We are so glad we are leaving here. I know I was. And I was better too which was great. Still not feeling to well but more manageable. We had a late morning flight back to Lima. Funny thing is that Helen twisted her ankle on the way to the port from the lodge in the morning and we had to use the wheel chair to get her around the airport both in PuertoMaldonado and when we arrived in Lima. 

We arrived in Lima in the early afternoon. Our GAP driver never came to pick us up so we had to find our own way to the hotel. Once there, we were hungry to try the Ceviche that we totally avoided before the Inca Trail. But now that we are done the Inca Trail and have nothing to lose (as we have all had the share of the runs by now), what the heck?! We have to try it! So we headed to the restaurant area near the Kennedy Plaza and had some ... well I just tried it via Helen and Steve as I was still recovering and had very little appetite. It was soooooo good! I think I will need to try to make this when I get home! For those who don't know what Ceviche is - it's basically raw fish dish that is marinated in lime juice ... so the lime juice cooks the fish with the acidity. Anyways, that was our last supper with Steve as he had his bags with him when we went out to eat and later to roam around the Kennedy Plaza. When 930 pm hit, Steve was off in the taxi cab heading to the airport to catch a midnight flight back to Calgary via Houston stop-over. Ah good times! Good times! It has been such a blast!

Read more »

Well there ain't much to talk about here. I got more mosquito bites ... how I don't know considering I was going back and forth between the bed with the mosquito net and the bathroom all day. I had the runs and was just exhausted that I napped pretty much all day. I didn't do any hikes or treks. Eva was the same but she was a day ahead of me in terms of whatever we both had. Helen and Steve went on the morning tour on the boat and showed some of the pics including fishing for piranas. Helen passed on the afternoon and evening tour but Steve went on it. At least someone did. Steve was the healthiest of all of us and had the energy to do it. And then he comes back to tell us all the stories lol By night I was already feverish with the runs. The amazon so far was just a place to rest up and deal with what I had to deal with. From what I hear, I didn't really miss a thing as it wasn't the tour that we expected. If we could decide again, we all agreed that we would have liked to stay in Cusco for another day or so before heading off to Costa Rica. But at least we did it and can say we wouldn't do it again or recommend it. It's all subjective of course. Perhaps we had higher expectations?

Read more »

We were the only ones heading out to the Amazon Jungle. We took a plane to Puerto Maldonado. Helen and I were giddy as it was so hot and nice! The sun ... oh how I miss thee! It was so nice to be in hot weather! We were met by our guide Geraldine and headed off in van with a few others to the port to catch a boat to the lodge that we would be staying at. It took about 45 minutes to get to the lodge. We were the only ones departing the boat as the others went to the next lodge an hour down.

It was muddy in the jungle ... the trek to the lodge wasn't that bad ... a good 5-10 min walk. When we got there, we were all surprised how good it was. They had open rooms with safes. It was very loungy and had a relaxed atmosphere. In just a few minutes, I already had like 5 mosquitos bites. I hate them cause I get a bad allergic reaction to them. We took a short hike around in rubber boots. We saw some monkeys, birds, ants... really not anything exciting. We climbed a tower that was about 320m and saw the jungle from atop. It was so neat to be able to see above the trees. By 520 we were back at the lodge to get some dinner. By then Eva and I were still not feeling so brilliant and Eva had a fever all night. Poor girl.

Read more »

Today we didn't know what time we should wake up to meet everyone for breakfast and even thought Steve did text Helen to wake up ... her phone died during the night so we never did wake up until 30 minutes later when everyone left. We wanted to all meet for one last breakfast so to say as some people had to leave to catch a plane while others checked out to another place to stay. We stayed for another night as we continued our tour via the Amazon. But today, we spend the day at Cusco pretty much shopping around and getting last minute souvenirs. We did meet up with the Aussie boys while shopping at the market and it was nice to see them once last time before we all left to continue on our individual/group trips. 

The weather was again rainy. Sigh. Too much rain! And by then, we put our clothes to get washed so I didn't have too much to wear really. I can feel that I was getting sick and so was Eva. Eva had a fever first while we were out for lunch and we decided to head back to get some rest as Eva and I were getting fluish symptoms and the weather didn't help. We got some shut eye while Steve and Helen roamed around getting stamps and finding the post office and wandering around for a bit. When we did wake up from a nice sleep (though still feeling sick) we headed to McDs for dinner. Apprantly Steve and Helen already went so it was our turn to get some fries and sundaes...mmmmmmm......

Read more »

So this was our last day ... it will be the day that we will reach Machu Piccu! We were so pumped and ready in the morning. So funny... was talking to Caleb and he said that when the porters knocked on our tents for our wakeup call... he was already up and could see the tents light up one by one ... except one lol (Dave and Shaun's tent which took a while). I thought that it was a cute little story to remember for me really than anything else. I can just see the way each tent lighted as though it was choreographed. Anyways!!!!

We gobbled up our breakfast as fast as we can and it was an easy breakfast the porters made as they will be heading back to town where our duffle bags will be dropped off. They were also nice enough to pack us each a snack bag! In it was a sandwich, yummy mint chocolate cookies and a peach/fruit drink for when we arrive at Machu Piccu and walk around for a few hours.

We waited in line for about 30 minutes or so then once the gate opened, we were all off with all the other groups in the lineup. Steve and I were lined up at the front with other groups that were pacing the rest of us. The trail could handle more of a one person lineup so we had to lineup one after the other unless we yielded to let others pass. I was surprised I kept pace as it was a bit fast but the conditioning of the trail the past few days as well as adrenaline carried me through and was just crusing up and down the trail. It didn't last long until we stopped at the bottom of what Jorge called the Oh My God Steps.

The OMG steps were about 60 steep steps all the way up before reaching the peak and by that time I was so hot with all my layers that I stopped at the bottom with Margaret and started to strip down. Amazingly, it didn't take long to get up there and once up there... it was just awesome! It was such a view and I was so proud of everyone who made it as it was such a long journey to get there and very worthwhile! We took some pics ... It would have been great if we had a group pic up there as we haven't had the opportunity to do so when we all reached the Dead Woman's Pass at different times and waiting would not be fair to those who were there first esp cause it was so cold! But Jorge wanted us to have a pic once we were at Machu Piccu which was about another 10-15 minute walk down a few steps. The girls and I took our time and actually took pics and talked to Jorge about some of the vegetation we saw along the way down. 

We followed these uni spanish girls on the way to the Piccu. It was neat to be behind them as they were singing some songs in Spanish and they were good! Once we got there and gave a loud whoop, we joined our group for a photo opp. Ah good times mates ... good times! I will miss these guys as they were such a great group to be with.

Jorge gave a tour around the Machu Piccu explaining some of the areas and symbols that we see. The dude is so knowledgeable! I cannot regurgitate any of the mega specifics he says ...though I am sure Migel can as he was using his camera to remember some of the info that Jorge was talking about. After that, we got to wonder around the Machu Piccu city for the next 2 hours. We met up at the town at the bottom in a restaurant called Apu something lol ... can't rem at this time as I am just typing as much as I can. It's a pizza place. We took a bus into town that took about 20 minutes. It was rainning then. We had a bit of a time to kill so we went around the market hoping to find a tee that said we conquered the Inca Trail. We did eventually find one for ourselves and went on our merry way to meet the rest of our mates and chow down on some food!

Apparently, as we were on our hike...there were people that took pics of us including the group pic before we started the hike. They gave us (for a price) the pic acting like a certificate saying that we finished the trail and had individual photos of us during the hike. I didn't recall the latter and that made sense later as I had no individual pics lol oh well... you know how I love being behind the camera than infront!

We took a 230 pm train back our starting point and then the van back to Cusco and our hotel. The 4 of us had Jorge book a massage for us when we got back as our trip will continue with more trekking in the Amazon and our muscles were tight at that point (as I am sure everyone else was). We weren't sure if anyone else wanted the massage so we never asked. We were just wanting to loosen up before more trekking. The girls were waiting for us at the hotel and came into our rooms to do a 1 hour massage. It didn't leave us much time to get ready and meet up with the gang for our last supper out but we did our best. I wish I had my jeans and some fresh good clothes!

There was a few stragglers who needed more time to get ready, so the ones who were ready just headed out to a pub close by the plaza. It was rainy as per usual in Cusco but we dealt with it. I can't remember the first pub we were at but it was pretty full so we decided to head to another across the street and sit on the balcony to make sure we spot the stragglers later on when they did get to the plaza. So we waited about 40 min and had some great chats and some drinks to get us by until the real food. We did stop by the streets stalls for some skewers - chicken with potato ontop (there was the choice of beef as well). The potatoes here are so good though these were a bit dry. Did you know there are more than 1000 types of potatoes here in Peru?! Jane and Kristina introduced us to the hot tamalis ... they were pretty good as well. 

Once the gang was altogether, we were all trying to decide what to eat and didn't want to spend an arm and a leg for it esp in and around the plaza. Heck, McDs even came up and I was game for that! I was just mega hungry at the time ... mega only in the terms of what my darn stomach can handle since not feeling so well. By then it was just pouring and the restaurant "The Muse" came up and Caleb ran in the rain to do a check. It was so crazy. The rest of us hung back for a bit. The rain was not letting out so Shaun, Jane and I just decided to make a run across the plaza to the Muse to join Caleb. There were huge puddles all over the place and there was no way that anyone would have been totally dry doing what we did. It was a fun and memerable night as we chatted, laughed, watched Eva get drunk and dance in her chair ... The 3 of us girls decided not to head to the Disco althought it would have been fun. I let Helen make the call with Eva and her drunkiness as I didn't really experience that with Eva ever except for family functions (which was different). So Helen thought that it would be best if we take her home cause she didn't think she would make it and she was right as Eva passed out on our bed as soon as her head hit the pillow. Perhaps next time we shall all meet and dance the night away :)

More Photos

Read more »

One last all day trek and boy was it easier for us girls (Helen, Eva, Margaret and I). I think by then our bodies were conditioned to take some pain and the all day trek. Today was really rainy and unfortunately Eva's poncho was missing and she got really wet from the pouring rain as we trekked through the day. She was shivering by the time we got to have our break which happened to be our lunch. Poor girl but she's a trooper and got through it and continued the hike to the campsite. All of our socks were drenched with rain and we could not wait to take them off! We were lucky that the last day at the campsite was such a nice night!

The campsite was a good one as this one had public bathrooms and showers that we can use via the restaurant that was there. We had to pay 5 soles for 5 minutes of a shower and knowing that it was a hot shower... Helen and I took it! My hair was so bad and I really needed to wash it. There was a huge line up as all the female trekkers wanted to have hot showers as well. Helen and I didn't have a towel but managed with her face towel to dry us up. I lotioned in the tent instead of in there. The lady told us hurry it up as the lineup was extra long outside. Anyways...it felt good to shower man! Ah being clean!

The last supper included a presentation from us - giving our thanks and tips that we compiled to our guide and porters. Scott and the gang did a great job with their speeches. In return, the porters gave their presentation - giving us their thanks and sang a song. They thanked us by shaking our hands and for the women a kiss on the cheek... they liked it so much they went around twice! I didn't notice until I heard Kristina crack up and mention it. After they sang their song and a heandful of porters went out and grabbed a girl to dance with. I was hoping that I would just watch but one came for me and I hid behind Eva then Caleb saying no no it's ok but in the end...just went for it ... I mean it's the last day so what the heck! I just don't like attention lol It was fun! And we grabbed Eva too as she was watching from the sidelines. It probably lasted about 5 minutes but it was fun to participate in lol

The last day was a nice day for all of us as we were now really at the end of the journey and can relax more. We had great conversations and chats with lots of laughs. We chatted about accents and travelling and politics and stupid things and the trail and how well we all did etc. It was just nice to enjoy each other's company. We all headed to the restaurant for drinks as well. And yes I had a beer - Cusquena. Eva and I shared one as we are so not good at holding our liquer. I wanted to drink enough so that I can sleep well and be ready for the next mornings hike that started at 4 am! We have to make it into the checkpoint where it opens at 5:30am.

Read more »

We were all happy to have made it to the 2nd day! I'm so glad that we bought the hot warmers as they were so helpful at night when it gets cold. The sleeping bags were warm but I find them confining and decided to leave the zipper side open and it was good after that. I was felt so confined the first night I was imagining waking up and taking my scissors and just frigin slice the crap out of my sleeping bag silk liner on one side ... loco? Ci!!!

Anyways, today was and is the toughest of all climbs as in involves steep inclines and declines along the way. Again, we totally lucked out with the weather ... a drizzle here and a drizzle there but mostly sunny! As you will see, I didn't take many photos as I was so focused and doing my trekking but Steve and Helen were good to take pics ....

Today was really tough. Margaret joined us there at the end as she was still not feeling up to par ... and like what she says ... this trek really makes and proves the character you are as it was challenging mentally and physically. In a wierd sort of way, her not feeling well helped the 4 of us girls bond. We took turns leading and pacing the rest of the group and stopping here and there for rest or for when Helen had to go in the bushes. Migel (the assistant to Jorge) was so patient as he was at the end making sure we were all all right...and lol...telling where Helen should go ... even when we thought we had a good spot picked out! And Helen... boy oh boy ... I don't know how she did it ... but with the runs and doing the Dead Woman's Pass... that is something ... the whole group is admirable as most people had some problems and still kept pushing on. They were each amazing in their own ways ... no brown-nosing here as there is no need ... each of them are amazing people.

It was really a tough day and in the end.... the last few hundred steps incline to the Dead Woman's Pass (13769 FT above sea level) was really hard to resist the adrenaline to just run up ... we had to talk to ourselves to just keep the pace and not burn oursleves out and we did. It was such an achievement reaching there! Deep down inside we cheered on the of the dudes on as we took turns passing each other all day ... but we all made it around the same time ... and it was exhilerating! Cold but exhilerating! It was nice that Jorge stayed up there to high five us :)

The steep downhill on uneven rocks and bolders followed after reaching the top. My forte is definately not uphill :) Downhill went alot smoother but we had to be careful as it was pretty slippery from the rain and drizzle we had here and there that day. It was easy not to take any breather as all you can do is just keep going down down down ... and if you stop ... well ... your legs start shaking and it's just easier to keep going! The good thing is us girls made it down to the campsite before it started pouring for the rest of the night. Unfortunately, a couple of people (Shaun and Jane and most likely more) felt some affects of the altitude and perhaps from other things ... who knows ... but like I said... they were all troopers as they didn't complain much about what they had to deal with. Amazingly, without Diomox I felt fine (in comparison to when I went to Lhasa last year). So I was glad about that though not so glad for those suffering from it. Helen had a hard time breathing and needed Oxyishot (oxygen in a can pretty much). It helped her so that's good. She made it this far and it would be cruel to see her not make the next day or so. I don't know how many people went to supper after the break when we all got together, but Eva and I took Benedryl or Gravol so that we can have a good night's sleep and called it a night pretty early on. I slept like a baby until they called us for supper and then I was tossing and turning ... perhaps I should have taken more gravol!

Read more »

OK... the start of the Inca Trail! We (us 4) were pretty beat from the walk the day before ... ok maybe just us girls ... eitherway we woke up in the morning with a fresh start and couldn't wait to get started. Steve and Helen was hoping that their runs were done and needed to fill up on electrolytes. As we were out there getting our drinks and hats... we saw our van...with our duffle bags!!!! YAY! We saw many of the buses coming through and knew that the strike must be over. We piled in the van and went our way towards the start of the first checkpoint on the Inca Trail. Eva and I have been waiting for this day to come since planning so we were totally exicted!

We met our porters (there was about 21 porters) and transferred what we needed between our bags, got some bandanas, stretched...whatever we needed to do to get ready. The porters feverishly packed our duffles within a bigger duffles and next thing you know it they were off! We had to wait to get to the checkpoint and get our passports stamped ...crossed the bridge and begin the trek! It's so great that they get to stamp your passports so that you can always have something tangable to remember the great accomplishment (you get another stamp when your done).

The start for me was a bit challenging as I was still tired from yesterday and really ... I have no excuses ... I'm just really out of shape!!!! Everyone did well ... the Aussies were up there leading our pack and good on them..Scott too! These guys were pretty much out there in the front the whole trek all the way to Machu Picchu.

It was pretty much up for a while ... straight for a bit ...down...and up...and down and up and up...etc... you get the point... there were resting places and places where you can replenish your fluids and even go to the bathroom ... for us ... the porters always got their first and we would have snack (popcorn, crackers, tea) be off and then have lunch (and they were always good food!) and be off again til we get to the campsite for the night. This was the usual drill. Then later we would have snack again (same) and then dinner at 7pm. 

We have been lucky that the weather cooperated with us during the trek and we only had one really wet rainny day. The other times, it was occassional rain for a while though the first 2 nights we had heavy rain at our campsites.

This first campsite gave us a feeling of what we would expect. We picked out our tents and got ourselves ready for the night. We usually get to the campsite early afternoon around 2-3pm most days. Migel had a great idea to take pics of everyone in their tents so I followed suit. It's a great idea to chat with everyone and get to know everyone. I didn't get Margaret and Liam as I found out later that Margaret wasn't feeling so well after the day of hike was through. Steve and I got to talking with Aussies Shaun and Caleb and even had a little girl try to sell chocolates to us during our conversation. As for the bathrooms, the bathrooms wasn't so hot but you make due. We didn't use the bathroom til later that night just before we slept - we had a fun time going to the bathroom this night ... 

It was our first time using the bathroom ... there was a toilet at the top of these steps and just a bit closer was an outhouse (which was really out of the question to use cause it was totally gross but if you're a guy ... eh ... you can go go anywhere really and do it with ease...this of course if number one only ;) ) Anyways ... everyone was already in their tents to get ready for bed and an early wakeup call. It was heavily rainning by now. We were wearing our ponchos and thank god for that cause the ponchos kept us dry and hid us squatting). We were at the top where Migel and Tammy were going to the bathroom but in the dark ... imagined worse when we first saw the outhouse so we were laughing and debating to go to the bushes. I think we laughed so hard that everyone can hear us though wouldn't know the reason why. We were trying to pick our "spots" ... Eva went first as she wanted to go and get it over with and picked a spot... however she forgot where specifically cause the other spots we wanted were full of dog shit as we found so we all had to in a way go to the same area where Eva did it and she couldn't remember where specifically and we all didn't want to stand on her piss and on and on.... man I think Migel and tammy think we were all loco at this point! Darn Edmontonians! ... or maybe typical Edmontonians! It felt like forever really but we did what we had to do and hey at least we had a laugh doing it ... not so much Helen as I know she woke up very early in the morning with the runs still ... what a trooper!!!!

More Photos

Read more »

We started our journey visiting some sites in the Sacred Valley. We had to take what we can visit as there was a local strike going on. We stopped by Chinchero to check out the architecture and history there ... we visited the women who make alpaca products ... it was interesting to see and I was so glad to find mitts that fit me well there! I was getting worried that me hands would be frozen from the cold! We also headed to Moray to check out the cool terraces they used to test plant agriculture in the past ... the core is the lowest and is about 5 degrees warmer ... we climbed the interesting diagnal steps built to go up and down the rings and levels and Jorge suggested that we all hold hands and llook up at the sky and just absorb the energy in and around us. It was quite fun. As the journey continues we are starting to get a feel and know each other more....esp. when we confronted with the challenge of the strike. 

The strike was, if I can recall, the citizens disagreement about the gov't charging them for the water they consume ... which is understandable. So the citizens created blockades around the city Urabamba to the point where it stopped all traffic coming in and out of the area ... and Jorge mentioned that there is only one way in and out ... there were bolders pushed everywhere scattering across the entire road. We watched some of the action happening after our lunch (the only restaurant opened apparently). We saw the citizens attacking the tut-tuts ...very mildly...perhaps more shouting and banging and shaking of them but still.... would be scary for those involved there. It was interesting seeing this ... makes us think how lucky we are in the western world to have demonstrate peacfully but can in some ways make a difference in the decisions made while the people here have to take drastic measures into their own hands to get their own gov't's attention. Good for them to take the stand!

After lunch Jorge gave us a decision to make as a group - since our van (with our duffle bags) cannot continue to Ollantaytambo (where we start the trail hike) we can either get what we need from our duffles and walk 2 hours to get there OR stay at a hotel here in town but there is a possibility that the strike will last another day and delay us. It was pretty much unanimous.... It was going to be the 2 hour walk! It was a good time to test out our polls and legs! I got our group behind when we were getting stuff from our duffles as I did something dumb ... I took what I need out and put something else I didn't need from my day pack only to put the stuff I need back in! I didn't realize this until I had this gut feeling to double check I had it in my bag! This is when I got to know Margaret as she was the one calming me down as I try to hastly go back to get the stuff from my duffle that was already packed up back in the van.

So we all got to walking and talking with different groups and individuals as our speed (some of us) changed. It was nice to see the locals and saying Hola to them as we walked on by. I think they were laughing at us using our polls to walk. I tried to get to know everyone as this was a good time to do so. So interesting and fasinating ... the people you meet as you travel... but all with hearts of gold! While walking, we came across many different blockades made by the locals. There was one with barb wire, ones with rocks and bolders (with and without tar for torching later on), garbage ... we even saw one with bits and pieces of cactuses laid out!

After a while, as it got dark, it became challenging. I think we just wanted to all rest as we did not stop walking in those 2 hours. I know that when Jorge said ... only 20 minutes more left I thought it was to see a band (and get there) but he meant "van" :P While we were all walking, Jorge was busy on his cell calling up people to figure out a way to get our duffles to the us and the porters tomorrow, to get us a place to stay etc. He has done an awesome job throughout the whole trip and such a knowledgable guy! 

On with the story! So after about more than 20 minutes ... we finally saw a van ... we all stuffed our bags at the back and stuffed ourselves in the van like sardines... 14 people in the van plus the driver! And get this ... Jorge and the some dude riding on the roof just holding on to the racks! Some of the guys were commenting how they would pay to surf the roof so the say :) but Jorge knew that he couldn't let any of us go up there as he was responsible for our safety on this trip.

So bushed and tired, we were off to Ollantaytambo which would have taken us about another 1-2 hours if we walked all the way  there. It was already dark and it would have been so very tiring to do another 2 hours only to wake up early next day to start the Inca Trail and continue that for the next 3.5 days!

The hostel we were at was pretty cold. The 4 of us decided to put the beds together to sleep which I guess wasn't needed but we had a great time chatting and laughing about stuff. Unfortunately, Steve and Helen got the runs from the Pizza they shared at the Blue Puppy restaurant that we all ate at. I know we were all trying to avoid any stomach problems while trekking on the trail and this was not such a hot start. Eva and I were lucky though we were still battling our slight mild stomach troubles since Pisco.

More Photos

Read more »

I'm back from the hike to Machu Piccu and I survived it! All I can say is holy crap is it brutal... challenging is more the right word as I don't think I was physically conditioned and mentally prepared for what was to come before this all started.

What got me through was the GAP Adventure group we had was totally totally awesome! Great bunch of people and we had a great time :) Thanks guys! We were pretty supportive of one another on and off the trail and got along pretty good. We had Canadians (6), Austrailans (3), Irish (2) and Americans (3) in the group.

For a quick summary ... as I was MIA from the blogging...



Jan 14th, 2009

Helen stayed up all night as we had to all meet downstairs at by 3:30 am for our 5:30 am flight to Cusco. I managed to shut my eyes for about 30 min - an hour though not a very good one. We met Tammy and Migel on the bus and found out that they were from Edmonton too! What a coincidence! We didn't find out about it until we were at the airport waiting for our flight. My stomach continued to be a nusance and had to manage what I ate and took some pills so that I would be well before the hike. 

The flight did not take long ... less than an hour. We had a long wait though when we had to pick up our luggage. We were only allowed one carryon each so each of us had to check in our bags .. except for Scott who explained to us how he managed to get everything he needed packed nicely into a one bag including a stove! Crazy! Perhaps one day I will be able to do that but seriously not in a small backpack like that!

Once we arrived in Cusco, we were picked up by our host and went to our hotel, signed some papers, paid for our rental equipment and met more people on our tour (Margaret and Liam from Ireland). We debated over and over about renting the polls ... do we need it? One or Two? It went on for a good majority of the time. As for the weather, it was pretty cool in Cusco which was a bit of a surprise to us. I wish I had more sweaters instead of just my one LuLuLemon one which still treated me pretty good since it does dry pretty quick. We headed out to the Plaza to get some gear like mitts and toques and the like. It was so interesting to see the kids who try to sell you stuff know so much English! One cute little girl asked Eva where she was from. When she answered Canada, the little girl said, "Ottawa is the capital of Canada!" and continued to have a smooth conversation with all of us all the while trying to convince us to buy a finger puppet ... which I got suckered into since it was only One Soles and she was just the cutest little thing ... Eva tried to haggle a hug in there too to our surprise as everyone who knows her knows that she is sooooo germaphobic! LOL 

More on the kids of Cusco ... we saw a little girl with this black cute baby alpaca and decided to have a photo taken with her... of course this will cost us One Sole which was fine as it was something we didn't want to miss so we each took one with her ... her mother (or so we thought!) joined in all the photos. We didn't know until we all had a turn and paid the little girl that she just popped into the pics! She wanted to be paid but we felt that it deceiving; we just paid One Sole instead cause we felt sorry for her. We found that everywhere you went and took photos of locals who happen to be within the direction, their hands stick out automatically to ask for money. I understand that this is their way to earn a living in a tourist city but it's hard to see how children will become dependant on tourists like us for a simple thing like a photo ... maybe cause I believe that when you take a photo...that photo is taking the culture and people of the country and city...things like this are debatable but perhaps another day :)

Anyways, we did last minute before we headed out to the GAP briefing find a little shop in an alley and found what we needed for our Inca hike. We tested more of our haggling skills and spanish for numbers ... we are starting to get a hang of it :)

So in the GAP briefing , we finally met everyone. I think we were all pretty quiet at first except for Scott who loves to talk and we had a good laugh about his note taking and what he may have wrote to try to remember each person's name ... Jorge, our guide, was pretty descriptive about what we would do on our trip which was nice to hear and I actually got excited about it and couldn't wait. And when I saw that there were toilets on our campsites I was so relieved! Then again, the bushes would have been much cleaner!

After the briefing, we were sent on our way to pack the duffle with about 5lbs worth of stuff the porters will carry and our day packs and the main packs that we will leave behind in the hotel storage. The storage is safe as I put some of my electronics in there including my laptop and it is all well and accounted for! And man...the porters are amazing ... these guys can carry so much on their backs and go up and down the trail like it's no one's business ... and some with sandals! I think though that they should have better equipment like packs and shoes if they want to help do their job better as they were just carrying big duffle bag with no back support at all!

More Photos

Read more »

So Helen and Steve arrived in the wee hours of the morning. I wasn't even awake when Eva left the room to bring them up as I dozed off while watching the tele!

Anyways, we all got along and it's going to be great to have them join us for the ride so to say. The first thing we did after breakfast was try to book paragliding through Aeroxtreme for noon. The reception here called for us. They speak awesome English. They said they will call us at noon at the hotel.

My stomach was not feeling well today ... really not feeling well since Pisco. Hopefully whatever it is will go away in time. We decided to kill some time and took Helen and Steve to the Lover's Park and around Kennedy Park and the market for some food and snacks. They bought their first Inca Cola to try and they said that it ain't so bad. Definitely on the sweet side of things. We got back to the hotel and Eva got the call that there is not enough wind but will call back around 4pm for another check.

So we decided to roam on the other side of the streets of our hotel until the phone call. I'm glad we wandered in this direction as we found stores and markets we never would have seen otherwise. There was an Inka Market where shops were set up selling t-shirts and all kinds of trinkets.  We then spotted a Peruvian Market which not to our surprise sold the same things! Like the exact same things as the Inka Market! There was even an Indian Market that was there that also sold the same things! I felt like I was taking crazy pills! Even the shops around there ... hmmm....

Anyways, we never got the call and we really didn't think there is enough wind still so we went back to the hotel to reserve a table at Rosa Nautica, which is a fancy restaurant by the sea. It was a nice place. Helen and Eva ordered the chicken breast and spaghetti, I ordered the duck with lima beans, and Steve ordered the Rockfish special dish. The latter entree had layers of salt at the bottom of the cassorole dish and had layers of carrots and leaks that cooked with the fish. We had a taste and was very good. They were all good really. We saved room for a trio of mousse too! PS... If you ask for tea...they will charge you for each cup. I thought it was like back in Canada where it is free refills... :P

After stuffing ourselves, we headed over to see the water show...it's pretty much a fountain show... but when we got there they were turning everyone away and we finally found out that they did not do it on certain days so we're thinking of coming back at the end of the GAP tour. We headed over the the main Plaza where it's surrounded by just stunning architecture... just loved it...so beautiful esp at night with all the types of lighting. Pics to follow when I have time to post :) The Plaza was just hustling and bustling as there are markets everywhere. Helen and I even ate some yummy McD ice cream cones :) The market street will eventually lead you to another smaller plaza with it's own charm. It had Christmas decors all over and one even played Christmas songs :)

Sorry, the next 2 blogs are a bit shorter than usual as time is a bit tight yo!

More Photos

Read more »

So another quick blog entry as it is midnight here in Lima and we have to meet downstairs at 3:30 am to catch a flight out of here to Cuzco. 

We started this morning with a Bike Tour. It was such an awesome tour and Jose, our guide, was just an awesome guide! I learnt so much ... it's hard to retain all the info Jose has mentioned (the dude really knows his stuff and the info was so interesting) but the tour was unforgettable. 

We had cute bikes ... and even had a basket! It was great to have the basket to put your stuff in including the water bottle which is included in the tour. We started our bike in Miraflores then headed to Barranco ...to Chorrillos then back to Miraflores. It was about 18 km altogether though it seems so much more. It was definately a workout but a good workout nonetheless!

We made stops along the way not only to take photos but learn about the history of Lima and how these areas/districts came to be. We learnt how the roads formed in Barranco ... the war they had with the Chillians when they decided to invade ... saw the last Peruvian garden and house from centuries ago ... the lighthouse ...the story behind the Lover's park ... I can say I can go on but seriously, the best way is to get your ass down here and take the tour yourself. It's just amazing ... the sights that you see along the way and the stories you hear... not to mention...it's great weaving in and out of the traffic and the small roads ... pretty fun!

We also had lunch at Chicharroneria Yasu for a Chicharron sandwich. It's basically a pork sandwich but it's so darn yummy! The pork is cooked 3 different way if I can recall - boiled, baked and fried. I may have to look that up when I have time....short term memory mates :) They provide you with red onions and peppers on the side. You will need salt as it will taste bland without it ... or just top it off with everything. With the pork is also a slice of sweet potatoe. It's sooo good!  This was also included in the tour.

Man alive... I wish I had more time to write more and even upload some pics but time is ticking and I want to give you as much as I can ... 

For dinner we decided to try Chifa. It came up in our conversation today when we all had lunch. Jose mentioned that there was a Chinatown here ... we were like ... really?! We never knew that! More things to learn! So we headed there for dinner. Chifa is Chinese and Peruvian fusion BTW. We wandered around Chinatown for a while before eating at a restaurant. We ordered a package to feed 4 people which was basically eggdrop soup, Deep Fried Wontons, BBQ pork noodles, fried rice, sweet and sour chicken and deep fried wings. It was all good and believe it or not...not too greasy ... well what I'm used to back in Edmonton :)

Helen and Eva practiced Spanish while at the restaurant. Read Eva's blog on that. My blog should be linked. It's sooo hilarious. They were basically trying on some phrases with 2 waiters and I bet they thought they were picking them up lol I think they eventually caught on to what they were doing and had a good time participating :)

Later, at 6:30 pm we met out GAP Tour group ... we met some of the people who just came back and just bombarded them with questions after questions. In the end, they all agreed that we will love it!

OK... gotta go and get a couple hours of shut eye ... Will be MIA for a while until the tour ends but will post more entries and photos when I get back.

Love you all and take care :)

Bike Tour Photos

Read more »

So today we stayed in as long as we could until we had to checkout last minute, which was 1 pm. The people there at El Zagnan was so nice. They saved breakfast for us so we had a bit of brunch before heading out to the Los Girasoles Hotel just down half a block where we had registered via GAP Adventures.

After checking in we headed out first to get some moola as we are both running out. The ATM machines here give the option of Spanish or English which was very nice and it also gives you the choice of US dollars or Peru Soles which was another bonus. We've read in most forums that using debit cards are much better than credit cards. I've noticed that most people prefer cash esp for hotels and other places despite them having the option of taking credit cards. 

We walked around the plaza again... the other streets surrounding it that we have yet gone to. After a while we needed a change and decided to head out to another market just down the coastal line. As we walked towards it, we came across the Lover's Park (Parque del Amor). We weren't sure where it was but it was nice to stumble across it today. You can't miss it as there is this big statue of a couple embracing and kissing. And all over the park, you see couples all over showing their affection and love for one another. There's also a lady there selling roses! It's not all couples there as along the park is a walkway that stretches across the coast and beach. We walked along this walkway hoping to find the paragliding place we had on our agenda. We found another company instead but may not go with them as I wasn't sure about them. We'll call the ones we had tomorrow and see if we have enough wind to pull us up and about. Today was pretty chilly and windy so I would think it there will be enough wind.

We pretty much walked until we reached a park where kids were bmxing on man-made dirt park and skateboarding on the ramps. It's pretty cool to have this for the kids to play on. And some were pretty good. It was by this time my left hamstring was hurting a bit. I feel so broken and it's only been a week and a bit and the real test hasn't even started! I may need to get a tensor bandage in case which sucks because I thought I wouldn't need one and didn't bring one. I'm sure the pharmacy will have one here as there pharms are pretty good and you can always get what you see in your own pharms at home I'm sure with some exceptions. 

We came back at bit earlier as it was getting chilly here by 7 pm and we were tired from our long walk. We found out that there is a little night market in a way set up in the plaza as we trekked through towards our hotel. You can find all kinds of trinkets esp. cheap jewelry. It was pretty packed there tonight. 

Anyways, we are here waiting for Steve and Helen to arrive ... 2 more people to join us! They will be arriving probably at 2 am as there was a huge lineup at customs for us when we arrived at the airport in Lima at 12 am and didn't get out there til an hour and a half. Crazy I tell ya!

**More photos posted:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=217036&l=ce5a6&id=796300354

Read more »

So we're finally back in Lima. I'm so happy to be back here as we didn't have a chance to explore the city when we arrived. We're staying in Miraflores. It's such a beautiful area of Lima that I can stay here for a bit longer! 

The hotel we hoped would not be full was full. It's the same hotel we will be checking in for our GAP Adventure Tour. It's called Los Girasoles Hotel. They guided us to another hotel, more like a guest house called El Zagnan. It's such a cute place! Very zen... It has lush greenery everywhere... Sounds of fountains, birds singing in the garden, and a cute family and dinner area. Our room was on the top floor (3rd) and we had to go up these beautiful spiral staircase. As beautiful as they are, I am not the best with spiral staircases (slow and steady). The people are so nice here always greeting us with huge smiles. One thing to remember when you stay here is that you have to buzz to get in and out of the place as it is gated for security. You see this alot in Peru.

The first thing we wanted to do was go to do our laundry. I am a bit sick of wearing the same clothes but the worse thing is wearing the same stinky clothes! We went to a self-serve laundry place and it wasn't so bad. It costs 16 soles to wash and dry 1 kg of clothes. We didn't really care if we were separating our whites and colours as we were both prepared to throw or lose the clothes we brought with us. This is the first time for me going to a self-serve laundry place. You watch in movies and TV shows that it takes a couple of hours and you had to sit there and make sure no one steals your clothes etc. But it didn't take long at all...probably just a bit over an hour. So we were both happy that we didn't have to stay that long. The people were helpful there as well despite the language barrier. The pointing, simple words, and sign language helped :)

Now that laundry was done ... we were off to explore Miraflores! We headed toward the plaza from our place. It took about 15-20 minutes to walk there. There were shops and restaurants everywhere! And the hustle and bustle was so very nice to see! Oh how I will always be an urban kind of girl! I miss shopping ;) and it's hard not to buy things sometimes knowing the big journey is still yet to come (Inca Trail, Amazon and Costa Rica). The Kennedy Park was busy with food stalls and art displays etc. The walkway with the art displays were amazing. I really wanted to get a couple of them for my place but the thought of carrying them ... I wasn't sure. I bought one when I was at my last stop in China - Hong Kong - but that was the last stop. These were large paintings and decided to just pass. If I won't regret it, then I can pass on it... that's how I usually decide on things :) 

On a different note, I was telling Eva how I have yet to see a McDs or a Starbucks in Peru and we finally saw them around the Kennedy Park. Perhaps we will have to visit while we are here :) We were joking around saying that we should try McDs in every country we travel too. We have been taking advantage of breakfast at the places we've stayed at so we haven't made a McDs trip even if there was one in every place we visited. We both love the breakfasts ... mmmm...

Read more »

We woke up at around 6 am to start our tour at the Ballestas Islands in Paracus. It's about a 20 minute drive out of Pisco. We thought of staying in Paracus at first but Pisco was cheaper and not that far. Again, we had a simple continental breakfast here at the hostel with the addition of eggs. I think I am addicted to this breakfast as I am already looking forward to tomorrows! Always thinking with my stomach I tell ya!

I was a bit tired today. I am noticing I am getting a bit tired the more we travel in Peru than when we were in China in 2007. And the journey just started! I almost slept on the ride going to the Ballestas and on the way back as well. The boat tour kept me awake.

Our guide was speaking French and Spanish as most of the people in our group (they put us in a line with other tourists that have already arrived there to fill out the boat) spoke the 2 languages. My French is not good so I would pick up some words and put them together with the context. The easy word was "merde" which is sh*t or crap (in this case the birds and sea lions) lol.

The islands were amazing but the most amazing was how many birds there were! It was crazy! You definately have to bring a hat (or put a shirt on your head as some people did) in case they crap on you when they are flying above you. Then again... isn't that good luck? :) And come picture time, it's really every man for himself as people just intuitively stand and start taking photos of the animals and may get in your way...so you may have to be a bit aggressive. The boat is moving most of the time so you have to take advantage of the moment to take the pics you want. We did stop at times like taking pictures of the sea lions. That's when we saw and heard some rucus from the sea lion group laying there as though a fight would break out but it did not. So no action shots ;)

The rest of the day was spent napping and lounging around at the hostel. In Pisco, there is really nothing to do. It's pretty much the Pisco Sour tours or the gateway for the Ballestas Islands tour. We committed tomorrow to volunteering for the day so we are here for another night and the next night as we will be just exhausted from a day's work on the project sites that they will have us working at. Don't know yet what we will do ... we'll know tomorrow.

More Photos

Read more »

So we woke up bright and early today to have breakfast and make our way to "Pisco Sin Fronteras - Pisco without Borders" We met everyone there. There was about 15 people there - pretty much a full table. We all had a meeting while eating breakfast (we ate ours earlier so we sat, listened and chatted). It's pretty casual there. And everyone was very nice and friendly. There was another Canadian in the house named Dominic from Ontario. It was nice to hear someone who knew where Edmonton was. We ended up telling people it's near Vancouver as most people know of Vancouver, Toronto or Montreal. There are a lot of Quebec traveller's here as we've been asked many times if we were from Quebec when we say we are from Canada.

There were 2 projects on the list of to do today as one of them was just completed yesterday - the bamboo house as they call it. The 2 projects was rebuilding the school and collecting rubble from a site. Eva and I chose the latter as it was more general and the people there were staying there for weeks and it makes sense for them to team up and get things together. So we went with Edwin and Johnathan, brothers, and speak mostly Spanish. It was a bit frustrating for both of us to communicate what we wanted to say correctly. 

When I heard rubble I thought of a building that collapsed and we had to pick up the cement pieces or whatever the building was made of. But when we reached the site, less than a block away, it was a local's side yard. I'm not sure if this site will be used for something but my gut is not really ... perhaps a garden of some sort. But it was pretty much grass that has grown for months and garbage that was left there. It was pretty filthy and we were there to do landscape cleaning really. So we used shovels, a rake, and 2 hoes. It was a pretty tough job as we are so used to using other tools that would help us more for this ... perhaps even a bobcat or a simple grass snipper but nope... just what we have and a wagon for the debris. 

The sun was blazing hot and it really took a toll on us in the first hour. We had to rest many times as it was really hard to work under the direct sunlight. There was all kinds of garbage from sample packs of shampoos to garbage bags to plastic shopping bags to plastic bottles to wet cardboard ... I can go on. I even found an egg! God knows how long it's been there and if it had been hatched it would probably be deformed or something. I wish we took a pic of this place for you to have a picture in your mind. Let's put it this way ... every time we raked ...dust and weird stuff came floating up.  I'm allergic to dust and in the end it was a bit my fault for not using a mask like Eva as my allergies kicked in at the end of day around 2:30 pm and go home to take a benadryl. There were even times when all I smelt was dog piss ... yuck!

The family was appreciative of our efforts and their son (about 10 years old or so) helped us out by loading the wagon and dumping the stuff off. Also getting water. The family cooked lunch for us but Eva and I got hungry an hour earlier (as we had early breakfast) and went to a restaurant a couple blocks away that serves kick ass yummy chicken and rice. We've been there twice and both times we have been pleasantly surprised how wonderful it tasted!

We are both exhausted and we should get a good night's sleep even though Eva is now napping as I type lol Our bodies will definitely be stiff esp our back and arms I think. Tomorrow after breakfast we are heading back to Lima. We will meet up with Helen and Steve (Eva's friends) who will join us. Can't wait to meet them!

Read more »

We woke up early to take the bus to Pisco. It took about an hour and you will have to take a taxi to get to the city. We originally wanted to stay at the Hostal Posada Hispana but we could only book for one night as it was booked solid. Looking at it, I saw tours booking the place including GAP. They directed us to La Hosteria del Monasterio which was a block away and it is sooo cute. The decore is medieval yet modern. I believe it is family owned and omg ... the best part that almost mad me jump for joy and cry...INTERNET!!! yuppers! Here I can finally use my mini laptop and use when I want to and need to.

As much as we like this place, there are crazy mesquitos that greated us in the room. I am still on a killing spree ... I don't usually like this but I don't like to be bitten as my bites swell and itch more than most normal people.

We booked a tour to the Ballestas Islands tomorrow morning. The Islands is part of the Paracas National Park and is also called the poor man's Galapagos Islands. There will be interesting marine animal life there and hopefully I can go crazy with my camera and get some good shots. 

We also went walking around the city and it's amazing how much damage last year's earthquake did to this place. We saw some reconstruction is going on but they can only do so much. Many locals are working hard to rebuild this place. Unlike all the other places we've been to, you really have to be cautious here. The receptionist told us to only bring what is necesary to walk around. We get stares and harrassed as usual for taxi rides but it's more than usual here. Otherwise, leave everything else in the safe. It's hard to find places to buy stuff as the market they had closed and now they have a mini-market. Sadly enough, I have to admit that I feel like there is nothing to do here and I miss being able to get simple neccessities without going everywhere to look for it.

We did visit "Pisco Sin Fronteras - Pisco without Borders" where we will be doing a couple of days of volunteer work. Harold was nice but couldn't stay long with us newbies as he had to run and take care of the projects they are working on. We met a nice couple Leila and John. Leila is from Ireland and John is from New Zealand. We had a great chat about our travels so far and they have been volunteering all over South America since May. Their Spanish was great and helped us out when we had lunch together and man alive, just impressed with them and their work and dedication. Great people!

Right now, we are just chilling...watching a movie on TV and me on the internet blogging. It's nice to have down time as we will be working hard when we start volunteering in a couple days.

Also, Eva took some pics in Pisco. My blog is linked to hers if you'd like to see it. I didn't feel safe taking out my SLR and take photos so using the point and shoot seemed best :) You'll notice that once you get here, all the hostels have gates infront where you need to buzz in to get into the hostel each time. This is their way of keeping us safe. That's when you know that you really need to keep your guard up.

Read more »