Trip of a lifetime (part two)

Day Two

Next day we were up at 6am and had a very full day driving. We saw an active volcano, blue, green, red lakes, flamingos, amazing rock formations, stunning scenery wherever you looked. We were about 4000 meters above sea level and all of us were alright with the altitude.

Reports of accommodation for the second night had been dire and we were nervous. But again, it was not as bad as we had expected. We arrived first and choose our dormitory, we were all in together. The beds were not too bad and there were plenty of blankets. We spent the evening playing cards and were fed and watered. There was no hot water and no toilets that flushed and all electricity went off at 9pm, so it was an early night! We were at 4,500 meters and when we went outside the stars were amazing, I have never seen a sky like it… unbelievable. It was cold, but not the minus 20 I had been expected, probably about the same temperature at home at the moment, about minus 5 and in my sleeping bag and lots of blankets and all my clothes on I was snugly!

Day Three

A very early start, we were woken at 4.30am, pitch black with no lights and freezing. We somehow got everything together and set off for the geezers. The Portuguese girls had to sort their contact lenses out so we were about 15minutes late leaving and unfortunately missed the sunrise. We got to the geezers, which again were really strange in the early morning light. It was still freezing cold. We then headed for the hot springs, where at 6.30am in minus temperatures we all stripped off and jumped into the boiling water… it was fantastic, especially as we were all so dirty. We were dreading getting out but it wasn’t so bad and breakfast was waiting for us.
It was then a full speed dash to the Chile boarder where the Portugese group were crossing over to Chile and San Pedro. It was strange, a little shed in the middle of nowhere as the boarder post, we were all very sad to see them go.

The rest of the day was at least 6 hours full speed driving back to Uyuni, just stopping for lunch. I don’t think I have ever been so hot. You couldn’t open the windows because of the dust and the heat in the jeep was unbearable. I was sitting in the front and hanging on for dear life and keeping the driver awake by feeding him coca sweets, liquids and biscuits. He still kept nodding off though, which this time could have been fatal. It was a long tiring day but again driving through he most amazing terrain, passing flocks of Llamas and little else.

We arrived back in Uyuni at 5pm (exactly on time!) where the three of us had dinner and then Jenni, the German girl and I boarded the dreaded bus back to La Paz… again it was horribly uncomfortable, but we made it. Jenni then went straight to the airport and I returned to the same hostel where I’d left most of my stuff.

I know this has been a long blog, but I am so happy that I made the journey and so grateful. I thought earlier this year when I took the trip through the Rockies that that was the most amazing road trip that I would ever make, well I have now managed to make another trip just as spectacular and I know I am very lucky! (also absolutely exhausted and very happy it is raining in La Paz, so lying in bed doing nothing and hoping to recover before setting off for next part of my adventure!)

Definitely a road trip of a life time! (part one)

It may have been incredibly dusty, uncomfortable, extreme weather but I wouldn’t have missed it for the world. What a stunning trip!

It began with an ovenight bus journey from La Paz to Uyuni, a notoriously uncomfortable ride. The first four hours are OK, just a bit bumpy and you settle down to sleep, the next six hours are unbelievable! A bus going extremely fast on a dirt track road full of pot holes, it feels as though you are sitting on a pneumatic drill and it sounds as though you are in the middle of a hurricane! By the time we arrived in Uyuni everyone was exhausted and everyone’s gear on the bus had either been thrown to the back or the front, or anywhere except where it had been put! I took the tourist bus rather than a local bus as it does provide a bit more comfort but I did feel as though I had gate crashed an 18 to 30’s holiday! I was by far the oldest person there!

Tours begin at 10.30am and the bus arrived in Uyuni at 7.30am. Such a strange town, a small salt mining community which eight years ago was unheard of and then the salt tours began. It is in the middle of nowhere and everyday bus loads of people (mainly young back packers) arrive to take the tour and then disappear again.. a strange community. I had done a bit of research and found a company that had average reviews. I asked all the right questions ‘does the driver get drunk’, ‘are there seat belts’ ‘is the 4 by 4 in reliable condition’… that sort of thing! I was given the standard responses and signed up and then went and got breakfast.

When I got back at 10.30am, as I had heard, the companies all join together so that all the jeeps have 6 passengers and it is luck of the draw who your companions are. I think I was pretty lucky, there were two Portuguese girls and one Portuguese guy, a Spanish girl and a German girl, they were all under 30 and all spoke English. They were very kind and most of the time spoke English so that I would understand. They also translated for me as the driver spoke no English. The down side was that our driver was not the best, he was sulky and gave very little information, mind you what a job, twice a week doing 3 days driving over incredibly rough terrain and driving at least 8 hours a day!

Our first stop a train cemetery which I didn’t really get (I think more of a boys toys kind of thing) and then onto the salt plains. It was all I had imagined and more. Hundreds of kilometres of salt and nothing else, except small islands dotted around, which appeared to float in the air. We drove for hours and you could not believe that you were not on ice or snow, we took lots of pictures, everyone taking strange reality shots. It was incredibly hot, probably about 40 degrees, which I hadn’t bargained for. It was beautiful and if you got away from people for a bit it was absolutely silent. At least a dozen 4 by 4’s do the trip daily and everyone makes the same stops, so you are never alone for long.

We spent the whole day driving across the salt plains, stopping at an incredible cactus island for lunch (the driver produces all the food and luckily 3 of us were vegetarians and the food for the 3 days was alright) During the afternoon Julio the driver did keep falling asleep at the wheel, but to be honest there is nothing to hit, so to be asleep for a few minutes at the wheel didn’t make that much difference!

We all knew accommodation would be basic, and it was! The first night was a salt hostel (cow shed) everything made from salt, the walls, beds, tables, seats, loose salt as carpet. But, there was some electricity, basic toilets and if you paid extra a strange hot shower contraption. Food was alright again, although the girls were complaing that it wasn’t salty enough!! Excuse me, just pick some up off the floor! There were plenty of blankets on the bed and it was two to a room. It was early to bed and I did get a bit of sleep.

market mayhem!!

How can there be so many market stalls in one town?? I spent about 4 hours today wandering through a laberynth of tiny streets (I know that is probably spelt wrong but can't find a spell check!), most of the time I was lost but there was so much to see. Amidst stalls selling wool, fruit, meat, jewellery and shoes there are little old ladies who have cooked food at home, half a chicken, potatoes and cheese, all in a bucket, serving up portions for people.

I was after warm clothes for my adventure tomorrow and eventually got the following: a hot water bottle (no idea if there will be access to hot water) a hat, gloves, wool socks, a roll neck jumper, scalf, umbrella, wool jumper and then I really needed a blanket and couldn't find one for some reason so bought a meter of really soft. warm snuggly material... I hope it will be enough!

The plan is this. I catch an overnight bus this evening to Uyuni which arrives about 7am. I will definitely need something to knock me out because half of the journey the road is paved the rest it isn't and it is a notoriously uncomfortable trip, even though I am on the tourist bus which is supposedly pretty good. When I arrive in Uyuni I have to find a tour company which sounds reasonable. There are dozens of companies all offering the same trip but most of them have bad reviews, some of them mixed reviews. I know the questions I have to ask, and the average cost and will trust that I get an OK one. The trips start at 10.30am and involves 3 days of driving and 2 night stops at very basic accomodation, no hot water and everyone sleeping in together (I will hire a sleeping bag in Uyuni!) I know it soulds like hell, but am really hoping that the sights are worth it!

Should return to Uyuni at 5ish on Sunday and I then have the overnight bus booked back here whih leaves at 8pm. I will be shattered. Have booked in to come back to this hostel for the night to recover. The other alternative was to be dropped off at the Chile boarder and come back through Chile but have decided against that.

So wish me luck and I will report back on Monday hopefully!

Demo's and moon valley..

This morning went to the witches market, where all the herbs and potions are sold. I have had to include the picture of the llama foetuses as they are everywhere. When a new building is erected a foetus is buried in the foundations as it is supposed to bring good luck. If people are rich then they kill a full grown llama and bury it! Ours is not to reason why!

I then went on a search for a working ATM, which was a real challenge and ended up down town in the middle of a huge demonstration. There were thousands of people, mainly peasants marching through the streets, there was lots of noise like gun shots which I thought it was to start with but then realised it was fireworks. I found out that these people had come from the surrounding regions to demonstrate because a company had been set up to buy their produce, the company had said it was a government run scheme. The company then disappeared and thousands of people lost all their money and apparently the government is doing nothing to help them. This was why the road was blocked last week, it was these people who were quite rightly trying to be heard and regain some of their money.

In the afternoon I went on a bus ride to Moon Valley, which is a huge valley full of sandstone rock formations which rise from the ground. It was spectacular! A german guy that I was sitting with said that it is similar to the famous valley in the States, but I can’t remember it’s name!

La Paz is an amazing city, so many contrasts, colours, sights and sounds. I think because so many people are dressed in tradional clothes it feels very different to anywhere else I have been.

And I thought Peru was mad!!

Have made it to La Paz in Bolivia (one of the highest cities in the world apparently) after a long day.
The bus was supposed to leave Puno at 7.30am, although the woman had warned me that as it was coming from Lima it could arrive at any time! It eventually showed up at 10.45am. The bus station is on the shore of the lake, although how it can be called a lake when it is obviously another ocean is beyond me! So I went and sat down there for a while and felt very lucky to be sitting by the side of Lake Titicaca. Back at the bus station I chatted to a young English couple for a while and they gave me some useful information about the salt plains.
When the bus eventually showed it was another comfy one. I was tired and did want to sleep but also didn’t want to miss anything. The bus wound its way down the south side of the lake, through all the little villages. Most of the houses are made from mud blocks and reeds and life is so hard for the people. The women are in the fields tending to their small plots of land, or sitting with their animals by the side of the road (usually a few sheep, a couple of pigs and a llama or two) knitting and sewing. They are all in their hats and big skirts and shawls. Not too sure what the men are up to, probably at home in bed!
The Bolivian boarder was mayhem, people and cars and bikes everywhere. We all got off the bus and got our stamps to leave Peru and then walked over the boarder and got our Peruvian stamps. About twenty miles further down the road there was an army blockade and we all had to get out again and show our passports but it seemed to be ok
.
Arrived in La Paz about 6pm. It is spectacular as you arrive, you climb up very high and then there is this huge city built into the valley and up the mountain and behind is a huge snow covered mountain.
Luckily I had booked a hostel so had somewhere to head towards. It is pretty central and in the middle of the chaos but think it is OK. It feels like Peru had very little rules and structure, but Bolivia has even less. There are people selling things everywhere! I was really hungry and went straight out to try and find some food; I wandered around and was beginning to think I wouldn’t make it. There are really steep hills and with this altitude it is hard and the only food there seemed to be was chicken.. everywhere! I had actually reached the point of thinking that I was going to have to eat chicken when luckily I found an Israeli restaurant in a hotel that had falafels… I was very relieved!

I’m looking forward to hopefully getting some rest and getting out exploring tomorrow. Everyone says that it is a fascinating city. I need to find out what the exchange rate is and what language people are speaking!

Is it the highest lake in the world??

First views of highest lake in the world… or is it? Certainly I think one of the largest, highest lakes .

I had another bad nights sleep. It was funny when the girls were here I slept really well most of the time but since they have gone not sleeping well again but it doesn’t really matter, its not like I’m having to get up to go to work!

Travelled with Peru’s best bus company today and it really was luxurious and I wasn’t even travelling in the VIP section. Saw two good films, had the vegetarian option for lunch and relaxed. It was only a 6 hour trip and I decided during the journey to not continue to Copacabana today, it would have meant arriving in Bolivia in the dark and I hadn’t booked a hostel. I am staying overnight in Puno which is on the northern shore of Lake Titicaca at 3,800 meters. I felt excited seeing Lake Titicaca for the first time, one of those places that I think everyone remembers from their geography lessons, the highest lake in the world.

I found a hostel, it is a proper backpackers place but I have my own room and the owners are very sweet. The room however, does appear to be in the middle of the hallway and will be very noisy so looks like another sleepless night! I have had a quick look around which I think is all that is needed. Puno is a stop off point for travellers exploring the Lake and going to Bolivia. A lot of the women here wear the traditional bowler type hat with all their bright scarves and skirts, I keep trying to take sneaky pictures but they really don’t like it.

I have bought a ticket which leaves early tomorrow and takes me all the way to La Paz, I have decided to spend a couple of days in Copacabana on the way back, when I can go and see some of the islands. I had been thinking that after the salt plains I might come back up through Chile but have decided against that now (I think!) as I will be running a bit short of time.

I must once again point out how cheap it is here. I paid my bill at the lovely hostel in Arequipa before I left and for 4 nights with a good breakfast, wifi, cable TV, hot showers and lots of help, plus the trip to Colca canyon with 1 nights accommodation, plus my bus ticket today and my laundry, altogether it cost £70.

Right, off to drink more coca tea, I am feeling a bit dizzy here, mind you thats probably tiredness and not just the altitude!

Survived the altitude!

Have had a pretty tiring two days but it was well worth it. Set off at 7.30 yesterday morning and wound our way up the valley, past volcanoes and mountains into the most beautiful scenery. There were 17 people in our group and to start with I thought they were a strange lot but by the end everyone was friendly and 'had bonded'! Half of the people were Peruvian and there was a Japanese couple, an Isreali couple, a Spanish couple and me! The guide spoke really good english. We stopped for coca tea at 3,600 meters and then climbed to 4,900 meters and I was fine. It was pretty cold up there though, I don't know how the women in all their traditional dress stay up there all day long selling their wares! In the afternoon we descended to 3,800 meters and after eating went to our hotels (another loose use of the word, but it was fine, there was a bed and water and some warm blankets). Late afternoon we went to some hot springs, I have been desperate for a warm bath for weeks and so it was lovely to just lay in the water for an hour or so.... mind you coming out was a different matter, the sun was setting and it was freezing!

In the evening we went to eat and watched traditional music and dance. Now, as I don't speak much spanish I didn't really get what was happening in the dance, I know it was a dance of love with lots of different sequences. In the final part the woman throws the man on the floor and starts whipping him and then the man throws the woman on the floor and does the same??? It was all very amusing until they decided to do the same to two members of the audience... why oh why do I always get choosen??? There were about 100 people there but oh no, it was me that had to dance with the man, was then thrown on the floor and whipped!!!! And it hurt!! Nothing like a bit of public humiliation for the single woman!

I didn't sleep that well, it was very cold and then we were woken at 5am for an early start up Colcan canyon. It is deeper than the grand canyon and the views were spectacular. The selling point of the trip is to get to the highest point and then see the condors, but we didn't see any.

Everywhere we stopped there were people in traditional dress trying to sell their goods. These people are so poor and the tourist industry is their means of survival. In the villages all the women walk around in their long skirts and hats. There are amazing hats everywhere and I know why they all look so good in them, it is because Peruvians have got lovely round faces so hats work (obviously nothing to do with the burning sun and freezing cold, just a fashion statement!)

Back late afternoon but no time to rest because the buses are running again, so have booked a ticket for early tomorrow morning to go to Puno, which is on the shore of Lake Titicaca and then hoping to get a connecting bus to Caopacabana which is just into Bolivia. Apparently it is nicer than Puno and from there I can get a boat out to one of the islands.

I will be sorry to leave my lovely sanctuary in Arequipa but know if I want to get to the salt plains that I need to start moving. So maybe the next blog will be from Boliva... I wonder what currency they use there? x

PS. Had to put the tourist shot of me with Llama and eagle! Better than the tourist shot of me being whipped on the floor!

White water rafting..

What a fun thing to do... I want to do it again and again!! Had a really good time even though I was twice the age of everyone else. I managed to not fall in, other people did and at times it was scary. I now want to do it with more aggressive rapids! When the minibus picked me up, sitting next to me was a young french lad we made friends with when we were on the boat on the Amazon... what a small world. He is doing the salt plains next, so maybe I will bump into him again.

Up at 6am tomorrow for the 2 day trip to the Canyon. I am hoping I have enough warm clothes with me because it will be below freezing tomorrow night.

I obviously had to upload a picture of me in wet suit and life jacket just to prove I had been rafting! Will give a full report of canyon trip when I return. I have bought some coca sweets and will get some coca leaves to chew on tomorrow, apparently it makes your mouth numb but supposedly helps with the altitude!

Planning..

I love where I am staying but unfortunately didn't sleep again, think I was aware that the girls were still in the air. Now know they have arrived back safely so hopefully tonight I will sleep. Also during the night I was trying to plan my next few weeks and going round in circles.

A very warm day, so spent some time this morning lying in a hammock in the garden. I do understand why those elderly Peruvians that you see pictures of, with the dark skin and gnarled faces full of lines and character, get to be the way they are. At this altitude you burn so quickly and I think by the time I get back I will be well on the way to joining the well lined brigade!

Had a wander around, went to the local market and to a monastery that is 500 years old and is a described as a city within the city, it is huge. The main thing I discovered was that Peruvian nuns were very short, well Peruvian people are anyway, but the doorways for the nuns were tiny!

Apparently 3 days ago a new law was passed in Peru, that pedestrians have to cross roads at crossings. In Arequipa they are taking this very seriously and have police positioned at every road, blowing whistles and shouting at pedestrians constantly. Seeings there are no laws (or so it appears) for drivers, they can do whatever they want and never stop at pedestrian crossings, it all seems a bit pointless and rather amusing! It may be better to bring in a law to tell drivers to drive on the correct side of the road and drive below 80 miles an hour through towns!

I am booked up for white water rafting for tomorrow, so that will be very exciting. It was something that I wanted to do in Canada and didn't get around to it, so this will be my big opportunity!! Then the following morning I am off for the two day tour to Colca canyon.

I still have to make the decision on how to get to the salt plains in Bolivia. I've read lots of reports and I know it will be one of the most uncomfortable 3 days of my life, but something to not be missed with sensational scenery. My choice is to go to Lake Titicaca and cross over to Bolivia and try and acclimatise in Le Paz and then take a night bus to the south, or to go down to Chile and then go east to San Pedro and then cross to Bolivia. However, there is a blockade on the road to Lake Titicaca at the moment so the choice may be made for me! If I was home I would be having to choose whether to get on my bike to go to Sheringham or take the train, it would probably be just as hard a decision... it is all relevant!

Goodbyes and moving on to Arequipa

Saying goodbye to the girls this morning was not easy. I am useless at goodbyes at the best of times and at airports even worse. So having to leave the girls to fly all that way home and me being left here was hard. The last six weeks have often not been easy and there was lots of moaning and lots of disagreements but we were in it together and we will have lots of experiences and adventures to look back on. I think we all feel as though we have been here a lifetime, we all agreed it was the longest six weeks ever but all agreed we would really miss one another.

So the girls left and I waited a couple of hours for my plane. I did make the mistake of watching the girl's plane take off and disappear into the distance which caused the use of a wad of tissues! My flight to Arequipa was good. It took an hour and again flew over the Andes so I had my nose pressed up to the window for the whole journey. The landing was a bit scary as it is a city nestled in the mountains the plane has to fly through the mountains and make a sudden descent, I was gripping onto my seat!

Arequipa is about 2,300 meters above sea level and a really pretty town. Very clean, full of beautiful architecture. It feels safe and relaxed. I have chosen a good hostel, 'The Penguin Hostel', it is bright and cheerful and full of pictures of penguins (not entirely sure about this, just presume the owner has a thing about penguins!) The owner is Dutch (not Icelandic as one would imagine!) and has a wealth of information about travelling, so we chatted through my options for the next month and I am very excited! Tomorrow I may go rafting and the day after take a two day trip to Colca canyon. With the canyon trip you travel up to 4,900 meters and I will see how I am with that altitude before making any decisions about Bolivia.

For now I am going to relax and have an early night as I have had very little sleep the last couple of days and then wake up to a lovely spring morning in the mountains (I hope!)

Final day for the girls..

The girls leave Peru tomorrow and then I have another four weeks to go. They are both feeling a bit sad having to leave me but I know they will be fine and so will I! Jo has got two weeks in Norfolk and then she is off to a carribean island off the coast ofVenezuela for 3 months to work in a bar... how cool is that! Mili is back for a day and then down to Brighton for a day and then to Spain until I return.

We have had a nice day in Lima. I think we got a very bad impression when we were here 6 weeks ago, it of course feels a lot better because the sun is shining, but there are lots of beautiful buildings and now it is not foggy you can see that it is surrounded by mountains. We went to the market which didn´t feel as mad as last time and the girls were able to buy last minute bits.

I was going to send my netbook back with the girls but have now decided to keep it with me. It is up early to get to the airport (this time taking a proper registered taxi!). After the girls leave I have a couple of hours and then I will catch my flight to Ariquipa. I know tomorrow will be a bit hard for all of us but it is also exciting and the girls are really hoping that this time as they get longer in Miami that they really will be able to have a supersize meal!

Return to Lima

Such a relief to have left a hot and sticky Iquitos. The hostel we stayed the last couple of nights was not good, although it did have cable TV for the girls, it was a tiny, noisy sauna.

The flight to Lima was the best flight I have taken. The plane was not that high so you could see all the jungle and the Amazon and it´s tributaries winding around. Then suddenly the jungle ends and flying over the Andes, the snowcapped mountains at times being alarmingly close! Seeing turquoise and emerald lakes, it all looked very beautiful.

Arriving in Lima not as good. We had decided to stay in the centre on Lima as it is cheaper by taxi and we want to go to the market tomorrow. The guide books say that Lima airport is dangerous and to only take the official taxis but we thought we knew better. I had seen how much the average price was to pay for the centre of Lima and we were sticking to that, all of the official taxi services were saying it was 10 soles more (in real terms $3.00) so we kept asking until a guy said he would take us for 20 soles. A couple of other taxi drivers were saying to not go with this guy as he was unsafe but we ignored them, thinking they were just touting for business. We left the airport and immediately the police tried to stop the taxi, the taxi driver sped up and nearly crashed straight into another car and then continued speeding. Jodie was yelling at him to stop, Mili was just yelling, I was bemused and didn´t know what was happening except I thought maybe he had gone over a light. The police chased after the speeding taxi and eventually overtook and did a u turn to stop the taxi, the police jumped out and the taxi driver was still trying to get away. Mili was screaming for us to get out which I was ignoring as we were in the middle of a motorway. Anyway a police man jumped in the taxi when he saw us in there and tried to get the keys off the guy and they were fighting. Mili was screaming to get out and I was screaming at her to be quiet and it all turned into an American TV cop series. Eventually the keys were taken off the guy and the police got us out and found us another taxi, telling the driver that he was going to ring the hotel in half an hour to make sure we arrived safely. I was very upset that just for saving a bit of money I had put us in a very dangerous situation... maybe he was going to rob us, maybe worse, or maybe he was just an illegal taxi driver who would have delivered us safely, I´m not sure. We were very lucky that none of them used guns. I think we had all become a bit nonchalent to dangers around us, so I just have to think it is a good thing it happened just to heighten awareness and luckily we are all safe and live to tell the tale!

The centre of Lima is actually pretty nice, wonderful architecture and lots of huge buildings... a bit like London. We are about 5 minutes from the main square. The hostel is like a museum, it is jam packed with paintings and artifacts and enormous. Girls obviously hate it and think it is a cemetery, as there are huge Roman busts everywhere (there are a few skulls in reception!)
I think it is amazing!

Have had a really bad throat last couple of days, am hoping it goes by itself without having to find a doctor.

An early night tonight in a lot cooler Lima (about 20 degrees, so much more manageable!)

Final day in Iquitos:-)

It feels as though we have been here for ever, in fact it has been 10 days, but escape tomorrow! We had to change hotels again yesterday as the place we were staying was fully booked, it was a shame as it was really nice (apart from the odd lizard). The place we have moved to is not the same standard, it is very hot and small and no proper windows and pretty noisy, still we survived last night.
Everything is more expensive in Iquitos but compared to home it is still very cheap. Our hotel is £22 a night, £7 each. We have been eating in the tourist cafes and a meal costs about £5, but if we ate out of the central area and stuck to the menu we would still only be paying £2.50 for a 2 course meal and a drink.
Yesterday we went into the jungle to a conservation area where there were some animals, obviously lots of plants and a lake with a man made beach, it was good to get away from the hustle and bustle of Iquitos and my favourite thing was seeing the huge spectacular butterflies floating around.
So we fly to Lima tomorrow and are staying in the central area as the girls want to go shopping in the central market and then the girls fly out on Wednesday. I had been feeling nervous about being in Peru alone but now I have got a sort of plan together I feel a lot better about it and am excited. I have bought a plane ticket to fly down to Arequipa, which leaves a few hours after the girls leave. This is in southern Peru and is in the mountains and supposed to be very beautiful, from there I will go and visit a canyon which is far deeper than the grand canyon. I’ll spend a few days in Arequipa and then get a bus to Puno which is on the banks of Lake Titicaca and have a look around there. I am then going to see if I can get a bus to Le Paz in Bolivia and travel to the Bolivian salt flats. I have met two people who travel a lot who say it is the most beautiful trip they have ever taken. I’ll then come back to Peru and go up to Cuzco and see the sacred valley and Macchu Picchu. At least I have a plan in mind now but I can change anything as and when.
It will be a relief to get out of the sticky jungle heat and into cooler temperatures, although no doubt we will say Lima is freezing! (thinks it’s about 20 degrees, so not too bad!)

Slothes and snakes..

More from Iquitos..

Still in Iquitos but luckily it is not so hot, about 30 degrees and overcast and there are a lot of tropical storms. Resigned myself to being here for another few days so the girls can spend the time they want with their dad. However, a couple of evenings ago the true bizarreness of the situation could not escape me... There I was in a Karaoke bar (bad in itself!) in a town surrounded by jungle of which there are no roads to escape, only planes or boat. In the bar with grumpy girls and a very, very drunk Ross and his new wife who are in the middle of the floor dancing and performing various loud and raucous numbers, there is a storm outside so it is impossible to leave the place. I was completely sober and just thinking "how is this happening to me??" Luckily I can also see the humour of the situation!!

We have changed hotels due to an infestation of caterpillars, I woke up one morning with them crawling all over me. We found somewhere else pretty easily and it was all going well in the new place, no air con but a fan that is pretty efficient, WiFi and cable TV and all very clean and central.... until Mili spotted a lizard in the room... thank goodness we are not actually in the proper jungle, she was so freaked out we had to go and ask someone to get a broom and remove it and she then spent hours trying to block any holes near the ceiling with all her clothes... seemed to do the trick for a while until last night she found 3 in the bathroom... Mili does not like Peru!!

Have realised what was wrong with Jo, or at least why she has been so poorly for the last week.. it is the malaria medication.. not sure why we didn't put two and two together, but it suddenly dawned on me and we looked up side effects and she had virtually all of the mild,moderate and severe, we are hoping now she has stopped that she will start to feel better. Iquitos is pretty safe anyway and as we haven't gone right into the jungle as we thought then it really isn't a worry to stop taking it.

Had a bit or respite yesterday and went up the Amazon to an animal sanctuary for rescued animals, we held slothes (which were adorable), turtles, a baby jaguar, parrots, monkeys and I held a very large snake! Today I have managed to make my excuses and the girls have gone out with their dad to a butterfly place (although of course Mili hates butterflies!) I am trying to take the time to work out what I am going to do next week.

Will try and put some pictues of seperately as cannot seem to upload.

Apocalypse Now!!

I am beginning to understand why people go mad in the jungle, and we are not really even in the jungle! It is so very hot and humid and either seems to attract mad people or they just go crazy after being here a while!
Iquitos is a very busy jungle town, full of motor taxies and locals trying to sell anything or everything. It is very loud and pretty claustophobic, surrounded by jungle and the the Amazon. The first night we were in a hostel on a main road and it was incredibly loud, we luckily bumped into people who knew Ross and they sorted us somewhere else to stay which is much quieter and has air con, which is a necessity.
Ross and his new wife have arrived and I do now understand why he wanted us to meet him in Cusco rather than here. We had thought we were going to his place in the tranquility of the jungle for a week but that is now not possible so all there is to do is hang around here and have day trips out. To go on a decent jungle adventure it costs a lot of money and you have to travel for at least 3 days. At the moment we don´t seem to have many options except to go back to Lima earlier and wait for the girls flight... still something new may emerge!
People come to Iquitos either on the way to a further jungle adventure or to go and see
Shamans for Ayerwaska (spelt totally incorrectly) ceremonies... some just drink a lot and go mad and stay here! I may be one of the latter but will not stay here!
Jodie is still unwell which is a real shame.
No Wifi so no pics for now. From a very hot and sticky place bye for now!!

Three days and two nights on the Amazon

This really is one to put down to experience! The boats that go up river to Iquitios are primarily cargo boats and the passengers they carry are a by product. We boarded the boat and we had one of the few cabins, in fact we had the only double room and also a place in a bunk in a tiny room. The double room had the only private toilet and sink on board. Everyone else was in hammocks strung up over two decks. We realised quite soon we had been ripped off by the guy at the hotel and once we’d set sail we’d wished we had have bought a couple of hammocks to laze around in during the day. Also it was a bit embarrassing having access to two cabins whilst virtually everyone else was in a very confined space in the hammock sections, it looked as though we were spoilt, rich tourists (which by Peruvian standards we are!)

We were only a couple of hours late to depart which apparently is really good. In addition to about 300 passengers of which there were ourselves, 4 people from Europe and one from the US, the remainder were locals. There were 50 cows, a lot of chickens and a lot of cargo. It was very sad to see the way the cows were treated, how they survived the journey I really don’t know. There definitely was not a swimming pool on board or anything to do except sit on the floor of the deck and watch the river bank and move from one side of the boat to the other to avoid the sun. People were very friendly and we quickly got to know some of the people. At times we all wished we’d been in hammocks but the reality would not have been great, you have to guard your property all the time if it is not locked away and the girls had so much attention from all the men on board all the time that it would have been very uncomfortable. During the day it was incredibly hot.

What we hadn’t realised was the amount of stops the boat would make collecting more and more cargo. By the second evening I was getting seriously concerned that the boat would sink as it was obviously very overloaded. As the boat travels down the river the villagers on the banks would wave sheets and either send out canoes with cargo to load or the boat would pull over. Each time the whole of the village would be standing there watching and helping. At night lights would flash from the river bank or fires would be lit. The first half a dozen stops were interesting but after that it did get a bit tedious, especially as each time the boat stops the temperature rises because there is no breeze. There must have been some sort of structure in place and someone must have known which bananas belonged to which people!

Food as would be expected was very basic, rice and chicken and gruel for breakfast… we didn’t eat a lot! Jo really was not well on the second day, she had a very high temperature and it was impossible to cool her down, luckily with paracetamols and lots of fanning she seemed to recover by the third day.

We saw lots of river dolphins and budgies and parrots in the trees, fireflys and a lot of mosquitoes and big flying insects!

For me the highlights were watching the sun set each evening, lying on the top deck looking at the stars, getting up by 5am each morning to watch the first light and the sun rise and looking at the villages and imagining what life must be like living on the banks of the Amazon.

By day 3 the girls were desperate to get off of the boat, they both were describing it as the worst experience of their lives! There was the opportunity of getting off the boat 10 hours earlier (as we were running late due to all the stops) at a town and then getting a bus for an hour and a half. We decided to do this…. It was hell!! With a lot of other people we had to stand down with all the livestock and cargo, once we got to shore there were about 50 men waiting to jump on board, I presume to claim their cargo which had been transported down the river, they were waiting for noone! As we attempted to jump onto the muddy banks they were pushing us out of the way, it was everyone for themselves!! Somehow we managed to leap to the shore and get up the bank where a couple of motor taxi guys grabbed our bags, I was shouting to Mili ‘Just follow my bag!’ Jo was loaded into another one. We somehow got to the bus where I was ripped off by giving someone a 20 sole note and never getting my 16 sole change. Our belongings and us were loaded on to a local bus, the temperature was scorching and it was another ‘one of those experiences’!

We have now made it to Iquitios and it is ridiculously hot. I have enjoyed the whole journey across the Andes and travelling up the Amazon. I keep telling the girls that it is something that not many people do and they will look back at it and realise what a great life experience it was!! They do not quite believe me at the moment! I am now going out to have a nice cold beer!

Made it to the Amazon baisin!

The journey today wasn’t too bad as in the last 6 months they have made a proper road and it only took 3 hours. I imagine if we had have come a year ago we would not have been able to have got here as there was torrential rain and there were minor land slides most of the way, with a dirt track it would have been impassable.

When we arrived as usual we were seized by a hoard of taxi drivers (well tuk tuk drivers) our luggage was thrown into two before we could make up our mind what we were doing and we were driven to a posh hotel where a man who spoke good English invited us inside to discuss our options! This was obviously all a set up but we heard what he had to say, we knew the best boats to get to Iquitios were the Eduardo boats and that was who he worked for and who owned the hotel. After much discussion we decided to get a cabin as opposed to hammocks on the deck, it would have been fun to have been sleeping outside on hammocks but we would have had to have slept with all our gear and there is only a couple of toilets for a couple of hundred people, we’d also have to have bought a hammock each and blankets and a mosquito net, so we opted for a cabin. We also negotiated to stay in the hotel for tonight and go on a boat trip for the afternoon, all together for a posh hotel and breakfast, a 4 hour trip on a canoe boat and 3 days and 2 nights with food was £75 each, which is OK. (obviously by our standards it is really cheap but we are getting more used to Peruvian prices now!)

Our trip up the river this afternoon was great. It felt so exciting to be on the river (it isn’t actually the Amazon but a tributary which runs into the Amazon). We saw lots of bright beautiful birds, river fish jumping all the time, a couple of river dolphins and a sloth up a tree! The sun was setting as we came back and the sky was beautiful. We are very lucky to be experiencing this!

Our boat supposedly leaves tomorrow afternoon, although times can and do regularly change, as it is a cargo boat it leaves when it has enough cargo (we were told today that the cargo and the people are only a rouse as the main cargo is coca leaves which are being smuggled in hidden compartments at the bottom of the boats… not sure how much of that I believe!). The trip should take 3 days and 2 nights. I will give a full report when we arrive in Iquitios!

And into the jungle...

Tried to get a taxi first thing to the nearest town on the route toward the jungle but noone wanted to take us. Luckily a guy who spoke English who worked at a tour agency bumped into us just at the right time and took us to the collective taxi rank and spoke to the people there and told them to get us to Tarapota. The taxis wait until they are full and then take you onto the next big town, each taxi driver carried the message of where we were headed and we were in and out of taxi's all day, well for at least 8 hours, but the system worked and we have made it to the foothills of the Amazon and the jungle!

As could be expected with the driving in Peru at times it was touch and go whether we would make it in one piece, especially in the midst of such a bad storm on top of a mountain that it was impossible to see anything out of the windscreen, but still the taxi driver managed to overtake on blind bends! We did come to a sudden halt when there was a landslide and we were stuck there for half an hour while people got out of their cars in the torrential rain to clean rocks and big stones, it was raining so hard that the mud and rocks were still sliding down the mountain, but one impatient driver suddenly decided to risk it and our taxi driver followed suit... amazingly we made it!

The vast awe inspiring mountains slowly started to turn into big hills and lush green jungle. There was so much to see, it was fascinating... so many animals and plants and people. I do have to wonder if Bernard Matthews has been over to Peru because for some reason there are an awful lot of turkeys just wandering around!

Tomorrow our final stretch to the port, it is a journey of about 6 hours on rough roads. We have all just started taking our malaria tablets!