is very very touristy, when you walk through the street people jump on you and try and drag you into their restaurant - it's also really busy. It is pretty but nothing like we have been used to with the huge mountains - there is a main plaza and this has the requisite Spanish church, but to be honest we have seen a few of these now - Cuzco reminds us a bit of Guatemala. There was a lot of dancing in the plaza by women in traditional dress but we weren't sure what they were celebrating.

The main thing we will remember Cuzco for is the worst meal so far... we sat in a restaurant with a balcony overlooking the main plaza which was pretty beautiful. We ordered our food, Will had an oriental chicken dish, I had a steak and Sam had alpaca (of course)! Will's was gross, just a mountain of plastic noodles and my steak was really tough and dry, Sam loved his alpaca. For those of you who haven't tasted alpaca I think it's disgusting, it's really strong and tastes quite bitter to me. After the disappointing meal we went to McDonalds for desert and Sam and Will ordered an ice cream, the ice cream was off and tasted horrible so we asked for our money back.

All in all we are underwhelmed by Cuzco, it just feels like a huge tourist trap and nothing like the real Peru which we have just experienced. I have attached another picture from Machu Picchu as we have loads. Tomorrow we fly back to Lima, hopefully all our stuff will still be there and then we will start to plan the road to Santiago. Definately including Nazca and Arequipa with Colca Canyon to see the condors.

Machu Picchu

We have just got back from an amazing day at Machu Picchu, infact Sam said 'it was one of the best days of his life!.' We caught the train at 8:30 from Ollantaytambo station and spent an hour and a half winding our way through the Andes which were beautiful. The train was very nice, I think it's owned by Orient Express, and we were even treated to a little snack and soft Peruvian music that played as we wound our way through the valley and up into the cloud forest. Eventually we stopped in 'Aguas Calientes' and here we bought a bus ticket and our entry to Machu Picchu. The bus journey took us up the mountain along narrow windy roads and took 20 minutes, not a pleasant journey if you are afraid of heights but a brilliant journey if your not - the views here were even better than those from the train.

We entered Machu Picchu and saw the first Inca house which you had to pass through to enter and then as you turned the corner you saw Machu Picchu, just like in the pictures...an old settlement of houses and terraces with the big mountain behind, the sun was shining and I think that first sight of the settlement is one that none of us will forget. We walked up as high as we could go and then sat on the terraces overlooking the ruins and ate our packed lunch. We had picked one up in the morning from our favourite cafe here and had a sandwich a pasty a muffin an apple and a drink and it was the best packed lunch I have ever had. There was no-one around and it was really peaceful just surrounded by the mountains, we read the guide book and found out about the history of Machu Picchu.

We had a couple of hours to explore before our train home so we walked back down into the settlement and tagged on to the end of various guided tours so we could hear about the history of the ruins. We were surprised by how recent they were as the Incas were around in the 1400's and we had thought they were older - Will loved the architecture and the massive blocks that fit together with no cement and form a perfect wall!! We also took thousands of pictures because everywhere you turned there was a perfect view.

It's really hard to encapsulate how breathtaking it was up there - it's an expensive trip but well worth the money. Eventually we caught a return bus and got on the train home and got back in time for tea. We are all very tired after our days excursion so we are heading out for tea and then to bed.

Yesterday we also walked to another Inca ruin this time 5 minutes from the house, this was also an old Inca temple but much smaller than Machu Picchu - we had a lovely day wandering around the site and then walked around a traditional Peruvian market with loads of trinkets and old Peruvian artefacts - we treated ourselves to a couple of things which was really nice. All in all we have loved this part of the trip, infact it's been my favourite part so far without a doubt. Pic above of Machu Picchu and other pics from the previous days below.

Ollantaytambo

Sorry for the rubbish updates recently (and lack of pictures) but things have been super hectic recently. I am now sat in the reception area of Apu (he he) Lodge whilst Sam and Will are still in bed. I got up to try and book our tickets to Macchu Picchu but the internet isn't working for their site so thought I would update. As I sit here I have a view of the Andes, it's one of those completely awe inspiring sights!

Yesterday we caught the plane from Lima to Cuzco at 4:40 am and landed an hour later in Cuzco. A taxi picked us up and drove us through the Andes to Ollantaytambo. As we stepped off the plane myself and Will both felt very dizzy, Cuzco is really high 3,000 + so we had to take it really easy to combat the effects of altitude sickness...we stayed at the hotel and had a sleep and then Sam was sick!! But in true Sam style after 10 minutes he was fine and we walked down to the main plaza for some lunch. It was a great day to arrive as they had lots of dancing in the plaza and everyone was dressed in traditional costume. We sat in a restaurant with a balcony overlooking the event. Later we walked around Ollantaytambo - in the hills around there is other evidence of Inca settlements and the whole place is just surrounded by gigantic mountains, the light reflects off them and it's beautiful. There is also a little market full of colourful trinkets and ornaments and it's so cheap it's amazing. As ever we are off season so whilst there are some tourists here, it's not too busy.

Now we are going to walk down to the station and book the train tickets to do Macchu Picchu tomorrow, this is probably a better idea as it will give us another day to acclimatise to the altitude.

Cuzco...

It's a super quick update today to say that last night we sat in the hotel and the Japanese Surfing Team were also staying there. One of them approached Sam and asked if he would like a wetsuit and then he gave him a free Oakley wetsuit, turns out he is sponsored by Oakley - Sam was very very excited! He repaid them by showing them a magic trick and all the Japanese cheered.

We are now in Lima and have to be up at 2:40 to go to the airport so are just getting ready for bed...so that's it for now - short but sweet I know.

Peru...

We are now into our 4th day in Peru. At first it was quite a culture shock moving from the tropical rainforests of Costa Rica and Central America to the arid, cloudy environment that is Peru, but I think we have just about acclimatised. We are now staying in Punta Hermosa which is a beach south of Lima, it is a place which has realised that tourists are on their way but not quite caught up to them yet so there are a lot of half finished hotels which look like they will be beautiful in a couple of years but not just yet.

After a couple of days of searching we did find a hotel which seemed to fit our bill, from the outside it's beautiful, has a pool overlooking the sea, loads of cool art and the Japanese Olympic surfing team are staying here... however when you get through the doors things aren't quite what they seem. We are sleeping in a dorm room (to ourselves) with 3 sets of bunk beds (yes, bunk beds!) and a shared bathroom!! At first it was a nightmare but we are getting used to it. The best thing was coming to the hotel which we did in a little tuk tuk, with all our luggage and boards strapped on top, it was brilliant and we laughed all the way here (mainly because we thought it would fall over everytime we went over a bump!). On the positive side, there is an amazing seafood restaurant nearby and so we have been dining on fresh calamari and octopus, with drinks the meal has cost the equivalent of £15! Another positive is that Sam has found some kids to play with and spends the evenings playing football by the sea whilst we have a beer. It has been great for him, not only is he playing but also realises that he knows a lot more Spanish than he thought and is able to communicate quite well.

It has been a stressful few days as we have moved around quite a bit recently and booking accommodation is one of the most stressful things of all. It takes so long to research on the internet and then to call from skype and try and communicate in broken Spanish... but we are getting there! The next move is back to Miraflores in Lima tomorrow where we need to go to the travel agents to confirm the flights, then the next morning we fly to Cuzco (safer than taking the bus), we stay in Ollantytambo for two days in a place called Apu lodge (which sam thinks is hilarious). We stay here to acclimatise to the altitude as it's lower than Cuzco. Then we go up to Macchu Pichu, from there we go back to Cuzco and then fly back to Lima on Sunday!!! Whew!!! Now it's all pretty much booked I feel alot calmer and we are all really looking forward to seeing the Inca trail and a bit of Peru's culture.

Peru is really lovely and the people are very nice, with beautiful faces! The fact that we are by the ocean and can look one way and see desert and the other we see ocean is amazing, there is also loads of wildlife and we are on the look out for dolphins at the moment as there are quite a few pods around here... anyway must go and do Sam's English now... believe it or not he is on the computer next to me right now doing a maths game (voluntarily!!) home schooling is amazing...he is also really really well and loving the travels... me and Will may be a bit stressed at the moment but Sam is definately not stressed, bless him... will add picture of tuk tuk later.

Peru

Well we made it to Peru without a hitch, got up and had a huge brekkie and then got a taxi to the airport, then we caught the flight which was about 4 hours and landed in Peru at 3:15 - so now we are only 6 hrs behind the UK.

The taxi picked us up from the airport and brought us to the hotel. We were greeted with a glass of juice and then shown to our room, which is ENORMOUS!! Seriously, it's a suite, complete with king size bed, huge TV, kitchen, dining table etc. The people are lovely and really have gone out of their way to make us feel welcome. They recommended a place for us to eat tonight in Miraflores and so we got a taxi there (Mum you would love it here). Miraflores overlooks the ocean and is super swanky, with amazing shops and nice restaurants and there is also lots of culture around, tomorrow we are going to see a 2,000 year old pyramid which is 5 blocks away. It also seems quite a bit cheaper here which is brilliant.

So it's 9pm now and time to settle into our amazing, huge bed and read and then get some sleep - good night all (ps Lima is ffffffreezing!!) x