Machu Picchu

Now one of the wonders of the world, Machu Picchu is responsible for a lot of tourism not just in Peru but throughout South America. This was the one place we weren't going to leave Peru without seeing. And so the day after our volunteering work ended, we headed to Cuzco.

Cuzco itself is extremely touristy. In the Plaza De Armas (main square, remember every town and city has one), you cannot walk 10 steps without being ushered into a travel store, or being offered a massage (for the trekkers).

We spent our first day in Cuzco exploring the city surrounds on a city tour. Having been the capital city of the Incan empire, there is lots to see, including an interesting mix of Incan and colonial architecture (oftentimes within a single structure).

But the real action began on the 2nd day. We hopped on a bus to "km 104", to begin our trek to Machu Picchu. Ours was a 2-day trek, our compromise between taking the train and hiking for 4 days.

Within moments of beginning our walk, we were treated to our first ruins, Chachabamba.

The first section of the trail was mostly uphill, for about 4 hours. We began at 2000m, and our checkpoint was at 2700m. Our destination was an impressive Inca site called Winay Wayna, a structure that includes massive terraces.

After lunch, we set off for the Sun Gate, the entrance to Machu Picchu which promised a spectacular aerial view of the great Incan city. The Sun Gate was at around 2700m, and so the next 90 minutes were more forgiving than before. We arrived, fatigued, but that feeling was replaced by excitement as we marched up the final set of steps and were treated to our first sight of Machu Picchu. Our timing was perfect, as we arrived as the last buses were leaving the city, so we were privileged to see the city without hordes of tourists.

The final 90 minutes was our descent into the city. From a fauna perspective, it was very interesting. Shortly after spotting a snake just metres in front of us, we were witness to a battle between a tarantula spider and a giant wasp. Our money was on the spider, but it turns out that the wasp wins every time, and within moments the tarantula was asleep and being dragged through the grass towards the wasp's nest.

We arrived just in time to catch the last bus as it was pulling away, and saved ourselves another 90 minutes of walking into the town of Aguas Calientes. We had a simple dinner and got some well deserved rest.

The next morning, we got up bright and early and headed back up to Machu Picchu in time for sunrise. But you wouldn't know that the sun was rising, as the mountain mist had smothered Machu Picchu and its surrounds. This provided an extremely atmospheric backdrop, and we really enjoyed seeing the city like this.

We started with a 2 hour tour of the city, and then explored the city for ourselves. As the day progressed, more and more people arrived, and it became increasingly difficult to take in the surrounds without a backdrop of tourists. Of course we couldn't be mad, because after 10 weeks of integration into Peruvian society, we were now tourists too.

... even carrying our own water everywhere...

In the afternoon, we retired back to Aguas Calientes and headed for the hot springs for rest and relaxation. Then we boarded the tourist train and returned to Cuzco.

We spent our final day in Cuzco touring the Sacred Valley. The tour started with visits to 2 markets, and we became increasingly skeptical of the quality of the tour. But fortunately the day picked up, and we took in some beautiful scenery and saw some more Inca ruins.

Our next and final destination, the Amazon...

Chris

Adios niños, maestras y amigos

Goodbyes are hard, and this goodbye to 42 kids was even harder. 17th October came around before we knew it... and it was to be our last day at the school. There was never a sadder day, as it was difficult saying goodbye to the kids and teachers, knowing that we might never see them again.

The kids started off by doing a big dance for us. Each of the older and younger kids got into their groups and did a traditional dance.

Ruth, our school Director/ Principal was kind enough to present us with a massive plaque for our efforts at the school. That was very touching, given the kind words represented by the teacher, the parents and the kids.

Plus, the Director/ Principal of the Inicial (kindergarten) also presented with a similar surprise present... a 2nd Thank you plaque.

The 17th was also Alan's (fellow volunteer with GVI) birthday. Needless to say that he got egged and then his face smashed into the birthday cake, according to Peruvian tradition.

Then came the water fight. On the last day of any volunteer, the kids decide to drench the volunteers in water to give us something to remember. With Chris and me leaving, they had twice the amount of fun trying to drench both of us. We got the kids back, by hugging them when we were drenched with water.

Then came the painful goodbyes to the kids... we did our farewell speech in Spanish. We have come a long way with our Spanish, even though some kids giggled when we spoke.

More painful goodbyes to the Dinner Ladies (they cook meals for the village, as the older members of the family often go without food).

In the evening was our farewell to the other volunteers from GVI. We went to the Crepismo, which makes the best crepes in Arequipa!

Then a painful goodbye to Martha (who we lived with for 10 weeks) at 4am that morning. It was extremely difficult to say goodbye as she really did treat us like her own.

I hate goodbyes... now to Machu Picchu and the Amazon. Then homeward bound...

Lizelle

We Miss You Frannie

Today is our "despedida", our last day at our school, and we have to say farewell to our kids. But this post isn't for us, it is for someone we've grown very close to in our time here.

Franny still has 5 weeks to go, and when she finally leaves in December, many of her closest friends won't be around to share in her despedida. So here is a little farewell gift from us to Franny.

Thanks to everyone who helped make this possible. You know who you are.

Chris

What's in a name?

A rose is still a rose, even by any other name.... We found out that the saying is definitely not true always.

Remember how we mentioned little Fernando in a previous blog article? Well, he is the cutest thing when he smiles - his whole face lights up. But, he is upset can can be a little terror. He has a fiery temper and his mother gets called in to school pretty regularly.

A few days ago, Fernando's mother came to our school and informed us that he was hard to control at home too and she wasn't having any luck disciplining him. As a result, she has changed his name!!! Fernando is no longer Fernando, he is now Pabel.

That's not the end of it either.... the day after his name was changed, he was like a new person. He did all his work during class, didn't beat up any other kid, didn't run away after lunch, smiled, hugged all the volunteers.... and was generally a new person!

So, for all the parents out there.... if your kid is naughty, don't bother with discipline. Just change their name! It obviously works!!! :-)

Lizelle

White Water Rafting on Rio Chile

Believe it or not, but it was my idea to go white water rafting. But, the morning that we were to set off, the nerves caught up with me and I could think was "why do I book myself onto these life threatning activities and then stress myself out?". I will never do this to myself again...!!! (I had the same nerves before sky diving)

But, it turned out the be the most awesome experience. 9 volunteers, 2 rafts, 2 raft guides, and 4 safety kayakers set off on Rio Chile. They were only Class-1 to Class-4 rapids (i.e. not very big), but it was such good fun! We were given a quick 10 min instruction session on rowing, classes of rapids and safety (i.e. what to do when one of us falls off the raft)... and we set off. We went onto our 1st Class-1 rapid and survived that. By, the time we got to our Class-4 rapid, we were pros at synchronous rowing.


Boy, did we paddle hard -- and we got drenched. Chris & Lynette were the lead rowers of our raft. Lisa, Debra and myself were the other rowers. Chris nearly fell off the boat and into 3 feet of freezing water -- at least twice! The water was icy cold and freezing. We stopped for a quick snack along the way.... the views were simply breathtaking (see below). We were surrounded by the snow capped peaks of Mt. Chachani and the volcanic existance of Mt. Misti. The sad part was we didnt have water proof cameras to take our own pictures, but the memories will stay with us forever!

But, we made it out alive. I might live to regret this, but... "I will probably do white water rafting again!"

Only 2 more weeks in Arequipa...

Lizelle

Risking Life and Limb - Chachani

I don't ride bikes very often. The last time I seriously rode a bike was about 5 years ago, in Around The Bay In A Day. The time before that, I was probably 14. So when the chance to mountain bike down a 5000m mountain arose... I jumped at it. :)

And this week we had a special visitor - Lynette (Lizelle's sister). Lynette is currently volunteering in Cuzco, the tourist capital of Peru and the stepping stone to Machu Picchu. Having survived the Inca Trail last week, Lynette wanted to visit us and check out Arequipa this weekend. Here is her travel blog:

http://lynfernandes.blogspot.com/

We boarded a small bus for Chachani at 8am, along with a bunch of other volunteers. The trip was long and windy, but it was no match for my altitude pills! Eventually we reached our starting point, and the bikes were unloaded. Unlike our earlier horseriding effort, safety was heavily emphasized here, and after putting on our elbow and knee pads we probably looked like Michael Jackson in his "Bad" days (insert high pitch sound here).

That is Misty in the background:

Lizelle and I started slow, getting a feel for the rough terrain and making sure not to explore any of the sheer drops beside us. Despite my insistence that Lizelle and I ride together, eventually I was convinced to catch up with some of the others.

This is when I discovered the true danger of mountain bike riding. You seriously have to ignore the fact that there are big rocks in your path, and accept that no matter how much your bike bounces in weird angles and directions, chances are that your body's reflex reactions will keep you upright. I must confess to feeling completely out of control more than a few times, and had to pull back in the interests of extending my lifespan. :)

Despite the dangers, it was heaps of fun. After lunch in particular, we rode down a steep dirt path. Thankfully the terrain was quite soft, because our acceleration was swift and mounds of soft dirt rendered our bikes impossible to steer. I say "our bikes", but I do remember seeing all the other bikes waiting at the bottom while I repeatedly stacked my way to the bottom of the hill. Look at how dirty I got:

The next stretch was all bitumen roads. We rode at high speeds, and quickly reached our meeting point. But the final stretch was the most thrilling, and also the most scary. There were vicious dogs all around the area, and only strong riders were permitted to ride. The plan was for us to ride next to the bus, using it as a shield as the dogs attacked. And so we rode. The hill was steep, and we quickly found ourselves riding at very high speeds. We took formation next to the bus, and as we approached the dogs sprinted towards us. All went well, and we safely passed.

But that wasn't the scary part! That occurred afterwards. With the threat gone, I eased my breaks to retreat to a more modest speed. No response! My rear brakes had failed, and I was hooning down a hill next to cars at ~40-50kms/h. I couldn't pull hard on my front brakes, or I would have flown over the handlebars. So I eased the front brakes, all the time thinking what would happen if they failed too (they had already failed earlier in the day, but had been repaired). In the case of that happening, I decided that my plan was to ride past a street sign and hug it on the way past! Not sure if that was a good plan, but that was my plan. :)

Ultimately, I didn't need my plan. I took a few speed bumps faster than I wanted to, but no harm done. We pulled into our final meeting point, and I breathed a sigh of relief.

That night, we went out to dinner with all the volunteers. There have been heaps of new arrivals recently, so we had quite the group. Afterwards, we went to a pub. I was tired, but the prospect of doing karaoke kept me going. Around 10:30pm, we headed for Dadeo's, a local karaoke bar. Debra and I share a passion for karaoke, and she sang an impressive rendition of Footloose (with questionable backing video).

Then it was my turn. But first, I must explain that in Peru and most of South America, karaoke is done from your seat. So when I stepped onto the stage, murmurs were already starting. And when I started using the entire room as my stage, the novelty had drawn in lots of vocal supporters, and the result was a really fun rendition of "It's My Life".

I was rewarded with 4 drinks from the establishment, none of which I drank myself. It brought me back to the good old days of Charletons, where Matty J would buy me a bottle of water then I'd perform Lose Yourself and more often than not get a drink card that MJ would use for his drinks.

All in all, a fun day!

Chris

Lake Titicaca (part 2)

We arrived at Amantani, and took part in the local draft. That is, we were assigned families to stay with for the night. I think ours was the farthest from the dock, and after walking uphill for around 15 minutes we arrived at our house.

There was no electricity, shower or running water, and the toilet was an out-house. But despite all of this, and perhaps because of it, the house had a certain charm about it. For Lizelle, it conjured up memories of Goa, back when she was a wee lass.

our little room on Amantani...

The outhouse toilet...

Our lunch had all the staples of the island - quinea soup, potatoes and cocoa tea. I never knew there were so many types of potatoes. Lunch was simple but refreshing, and soon we were heading for the town square.

We headed for the top of the island - a 1.5 hour hike. It was mostly uphill and quite steep, and our altitude was well over 4000m, but after Colca it was a walk in the park. The scenery was quite nice. Lots of terraced hills, of which I'm admittedly a big fan, and the higher we climbed the better our view of Lake Titicaca became.

The evening was overcast. It doesn't help that the weather in Arequipa is bright blue skies every day - kind of like The Truman Show. Nonetheless, the scenery was spectacular, and we all amused ourselves by climbing over big rocks.

After admiring the sunset, we came down in total darkness, armed with our headlamps.

Dinner was simple, mostly potatoes and rice, then our host family dressed us in local attire for an evening fiesta. I got off easily, but the girls' outfits constricted their entire bodies and they found themselves struggling for breath. We danced the night away (okay, it stopped at 10pm), and we returned home.

On Sunday, we awoke to fluffy pancakes, then headed to the docks and over to another island called Tequile. We started the "half hour" walk to the town square, and an hour later we arrived. :) We had a delicious fresh trout lunch (ahh, the benefits of lake-side living), and headed down to our boat and back to Puno.

some of the locals on Tequile...

the view when descending Tequile (and the highlight of Lisa´s trip)...


The ride was extremely rough. The waves picked up and the skies opened up. Wave after wave, the boat was lifted and then came crashing down. A few times, water found its way into the cabin, and a small leak appeared above Lisa, one of the other volunteers. We knew we were safe when the captain's face turned from terror to relief, but it was definitely an experience. Now I know how Gilligan felt!

We met up with Franny in Puno, who made us all jealous with her photos of the Isla Del Sol sunrise in Bolivia, some of the most breathtaking pictures I've ever seen. The 5 hour journey home was more subdued, although we were rewarded with a nice sunset.

Chris