First steps in the Carribean Sea & Ciudad Perdida

After a very pleasant flight into Santa Marta (broken in Bogota with some yummy Barry's tea and many Cadbury's chocolate bars courtosy of my amazing sis!) we got our manky, sweaty selves checked into a hostel and dived into the pool with some cold beers. The heat of the Carribean hit us hard! We celebrated our first proper night together with some yummy Mexican food, numerous rounds of beers, shots of whiskey (?) and some interesting games of pool. It was an interesting first night! The next morning we rose bright and early to see the most we could of Santa Marta and book our trip to Ciudad Perdida (the Lost City). Unfortunately the heat prevented us from such crazy enthusiasm and it took us an entire day just to book the Ciudad Perdida. Luckily we found a reputable company for a good price so we booked it for the next morning. Unforunately the packing for the trip wasn't so easy. As it was rainy season we really had no idea how much we would need and as we had to carry all of our stuff we didn't want to weigh ourselves down...so we decided to be wet and smelly for 5 days and be dry in the evenings and one spare set of clothes if that all went to shit! And boy were we wet and smelly for 5 days...I don't think there's ever been a time where I've been so repulsed by my own odour. But we started the trip with open minds and massive enthusiasm. As we had already done Machu Picchu a month or so before we weren't expecting the same wow factor...but the journey itself was AMAZING. We had an extremely interesting journey getting to where we would start the hike...the bumpiest ride on earth! The first day would be the latest we would set off of all the 5 days and we soon found out why. One hour in the heavens opened and it didn't stop all day and all night. We were drenched and felt a little foolish for beginning the trip by tip toe-ing our way over rivers. Everything we were wearing was soaked to the bone...and even though we had covers on our backpacks, my sleeping bag got soaked through and Kim's book too...which she had balancing under her cover between her back and her backpack! Not good! But we felt like new people once we'd changed into dry clothes and out of our shoes...which were now just portable pools (and would stay that way for the next 4 days). We were very lucky the next couple of days...the rain didn't hit until about 12pm when we had already landed to the next camp so all we had to bear were wet feet and trousers (from wading through thigh high rivers) and damp tshirts (from the inability to dry with the humidity mixed with litres of sweat...imagine that smell!). Day 2 was a pretty tough steep climb but our surroundings were amazing. And we made in record time to our third camp so we made a group decision to keep on going to Ciudad Perdida that day (which otherwise we would have done the next morning) so that we could spread our energy over the next 2 days. We climbed the 1,200 steps to the Lost City and it was an amazing sight that greeted us. We were pretty much the only people there (apart from the soldiers that protected it) which was awesome and the city is pretty much untouched. It was incredible. We took our time strolling around and we were cursed that the rain didn't hit until we made our way back to the camp. We spent the evening playing cards and celebrating with a few beers before we collapsed ready to take on the next 2 days hike back (which consisted of the first 3 days we already did). We powered through...stopping in the evenings to launch ourselves into rivers to cool off and then running for cover when the rain hit to change into our dry gear and pull out the cards again. What was most amazing on this trip was meeting the descendants of the Tayrona people along the way. It was certainly something that has stood out for me, not only on the trek but the year so far. The Cogi people are still very much present in the mountains around the Lost City and their culture is still very strong. It was fascinating to see them go about their daily lives as we passed by. Once we reached the town where we started once more we were very tired but happy people. It was an amazing 5 days with an amazing group and amazing guides! One of the best experiences so far for sure. So we all packed ourselves into a van to head back to Santa Marta, grab our rucksacks and head to Taganga where we were going to chill out for the next few days. But first things first...showers!!!
(pic 1: Kim & I bunking down our first night; pic 2: Trekking across one of the many rivers along the way; pic 3: Mitch & I on another of the many rivers)

The long way round to Colombia

Unfortunately we didn't leave ourselves a lot of time to enjoy Quito. We hadn't heard great reviews about the city but what we saw of it we really liked. We hadn't anticipated how awkward it would be to get to Colombia so we had to spend a whole day running between bus stations to get a route in place...of course my sister was arriving the next day so I was hopping with excitement! After we had our tearful hello we pretty much collected our bags straight away and hopped on a bus to the border (unfortunately our plan of getting a bus direct to Cali didn't work out). Once we got our stamp out of Ecuador we strolled across the border to Colombia where we got our entry stamp and then hopped in a cab to the nearest town (you don't want to be hanging around dark border crossings in Colombia for long). From there we tried to get a bus to Cali but as we'd heard it wasn't a good idea to take that road at night and the people selling us the tickets were also not too keen on it, we just hopped on a bus to Pasto ready to get an early bus the next morning. After a very bumpy, cramped and sweaty 8 hour bus journey the next morning we arrived in sunny Cali. We checked into the cutest little hostel on one of Cali's many beautiful Colonial streets and set off to explore and unwind. Cali is a beautiful city with the most beautiful café's and restaurants...so we didn't waste our time gulping down a few coffees and beers! We spent a lovely evening and morning in Cali before we had to catch our flight up north to Santa Marta on the Carribean...super exciting stuff!!
(pic: Kim and I entering Colombia!)

From Mancora on to Ecuador

After a bit of a hiccup trying to get out of Trujillo we eventually arrived in Mancora - a small surf town on the northern coast of Peru. We set up camp again on the edge of town and made our way towards the beach. There's not much to Mancora but it's a nice place to balm out on the beach for a few days...which is exactly what we did. Lazing about by the pool in the campsite and balming out on the beach for hours on end watching the surfers (the waves were bigger than Huanchaco so we didn't attempt another surf) until the sun set. We took advantage of the cheap seafood again and stuffed our faces with ceviche and prawns to our heart's content. Sadly we could only stay for 2 days so booked a bus out of there pretty quickly. After packing up our tent and belongings we rocked up to the bus stop only to be told we didn't actually have a reservation (even though we'd paid for it) and would have to come back tomorrow. Lovely stuff! So we carted our asses back to the campsite and having no energy to pitch a tent again we checked into the room hopeful that we'd be able to leave the next evening. To be fair, there are worse places you could be stuck for a day! So we rocked up again the next day at 8.30pm to be told our bus wouldn't be arriving until 1am. Eventually we were on our way to Ecuador at 2am. We arrived in Guayaquil the next morning and quickly hopped on a bus to Montanita (another little surf town). We made it there pretty quick only to discover that our camera was stolen on the way. I was not impressed - a destroyed iPod and stolen camera all in the space of 2 days. Not a happy camper by any stretch of the imagination. But anwyay, we quickly checked into our hostel and tried to forget about it. Luckily we transfer all our photos onto the laptop regularly so we had only lost the last few days of photos. As we were in another small town it didn't take much time to stroll around and take in any sights. The next morning the weather was pretty rubbish so we didn't waste much time there. Unfortunately we had to go to another town an hour or so away to get a police report for our insurance company. After a bit of tooing and frowing between police stations, we finally got our report and were en route to Quito!

Sandboarding in Huacachina/Surfboarding in Huanchaco

After a tiring week in Cusco we moved westwards towards Huacachina for some sandboarding fun! Having skipped this activity many times in Chile already we were keen to get on the boards. Huacachina is an interesting little town set in the middle of a desert of sanddunes with an oasis in the middle. There are literally sand dunes as far as the eyes can see and tiny little town plonked in the middle of it. We were definitely glad we waited for Huacachina for sandboarding. So we didn't waste much time. After another long busride we were picked up that afternoon in our hostel by a sand buggy and brought on a rollercoaster ride up and down the sanddunes (and I mean rollercoaster)! Everyone we've spoken to about sandboarding here failed to mention that the buggy ride is absolutely terrifying...well, for wimps like us anyway. We stopped at various locations to take our boards out and board down the dunes...starting out with a little 'un and then moving on to monstrous mountains...at least that's how they looked from the top when you're lying on your board. It's quite difficult to stand up on your board (snowboarding skills don't seem to help much) so we spent most of the time lying on our fronts racing down the slopes. With smiles on our faces and sand literally EVERYWHERE we pulled out a cold beer and watched the sunset before another rollercoaster ride back to the town. There's not much else to do in Huacachina so we moved on quickly the next morning to make our way to the coast...our first time on the beach since Brazil we were very excited!! Our plan was to rough it with a local bus 6 hours to Lima and change buses there for an overnight bus straight to Trujillo...but unfortunately I fell ill again so we had to fork out for the "fancy" bus to Lima which arrived there a lot earlier than expected! So I lay out in the bus station in pain with Mitch stroking my head to put me to sleep while other passengers staring at us strangely. Anyway, we made it through the night and eventually found a place to stay in Trujillo and took off to explore. We quickly found out there is nothing to do in Trujillo and were glad we were moving on the next morning. A quick 15 minute ride the next morning and we arrived in Huanchaco - a little fishing/surfing village. We found an awesome little campsite looking onto the sea and bunked down for a few days...although we could have stayed for weeks. Huanchaco is definitely one our favourite places so far. Nothing spectacularly beautiful about the place it just had a buena onda (good vibe!). The next morning we grabbed boards and wetsuits and hit the beach...what a disaster that was! 2 very amateur surfers caught in very big waves...not cool! But we had fun anyway and it was certainly an experience. We spent the next couple of days filling our tummies with seafood and the most epic hamburgers we've ever had (from the cutest old lady in the world for 2 soles) and lounging around the beach until we reluctantly hopped on a bus to move northwards to warmer climates and more beaches!
(pic 1: Sharon & Mitch on the sanddunes; pic 2: us with our surfboards in Huanchaco)

Salkantay trek to Machu Picchu

We arrived in Cusco in the early hours of the morning and liked what we saw - not as impressive as Arequipa but still pretty cool. We checked into our hostel and began touring around the city to see what Machu Picchu trek we would do. We had it in our mind to do a jungle trek - which included hiking and biking but staying in hostels. As we wanted to get the true experience and camp all the way we settled on the Salkantay 5 day trek at a bargain price...we were happy. We met our group of 14 early the next morning and started our trek with our two guides - Miguel 1 and Miguel 2, and our two cooks - Vincente 1 and Vincente 2! Easy enough to remember. The first day was quite easy going...nothing too strenuous and got our muscles stretched out in preparation for day 2...which was slightly more strenuos (in the morning anyway). We rose early in the morning (woken at 6am with a hot cup of sweet coca tea) and began our trek up to the Salkantay glaciar (6271m high). Trekking uphill at 4,500m we quickly found it very hard to breathe and we were euphorious when we reached the top! After lunch we then trekked down into the jungle which was pretty awesome. It was quite an experience trekking next to a glaciar with wooly hats and jackets on all morning to stripping down to shorts and covering ourselves with mosquito repellant a few hours later. That night we camped down in one of the most beautiful surroundings - with little chicks running around our feet, horses neighing in the backround and the sound of gushing rivers below us. We savaged down whatever food was put in front of us, more coca tea and listened (painfully) for an hour to what Miguel 1 & 2 told us we'd be doing the next day. We had another trek through the jungle the next day (getting eaten alive by mosquitos) and finished off in the town of Santa Teresa. After lunch we were packed into a bus to go to the hot springs nearby. We weren't expecting much but boy were we smiling when we arrived. Hidden behind a rock quarry, and literally in the middle of nowhere next to a gushing river, it was a very strange sight. But we weren't complaining! We quickly dived into the roasting water to ease our aching muscles and were served by the side of the pool with ice cold beers at a very cheap price. We were very happy campers. 2 hours later we pulled ourselves out with hazy heads and dragged our asses back to camp for dinner. With pisco sours for 5 soles (£1) it seemed that tonight was the night to party...unfortunately not for me. Not long after arriving back I realised that it was my turn to have the funny tummy on this trek and spent the night bent over in pain in our tent (while Mitch partied the night away!) unable to eat. This carried on the next day but we powered through and with little energy made it to Aguas Calientes (where we found out there was a train strike so would have to hike back after Machu Picchu the next day). We all went out for dinner that evening...excited about the prospect of Machu Picchu the next day, the table was buzzing. Miguel 1 & 2 gave us another excruciating hour long chat about what we'd do the next day and just before we left to hit the hay after a very tiring day, Mitch & I were pulled aside to be told we weren't going to Machu Picchu...because our moronic company never transferred the money for our entry ticket! Well, anyone who knows me can only imagine the screams that errupted after this. Exhausted from 2 days of hiking with no food, I was LIVID. Mitch just stood there with his mouth open, unable to talk and visibly (I kid you not) shaking from head to toe with anger. Seeing as Miguel 1 & 2 were completely useless, Mitch took control of the situation, calmed me down, and found an internet cafe to get the number of our tour agency (yes, that would have been too organised for Miguel 1 & 2 to have!). He then called them, gave out a bit...handed the phone back to Miguel 2 when he couldn't understand what they were saying and an hour later, very stressed out, we were promised we would be going to Machu Picchu the following morning. Too tired to confirm this for sure we slumped back to our beds to get 4 hours of sleep before, we hoped, we would be trekking up to Machu Picchu. Fortunately (for Miguel 1 & 2...for they did not have to bear the full wrath of Sharon) we arrived up the 2 million steps to Machu Picchu at 6am the next morning and boy was it worth every aching muscle! It was the single most rewarding experience of our lives. There are no words to describe it. We suddenly got a burst of energy and after touring around the ruins for a few hours we practically ran up Wayna Picchu (the much steeper mountain towering over Machu Picchu) where another amazing sight greeted us on the top. If we wanted to catch the bus back to CUsco (as the trains were on strike) we would have had to leave pretty early that day to hike back so Mitch decided we were staying another night...we were going to enjoy it while we were here. So after we hiked down from Wayna Picchu, the whole group took a nap amongst the ruins and we lazed about the grounds until closing time - I think we spent 11 hours there altogether...the ticket people couldn't believe it! With smiling faces, we made the last trek down the mountain and made plans to meet everyone for dinner. We arrived back at the hotel to be greeted by a nice surprise - a friendly little man knocked on our door with train tickets for 9am the next day, an official apology from our tour company and an extra free night's stay in the hotel. We were gobsmacked! We couldn't believe it! So we celebrated that evening with a huge pizza, happy hour beers and a big lie in the next morning...until 8am!!
(pic 1: a very exhausted Sharon at the end of the day in Machu Picchu; pic 2: a very happy Mitch & Sharon with our entry stamps for Waynu Picchu)

Beautiful, beautiful Arequipa

From Puno we went straight to Arequipa - one of our favourite cities so far in South America. A stunning city with a beautiful main square in front of a towering cathedral with a great vibe and amazing food! In fact, we loved it so much we stayed a week longer than we should have. With our new found bargaining talents we found a cheap hostel with a great view over the city and spent the week eating cheap Mexican food washed down with cold beers. We also visited the mummy 'Juanita - the ice princess' which was pretty fascinating - she was sacrificed by the Incas on the summit of Ampato (over 6000m) over 500 years ago. The Incas sacrificed young children in order to please the Gods when they thought they were angry - this one was for a volcanic erruption they thought would stop after the sacrifice. She was pretty amazing to see - immaculate and the offerings buried with her were like new as well...awesome! While we were in Arequipa we also visited the Monesterio Santa Catalina - a convent (I dont know why it's called monastary) occupying a whole block on the main street with massively high walls guarding it - it's like another city within a city. We decided to take a night tour of it which was an amazing experience. There are hundreds of tiny cells where the nuns would sleep with little kitchens off each one - because we were there at night every room was lit by lanterns and all the fires were burning. That was definitely an experience to remember. So after lazing around for a week we decided we needed to get off our arses and burn some calories so booked a 3 day hike to the Colca Canyon. We left at 3.30am the next day and a very bumpy four hour journey later we arrived at the Condor Mirador to watch the flight of the condors at 8am into the canyon. Unfortunately when I looked behind me to grab Mitch (who was sitting 3 rows behind) I was greeted by a very green faced man and a bag of puke! Not a good start. So I went in search of Gatorade while Mitch sat with his head between his legs (not impressed at all by the 3 metre wide condors flying above his head). An hour later we were back in the bus heading to the town of Cabanaconde to begin our trek. Unable to eat or keep down even a sip of water, Mitch looked like death warmed up. We really didn't know what to do. But being the little trooper that he his...Mitch powered on. And what a trooper he was! It was a pretty steep downward climb into the canyon with gritty paths that didn't give much in the way of support. But 4 pain-staking hours later Mitch collapsed into our little shack (where we were staying for the night) exhausted! 14 hours of sleep later he was like a different man and managed to wolf down a few pancakes to energise up for the next few hours of trekking. That next day we arrived into an oasis which was pretty awesome...we arrived around midday, sweaty and aching and jumping into the cool waters of the oasis was exactly what we needed! The next day was the strenuous task of hiking back up the canyon which actually turned out to be a lot better than we had anticipated. Phew!! All in all it was an exciting adventure and we were pretty chuffed with our achievement. We stayed one more night in Arequipa and then reluctantly booked our bus to Cusco...to start another trek!
(pic 1: me next to the bell tower in the big cathedral over Arequipa; pic 2: Mitch and I day 2 of the Colca Canyon trip)

Lake Titicaca

After leaving Rurre we ended up back in La Paz for a few hours before heading north to Copacabana - Our last stop in Boliva before heading to Peru. Copacabamba is situatated on Lake Titicaca - a rather large and high lake. From Copacabana we headed to Isla del Sol with our camping gear planning to rough it for a few days. The island itself was a dissapointment. Lots and lots of grey stones dont really do it for me. Several unexpected fees for staying on the island also did little to lift the mood. Nonetheless we enjoyed a night of camping, sharing a field with a rather sombre group of sheep. We felt a sense of accomplishment after creating a pretty decent fire without the compulsory fire lighters/fuel/hairdryer. The island suppossedly contains several inca ruins. These however proved elusive. The highlight of Copacabana was a short walk up the nearby hill. It was used many years ago by the incas for something - i cant remember what. From the sumit you get a fantastic view of the lake, which we enjoyed at sunset. Next stop - Puno (Peru). Puno was our first stop upon entering Peru. Its a smallish town that whilst not blessed with any kind of elegance or beauty does manage to feel warm and welcoming. We quickly oragnized a trip to the floating reed islands. Several people had alerted us the the extremly toursit nature of the islands so we ventured off without expectation. Personally the islands were very interesting. They were formed by an indigenous tribe who were fleeing from the incas. Originally they were boats but they grew in size until eventually they were tied down into the lake. On the islands We were treated to a peruvian chorus of 'Row, row, row your boat' (in english) and for dinner a traditional Peruvian dish called Cerviche, the latter of which was highly enjoyable. And so we started our journey into Peru...love Mitch.
(pic 1: sunset over Copacabana; pic 2: our campsite in Isla del Sol)