The Sanatorium

30 March -
Huaraz, Peru

The Cordillera Blanca is the highest range in Peru and the second highest mountain range in the world. The story of Touching the Void occurred and was also filmed here and in the nearby Cordillera Huayash.

We were eager for a couple of days of hiking, however Huaraz`s reputation as "the place where you are most likely to pick up a travel bug in Peru" did not let us down. We contracted the bug within a matter of hours of arriving. Fortunately the hostel has a great DVD selection!

Totally underestimating the power of the The Bug, we decided to do a cycle up to Lago Llangaanuco with Damon, an Aussie. We caught a local taxi/bus, where we were absolutely crammed in (SAfrican taxi style), to Yunguay and then hired bikes from here. The cycle around the lakes was absolutely beautiful with the sun illuminating the lakes to a brilliant turquoise. Unfotunately Nicky was overcome with stomach cramps and nausea and had to abort the downhill ride and catch a taxi back to town, while Gayle awed Damon with her daredevil speed on the gravel road down the mountain.

We realised something was not quite kosher when every new traveller arriving at the hostal came down with The Bug and within the first 12 hours of arrival. We therefore decided that in the best interests of our health, we should get out of there and head to the coast for the sunshine we were craving having spent the last month in the high altitude and cold.

Shell shocked

Lima
27-29th March

Seeing bright lights, Macdonalds, Pizza Hut and Peruvians not dressed in traditional attire left us feeling a bit shell shocked after spending the last few weeks in very rural areas of Peru and also Bolivia.

Having had such a good time at the Loki Hostel in Cusco, we decided to stay at its Lima version. We felt like the Granny´s of the dorm as we were wanting to see some fo the cultural sights of Lima, however the other dorm members priorities lay in being permanently stoned or out boozing til 6 or 7 in the morning and sleeping all day - hence we never got to know many of our dormmates due to their nocturnal hours. Our first night was rather eventful, a drunken Dutch girl stumbled into the dorm wearing only her knickers and trainers (not sure where her jeans went?!) and was helped into her top bunk by the receptionist. We woke up to the disturbance and waited for the inevitable, as she restlessly flung her body and limbs from side to side - the CRASH - we turned on the light to see her sprawled amongst the backpacks on the floor. Gayle kindly helped her into bed - the bottom bunk this time (fortunately the owner was still out partying) - to prevent further injury.

After much deliberation, we decided that the Galapagos was way out of our budget as we were scrimping and saving at every possible moment and as a result, finding it stressful and not enjoying our time travelling as we should (it´s important to be able to treat yourself to that chocolate or beer when you need it). The new plan is to go there for our honeymoons (not together!) Although as James W has advised us, "Screw the money, marry for the passport" (fortunately we have the latter, so can go for the first!) Having made this decision, we both felt a huge weight off our shoulders with the Galapagos Fund now the "Fun Fund".

Our first day in Lima we ambitiously decided to walk to the Musee de la Nacion, completely underestimating the size of Lima we managed to see a large proportion of Lima on foot! On the way, now able to afford the postage of Nicky´s frame, we stopped at the post office to send it home. (Is it there yet mum?) Aaron, who we met in Arequipa, recommended we went to this museum to see the exhibition on the Nazca lines to make up for having skipped them in Nazca. Unfortunately the exhibition was closed and the explanations for the other exhibits of the Inca and pre Inca civilisations were all in Spanish...by the end of this museum we were well and truly "ruined-out". Luckily an amazing photographic exhibition saved the day - we were both shocked and impressed by the display showing graphic photos of the last 20 years of violence and terror in a time of political unrest in Peru. We felt completely ignorant of this recent history when much of Peruvian history is focused on the Incas.

We were very proud of ourselves when we mastered the local transportation system and caught a bus back to the hostel.

While in Lima In order to keep our avid readers happy, we also put serious dedication into updating our blog. We also met up with Thomas and Louise (from Salt Flats Tour). Was great to see familiar faces and catch up, sharing stories of the last 2 weeks since we`d last seen them in Sucre. As we were about to leave we realised we knew the gorgeous "out-of-this-world" blonde who walked into the hostel. It was Oli, our long lost German friend (minus Oolie) from Punta Arenas. Had a quick catch up and realised we`d be reunited in Mancora in a couple of days.

Desert sands

25 - 27 March
Huachachina, Peru

It was here at Casa Arena that we bumped into Aussie Scott, our ex-roomie from Cusco, loking very pale and wilted after picking up a nasty bug from an Amazonian boat in Pullcapa. We spent the day at the pool catching up with Scott and enjoying the warmth and sunshine again.

As Ica is the wine capital of Peru, we signed up for a wine tour that evening. During dinner we had been discussing our lack of encounters with the notorious and disliked Israeli travellers. Ironically we found ourselves on the wine tour with a mob of them. The only highlight if the wine tour was stomping barefoot on grapes, something we`ve both always wanted to do. The wine tasting itself was somewhat unconventional. We were given plastic shot glasses which were filled with rancid wine and then ordered to down them - none of the classy smell, note the clarity, savour the taste on your palate way we are used to! After tossing most of it onto the floor when no-one was looking (Scott managed to get both of our feet at various times) we were taken outside and given a huge jug of more rancid wine, and at various intervals were forced into group shots. It was clear the aim of the night was to get us pissed - so we`d forget how shit the tour actually was! The rowdy Israelis lived up to their reputuation.

The next day after a morning at the pool we went for lunch and had some disagreeable cake which left us feeling very unwell and flattened in bed for the rest of the afternoon. Scott saved the 4 o clock photo and had a photo of himself on the sandboarding/buggying trip which we postponed and did the following day.

The adrenaline pumped faster as we climbed into the suped-up 4x4 beach buggy, and realised our driver was the infamous Ronaldo, known for his crazy rally-like driving on the dunes and the only driver who dared to go backwards. We raced up and down the dunes as if on a human driven rollercoaster with steep slopes of around 100m and sharp turns and skids. At various points we stopped to sand board down the dunes. Nicky attempted to sandboard down while Gayle lay on the board and went straight down head first. Got back feeling a little bit of jelly-legs after the hair-raising ride but would definitely recommend it and thought of a few of you dare-devil snowboarders Jon, Paul, Shax, James, Rob and Kerry who would have loved it.

Being blonde has its bonuses

25 March
Bus Arequipa to Nazca

While on the bus we decided that the Galapagos Fund couldn`t support the Nazca lines so when we arrived in Nazca we asked the bus driver if we could pay for the onward trip to Ica. This appeared to be ok so we remained in our seats. Shortly after the bus left Nazca, the steward seemd pretty abrupt and was muttering in Spanish and motioning for us to follow him. Convinced we were about to be dumped on the side of the road, we got out of our seats terrified, and followed him downstairs to the drivers enclosure where we were shown 2 front row seats next to the driver. Still uncertain as to what was actually happening and fearing for our safety we sat down and smiled sweetly.... We knew it was all ok when we were offered some of the drivers chicken and rice and told this was a free favour for us. They were obviously just craving some female company so we chatted in our best spanish all the way to Ica, high fiving our stow-away status and best seats on the bus!

From the bus station in Ica we caught a taxi to the desert oasis town, Huachachina, surrounded by huge sand dunes, where our driver hooted and whistled at every girl we passed and was flabbergasted that we didn`t have lots of boyfriends on the go like he did! The delighted duo were thrilled to see a swimming pool at our hostal and the thought of wearing slops again.

The Japanese Tour

• 23 - 24 March
  Colca Canyon, Peru
  
  As much as we hated to see the Colca Canyon in a bus, at this stage we were trekked out from the Inca Trail and couldn`t face another hike. So we resorted to doing the less desirable option - a 2 day tour in a bus.
  
  As the name implies this involved sitting in a bus with continuous comentary by our guide (which lulled us to sleep), and stopping at various viewpoints where everyone in the bus pile dout, took photos, and then piled back in the bus. Us wildlife spoilt South Africans could not bring oursleves to get out and take photos of guanacos (similar to a llama) and could barely pry open one eye to have a quick glance.
  
  Adrian aka DJ Serene - "the hottest DJ in Holland" according to The trip was made for us however, by the awesome group of Gringos
  
  Aaron who needed to do warm up exercises for his cheeks in the morning in order to smile (hum-de-de-day)


• his Bolivian gig advertisement



• Crazy Yankee Kate



• Goofy but lovable Martin



• Amin, an outdoorsy German who detested the Japanese Tour more than us!

That evening we went to a dinner and cabaret show. There was a traditional Peruvian band bearing ponchos and playing the pan pipes, as well as a couple performing traditional dances. One of the dances, had a shocked audience in hysterics when they brought out the whips and they took turns lying on the floor while being whipped and straddled by their partner! Aaron got into the spirit of things when he was pulled out from the audience for a whipping. Unfortunately for his partner, she dropped her whip, so Aaron quickly grabbed it and had a turn at giving a beating!

After the show, we went back to Casa de Anita for a few beers, backgammon and chess.

We had an early start the next day in order to get to the mirador to see the condors majestically soaring in the early morning thermals. We also saw impressive hanging pre-Inca tombs on a cliff face and Inca farming terraces.

On the way home, to our elation our tour guide stopped talking. However our joy was short-lived as the silence was shattered by Nicky`s favourite - the pan pipes blearing through the speakers. On a positive note, this resulted in sleep eluding us, and we were able to see the scenery all the way home (with our Ipods/MP3 players at the highest volume in attempt to drown out the pan pipes).

When we got back to Bothy Hostel we were relieved to find out that our bus to Nazca, which Raul had booked for us, was a couple of hours later, giving us time to shower, eat and pack. Adrian came with us to the bus station to buy his and Aarons bus tickets to Santiago. We were absolutely delighted when he was so impressed with our Spanish that he asked for our assistance in purchasing his tickets!

Our bus left about an hour late much to the anger of our fellow passengers who impatiently stomped their feet and shouted "vamos" over and over - much to our amusement. When the bus finally took off we knew it was going to be a long overnighter when 13 Dead men was the in-bus movie!

Baby face at 27 - Gayle´s birthday!!

22 March
Arequipa, Peru

Gayle woke up to tea in bed - a rarity when travelling and present wrapped up in Nicky´s sleeping bag liner and sarong inside an oversized pink Winnie the Pooh bag.

During breakfast, Raul suggested joining him on a visit to a poor resourced primary school on the outskirts of the city. Before leaving we joined forces with two gorgeous but brown haired Danish boys also staying at our hostel, and purchased chalk, crayons and a soccer ball. At the stationery shop, our lack of spanish vocab had all four of us demonstrating the use of chalk by drawing on the floor and imaginary black boards until a shop assistant finally put us out of our misery and pulled out a dictionary.

The school is situated in a dusty, barren neighbourhood. The kids, aged between 4 and 10, were all very excited to see us and we had a great time playing soccer, hopscotch, spinning them around and putting our artistic skills to the test - learning a few new Spanish words in the process. Gayle was sung "Feliz Compleaños" by one of the older classes before we left. It was a great way to spend a birthday.

We then treated ourselves to amazing crepes, followed by a power nap in preparation for a big night ahead. Nicky however, snuck off to buy the most scrumptious, decadent chocolate cake. That evening, while making the salads for the barbeque, Paranoid Juliana was horrified to discover that:

1. We did not peel the mushrooms - didn´t know they had skins..?!



2. We didn´t wash the vegetables in bottled water



3. It was then that we discovered that we should also be brushing our teeth in bottled water.

There was a good turnout for the barbeque, had a few drinks downstairs at the bar and then we hit the town for some salsa-ing. Much to our disappointment we discovered that Peruvians (well, Raul and his friend Carlos anyway) were pretty shit at salsa. Luckily our dishy Danish came to the rescue, Gayle defying Confuscious´ law, while Nicky fought off sleezy Peruvians.

Lotions and Potions

21 March
Arequipa

We arrived mid morning in Arequipa and shared a taxi from the bus terminal with a very paranoid German, Juliana, who was convinced the taxi driver was going to rob and rape us, and then dump us on the side of the road naked. We are not quite ssure what the source of this paraonoia was as the thought never crossed our minds, and unsurprisingly we arrived safely at Bothy Hostel. On arriva we were "meeted and greeted" by Raul on the the Peruvian owners. He told us about various activities in the area, and when he found out it was Gayle´s birthday the following day, he put the wheels in motion for a braai/barbeque on the terrace.

We wondered around Arequipa, which is described the dude who discovered Machu Picchu, this is the prettiest town in Peru due to its architecture and it being shadowed by volcanoes.

That afternoon we went to the local market with Raul where we tasted Maca, a yellow milky drink made from corn (which the locals drink daily and is supposed to enhance your libido). We then moved on to a ´potions and lotions´ seller where we discovered various Peruvian superstitions:

• a little wooden man which 3 times a week you are supposed share a smoke with by putting a cigarette into his open mouth and discuss your day and thoughts and concerns etc. This little man wears numerous little objects eg fake dollars, miniture llamas, popcorn, model of a car which all represent money, wealth food and love. Through spending a bit of time with your little man a few times a week he brings you good luck in various aspects of your life.


• llama foetus (which Raul made Gayle hold) which by burying in the garden or incorporating into the foundations of your house is supposed to ward off evil spirits.


• Have a shaman come to their house once a year


• Parcels of kitsch plastic toy-like objects which they dedicate to Mother earth..


• If you want a girl to fall in love with you, first wash yourself with the fall-in-love-with-me soap; take a piece of her hair, intertwine it with yours and mix it with the fall-in-love-with-me cologne which you dab onto your neck and TA DAH... she´ll find you irrestible.

We also wandered around the market and Raul explained how everything was organised with the various rows of fruit, meat, fish, bread etc.

That evening Raul organised a French Canadian and his friends to come over to the hostel to play guitar. Unfortunately not a sing-song as all the songs were in the French, but a good evening nonetheless.

Extravagant Day

19-20 March
Cusco, Peru

After our first lie-in in four days, we were excited to see that the mob of trendy GAP students at Loki Hostel had been replaced by fellow mid-20 crises travellers. Maarten went off to Spanish school, so naturally we headed off for the markets. It ended up being a rather indulgent day which resulted in the purchase of 2 paintings (Gayle), a dress each, and a beautiful hand carved wooden frame - now the bain of Nicky´s life as it costs nearly 7 times more to post it home. She has now resorted to dragging it around taped up in various beer boxes - patience is wearing thin and it is at high risk of being dumped on the side of the road. The extravagance of this day has led to scrimping and saving at every possible opportunity - all in the name of the Galapagos Fund.

On our last night we braved the Cusco nightlife with some gringos from the hostel and a Peruvian body boarding champ who we made friends with at the bar. Once at the square, as a gringo you are inundated with free drinks offers from locals trying to entice you to their club. Club number 1 (Up Town), involved a free rum and coke, Gayle salsa-ing with an old man, caterpillar demonstrations and then when the jocks paired off with the girls who would give out, we moved with Scottish Rosie and Kiwi Matt to Mama Africa (apparently owned by a South African). We met up with Maarten and had a fabulous night dancing with our gringo friends and Gayle inviting herself to dance up on the bar.

We left the next evening after a late start and an afternoon of admin. Maarten decided to stay in Cusco for another 2 weeks of Spanish school, so we were back to the fabulous duo.