Ecuador - Peru - Bolivia

Hi Everyone,

Our blog posts have been few and far between lately as you´ve probably noticed! Unfortunately there are no photos for this one as it takes a long time to upload them and we´re having difficulty at all the internet cafes we go to.

But we wanted to let everyone know we are safe and well and loving South America. We arrived in Ecuador (Quito) late on a Monday night and checked into our accomodation. We spent two and a half days with our cousin´s brother-in-law, Charlie, who drove us around and showed us the sights of Quito. Highlights included the ´centre of the world´, which is one of the points on the equator line, a drive up El Panecillo hill to the Virgin Mary statue which overlooks the city, driving around the old town and the delicious Ceviche, a seafood type of soup made with citrus fruits... amazing. Unfortunately after only a few days in Quito we had to make a bee-line for Lima in Peru to start our Machu Picchu tour, so we did two nights of overnight buses, about 25 hours in total and arrived in Lima on the Friday exhausted.

Lima was beautiful by the sea side, but very touristy, we did enjoy strolling around the markets and beachside cafes though. Central Lima was a little different, obviously a lot poorer and felt a little less safe. We saw people strolling through the streets with guns hanging out of their pockets and consequently we felt a lot more guarded.

Anyway, we met our group on the Saturday in Lima and began our 8 day tour for Machu Picchu. We flew to Cuzco on the Sunday which is at an altitude of 3400m and this really hit us hard. It´s a difficult feeling to describe this altitude having never experienced anything like it before. We found ourselves out of breath if we walked up 5 or more steps, we were a little light headed and the occasional stomach ache. After one steep climb in the streets of Cuzco I felt so breathless and sick I started to panick. Some people carry oxygen cylinders to have oxygen shots when it gets too much. After the first night in Cuzco I woke up with a sore chest and throat as though my chest had been constricted all night. Luckily these symptoms wore off after almost 48 hours and we adjusted to the altitude.

Our actual 4 day Inca Trail trek began on the Tuesday. We would get up at 5.30am each day and start walking around 6.30. For 3 days we hiked roughly 6-8 hours a day. The first day was relatively straight forward, lots of flats and breaks, but the second day was when the going got really tough. We climbed for almost the entire day to the highest point, Dead Woman´s Pass which is 4200m. This day was the most challenging as the altitude makes everything twice as difficult. But after a few tears (from James and Stu, not Claire) and encouraging words, Claire was carried up the mountain. The third day was also difficult as it was entirely downhill which was so hard on the knees. By the fourth day when we actually walked into Machu Picchu we were so sore and so tired. One of the most amazing elements of the trek were the porters that are employed by tour companies to carry 7kg of each of our belongings, plus our tents, food, mattresses and all cooking gear. The porters carry a load of almost 25kg each and run the trail ahead of us so that when we arrive to our campsite each afternoon everything is set up, our tents are ready and there is hot coffee and food on arrival. These men are local farmers who work for these tour companies when the farming season is at a low. They were really remarkable.

So... Machu Picchu... we woke up at 3.30am on the morning of the final trek into Machu Picchu. We set off at 4am to line up at the gate which doesn´t open until 5.30am. The point of being there so early was to be the first in line of all the other tour groups so that we could make it to the sungate first, and of course we did being up at that ridiculous hour. As we waited in line for the gate to open the porters brought us hot coffee and breakfast... amazing. And finally the gates opened and we bolted through like caged animals for the 1.5hr sprint to the sungate. It was pouring with rain but we were determined to be the first to arrive so we set a mean pace, sore muscles or not. By the time our group arrived to the sungate we were drenched, sore and tired, but so excited! Unfortunately our excitement soon subsided as we realised we were not going to see the spectacular sunrise over Machu Picchu from the sungate as it was completely overcast and misty, we couldn´t even see Machu Picchu. So we plodded the extra 40 minutes down to the site and by this time it had started to clear and we caught our first glimpses of the remarkable Inca ruins. They are truly amazing, drenched or not, tired or not, we were soon picked up in the buzz of being in this beautiful place with so much history.

Later that day after a tour and some exploration around the ruins we caught a bus into a nearby town and waited for a few hours before our train back to Cuzco. Whilst waiting we went to some hot springs for our first soak in warm water for 4 days... lovely. Back in Cuzco that night we celebrated our victory over the Inca Trail by hobbling to a nice restaurant and then a great bar. Our tour group was great fun, predominantly Aussies, but a great Dutch couple and some Pommies. For the next couple of days we hung out in Cuzco with the people we´d met until we had to move onto our next destination, Puno on Lake Titicaca.

Georgie and Aaron, two people we met on the tour, also from Melbourne were travelling in the same direction as us so we went as a group. We caught a bus to Puno and on arrival discovered we had caught the first day of a week long fiesta! Being the opening night there were street parades, bands, singing and dancing everywhere! We arrived at about 4pm and most of the locals were severely intoxicated by that stage so we joined in the festivities, dancing in the street parades and drinking with the locals until all hours. It was a fantastic night.

The next day we went down to the port to see if we could catch a boat out to one of the islands on Lake Titicaca. We managed to get a boat to the ´floating islands´, which are islands made out of reeds many years ago by the local people who wanted to isolate themselves from the dominating Inca people and later the Spanish. Generations of people still live on the islands today and it is quite remarkable how they have set up their lives there. We were able to stay the night on one island in a home-stay from where we went fishing with the locals, they cooked for us and we swam in the lake. We felt like we were in the middle of nowhere and could have stayed at least a week. But the next morning we caught another boat back to Puno and then a bus to Copacabana on the other side of the lake and over the border into Bolivia.

From here we decided not to stay but to catch the next bus to La Paz, so we went to the local tourist centre where they told us there were no more buses that night. After a few negotiations they found us an alleged 5 seats on a bus with the band who had been in Copacabana that day for the fiesta. We agreed to the tickets and were told that the two girsl would have to sit with the driver at the front of the bus as all the men were intoxicated and the boys could sit in the back, but one on a fold out chair in the isle. That bus ride was the longest 4 hours of our lives, but a very memorable trip. Our luggage was strapped to the top of the bus and we stopped what seemed like every 10 minutes for someone to get off at their house. Whilst the girls were removed in the front, the boys were being harassed by the locals to sing songs and play music with them. They were so relieved when the band members finally passed out one by one, but are still a little traumatised by the journey.

We´re in La Paz now, we´ve been here for 3 nights and we´re just taking it easy. Things have been pretty hectic for the last 2 weeks so we´re happy to have some down time. We´ve wandered around the markets, visited some galleries, eaten at nice restaurants and been drinking at the local bars. La Paz is a great city, although it´s supposed to be one of the most dangerous, we´ve felt safe and had nothing but fun so far.

Tomorrow we are heading 3 hours north to an animal refuge where we can stay in a cabin and visit the animals. After that we´ll travel south to the salt lakes in Bolivia and then onto Chile.

Sorry for no photos everyone, but they´re on facebook now.

Goodbye for now.