South America - Peru and the Inca Trail
Sorry this has taken such a long time to publish - it took a while to find a computer that would upload photos faster than one day at a time!!!!!
Buenos Dias. And so we hit South America........gone the luxury hotels, vineyard lunches, rental car and english speaking sanctuary.......
And so with 12 crash course hours of reading a Spanish phrase book on the plane between Auckland and Santiago we landed in Chile ready to handle anything that could be thrown at us.....or so we thought!
Our first three days were spent in Santiago, the capital of Chile, staying at a lovely hotel in the cobblestone streets of the Plaza Paris Londres. Bec struck gold with the find of the hotel which was so much cheaper than any of the others we had been looking at (and despite giving us a sleepless night on the plane - fearing we would be staying in some shack) but ended up being more than adequate. Our dinner on the second night was amusing - ordering from a Spanish menu I thought we had ordered chorizo and mashed potato and steak - indeed we got the steak but the Chorizo turned out to be a plate of breaded fish. Bec was highly amused that my Spanish had let us down (the phrase book was useless) until it transpired that her menu finger pointing had actually selected the dish above the one we actually wanted!! However the food was really good and 2 nights down no sickness encountered - surely this was too good to be true! In the hour and half we were at the restaurant, two couples sat down and then abruptly left when they realised the menu was in Spanish and we could have rented our Spanish phrasebook out to numerous couples...
Santiago overall was a bit of a let down - one day spent wandering, another on an open top tour bus going round the wider city and some brief stints in museums, churches and up a mightily steep furnicular railway with Bec´s eyes closed grimly hanging on for dear life.
Sunday was our first real day of travelling - a flight from Santiago to Arica in the North, followed by a taxi across the border into Peru and then a bus journey from Tacna to Arequipa where we were to stay for a couple of days. Everything actually went pretty well and with me boldly telling Bec that this would be the ¨worst day of travelling by far¨ we breathed a sigh of relief as we settled again into a nice hotel. The monastary in Arequipa was amasing and all up I think we managed to spend an entire afternoon there with a private guide (and me taking about 150 photos - Uli you´ll remember that!).
We had decided to not go white water rafting the day after (given it was winter and the rivers were running high - coupled with the warnings in the Lonely Planet and the conflicting stories from the tour agencies on the ground - one saying yes ¨we go rafting tomorrow¨, the one next door laughing at us and saying¨too dangerous¨). Instead we decided to head to Cusco a day earlier, avoiding an overnight bus (thus considerably reducing our chances of a robbery, rape, hijack etc.....) in order to acclimatise before the Inca Trail.
Given the bus was to take 10-12 hours Bec decided she wanted some local food that night that would carry her over through the long journey the next day. Marinated fish in lemon turned out to be exactly that - raw marinated fish in lemon and whilst it was actually really nice I couldn´t help wondering as we walked home and I felt that trade mark gurgle in the pit of my stomach that maybe Pizza would have been a safer option!
Lets just say the bus turned up 4 hours late, then took 12 hours and we ended up arriving into Cusco at 3am instead of the 6pm we had originally assumed. So much for avoiding overnight buses. South America lession number 1 - buses are about as reliable as estate agents...car dealers etc. I was also sick most of the journey with a fever and dodgy stomach - oh the fish marinated in lemon........Bec was happy.....she felt fine......I would be having the last laugh....
At least we had a room booked in Cusco and thankfully they let us in at 3am in the morning. Again really nice which was just as well given Bec felt the need to projectile vomit the following morning. South American lession number 2 - avoid raw food of any kind! (To Bec´s credit she had not intended it to be raw!).
And onwards to the Inca Trail. After a couple of days of preparation in Cusco we were all ready to go for the Inca Trail. A four day three night camping expedition covering 32km of Inca Trail over the mountains to Machu Pichu. In true Bec and Iain fashion we opted for the private trip so there was just the two of us when our guide arrived at the hotel on Friday morning at 6am.
First day was a two hour private car ride to Km 82 (the starting point of the Inca Trail) followed by about 11km over flat ground as a gentle introduction. We were slightly alarmed when our guide said that his tour the week before had seen nothing as it had rained all four days (this being rainy season) so we walked the first few K´s with Bec asking me why we had chosen this time of year to do the tríp. Our guide suggested an offering of coco leaves placed under the ground might be the way to go. It would turn out to be the best thing we could have done as the weather apart from a couple of sections was incredible. In fact the first day was so hot and we made such good progress (Quote Bec: I told you I could walk quickly on the flat.....I am not unfit really) that we changed camps and decided to get 3 hours of the uphill climb under our belt which had been scheduled for day 2. I have to say that a 5 hour climb was the last thing we needed on day 2 so all round it was a winner and after much huffing and panting we made it up 1000m to our new day one camp at 3750m. (I can´t quote Bec here as I think the website would sensor it! - lets just say that by now our guide had started calling her PRINCESS!!!)
We should say a little here about the set-up. We had 5 porters, a chef and guide for just the two of us and because we had walked so well on day one we were well ahead of the main tour groups so had seen only a few porters the whole day instead of the masses of people we had imagined. Even the camp was nice with only one other small group - and to be fair we also had a portable toilet so we didn´t even need to use the camp facilities - sparten so they were!!!!!!
We had been really lucky with the weather as it literally started to rain as we arrived to camp at the end of day one....to a hot snack before dinner.
Day 2....It had rained all night which did not bode well and indeed when we woke at 6am it was lashing down. After breakfast and donning some seriously sexy ponchos - money well spent - who needs gortex rainjackets, we set off for the summit of the first peak - 4200m...another 2 hours uphill at this altitude and with the weather ......and with Bec....quite slow progress!!!
We made it and the weather started to ease as we again hurtled along only seeing a few animals along the way.....
again we made great progress day 2 so we changed camps again and decided to do the Inca Trail in 3 days not 4, thus enabling us to see Machu Pichu twice, avoid the crowds, hopefully get there whilst the weather was good and best of all to spend night 3 in a proper bed in a hostel in Aguas Calientes. Nothing like the promise of a bed, hot shower and pízza to make Bec walk like a demon. Fair play she had done bloody well so far as it was not an easy walk.
Our camp at the end of day 2 was stunning right on a mountain top and the views were amazing. We couldn´t wait for day 3 as there were lots of Inca Ruins to visit before arriving in Machu Pichu in the afternoon...and of course no more camping!
The weather on Day 3 was also great and we visited some spectacular ruins along the trail before arriving to Machu Pichu in sunshine to a round of applause from the day trippers who had walked to the sun gate (the entrance to the site for the trail).
Incredible - the pictures don´t quite do it justice. It was to be a good move as the day after was pretty wet and with thick fog most of the ruins were invisible - which would have been a great dissappointment after all that hard work.
Overall a spectacular 4 days - definitely worth every minute - probably the best thing we have both ever done......obviously we were lucky with the weather and having a kick ass tour...but still quite brilliant. However there was the alternative Inca Trail......
And so the Inca Trail. 5 porters, a chef and a guide. That was 4 porters to carry Bec´s clothes, creams, make up...oh and crisps so she didn´t get faint...
I meanwhile had to make do with carrying all my own clothes and belongings........
Bec even made the guide apply an hourly layer of cream so that the effects of the walking, lack of a shower and overall lack of an expensive hotel did not leave a lasting effect......
He also had an oxygen bottle in his bag just in case.....
Here she is berating the chef for luke warm water instead of hot and was none too pleased when this happened a second time.....
And finally when we had arrived in Mach Pichu, the princess had to look her best before any photos were taken....or so she thought! THE END.
I should end this by saying Bec was amazing.........walked the Inca Trail a day quicker than normal and we both had a great time. Lets hope the rest of the trip is like this. And so we write this from Cusco....staying for a couple of days in a nice expensive hotel for some R&R before we continue on our travels.
Congrats to the Cossey family on the birth of baby Charlie....great news and we hope you are all doing well. Great Sarah on your engagement looking forward to a big celebration.
Until the next exciting episode.
Lots of love - Iain and Bec XXX.
PS As you can probably tell I had zero input on this blog after all your comments Iain has stopped me writing anything apart from a sentence at the end.... love you all Bec xxxx
Buenos Dias. And so we hit South America........gone the luxury hotels, vineyard lunches, rental car and english speaking sanctuary.......
And so with 12 crash course hours of reading a Spanish phrase book on the plane between Auckland and Santiago we landed in Chile ready to handle anything that could be thrown at us.....or so we thought!
Our first three days were spent in Santiago, the capital of Chile, staying at a lovely hotel in the cobblestone streets of the Plaza Paris Londres. Bec struck gold with the find of the hotel which was so much cheaper than any of the others we had been looking at (and despite giving us a sleepless night on the plane - fearing we would be staying in some shack) but ended up being more than adequate. Our dinner on the second night was amusing - ordering from a Spanish menu I thought we had ordered chorizo and mashed potato and steak - indeed we got the steak but the Chorizo turned out to be a plate of breaded fish. Bec was highly amused that my Spanish had let us down (the phrase book was useless) until it transpired that her menu finger pointing had actually selected the dish above the one we actually wanted!! However the food was really good and 2 nights down no sickness encountered - surely this was too good to be true! In the hour and half we were at the restaurant, two couples sat down and then abruptly left when they realised the menu was in Spanish and we could have rented our Spanish phrasebook out to numerous couples...
Santiago overall was a bit of a let down - one day spent wandering, another on an open top tour bus going round the wider city and some brief stints in museums, churches and up a mightily steep furnicular railway with Bec´s eyes closed grimly hanging on for dear life.
Sunday was our first real day of travelling - a flight from Santiago to Arica in the North, followed by a taxi across the border into Peru and then a bus journey from Tacna to Arequipa where we were to stay for a couple of days. Everything actually went pretty well and with me boldly telling Bec that this would be the ¨worst day of travelling by far¨ we breathed a sigh of relief as we settled again into a nice hotel. The monastary in Arequipa was amasing and all up I think we managed to spend an entire afternoon there with a private guide (and me taking about 150 photos - Uli you´ll remember that!).
We had decided to not go white water rafting the day after (given it was winter and the rivers were running high - coupled with the warnings in the Lonely Planet and the conflicting stories from the tour agencies on the ground - one saying yes ¨we go rafting tomorrow¨, the one next door laughing at us and saying¨too dangerous¨). Instead we decided to head to Cusco a day earlier, avoiding an overnight bus (thus considerably reducing our chances of a robbery, rape, hijack etc.....) in order to acclimatise before the Inca Trail.
Given the bus was to take 10-12 hours Bec decided she wanted some local food that night that would carry her over through the long journey the next day. Marinated fish in lemon turned out to be exactly that - raw marinated fish in lemon and whilst it was actually really nice I couldn´t help wondering as we walked home and I felt that trade mark gurgle in the pit of my stomach that maybe Pizza would have been a safer option!
Lets just say the bus turned up 4 hours late, then took 12 hours and we ended up arriving into Cusco at 3am instead of the 6pm we had originally assumed. So much for avoiding overnight buses. South America lession number 1 - buses are about as reliable as estate agents...car dealers etc. I was also sick most of the journey with a fever and dodgy stomach - oh the fish marinated in lemon........Bec was happy.....she felt fine......I would be having the last laugh....
At least we had a room booked in Cusco and thankfully they let us in at 3am in the morning. Again really nice which was just as well given Bec felt the need to projectile vomit the following morning. South American lession number 2 - avoid raw food of any kind! (To Bec´s credit she had not intended it to be raw!).
And onwards to the Inca Trail. After a couple of days of preparation in Cusco we were all ready to go for the Inca Trail. A four day three night camping expedition covering 32km of Inca Trail over the mountains to Machu Pichu. In true Bec and Iain fashion we opted for the private trip so there was just the two of us when our guide arrived at the hotel on Friday morning at 6am.
First day was a two hour private car ride to Km 82 (the starting point of the Inca Trail) followed by about 11km over flat ground as a gentle introduction. We were slightly alarmed when our guide said that his tour the week before had seen nothing as it had rained all four days (this being rainy season) so we walked the first few K´s with Bec asking me why we had chosen this time of year to do the tríp. Our guide suggested an offering of coco leaves placed under the ground might be the way to go. It would turn out to be the best thing we could have done as the weather apart from a couple of sections was incredible. In fact the first day was so hot and we made such good progress (Quote Bec: I told you I could walk quickly on the flat.....I am not unfit really) that we changed camps and decided to get 3 hours of the uphill climb under our belt which had been scheduled for day 2. I have to say that a 5 hour climb was the last thing we needed on day 2 so all round it was a winner and after much huffing and panting we made it up 1000m to our new day one camp at 3750m. (I can´t quote Bec here as I think the website would sensor it! - lets just say that by now our guide had started calling her PRINCESS!!!)
We should say a little here about the set-up. We had 5 porters, a chef and guide for just the two of us and because we had walked so well on day one we were well ahead of the main tour groups so had seen only a few porters the whole day instead of the masses of people we had imagined. Even the camp was nice with only one other small group - and to be fair we also had a portable toilet so we didn´t even need to use the camp facilities - sparten so they were!!!!!!
We had been really lucky with the weather as it literally started to rain as we arrived to camp at the end of day one....to a hot snack before dinner.
Day 2....It had rained all night which did not bode well and indeed when we woke at 6am it was lashing down. After breakfast and donning some seriously sexy ponchos - money well spent - who needs gortex rainjackets, we set off for the summit of the first peak - 4200m...another 2 hours uphill at this altitude and with the weather ......and with Bec....quite slow progress!!!
We made it and the weather started to ease as we again hurtled along only seeing a few animals along the way.....
again we made great progress day 2 so we changed camps again and decided to do the Inca Trail in 3 days not 4, thus enabling us to see Machu Pichu twice, avoid the crowds, hopefully get there whilst the weather was good and best of all to spend night 3 in a proper bed in a hostel in Aguas Calientes. Nothing like the promise of a bed, hot shower and pízza to make Bec walk like a demon. Fair play she had done bloody well so far as it was not an easy walk.
Our camp at the end of day 2 was stunning right on a mountain top and the views were amazing. We couldn´t wait for day 3 as there were lots of Inca Ruins to visit before arriving in Machu Pichu in the afternoon...and of course no more camping!
The weather on Day 3 was also great and we visited some spectacular ruins along the trail before arriving to Machu Pichu in sunshine to a round of applause from the day trippers who had walked to the sun gate (the entrance to the site for the trail).
Incredible - the pictures don´t quite do it justice. It was to be a good move as the day after was pretty wet and with thick fog most of the ruins were invisible - which would have been a great dissappointment after all that hard work.
Overall a spectacular 4 days - definitely worth every minute - probably the best thing we have both ever done......obviously we were lucky with the weather and having a kick ass tour...but still quite brilliant. However there was the alternative Inca Trail......
And so the Inca Trail. 5 porters, a chef and a guide. That was 4 porters to carry Bec´s clothes, creams, make up...oh and crisps so she didn´t get faint...
I meanwhile had to make do with carrying all my own clothes and belongings........
Bec even made the guide apply an hourly layer of cream so that the effects of the walking, lack of a shower and overall lack of an expensive hotel did not leave a lasting effect......
He also had an oxygen bottle in his bag just in case.....
Here she is berating the chef for luke warm water instead of hot and was none too pleased when this happened a second time.....
And finally when we had arrived in Mach Pichu, the princess had to look her best before any photos were taken....or so she thought! THE END.
I should end this by saying Bec was amazing.........walked the Inca Trail a day quicker than normal and we both had a great time. Lets hope the rest of the trip is like this. And so we write this from Cusco....staying for a couple of days in a nice expensive hotel for some R&R before we continue on our travels.
Congrats to the Cossey family on the birth of baby Charlie....great news and we hope you are all doing well. Great Sarah on your engagement looking forward to a big celebration.
Until the next exciting episode.
Lots of love - Iain and Bec XXX.
PS As you can probably tell I had zero input on this blog after all your comments Iain has stopped me writing anything apart from a sentence at the end.... love you all Bec xxxx
BecandIain - 30. Jan, 10:01
Chris (guest) - 2. Feb, 05:03
Message from Mum
This all looks fantastic! I'm very jealous although the train seems more attractive to me. 2 little princesses in the family now.
Uli (guest) - 2. Feb, 09:28
Well done Bec!!
Wouldn't have made half of the walk, but pictures are amazing. Glad to see your parent have entered blog space :-)
No news here in Syd though only one week to go .... :-))) Dragonboat training starts today and I somehow ended up coordinating it (still can't say no). Hannah's bday BBQ is tonight and Minski's is fix (need to behave this time Cactus is too close!).
Johnathan Sim resigned and Jon Griffiths is moving to TS so that's work news. Busy season still doesn't feel like busy season, it's far to easy this year, hopefully it stays like this.
My 30er will be in the Argyle. Steven Jack almost caused me a heart attack when he tried to organise his bday the same night after accepting my invite so he might join the party (the more the merrier) coz I do not reorganise 100people.
I should say hello from everybody. Paddo is just not the same without you (I still turn my head everytime I pass 55 William Street to see if you are at home ...). Have booked my leave for last week of August and first 2 weeks in September to head home so a stopover in London should be possible.
Need to run
Love Uli
No news here in Syd though only one week to go .... :-))) Dragonboat training starts today and I somehow ended up coordinating it (still can't say no). Hannah's bday BBQ is tonight and Minski's is fix (need to behave this time Cactus is too close!).
Johnathan Sim resigned and Jon Griffiths is moving to TS so that's work news. Busy season still doesn't feel like busy season, it's far to easy this year, hopefully it stays like this.
My 30er will be in the Argyle. Steven Jack almost caused me a heart attack when he tried to organise his bday the same night after accepting my invite so he might join the party (the more the merrier) coz I do not reorganise 100people.
I should say hello from everybody. Paddo is just not the same without you (I still turn my head everytime I pass 55 William Street to see if you are at home ...). Have booked my leave for last week of August and first 2 weeks in September to head home so a stopover in London should be possible.
Need to run
Love Uli
Sarahm (guest) - 3. Feb, 07:57
Hi Mummy and Daddy Gower!
Great to hear of your South America Adventures, we've been wondering how you've been getting along. I didn't realise you could do a private trek - sounds incredible and much more preferable than being in a big group.
I like your style; roughing it for bit followed by some decent food/good bed/ proper shower.
Take care and avoid that raw fish!
Sarah xxx
Great to hear of your South America Adventures, we've been wondering how you've been getting along. I didn't realise you could do a private trek - sounds incredible and much more preferable than being in a big group.
I like your style; roughing it for bit followed by some decent food/good bed/ proper shower.
Take care and avoid that raw fish!
Sarah xxx
Message from Windlesham