21st May was my last full day in South America. It was a good day in Cusco as I had my last Spanish lesson as well as some salsa lessons which was fun.
We then went for dinner at a french restaurant where the set menu cost 7 Sols which is about £1.50... Bargain. I got a soup, Spaghetti Bolognaise and a crepe. Get in.
Went out with Lauren and Sarah (UK) from the hostel that night to Mama Africa's, Mythology, Roots and some other bar I've forgotten the name of. It was Sarah's birthday so made for an interesting night. We had a fair few Cuba Libre's and Sarah had a particularly potent cocktail at the first bar.... We got into Mythology and before I knew it, Sarah was dancing on the bar. The barman started spraying a Mango vodka in people's mouths and we passed the point of no return.
We got into Roots and all in all finished the night off well. It was good fun.
The next morning, I got up at 10.30am after getting back at about 6am... I had a flight to catch and my bags to pack... I remember having 100 sols in my pocket the night before and my bankcard.. Could I find them the next morning.... could I buggery... I couldn't believe it. My last night in South America and I've been so safe and careful. The one time I take my backcard out and I bloody lose it.... grrrr... I asked at reception if anyone had handed it in and knew what the response would be. Trouble was, I had to quickly head into town, get some money out with my other card, pay for and collect my laundry, pay for the room to check out, finish packing my back and get in a cab to the airport. I had brekky with Lauren and Sarah and then jumped in a cab to the airport.
I didn't have any time to call HSBC to cancel the card and it was playing on my mind. I got to Cusco airport and called anyone I knew in UK to get me the number for HSBC... Mobile phones are great aren't they.... They ring and ring and you don't have to answer them... Really handy... :) Finally got through and was saved. Thanks Phil you're a star. I flew to Lima, called HSBC and cancelled the card and then jumped on a plane to Madrid. It was an 11 hour flight and went pretty smoothly. I was so knackered it didn't take me long to get to sleep. Nice. Also, I'm loving the Cat Empire 'So many nights'album. It's been a good friend in South America.
Arrived in Madrid feeling surprisingly refreshed. Met Townley at the airport and, aside from a couple of minor directional hiccups on the train, got back to his place smoothly.
We went out for dinner and before I knew it, the time was 8pm. It was completely light out and I'd forgotten what that felt like. I'd forgotten that the nights are much lighter till later over this way. We went out to a fair few bars, I hijacked a hen do and acted as official photographer for about ten mins and then we adopted an Argentinian guy in one of Townley's local bars... There was an interesting exotic dancer at the club we went to which Townley claims "Never happens" and a good night was had by all.
Sunday 24th May was an interesting day travel wise.... I flew from Madrid to Faro.... via London. Why? I'll tell you why, it's cause I'm an idiot. 7 hours to do a 1 hour journey. Oops. Anyway, got to my mum's feeling a little dishevelled but happy to be in one place for more than four days.
Spent all day by the pool today (25th May) and went out for dinner. Going to be nice and quiet over the next week or so I suspect. Oh and I found my damn bankcard in my bag along with the cash.... Grrrrr....
Showing posts with label Cusco. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Cusco. Show all posts
Monday, May 25, 2009
Thursday, May 21, 2009
Day 50 - Cusco
Coming to the end of my time in South America. I´ve really had an amazing time. Each place i´ve been to has had something utterly unique about it and I will definitely return here someday.
Just winding down now really. Yesterday I had my Spanish lesson and then had dinner at a Mexican restaurant. I met two girls who are about to do the Lares Trail so I helped them out with some info and then took them to the shop I bought my fleece from. The fleece I now refer to as the fleece of life for if I didn´t have it on the trek I think I would have frozen to death.
Last night I met Evan (Ireland) and Adam and Loken (Israel). We just stayed in the Hostel bar and had a quiet one. Everyone seemed to be suffering from a big one the previous night. Accept for Ryan of course. He´s from Northern Ireland and I can´t say that i´ve ever seen him sobre. He´s hilarious. Last night he went out to a club carrying a metre long candle. An interesting accessory I thought. I could imagine the bouncers at the club really pondering whether a candle was something you shouldn´t bring in to the club. This morning he woke up in someone elses bed, they moved to his bed and he picked up the candle and said:
"Where did this come from?"
I said: "Life must be full of surprises for you Ryan, you must wake up each morning in amazement at the latest tacky souvenir purchase you made the night before..."
"It´s true" he said as he picked up a clown mask made of felt material and looked at it curiously.... "Where did this come from...." he said.
Classic. Two nights ago we had to carry him to the dorm because he was insistent the bar should stay open.... Four of us tried to lift him into bed... it was an interesting experience.
Today, I have my final Spanish lesson and then I go to some Salsa lessons. Tonight is my last official night in South America so I´ve got to go out I think. It´s only right.... we´ll see...
Just winding down now really. Yesterday I had my Spanish lesson and then had dinner at a Mexican restaurant. I met two girls who are about to do the Lares Trail so I helped them out with some info and then took them to the shop I bought my fleece from. The fleece I now refer to as the fleece of life for if I didn´t have it on the trek I think I would have frozen to death.
Last night I met Evan (Ireland) and Adam and Loken (Israel). We just stayed in the Hostel bar and had a quiet one. Everyone seemed to be suffering from a big one the previous night. Accept for Ryan of course. He´s from Northern Ireland and I can´t say that i´ve ever seen him sobre. He´s hilarious. Last night he went out to a club carrying a metre long candle. An interesting accessory I thought. I could imagine the bouncers at the club really pondering whether a candle was something you shouldn´t bring in to the club. This morning he woke up in someone elses bed, they moved to his bed and he picked up the candle and said:
"Where did this come from?"
I said: "Life must be full of surprises for you Ryan, you must wake up each morning in amazement at the latest tacky souvenir purchase you made the night before..."
"It´s true" he said as he picked up a clown mask made of felt material and looked at it curiously.... "Where did this come from...." he said.
Classic. Two nights ago we had to carry him to the dorm because he was insistent the bar should stay open.... Four of us tried to lift him into bed... it was an interesting experience.
Today, I have my final Spanish lesson and then I go to some Salsa lessons. Tonight is my last official night in South America so I´ve got to go out I think. It´s only right.... we´ll see...
Tuesday, May 12, 2009
Day 41 and 42 - Lima to Cuzco (11th and 12th May)
Well, the tour to Machu Picchu has officially started.
Met Debrali our tour leader at the hotel on Monday. She was excellent. She took us around Lima and showed us the catacombs, the main square.
The guys on the tour are pretty much all from Australia. Some from Sydney and some from Melbourne. To be honest, Lima was a bit of a blur. I was exhausted from my flights and still feeling it. We had the funniest tour guide of the catacombs though. It was more of a sprint than a tour... the conversation kind of went like this...
Guide "And this is where the catacombs were discovered...."
Us "So what about the....."
Tour guide disappears around corner....
Us "How old is the ....."
Tour guide shimmys down some steps...
Us "When was the first....."
Tour guide exits stage right...
Very entertaining.... We then got a mad woman taxi driver back from the centre of town to Miraflores (which is the area we´re staying in and a very nice area too). She kept banging on the side of her taxi everytime she wanted to merge into another lane. The Peruvians have the same driving etiquette as the rest of South America. Why stick to two official lanes when you can easily squeeze four lanes of traffic in there... After about 40 mins of a 20min journey, I turned to the taxi driver and asked in spanish, "Do you like the traffic in Lima then?" I thought she was going to kill me... ha ha.
We had a quiet evening, went for dinner and then slept. Up at 4.30am this morning to get to the airport for our flight to Cusco (sometimes spelt Cuzco).
I´m kind of in a bit of a daze at the moment. We met our new guide for Cusco called Bobby. He´s great. Very keen... We went to the main square. Did the classic tourist stuff, this is a church, this is the traditional dress of the Andes etc.
Really interesting though. He then took us to an indoor market which has everything for sale.... Including pigs heads and cows snouts... Lovely. It´s really interesting trying to acclimatise to Cusco.
We´re about 3,300m high. Breathing can be a little challenging but Bobby helped to sort that out by taking us for some Coca tea... and coca chocolates.
They don´t remove the cocaine element from the coca plant when they make the tea here.... I think I floated back to the hostel... It was kind of weird but you need to have this stuff to survive the trek. So I bought 100g of dark and 100g of green Coca chocolates.... bring on the mountains I say...
Tomorrow, we start trekking and on Friday, I climb to 4,600m.... Oh man... Should be interesting.. It takes 4 hours going up the same distance it takes 45mins to come down that day.
Met Debrali our tour leader at the hotel on Monday. She was excellent. She took us around Lima and showed us the catacombs, the main square.
 |
| From Peru |
 |
| From Peru |
 |
| From Peru |
 |
| From Peru |
 |
| From Peru |
 |
| From Peru |
 |
| From Peru |
The guys on the tour are pretty much all from Australia. Some from Sydney and some from Melbourne. To be honest, Lima was a bit of a blur. I was exhausted from my flights and still feeling it. We had the funniest tour guide of the catacombs though. It was more of a sprint than a tour... the conversation kind of went like this...
Guide "And this is where the catacombs were discovered...."
Us "So what about the....."
Tour guide disappears around corner....
Us "How old is the ....."
Tour guide shimmys down some steps...
Us "When was the first....."
Tour guide exits stage right...
Very entertaining.... We then got a mad woman taxi driver back from the centre of town to Miraflores (which is the area we´re staying in and a very nice area too). She kept banging on the side of her taxi everytime she wanted to merge into another lane. The Peruvians have the same driving etiquette as the rest of South America. Why stick to two official lanes when you can easily squeeze four lanes of traffic in there... After about 40 mins of a 20min journey, I turned to the taxi driver and asked in spanish, "Do you like the traffic in Lima then?" I thought she was going to kill me... ha ha.
 |
| From Peru |
 |
| From Peru |
 |
| From Peru |
We had a quiet evening, went for dinner and then slept. Up at 4.30am this morning to get to the airport for our flight to Cusco (sometimes spelt Cuzco).
I´m kind of in a bit of a daze at the moment. We met our new guide for Cusco called Bobby. He´s great. Very keen... We went to the main square. Did the classic tourist stuff, this is a church, this is the traditional dress of the Andes etc.
 |
| From Peru |
Really interesting though. He then took us to an indoor market which has everything for sale.... Including pigs heads and cows snouts... Lovely. It´s really interesting trying to acclimatise to Cusco.
 |
| From Peru |
 |
| From Peru |
 |
| From Peru |
We´re about 3,300m high. Breathing can be a little challenging but Bobby helped to sort that out by taking us for some Coca tea... and coca chocolates.
 |
| From Peru |
 |
| From Peru |
 |
| From Peru |
They don´t remove the cocaine element from the coca plant when they make the tea here.... I think I floated back to the hostel... It was kind of weird but you need to have this stuff to survive the trek. So I bought 100g of dark and 100g of green Coca chocolates.... bring on the mountains I say...
Tomorrow, we start trekking and on Friday, I climb to 4,600m.... Oh man... Should be interesting.. It takes 4 hours going up the same distance it takes 45mins to come down that day.
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