Fishing for Piranhas (or as G´N´R would say "Welcome To The Jungle")

Ok, so it´s the jungle for tourists, but it´s still out in the back of beyond and has no electricity. Took a flight to Puerto Maldonas which is totally different from any other Peruvian place I´ve been to...no-one drives cars, everyone has a motorbike adn even the taxis are these wierd things called moto-cars that are a 3 wheeled motorbike with the passengers in a canopy at the back. We were picked up in what must have been one of 10 cars in the whole place, which I guess counts as luxury travel. Headed down a dubious road for about 45mins then got on a boat for another hour before reaching the lodge. On the short walk from the boat passed a small hole with a sign proclaiming it as the home of ´Simon the Tarantula´! The lodge was basic, but fine, rooms had no doors or windows only curtains, at night it was lit by gas lamp or candle. It also has a pet monky called ´Pepe´ who was actually quite cute.Headed out for an evening walk, which took in alot of trees, some birds and then what amounted to tarantula baiting! The trick to getting them out of their holes seems to be to get a twig with only one leaf on it and then poke it down the hole and get the tarantula to come out...it works, but is slightly freaky the 1st time. That night it pissed it down with rain (they do call it the rainforest after all) and there was a massive thunderstorm which meant no-one got much sleep and also meant we couldn´t go bird watching that morning. Instead we went for another walk through the forest and saw a load of spider monkeys and then started easting fruits of the forest. Started with Bananas, then Star fruits, coconuts, yams and then found a cocoa plant. Seeing where chocolate comes from has nearly put me off chocolate. The outside is orange, which is ok, but then you open the fruit and there´s something that looks like a white alien foetus. It´s actually seed pods, but looks really grim and before the cocoa seed dries out it´s purple and not very appetizing. At least when it dried it looked a bit more like chocolate, but still a bit wierd. That afternoon we headed to a lake called something like Tres Chimbondas (not named after the French defender). Our guide came armed with fishing rods and we got on the world´s most basic catermaran and once we had found the key to the padlock headed off into this lake where our guide Wilson said we could go swimming if we wanted. Then we found out we were going fishing for piranhas...apparently they are the least aggressive type, but no-one was tempted to swim. Anyway, baited up the rods and went fishing, unfortunately although there were a lot of nibbles, the bastards refused to bite, so there´s no photo of me holding up a piranha, however...we then went looking for caymans, which are a type of crocodile/alligator type thing. We soon spotted a lot in the distance, but it was getting dark and hadn´t seen any close up when our guide jumped off the boat onto a tree branch and grabbed a baby caymen and brought it back into the boat. Somehow despite saying no, I ended up holding the thing, so much for health and safety and no cruelty to animals, don´t think Peruvians have ever heard of risk assessments.if I get the chance I´ll post the photo. Anyway back in Cusco today and about to head off to Puno tomorrow, it´s about 8 hours by bus, not overly looking forward to it as will probably be forced to watch another dodgy film dubbed into spanish on route.

Inca Times

Ok, gonna be brief then try and fill in a few more details later. Have mainly been in Cusco and surrounding area for the last week. Went horse riding around some Inca ruins which was good but a bit painful. The next day headed to Ollytaytambo and the sacred valley which is a really fertile area with loads of well preserved inca ruins. Would post some photos, but the website comes up in spanish over here and it´s hard enough trying to just post a blog! Anyway, it was v cool finding out that all their settlements were built in the shape of animals like llamas and condors and pumas. Did a lot of climbing that day which was good for the legs and practice for a big trek I´ve just done. The Inca trail was full but did the Lares trek instead whcih is about 30km in a slightly different direction. Was really steep the 1st day, but had lunch by a lake which was nice and the cooks did amazing work with limited resources. The 2nd day was a bit more interesting as Rachel who I was sharing a tent with got sick. She made it to lunch but then was absolutely wrecked and had to take the emergency mule to the next camp where fortunately she eventually got a bit better. Went over a pass that was nearly 5000m up and very cold and one of the horses carrying our stuff took a tumble down the mountain but fortunately was ok. Camped at 4,500m which was very cold and next day made it back to civilisation. Just made it back from Machu Pichu which was amazing, was really sunny which was great and there´s lots to see and it´s a pretty massive site. Also climbed up Wana Pichu which is the mountain next to it. Got a great view down, but it´s pretty hard work climbing up nad the route down is somewhat trechourous, like many places I´ve been to on the trip, it´s unlikely that you´d be allwed up there in england! Forgot to mention the bugs at Machu Picchu, they have eaten my legs, got about 30 bites on 1 leg and 20 on the other and I´m not exaggerating...
About to head off to the jungle tomorrow which should be fun as there´s no electricity out there.

No rest for the wicked

Ok, so here´s a quick update. Took the night bus from Nazca to Aryquipa. It was actually a decent bus, but took corners very quickly and at one point we were all convinced the bus was going to tip over and fall down a cliff. Fortunately it didn´t, but did cause what turned out to be well founded worry about the bus drivers...3 days later there was a fatal bus crash on a route we were taking. Anyway on a more positive note, Aryquipa is a good place to visit, nice city, good food and easy to walk around. I even took a salsa lesson there, though all it taught me was that I can´t salsa! It also involved squeezing 7 people into the world´s smallest taxi so made for a very amusing night out. Also had a great view of some volcanoes from my window. Took a trip to a place called Colca Canyon which is apparently the world´s deepest canyon and has condors there which were very cool. I spent a shed load of money there (well by peru standards anyway) on some jumpers and dodgy hats and also found some nice hot springs. The people on route were very poor and on the way back stopped off at a local school to give them bread, condensed milk and oats for which they were very grateful. School equipment is also hard to come by and even rulers which cost .50 soles (about 10p) were very gratefully received. Am now in Cusco and have spent the afternoon seeing some Inca ruins by horseback which was very cool but a bit painful as well. Tomorrow head off to the Sacred Valley, then 3 days on the Lares Trek, 1 day at Manchu Picchu and then 2 days in the jungle, whcih should keep me busy!

Planes, buggies and night buses

So this is the 2nd time I´ve tried to write this entry, the last time I had nearly finished when the electricity went, it´s now about 4 hours later.
Swopped the cars playing chicken in Lima for a dune buggy in Ica. There´s an oasis 20mins outside Ica which is mad cos it´s surreounded by these massive sand dunes that are great for racing up and down in. Couldn´t drive my own buggy, but the driver in ours was good and we had a great trip. It was quite windy and the buggy was going pretty fast, so I got pretty sand-blasted. Am not necessarily reccomending it as an alternative to spa treatments, but my face is pretty soft and smooth right now!Midway through we got to sand board as well. I didn´t think the knees were up to standing on it, so I went down head first. I went faster and further than everyone, so have decided that when I get back to england I may have a future in skeleton bob as I can definitely go fast...not sure about the steering though and braking was an issue. Probably the best $15 I´ve ever spent. Headed on that night to Nasca and just been up in a plane to see the lines. They were good, a bit tricky to see at the start but once you knew what you were looking for it was pretty good. The plane was really bumpy though and along with the heat made me and most of my group feel pretty ropey and happy to be on the ground again. Later today we´re taking a night bus to Araquipa which will be fun, not expecting much sleep...

1 day in, no food poisoning yet

I´ve made it to Lima intact, which is always a bonus. I reckon I was travelling for about 24 hours which isn´t fun, but fortunately I´m not too horribly jet-lagged. Am trying to type this on a keyboard on which the keys bare no resemblance to what they actually type. Took me about 10 mins to find out where the @ key is, fortunately this place is pretty cheap, so the extra time will have cost me about 10p. Not alot to tell about Lima as those of you who´ve been here can vouch for. Kind of odd when in the middle of the historical district is a KFC! I have seen one car crash already though and thought we were going to be crashed into at least 3 times on the city tour I took yesterday, wouldn´t be surprised if there´s no driving test in Peru and from the state of most of the cars I don´t think MOTs exist either. Luckily am about to head off for Pisco on the coast which should be a little less polluted. It´s a 4 hour bus ride away so have stocked up on some traditional peruvian chocolate chip cookies!

Thanks for the send off

Would just like to say thanks to everyone who came out on Monday night. I think a good time was had by all even if the DJ was a bit crap! Anyway it was nice to see you all before I headed off. Hopefully I'll be posting some stuff here every week, but it just depends on when I can get to an internet cafe. Enjoy the sunshine while it lasts!