Was slightly bricking it but was a lot of fun! Fab views and landed on a beach.
Sunday, October 17, 2010
Brazil and its gorgeousness
Some facts Ive learnt about Brazil so far.
1. The Language
ok so hands up who thought Brazilians spoke Spanish?! ME!
Nope people, just when I was starting to grasp the espanol anguage in South America, I arrive in the biggest city in south america Sao Paolo with my little Éspanol handbook to hand and fresh off the flight from Peru, Im straight in with ´hombre, donde esta el hotelo, por favor´. Yer one in the airport looks at me with the whole hmmm hmmm ricky lake shaking the finger ´u takin to me´ .
Mal then turns to me and says eh love, its portugese here. WTF?
Since last week, Ive learnt as follows:
Muite Obrigada (thanks a lot), Oi (Hello), Cerveza (beer) and Rodovario (Train station).
Everything else I just smile or in desperate situations just laugh and then leg it. They kinda understand you if you speak spanish to them but they´re so not about speaking anything else other than their own language. yeah yeah Portugese Colonialism blah blah and all that. Sure its only 1500 years of history. That doesnt hep my cause when I need the el toileto. And Fast-o.
2. Brazlian Beauty or should I say booootay.
Supermodel Gisele Bunchen comes from Brazil and I braced myself that I would unblessed amongst women...... I literally was expecting everyone to look like her. I spotted a couple of complete and absolute stunners just walking by (model scouts, where are you?) but for the majority, they´re normal. Now one thing I did realise is why the Brazilians are so sexy and gorgeous and its cause there are so many races in this country and feck all racism with what I´ve seen. Stunning skin colour as a result making Sue OD fairly paschty beside them...... Now interestingly enough and listen up here chicks, Brazilian chicks are normal to ever so slightly on the LARGE size. BOOTay. Go ricky, go ricky......Whatsmore, they love showing their rotond bellies in tops that are about 2 sizes too small. Having said that, chicks here ooze confidence and the sexiness shines through. They really dont care less which is liberating. Ill have that big mac so.
Blokes on the other hand....ah here, where so I start? Two words - budgy smugglers.
The couple of times Mal and I got to the beach, lets just say Mal loved the views. Me on the other hand, ah I was digusted. Sure I couldnt keep a straight face. Blokes wore the schmallest, teenchiest, bright colored briefs. Nothing was left to the imagination in an oh so untastful manner. The mingers.
3. Rio
Ahhhhhh Rio. We loved it. You need at least 4 days here, there is just so much to do and see. We did everything we possibly could. We stayed at Copacabana Beach (her name was Lola) in a Hostel (boooo) and did as much as we could. So what kinda stuff?
Christ the Redeemer Statue.
You know the image that we´ve seen loads of times before of Christ on the top of the mountain overlooking the city. Well we decided that we would deffo go and see it seeing as were there. So we did and ´caught a local bus (check us out!) and then the tram up to the statue. We were lucky that it happend to be a gorgeous day so the views were savage. There was a little cute church on the top of the mountain so I popped in to say thanks.
Local Footie game.
Local Rio team Vasgo de Gama vs Sao Paolos~Corinthians
(Roberto Carlos plays for this side, so Mal told me)
Right, so I´m no massive football game (although I do get the offside rule) but was actually really really cool to go. Jesus the place went nuts. Brazilians and their footie. The crowds zoned in on one player and when he went off early, he turned to our side of the crowd and gave us the bird. Brilliant! They place went bonkers. Bought a Vasgo hat as a souvenir which ill give Paul D my cousin when I see him in Sydney next week. Lucky Paul, I know.
Handgliding.
Apparently handgliding is the thing to do in Rio so Mal and I decided to fork out a good few bob to run like mentlers off a roof about 800 feet up above Rio. I got kitted up in the gear and my training consisted of running as fast as I could with my hand on some dudes shoulder for about 5 metres on the ground. He said `velly good suzan, you are ready now to fly´. Erm thanks carlos me amigo.
Carlos was a bit of a hippy head wrecker saying stuff like`ah susan, let us have the best flight ever with good energy. And, you are not from dublino, you are from earth like me`....I didnt really care what tripe he was coming out with so long as he got me on that beach in one piece. Anyway, true to our `training´, we crept up onto the roof (see video!!) and without saying a word, we legged it. I pictured myself in the Community Games in Santry stadium, except this time I wasnt coming last (ah bless). 5 seconds later as we took off (!), I got that funny fluttering feeling of weightlessness and was pretty amazing to be honest. Carlos was busy pulling a few strings (literally) so I took in the views. Again the cheeseball was like Hey Suzan, you know Avatar 3D? Yes......ok lets do 4 D. Ah cringe......Still, once yer man shut up, I loved it and the journey lasted about 20 mins. Landed on 2 feet on a nearby beach and was a great thing to do (once!)
Favela Tour.....now guys, THAT was an experience.
For those who dont know, a`Favela` is a shanty town and believe it or not Rio was amongst the first places in the world to develop these shanty towns. Mal and I have been to Soweto in South Africa which was pretty grim but we just couldnt believe it when we got to a place called Rochinho, one of the biggest Favelas in Rio.
Firstly its got the biggest cocaine problem in the world. The drug dealers make 1 million Brazilian Reals (USD 600,00) a week. Yep, a week. How can you spot a drug dealer? Well according to our tour guide who turned around and said as a matter of factly ´Oh they are the guys with the machine guns, so no pictures please when you see them´. Gotcha, Thanks!
Next thing, ah twas was gas. There were about 14 of us, johnny foreigners from all over the world on the Tour and we get to the entrance of the Favela reading to check it out. Next thing, Tour Guide dude says `right everyone, so we get to the top of the favela in style´. We´re all looking around thinking grand yeah. Next thing 20 local favela knackers appear on the dodgiest looking decrepid motorbikes you´ve ever seen and yer man hands them 2 reals each (50 cent) and tells us to Hop on! We thought he was taking the mick. Nope.
There are about 14 dudes, oh such choice! So off Susie goes, picks some random dude who doesnt look too young (like its gonna make a difference) and throws her pasty white irish leg over some banjoed motorbike. I heard later on Mal being the real gent he is let all the other tourists get on their bikes first and he was left stuck with this big fat dude ha ha.... sorry, I shouldnt laugh.
So off we SPED. Me and some random bloke. And, I mean sped, weeving in and out of traffic up this really steep hill to the top of the favela. Along the way a bike passes us out with a guy on the back with the dodgiest bleached red barnet that make me smirk until I saw he was holding a girnormous machine gun. There we were travelling paralell for about 100 metres. I mean its not like I can say ´whats the craic´ to him now is it?? The crazy journey took 10 mins-think a Nigerian shanty town and their traffic madness of people walking in front of cars, bikes,animals on the road and of course the craic addicts. Nuts. I caught a glimpse of Mal on the back of his motorbike behind me and managed a brave but meek ´hellloooooo´ and we were off again. I reckon yer man went faster so I grabbed his waist. Ah gross! We got there in one piece and laughed so hard at how crazy it was but relieved to be in one piece. and we hadnt even started the tour yet.
Anyway, we dusted ourselves down and started walking through the shanty town. My God, it was unreal. So poor. So filty but gorgeous people young and old all smiling. (except for the coke dealers, grrrr). I took loads of pics and will put a few up this week to show you what I mean. They are cute hoors though, Ill give them that. They tap into Rio´s electricity and water board amd dont pay a cent for it. They´ve also discovered free internet too! Theres no police force in the Favelas. Dont blame the Rio cops for staying away. Go and do a Favela Tour if you are in Rio. Its gift. PS. Bring a spare pair of undies!
Will write some more soon x
1. The Language
ok so hands up who thought Brazilians spoke Spanish?! ME!
Nope people, just when I was starting to grasp the espanol anguage in South America, I arrive in the biggest city in south america Sao Paolo with my little Éspanol handbook to hand and fresh off the flight from Peru, Im straight in with ´hombre, donde esta el hotelo, por favor´. Yer one in the airport looks at me with the whole hmmm hmmm ricky lake shaking the finger ´u takin to me´ .
Mal then turns to me and says eh love, its portugese here. WTF?
Since last week, Ive learnt as follows:
Muite Obrigada (thanks a lot), Oi (Hello), Cerveza (beer) and Rodovario (Train station).
Everything else I just smile or in desperate situations just laugh and then leg it. They kinda understand you if you speak spanish to them but they´re so not about speaking anything else other than their own language. yeah yeah Portugese Colonialism blah blah and all that. Sure its only 1500 years of history. That doesnt hep my cause when I need the el toileto. And Fast-o.
2. Brazlian Beauty or should I say booootay.
Supermodel Gisele Bunchen comes from Brazil and I braced myself that I would unblessed amongst women...... I literally was expecting everyone to look like her. I spotted a couple of complete and absolute stunners just walking by (model scouts, where are you?) but for the majority, they´re normal. Now one thing I did realise is why the Brazilians are so sexy and gorgeous and its cause there are so many races in this country and feck all racism with what I´ve seen. Stunning skin colour as a result making Sue OD fairly paschty beside them...... Now interestingly enough and listen up here chicks, Brazilian chicks are normal to ever so slightly on the LARGE size. BOOTay. Go ricky, go ricky......Whatsmore, they love showing their rotond bellies in tops that are about 2 sizes too small. Having said that, chicks here ooze confidence and the sexiness shines through. They really dont care less which is liberating. Ill have that big mac so.
Blokes on the other hand....ah here, where so I start? Two words - budgy smugglers.
The couple of times Mal and I got to the beach, lets just say Mal loved the views. Me on the other hand, ah I was digusted. Sure I couldnt keep a straight face. Blokes wore the schmallest, teenchiest, bright colored briefs. Nothing was left to the imagination in an oh so untastful manner. The mingers.
3. Rio
Ahhhhhh Rio. We loved it. You need at least 4 days here, there is just so much to do and see. We did everything we possibly could. We stayed at Copacabana Beach (her name was Lola) in a Hostel (boooo) and did as much as we could. So what kinda stuff?
Christ the Redeemer Statue.
You know the image that we´ve seen loads of times before of Christ on the top of the mountain overlooking the city. Well we decided that we would deffo go and see it seeing as were there. So we did and ´caught a local bus (check us out!) and then the tram up to the statue. We were lucky that it happend to be a gorgeous day so the views were savage. There was a little cute church on the top of the mountain so I popped in to say thanks.
Local Footie game.
Local Rio team Vasgo de Gama vs Sao Paolos~Corinthians
(Roberto Carlos plays for this side, so Mal told me)
Right, so I´m no massive football game (although I do get the offside rule) but was actually really really cool to go. Jesus the place went nuts. Brazilians and their footie. The crowds zoned in on one player and when he went off early, he turned to our side of the crowd and gave us the bird. Brilliant! They place went bonkers. Bought a Vasgo hat as a souvenir which ill give Paul D my cousin when I see him in Sydney next week. Lucky Paul, I know.
Handgliding.
Apparently handgliding is the thing to do in Rio so Mal and I decided to fork out a good few bob to run like mentlers off a roof about 800 feet up above Rio. I got kitted up in the gear and my training consisted of running as fast as I could with my hand on some dudes shoulder for about 5 metres on the ground. He said `velly good suzan, you are ready now to fly´. Erm thanks carlos me amigo.
Carlos was a bit of a hippy head wrecker saying stuff like`ah susan, let us have the best flight ever with good energy. And, you are not from dublino, you are from earth like me`....I didnt really care what tripe he was coming out with so long as he got me on that beach in one piece. Anyway, true to our `training´, we crept up onto the roof (see video!!) and without saying a word, we legged it. I pictured myself in the Community Games in Santry stadium, except this time I wasnt coming last (ah bless). 5 seconds later as we took off (!), I got that funny fluttering feeling of weightlessness and was pretty amazing to be honest. Carlos was busy pulling a few strings (literally) so I took in the views. Again the cheeseball was like Hey Suzan, you know Avatar 3D? Yes......ok lets do 4 D. Ah cringe......Still, once yer man shut up, I loved it and the journey lasted about 20 mins. Landed on 2 feet on a nearby beach and was a great thing to do (once!)
Favela Tour.....now guys, THAT was an experience.
For those who dont know, a`Favela` is a shanty town and believe it or not Rio was amongst the first places in the world to develop these shanty towns. Mal and I have been to Soweto in South Africa which was pretty grim but we just couldnt believe it when we got to a place called Rochinho, one of the biggest Favelas in Rio.
Firstly its got the biggest cocaine problem in the world. The drug dealers make 1 million Brazilian Reals (USD 600,00) a week. Yep, a week. How can you spot a drug dealer? Well according to our tour guide who turned around and said as a matter of factly ´Oh they are the guys with the machine guns, so no pictures please when you see them´. Gotcha, Thanks!
Next thing, ah twas was gas. There were about 14 of us, johnny foreigners from all over the world on the Tour and we get to the entrance of the Favela reading to check it out. Next thing, Tour Guide dude says `right everyone, so we get to the top of the favela in style´. We´re all looking around thinking grand yeah. Next thing 20 local favela knackers appear on the dodgiest looking decrepid motorbikes you´ve ever seen and yer man hands them 2 reals each (50 cent) and tells us to Hop on! We thought he was taking the mick. Nope.
There are about 14 dudes, oh such choice! So off Susie goes, picks some random dude who doesnt look too young (like its gonna make a difference) and throws her pasty white irish leg over some banjoed motorbike. I heard later on Mal being the real gent he is let all the other tourists get on their bikes first and he was left stuck with this big fat dude ha ha.... sorry, I shouldnt laugh.
So off we SPED. Me and some random bloke. And, I mean sped, weeving in and out of traffic up this really steep hill to the top of the favela. Along the way a bike passes us out with a guy on the back with the dodgiest bleached red barnet that make me smirk until I saw he was holding a girnormous machine gun. There we were travelling paralell for about 100 metres. I mean its not like I can say ´whats the craic´ to him now is it?? The crazy journey took 10 mins-think a Nigerian shanty town and their traffic madness of people walking in front of cars, bikes,animals on the road and of course the craic addicts. Nuts. I caught a glimpse of Mal on the back of his motorbike behind me and managed a brave but meek ´hellloooooo´ and we were off again. I reckon yer man went faster so I grabbed his waist. Ah gross! We got there in one piece and laughed so hard at how crazy it was but relieved to be in one piece. and we hadnt even started the tour yet.
Anyway, we dusted ourselves down and started walking through the shanty town. My God, it was unreal. So poor. So filty but gorgeous people young and old all smiling. (except for the coke dealers, grrrr). I took loads of pics and will put a few up this week to show you what I mean. They are cute hoors though, Ill give them that. They tap into Rio´s electricity and water board amd dont pay a cent for it. They´ve also discovered free internet too! Theres no police force in the Favelas. Dont blame the Rio cops for staying away. Go and do a Favela Tour if you are in Rio. Its gift. PS. Bring a spare pair of undies!
Will write some more soon x
Saturday, October 9, 2010
Wednesday, October 6, 2010
Machu Picchu
Mal and I flew from Lima to a place called Cusco - an hours flight over the Andes Mountain range which had pretty spectacular views. We had all been warned about the altitude difference and to that it would take a few days to aclimatize. Cusco is a big city with 1 million people living up 3000 feet in the Andes Mountains. As soon as we landed you could feel it straight away. Its like your lungs arent getting as much oxygen as you want and you try and breathe faster to compensate. Best advise is to try and relax, it takes everyone at least 2 days to acclimatise, no matter how fit you are.
Taxi into town took 15 minutes. For me this was the real Peru that you read about and see in the tourist books. Women with long plaited hair walking down the streets wearing typical peruvian clothing -peruvian hat, colorful alpaca (llama) jumpers and the most gorgeous babies wrapped up in colorful blankets on their backs.
We met our group in the Hotel and went for dinner that night. As we sat in the local restaurant with a few locals playing peruvian pan pipes (like the ones on Grafton St!), the waiter approached us and advised Mal that we should try a local delicacy...........Guinea Pig. I broke my side laughing when he said it, I thought he was joking. He wasnt.
Mal convinced me to get it. Dont ask me WHY or HOW he did but 1 roasted Guinea Pig was ordered and 20 mins later....... ah lads, it was desperate. Poor old ronnie the guinea pig came out with half a tomato on his head as a hat. I didnt know whether to laugh or cry, retch or stroke the poor creatur. Again, I have pics. Where or how the hell do you start digging into something like that when he's looking up at you saying 'you roasted me you feker'. The skin was very tough and ewwww, I had one bite which was enough for me. Too gamey. I dont even like brown chicken meat. Mal loved it and tucked in. I had the veggies on the side.
After that delish dinner, we went back to the hotel and that same evening went to the Trek meeting. Met our guide, Gonzalo (!) who came in and shouted 'ola champions, how are we all doing'. Given none of us knew each other there was that typical veggie moment of 'good thanks' from everyone trying not to smile at this dude and trying to blend in. Ah sure 6 days later we were all the best of mates!
Our trekking group consisted of 13 in total - there was Brett the New Yorker, 24 years of age, 6 ft 4 told me he had lost half his body weight last year within a few minutes of meeting me and just one of these deadly blokes who was bloody hilarious but didnt know it. Who else.....5 different UK crew including some chicks who had just finished college, Helga and Bjorn from Norway (im not making it up!), cool steve from NZ but living in London very nice guy, Dan from the prairies in Canada who was about 6 stone and very very very quiet but still a nice guy, Cam the 'aw yeah struth, thats not a knife, thats a knife', kinda crocodile dundee type from Western Australia - and Mal and I.
Great stuff.
So to sum up The Inka Trail Trek in a few lines, here goes.....
INKA means King and its a trek that brings you through endless mountains, some small, some large, some steep, some not so steep all the time along the way being taught by Gonzalo about all these amazing Inka sites that were built back in the 15th Century by the Inka generation. It was amazing to see how these people were able to make cities out of nothing. Machu Picchu, the largest and most awesome of the inka trails is the piece de resistance at the end of the trek and the one everyone comes to look at.
The trek took 4 days in total. Each day, our group set off at about 7am and walked about 6 hours in the morning before lunch and then about 3 to 4 hours in the afternoon before we literally crawled into the camp for dinner. It sounds tough and it deffo was but the craic on the mountain is just brilliant. You get to chat to all your group about anything and everything and my God on day 4 when you start to go stir crazy, it usually is about food and what you're gonna eat when you get off the mountain!
Looking back on the trek, I really did enjoy it but every single day, I did find myself the odd time thinking 'holy shit Sue, what have I let myself in for...... keep going! It's tough and the old legs have to be ready to climb steep hills. Take day 2 for example, we climbed up to 12,000 feet to the highest range of the trek called 'Dead woman´s pass' - encouraging name, eh!
I was thanking Mal everyday that he forced me into getting walking boots for the trek. Even though they looked pretty horrendous, they were a life saver. You also HAVE to use a walking stick too to help get up the steeper hills and really steep steps down (On day 3, there are 2000 steep steps down through streams!) A few had some small falls but nothing too bad thankfully. Was very controlled with 1 guide at the back and one at the front.
As we got into camp on day 2, I wasnt feeling great and lo and behold I knew about it a few hours later. I got a 12 hour bug like a lot of people get due to the altitude which was NOT amazing. Imagine the last time you were sick and not able to get out of bed or able to hold down water. For 12 hours.
That was me in a 2 man tent with squat toilets that had queues of 10 women from other groups. Sexy chick on her honeymoon! My lush hubbie was brill and looked after me the entire time not getting any much needed kip as I was sick throughout the night. I got up on day 3 and admitedly was absolutely bricking the day ahead. I had nothing in my tum and feck all energy. I hoped some dude in black would helipcopter in with some milk tray and bring me to the top of the mountain. Instead, I was given some loo roll and a cup of piping hot celery tea! I was lucky though, the bug lasted 12 hours and I made it up and down the mountains even managing dinner on evening 3. And of course chicks, every cloud and all that, the clothes are a little loser now.
Back to the Trek. Everynight, we would have dinner in our main tent in our camp which was put up by our group of 'Porters'. We had 16 porters in total including a head chef, a waiter and loads of helpers. These are Cusco natives and are AMAZING. They are all men ranging from 16 years of age to 50 and come with a group for the 4 days to make everything nice and simple for us. I swear to God, they put us to shame.
We were each allowed 5kg of clothes for the 4 days and were given a duffel bag each to put them in. The porters took these duffel bags along with food, tents, chairs(!), you name it, and brought it....carrying it on their backs up the mountain. Each man carried 25kg of gear and ran ahead so they could set up camp, our tents, make dinner and be all nice when we arrived. The GUILTS we all felt.
I'll put up pics when I can and you'll see what I mean. Such lovely blokes, I was gutted I couldnt chat more freely to them, my spanish is pretty shocking.
Oh yeah, there are no showers for the 4 days! Yeah, I know. We all looked like we had been dragged through the bush backwards (actually, thats not far off) and the hair was looking nace. You know what, none of us could care less in the end and naturally the conversations were all about how minging the toilets were, the bruises we got along the way, food, if we got any sleep the night before, and what Brett the american dude's favorite films were. Brett was gas. Think LOUD New York accent out of literally nowhere......... ' hey Susan, do you think Im obnoxious?!' Erm no Brett, I think you're very funny. ' Oh ok, you know what, I just HATE Shia Le Bouef the actor. Oh and cats too'.
These kind of lines came out of nowhere.
We were all cracking up ALL the time and having a ball. Brett loved the attention and before long we were having such laughs playing the 'ok Brett, if you had to share your tent with 10 cats or talk to Shia le Bouef about his films, which would it be'. His serious logical replies and then something mental like ' Mal, I just love you man, can I come sit by you' would have us all in tears. Legend.
We ate dinner everynight in the tent at a long table and the food was very good. Soup, chicken, fish and sometimes a nice desert like jelly. They even made a cake for Mal and I for our honeymoon, the last night, BLESS THEM.
Day 4 we got up at 3.30am and made our way to Machu Picchu which I have to say was just awesome. Its the typical thing though, looking back on it, it was the 4 days along the way that was the best part of it all. The banter along the mountains, the craic at dinner, Brett and just moaning about all our aches and pains.
Back at base and one long, lush shower and fresh clothes later, I can safely say its been the highlght of the trip so far for both Mal and I. We would deffo recommend it. Its not gonna be open for long apparently so if you're down that way, make sure you book yourself on a tour and get your walking stick....
In the airport now heading to Brazil. Time for some samba and sun.
Taxi into town took 15 minutes. For me this was the real Peru that you read about and see in the tourist books. Women with long plaited hair walking down the streets wearing typical peruvian clothing -peruvian hat, colorful alpaca (llama) jumpers and the most gorgeous babies wrapped up in colorful blankets on their backs.
We met our group in the Hotel and went for dinner that night. As we sat in the local restaurant with a few locals playing peruvian pan pipes (like the ones on Grafton St!), the waiter approached us and advised Mal that we should try a local delicacy...........Guinea Pig. I broke my side laughing when he said it, I thought he was joking. He wasnt.
Mal convinced me to get it. Dont ask me WHY or HOW he did but 1 roasted Guinea Pig was ordered and 20 mins later....... ah lads, it was desperate. Poor old ronnie the guinea pig came out with half a tomato on his head as a hat. I didnt know whether to laugh or cry, retch or stroke the poor creatur. Again, I have pics. Where or how the hell do you start digging into something like that when he's looking up at you saying 'you roasted me you feker'. The skin was very tough and ewwww, I had one bite which was enough for me. Too gamey. I dont even like brown chicken meat. Mal loved it and tucked in. I had the veggies on the side.
After that delish dinner, we went back to the hotel and that same evening went to the Trek meeting. Met our guide, Gonzalo (!) who came in and shouted 'ola champions, how are we all doing'. Given none of us knew each other there was that typical veggie moment of 'good thanks' from everyone trying not to smile at this dude and trying to blend in. Ah sure 6 days later we were all the best of mates!
Our trekking group consisted of 13 in total - there was Brett the New Yorker, 24 years of age, 6 ft 4 told me he had lost half his body weight last year within a few minutes of meeting me and just one of these deadly blokes who was bloody hilarious but didnt know it. Who else.....5 different UK crew including some chicks who had just finished college, Helga and Bjorn from Norway (im not making it up!), cool steve from NZ but living in London very nice guy, Dan from the prairies in Canada who was about 6 stone and very very very quiet but still a nice guy, Cam the 'aw yeah struth, thats not a knife, thats a knife', kinda crocodile dundee type from Western Australia - and Mal and I.
Great stuff.
So to sum up The Inka Trail Trek in a few lines, here goes.....
INKA means King and its a trek that brings you through endless mountains, some small, some large, some steep, some not so steep all the time along the way being taught by Gonzalo about all these amazing Inka sites that were built back in the 15th Century by the Inka generation. It was amazing to see how these people were able to make cities out of nothing. Machu Picchu, the largest and most awesome of the inka trails is the piece de resistance at the end of the trek and the one everyone comes to look at.
The trek took 4 days in total. Each day, our group set off at about 7am and walked about 6 hours in the morning before lunch and then about 3 to 4 hours in the afternoon before we literally crawled into the camp for dinner. It sounds tough and it deffo was but the craic on the mountain is just brilliant. You get to chat to all your group about anything and everything and my God on day 4 when you start to go stir crazy, it usually is about food and what you're gonna eat when you get off the mountain!
Looking back on the trek, I really did enjoy it but every single day, I did find myself the odd time thinking 'holy shit Sue, what have I let myself in for...... keep going! It's tough and the old legs have to be ready to climb steep hills. Take day 2 for example, we climbed up to 12,000 feet to the highest range of the trek called 'Dead woman´s pass' - encouraging name, eh!
I was thanking Mal everyday that he forced me into getting walking boots for the trek. Even though they looked pretty horrendous, they were a life saver. You also HAVE to use a walking stick too to help get up the steeper hills and really steep steps down (On day 3, there are 2000 steep steps down through streams!) A few had some small falls but nothing too bad thankfully. Was very controlled with 1 guide at the back and one at the front.
As we got into camp on day 2, I wasnt feeling great and lo and behold I knew about it a few hours later. I got a 12 hour bug like a lot of people get due to the altitude which was NOT amazing. Imagine the last time you were sick and not able to get out of bed or able to hold down water. For 12 hours.
That was me in a 2 man tent with squat toilets that had queues of 10 women from other groups. Sexy chick on her honeymoon! My lush hubbie was brill and looked after me the entire time not getting any much needed kip as I was sick throughout the night. I got up on day 3 and admitedly was absolutely bricking the day ahead. I had nothing in my tum and feck all energy. I hoped some dude in black would helipcopter in with some milk tray and bring me to the top of the mountain. Instead, I was given some loo roll and a cup of piping hot celery tea! I was lucky though, the bug lasted 12 hours and I made it up and down the mountains even managing dinner on evening 3. And of course chicks, every cloud and all that, the clothes are a little loser now.
Back to the Trek. Everynight, we would have dinner in our main tent in our camp which was put up by our group of 'Porters'. We had 16 porters in total including a head chef, a waiter and loads of helpers. These are Cusco natives and are AMAZING. They are all men ranging from 16 years of age to 50 and come with a group for the 4 days to make everything nice and simple for us. I swear to God, they put us to shame.
We were each allowed 5kg of clothes for the 4 days and were given a duffel bag each to put them in. The porters took these duffel bags along with food, tents, chairs(!), you name it, and brought it....carrying it on their backs up the mountain. Each man carried 25kg of gear and ran ahead so they could set up camp, our tents, make dinner and be all nice when we arrived. The GUILTS we all felt.
I'll put up pics when I can and you'll see what I mean. Such lovely blokes, I was gutted I couldnt chat more freely to them, my spanish is pretty shocking.
Oh yeah, there are no showers for the 4 days! Yeah, I know. We all looked like we had been dragged through the bush backwards (actually, thats not far off) and the hair was looking nace. You know what, none of us could care less in the end and naturally the conversations were all about how minging the toilets were, the bruises we got along the way, food, if we got any sleep the night before, and what Brett the american dude's favorite films were. Brett was gas. Think LOUD New York accent out of literally nowhere......... ' hey Susan, do you think Im obnoxious?!' Erm no Brett, I think you're very funny. ' Oh ok, you know what, I just HATE Shia Le Bouef the actor. Oh and cats too'.
These kind of lines came out of nowhere.
We were all cracking up ALL the time and having a ball. Brett loved the attention and before long we were having such laughs playing the 'ok Brett, if you had to share your tent with 10 cats or talk to Shia le Bouef about his films, which would it be'. His serious logical replies and then something mental like ' Mal, I just love you man, can I come sit by you' would have us all in tears. Legend.
We ate dinner everynight in the tent at a long table and the food was very good. Soup, chicken, fish and sometimes a nice desert like jelly. They even made a cake for Mal and I for our honeymoon, the last night, BLESS THEM.
Day 4 we got up at 3.30am and made our way to Machu Picchu which I have to say was just awesome. Its the typical thing though, looking back on it, it was the 4 days along the way that was the best part of it all. The banter along the mountains, the craic at dinner, Brett and just moaning about all our aches and pains.
Back at base and one long, lush shower and fresh clothes later, I can safely say its been the highlght of the trip so far for both Mal and I. We would deffo recommend it. Its not gonna be open for long apparently so if you're down that way, make sure you book yourself on a tour and get your walking stick....
In the airport now heading to Brazil. Time for some samba and sun.
Peru!
Hello me amigos!
We are back from our Trek and are alive and kicking. Just about.
So where did I leave it the last time, yes we were still in Mexico.Ok well to finish off on Mexico, we spent the last few days on 'Paddy and Billy'. Our rented scooters. Gift. The best way to see a small island.
Mine was a lush green hence his name was Paddy. Mals was Blue so I named it Billy. Paddy and Billy were best mates although Paddy was a bit special needs. He was soooo slow, only went about 20 mph and the key kept falling out onto my feet but the engine kept going. One time, I had to go back on the route to find the key that had fallen out on the road. I kept telling myself 'dont cut out!' I would have been fecked if I did minus the key. I didnt -hurray and found the key ten mins later by the side of the road - double hurray! Pressure.....In fairness Billy was a bit of a rocket and Mal kept having to slow down and look back and the green hairdryer trying to catch up behind him. Ah bless.
Still, we thought we were deadly scooting all over the island that was Cozumel, finding some amazing beaches (I wanted to put up some pics but this internet cafe doesnt have the programme to upload pics-ill do it another time me amigos), doing some cool diving along a really great reef. We even went to 80 feet on a dive although my ear was jabronied for a week after. All in all we had a deadly time, chilling, eating and diving in the Carribean. Weather was very moody but sure how bad, I have discovered Stieg Larsson.AMAZING. I am loving all his books, on number 2 as I type. (dodgy space gaps on this pc, kinda annoying!)
We left Mexico and arrived in Lima, capital of Peru. First thing we noticed - FREEZING! We had become 'those' people who arrived in places wearing shorts and tees. Eh, we soon got out the jeans. We spent 3 days in Lima waiting for our Trek, so what can I say about Lima......emmmmm, am thinking.........yeah cant really think of a huge amount. Its not that great. Actually, its a bit cat.
Mal and I did a recommended Gap Adventures 'City Tour of Lima' which was interesting. It was at 9am one morning and we were in the Hotel when this dude in torn jeans who looked about 18 years old, walked through reception and says to yer man behind the desk 'suzzzzan millllikky' I figured that was us and off we went. We walked outside and I was waiting for a Gap Adventure Offiicial Bus. Nope. I deffo reckon it was the guys Dad who was the 'driver'. Bless him, he was wearing his best suit and a Lacoste (fake) white shirt. SO CUTE! Nearly had a tear in my eye that he dressed up for us. Mal and I looked at each other and then cracked up when we saw the Datsun Sunny. Off we went!
We went round the city in the Datsun whilst torn jeans dude spoke spanish to his Da in the front who hadnt a rashers where the feck to go. Seriously, learn to drive and learn the street names!!! Lima drivers dont like to pay attention to red lights so after a few minutes of our hands over our eyes and quickly putting on the back seat belt, we tried to chill out. Yeah, not really a lot to the city. We walked around, Jeans dude spoke broken English to us about this and that. He brought us to his statue called 'The Kiss'. Yer man was the spit of Charlie Haughey going in for the kill. I'll post a pic when I can and you'll see what I mean. We went to an impressive Cathedral which was cool but then ruined it by bringing us into the Catacombs of the Cathedral. It was deep in the ground, made up of really tight dark alley ways with low ceilings - next thing I see a gazillion bones and skulls all winking up at us (minus the eyes). It was gross. Mal freakishly didnt mind it as much. I was grossed out and wanted to get the heck outta there. Wasnt my thing, as Im sure you can imagine! The tour was over, the Datsun headed off and we were 60 US dollars less off. We laughed and were like 'that was shit!'. Ah well. We have done Lima.
Gorgeous views from the cliffs down by the one of the seasides but they dont have beaches as such. They all drive on the beaches (a bit like Dollymount I guess, ha). There is a massive Shopping centre called Larcomar in the posh area called MiraFlores which is grand, but then get this. It is one of the 'Big attractions of Lima' in official Tourist Brochures. Ah come on Lima, its only shopping!
In the end we looked at our watches and caught a movie 'Wall Street' in english, killed a few hours and went for dinner to celebrate our 1 month being married! The evening turned into a fun night, we went into this Irish Bar (was beside our Hotel and we were curious!) and after a few beers, we ended up chatting to these local Lima chicks who were very cool and funny. One had been to Dublin and was giving it welly with the whole 'ah Irish boys, we love them'. Mal was in his element, kinda. Even though he was on his honeymoon. Ok, that sounds wierd!
Lima is grand for a day. You really come to Lima for Macchu Pichu. Try and minimize the time here tying in with the official trek. Sometimes, you dont really have the choice like us but just a bit of advice.
So a few days over, we said goodbye to Lima and got ready for our Trek to Macchu Pichu, yahoooooooo.
We are back from our Trek and are alive and kicking. Just about.
So where did I leave it the last time, yes we were still in Mexico.Ok well to finish off on Mexico, we spent the last few days on 'Paddy and Billy'. Our rented scooters. Gift. The best way to see a small island.
Mine was a lush green hence his name was Paddy. Mals was Blue so I named it Billy. Paddy and Billy were best mates although Paddy was a bit special needs. He was soooo slow, only went about 20 mph and the key kept falling out onto my feet but the engine kept going. One time, I had to go back on the route to find the key that had fallen out on the road. I kept telling myself 'dont cut out!' I would have been fecked if I did minus the key. I didnt -hurray and found the key ten mins later by the side of the road - double hurray! Pressure.....In fairness Billy was a bit of a rocket and Mal kept having to slow down and look back and the green hairdryer trying to catch up behind him. Ah bless.
Still, we thought we were deadly scooting all over the island that was Cozumel, finding some amazing beaches (I wanted to put up some pics but this internet cafe doesnt have the programme to upload pics-ill do it another time me amigos), doing some cool diving along a really great reef. We even went to 80 feet on a dive although my ear was jabronied for a week after. All in all we had a deadly time, chilling, eating and diving in the Carribean. Weather was very moody but sure how bad, I have discovered Stieg Larsson.AMAZING. I am loving all his books, on number 2 as I type. (dodgy space gaps on this pc, kinda annoying!)
We left Mexico and arrived in Lima, capital of Peru. First thing we noticed - FREEZING! We had become 'those' people who arrived in places wearing shorts and tees. Eh, we soon got out the jeans. We spent 3 days in Lima waiting for our Trek, so what can I say about Lima......emmmmm, am thinking.........yeah cant really think of a huge amount. Its not that great. Actually, its a bit cat.
Mal and I did a recommended Gap Adventures 'City Tour of Lima' which was interesting. It was at 9am one morning and we were in the Hotel when this dude in torn jeans who looked about 18 years old, walked through reception and says to yer man behind the desk 'suzzzzan millllikky' I figured that was us and off we went. We walked outside and I was waiting for a Gap Adventure Offiicial Bus. Nope. I deffo reckon it was the guys Dad who was the 'driver'. Bless him, he was wearing his best suit and a Lacoste (fake) white shirt. SO CUTE! Nearly had a tear in my eye that he dressed up for us. Mal and I looked at each other and then cracked up when we saw the Datsun Sunny. Off we went!
We went round the city in the Datsun whilst torn jeans dude spoke spanish to his Da in the front who hadnt a rashers where the feck to go. Seriously, learn to drive and learn the street names!!! Lima drivers dont like to pay attention to red lights so after a few minutes of our hands over our eyes and quickly putting on the back seat belt, we tried to chill out. Yeah, not really a lot to the city. We walked around, Jeans dude spoke broken English to us about this and that. He brought us to his statue called 'The Kiss'. Yer man was the spit of Charlie Haughey going in for the kill. I'll post a pic when I can and you'll see what I mean. We went to an impressive Cathedral which was cool but then ruined it by bringing us into the Catacombs of the Cathedral. It was deep in the ground, made up of really tight dark alley ways with low ceilings - next thing I see a gazillion bones and skulls all winking up at us (minus the eyes). It was gross. Mal freakishly didnt mind it as much. I was grossed out and wanted to get the heck outta there. Wasnt my thing, as Im sure you can imagine! The tour was over, the Datsun headed off and we were 60 US dollars less off. We laughed and were like 'that was shit!'. Ah well. We have done Lima.
Gorgeous views from the cliffs down by the one of the seasides but they dont have beaches as such. They all drive on the beaches (a bit like Dollymount I guess, ha). There is a massive Shopping centre called Larcomar in the posh area called MiraFlores which is grand, but then get this. It is one of the 'Big attractions of Lima' in official Tourist Brochures. Ah come on Lima, its only shopping!
In the end we looked at our watches and caught a movie 'Wall Street' in english, killed a few hours and went for dinner to celebrate our 1 month being married! The evening turned into a fun night, we went into this Irish Bar (was beside our Hotel and we were curious!) and after a few beers, we ended up chatting to these local Lima chicks who were very cool and funny. One had been to Dublin and was giving it welly with the whole 'ah Irish boys, we love them'. Mal was in his element, kinda. Even though he was on his honeymoon. Ok, that sounds wierd!
Lima is grand for a day. You really come to Lima for Macchu Pichu. Try and minimize the time here tying in with the official trek. Sometimes, you dont really have the choice like us but just a bit of advice.
So a few days over, we said goodbye to Lima and got ready for our Trek to Macchu Pichu, yahoooooooo.
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