adamfriend1's TravelStream™ — Recent TravelPod.com entries TravelStream™ news feed for member adamfriend1 on TravelPod's free travel blogs service http://www.travelpod.com/syndication/rss/adamfriend1 en-us Copyright ©2009 TravelPod.com Sun, 15 Nov 2009 18:19:17 -0500 http://www.travelpod.com The Inca trail - Part 1 — Cusco, Peru http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/adamfriend1/1/1258326175/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/adamfriend1/1/1258326175/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/adamfriend1/1/1258326175/tpod.html Sun, 15 Nov 2009 18:19:17 -0500 From Kew to South America - By Adam Friend Starring Adam Friend, Ewa Dudek and Wojtek Dudek
Cusco, Peru

A-mazing... (<i>It's one year on and from when me and my compardres took on the Inca trail and I guess this would be an excellent time to finish what I started, and continue the blog that fell a bit by the wayside from this point of the trip onward. Plus, now I don't have any dodgy third world internet connections to blame; so here goes)This has been one of the most memorable 4 days of my life. Certainly number 1 or 2 on the list.&nbsp; Just amazing; and a lot of it has to do with Peru Treks.&nbsp; If your gonna do the Inca trail I highly recommend you go with these guys.&nbsp; The whole thing costs $435 and it is worth every Centimo.&nbsp; I was shocked how comparable the price was to other tours because compared with the service other companies offer, and the way they treat their porters, Peru Treks seemed way above the rest.On the Thursday morning around 5am, the Peru Treks bus turned up at our hostel.&nbsp; We left most of our detritus behind in their spare room and took the minimum recommended kit that we could cram into two small backpacks and one large rucksack.We had a bit of a Goldilocks moment picking which of our rucksacks to use.&nbsp; Ewa's was a older design and the weight balance was a bit high, Wojtek’s… well that was just huge, so we decided that mine would be the most comfortable.&nbsp; We decided to rotate the big pack every hour or two hours.&nbsp; What I didn’t expect was that we’d all be fighting for the big pack after not too long.At this point four days of hiking seemed a little intimidating.I had read stories on the internet of people not coping very well with the hike and falling behind, and this was only my second multiday trek I’d ever done.&nbsp; The only thing going through my mind was, I don’t want to be the slowest or hold the group up.I needn’t have worried because we made camp each night before sun down. Turns out the Chachapoyas Trek was way more intense; mainly because The Incas, they have the good road building techniques.&nbsp; It’s up and down but at least the footing is even all the way along.So we boarded a bus of other sleepy looking characters.&nbsp; All quietly contemplating the experience ahead of us, and a few no doubt contemplating why we were getting up at that ungodly hour.&nbsp; It was a chilly, still morning as we did the rounds, making sure we had everyone.&nbsp; When the last of us was on we headed in to the hills outside of Cuzco.Wojtek went back to sleep, pretty much as soon as he sat down, whilst Ewa went quiet, with a thoughtful smile on her face.Apparently the English guy in the seat in front looked a little like someone she used to know.&nbsp; This was the only other Brit in our group and coincidentally his name was Adam as well.&nbsp; I was relieved that there was someone on the trek to share a bit of Blighty banter with.
]]> Lima, the first real encounter — Lima, Peru http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/adamfriend1/1/1226376120/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/adamfriend1/1/1226376120/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/adamfriend1/1/1226376120/tpod.html Thu, 04 Dec 2008 14:33:22 -0500 From Kew to South America - By Adam Friend Starring Adam Friend, Ewa Dudek and Wojtek Dudek
Lima, Peru

Almost half way...&nbsp;The north is done. &nbsp;Wrapped up in 4 gigs of photos and some amazing memories and now we have the exciting prospect of Cuzco on the horizon, and the legendary Machu Picchu to come.&nbsp;We flew to lima early in the morning to give us a day to climatise and maybe see some sites before we move on again.&nbsp;The guide mentioned Hotel Espana in the center describing it as part labyrinth, part museum.&nbsp; How incredible it feels when the reality matches your imagination.&nbsp;This place is incredible.&nbsp; Greek statues, huge oil paintings, mirrors, nooks and cranies and more levels then that C64 classic Bubble Bobble (geek alert).&nbsp;Seriously though, this place is a hide and seekers paradise.&nbsp; It goes up about five levels to an overgrown roof garden and beyond and the décor has to be seen to be believed.&nbsp;The security on the front of it seems a little basic.&nbsp; Just a padlock and a key that they give you at the front the desk to lock your room on a clasp.&nbsp; The place is pretty secure though.&nbsp; There are staff walking the halls at all hours.&nbsp;The place has it´s own I-café (where I am now), and the only slight downer is the all the bathrooms are shared so you may find the odd one is a bit messy.&nbsp; There are plenty of them though, so just look around for the cleanest (first floor, round to the left, passed the strange clay Buddhist temple thing, is my recommendation).&nbsp;Anyway enough about the hostal.&nbsp; Lima.&nbsp;On the square near Hotel Espana.&nbsp; The Plaza de Bolivia the museum of the inquisition is well worth a visit, seen as it´s free and there are tours in English by the butler from Hudson Hawk.&nbsp; You know the one with the knives up his sleeves who gets his head chopped off in the end.Also, next to the hotel itself is the yellow walled, Monastery of San Francisco.&nbsp; It the crypt here was buried more than 80000 people.&nbsp; You can still see thousands of bones sorted into femurs, pelvis´, skulls in different pits today.The monastery itself has a rich history dating back to Saint Francis himself, and is still home to an order of Franciscan monks today, and has a peaceful ambience about it.In the evening we three split up.&nbsp; Ewa to go out with a boy from the hotel, Wojtek who knows and I explored the rest of the hotel and went for dinner in the resteraunt next door.At about 11pm Wojtek popped his head in and after they closed we were walking back when we got chatting to the chef, who invited us out to the Munich bar.Munich bar is an underground pub where you enter through the end of a barrel into what seems like a war time Parisian cellar straight from a movie.&nbsp; Maybe Casablanca.&nbsp; It´s dark with wooden furniture, a barman in a black waistcoat wipes a glass and there is a live piano player; I´ve got his name somewhere, playing the golden oldies.I just had to do it you know.&nbsp; Put in a request for ´As time goes by´.&nbsp; So me, Wojtek, Andrei (the chef) and his girlfriend, had a few jars of beer, and the piano player kept breaking into ´The star spangled banner´ because hey, he speaks english, he must be American.&nbsp; Either that or he thought that that was the national anthem of Great Britain.It was a cool night though.&nbsp; I can live without ´God save the queen´ until the next world cup.Off to Cuzco tomorrow:)
]]> A weekender in Chicas — Chiclayo, Peru http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/adamfriend1/1/1226287320/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/adamfriend1/1/1226287320/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/adamfriend1/1/1226287320/tpod.html Tue, 02 Dec 2008 23:01:48 -0500 From Kew to South America - By Adam Friend Starring Adam Friend, Ewa Dudek and Wojtek Dudek
Chiclayo, Peru

I´ll make this as short as pos for the sake of catching up,&nbsp;So we were back home at the Tumi de Oro that was soon to lose a recommendation in my blog for reasons dubious.&nbsp; For now it was familiar ground and it was good not to have to learn a new shower system.&nbsp;On the Saturday we went to check out one of Peru´s most famous markets in Chiclayo.&nbsp; The witch doctors market was ok, but there a million different potions and all written in Spanish I wasn't gonna risk getting a treatment for enlarging breasts by mistake.&nbsp;I´d just got rid of them for the first time in 5 years.&nbsp;Wojtek was up to some dodgy dealing so we left him to it.&nbsp; It´s a bit of an intimidating place.&nbsp;Ewa and I decided to mop up that last museum that we missed in Lambayeque.&nbsp; The Bruning.&nbsp;We found it with no problems.&nbsp; It is within sight of the Museum of the royal tombs of Sipan, however the building is a little less obvious compared to the huge orange pyramid of the later.&nbsp;The Bruning on the other hand make a huge point of the fact you can take pictures in there museum.&nbsp; Almost too much of a point.&nbsp;The two are pretty different in all other respects too.&nbsp; It has lighting for a start, and genuine mummies, and instead of starting at the top and working down, here you work upwards through collections from other pyramid complexes of the north coast of Peru.&nbsp;It´s definitely worth a visit if you are in the area.&nbsp;In the evening we met with Rosarrio to go clubbing in what seemed like Chiclayo´s most expensive clubs.&nbsp; We had cocktails and a salsa or two with the locals.&nbsp; Made friends with a Peruvian Michael Jackson and got home about 3 in the morning (Wojtek 5).&nbsp;This Peruvian dancing takes a bit getting used too.&nbsp; It´s not so freestyle as in England but when in Rome.&nbsp;Where was I...&nbsp;Rosarrio was a bit of a demanding dancer and we had a bit of trouble connecting on this level to her frustration.&nbsp; Her friend though was a bit more relaxed and we got on quite well on the dance floor.&nbsp; Sometimes things are like that... que sera&nbsp;Sunday we went with Rosarrio to the beach at Pimentel and swam in the Pacific.&nbsp; It´s true, the Pacific is green where the Atlantic is blue and talk about salty... blah.&nbsp;For those of you that cook like a ham in sun, Pimentel has a pier that you can hide under.&nbsp; It´s quite warm there at lunchtime, but the wind is a bit chilly.Later we shared a Cebiche, the local dish of minced fish and onion, yummy, and went hom to pack for Lima in the morning.&nbsp; &nbsp;We shared a final dance with Rosarrio and her brother after being invited to there house for tea and then came the teary goodbye.&nbsp;Chiclayo is a deceptively friendly place to visit.&nbsp; Just like the other northern cities.&nbsp; The people are amazing and fun.&nbsp; Just talk to people and you may make some good friends like us.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;
]]> Gocta (the 3rd highest waterfall in the world?) — chachapoyas, Peru http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/adamfriend1/1/1226111580/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/adamfriend1/1/1226111580/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/adamfriend1/1/1226111580/tpod.html Tue, 02 Dec 2008 22:21:20 -0500 From Kew to South America - By Adam Friend Starring Adam Friend, Ewa Dudek and Wojtek Dudek
chachapoyas, Peru

So...&nbsp;sore after three days on our feet, we set off again in search of Gocta the supposed third highest waterfall in the world.&nbsp; The controversy comes from the fact that it is indeed two waterfalls measuring in total about 771meters.&nbsp;They both measure about 550 meters fall the lower falls and 220 meters for the upper one.&nbsp; The whole thing is amazing so 3rd highest or not it´s worth the visit.&nbsp; Bring your trunks if you want to go up to the edge though.&nbsp;Wojtek sat this one out, so me and Ewa pushed the limits of our tootsies on this 4th day of walking.&nbsp; It´s about a 2 and half our trek to the falls from the local town, and make sure you book a guide in advanced through a reputable tour agency, unlike ours, who left us stranded without.&nbsp;You are not allowed to trek there solo, and it took us about an hour to organize one in the form of Miguel.&nbsp; A young farm boy who caught us up no problems after fetching a change of clothes and after we ran out of patience and started out a little ahead of him.&nbsp;Along for the ride too, was Neta our new trusty Israeli trekker, and the lovely Rosarrio on holiday from Chiclayo.&nbsp; It took me all of five seconds to work out that her eyes weren´t naturally blue.&nbsp; But the contact lenses did look stunning at first glance.&nbsp;On the way there we crossed over a rope bridge and at one point our guide said what we all thought was ´puma´ and pointed into the bushes by the stream, which had us English speakers captivated for ten minutes, looking for this most elusive of creatures, just to find out that he was talking about the foam on the water.&nbsp;I´m still confused about this now.&nbsp;The roar of water got loader as we approached, at some points sounding like thunder cracks or splitting rocks.&nbsp; Me and Neta picked up a friend in the form of a butterfly which refused to leave her hand once he´d landed there.&nbsp;Eventually we got within 500yards of the falls where you can observe from the path, staying relatively dry.&nbsp; &nbsp;But that wasn´t enough for me.&nbsp; I wasn´t gonna get close this close to one of the highest waterfalls in the world and not at least get a little bit under it.&nbsp; I changed into my trunks at the side of the path and ran the last 450yards of the path, through the drenching mist and made my way up to the edge of the rocky outcrop, on the edge of the drop pool where I (and some crazy school kids) got blasted by the spray of 500meter falls.&nbsp;It wasn´t until a few minutes that I heard Rosarrio behind me in jeans and a shirt, she was drenched too.&nbsp;After a thorough soaking and about 20 photos with the school kids (seems gingers are kinda famous here), we made our way back to the others.&nbsp;We slid our way back to the taxi, and had a change of clothes and lunch in the local café, and I made a tit out of myself, mocking one of the school girls who had been in the toilet a bit too long.&nbsp; &nbsp;The boys were all making jokes so I joined in with a few grunting noises thinking it was a bloke in there... more to my embarrassment when she came out and gave us all a filthy look.&nbsp; Oops&nbsp;In the evening we caught the night bus back to Chiclayo... continued next.&nbsp;&nbsp;
]]> 2 Days on the Island — Puno, Peru http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/adamfriend1/1/1227310860/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/adamfriend1/1/1227310860/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/adamfriend1/1/1227310860/tpod.html Sat, 22 Nov 2008 19:34:27 -0500 From Kew to South America - By Adam Friend Starring Adam Friend, Ewa Dudek and Wojtek Dudek
Puno, Peru

And now he´s back, from outer space...&nbsp;I´m pretty sure I got the lyrics wrong somewhere but who cares I´m here baby.&nbsp; It´s time for a hard bloggin´ and man could I do with a good bloggin right now.&nbsp; Jease I dont think I´ve blogged since...&nbsp; &nbsp;Are we still talking about blogs?&nbsp; Sorry my insaciable need for sex took over for a while.&nbsp;Right, back to the trip.&nbsp; Cuzco has been well and truely done, Sunday we returned from Machu Picchu (still to be expanded upon) and on the Monday I had a bevy or two with Paul, Patrick, Michelle, Mary, Sonya and Adam2.&nbsp; The poles were to bushed to do the post trail drinkies, so I drank for them, literally.&nbsp;We had a mediocre (hope thats the right spelling, this thing only spell checks in espanyol) pizza and then went for a Hookah (bubble pipe) in a little bar, a brief stint in Mama Africa dancing to some Madonna on the stage and off somewhere else for some latino vibes.&nbsp;I got back at two in the morning, had a little conversation on the big white telephone walked downstairs in just my boxer short to wake up the night porter for a bottle of water.&nbsp; I gave him whatever Money I had (which he seemed happy with), and went upstairs to finish my... ah lets just call it puking.&nbsp;Wednesday was a repeat performance but with my amigos in toe and without the trailers.&nbsp; I had now let me get this right... larger, pisco, vodka, whiskey, rum and I´m sure there was a gin in there somewhere. &nbsp;The Peruvian Oasis tribute band were amazing.&nbsp; I made it to about half 12 ended up hugging some french girl from behind (I don´t actually remember this, but it maybe because I thought her hair was cool), and some how woke up in the room yesterday morning, with a huge hangover and a bus trip to Puno (on lake Titicaca) booked for 8am.&nbsp; Blah!&nbsp;The bus trip was mostly unconsciousness mixes with flashes of deserted mountains and the odd cow.&nbsp; Oh and a couple of rude germans blowing smoke out of the window in front so that it came in our window a tripled the hangover.&nbsp;Anyway we reached Puno yesterday, and found the El Manzano Lodge.&nbsp; A happy go lucky place with bunk beds.&nbsp; We had some fish and arranged to go&nbsp; to the Isle of Taquile (in the middle of Titicaca)today and catch the early boat.&nbsp;The less said about this morning (now yesterday, Friday morning) the better.&nbsp; Lets just say that one of us decided to have a shower just as we were leaving and two of us weren´t going to wait.&nbsp;And so me and Ewa went down to the docks, after buying some fruit that they recommend as a present to the family that you will be staying with.&nbsp; Turns out that the Island is a bit more touristised than we thought, but not by much.&nbsp; &nbsp;Luckily we were staying on the very west of the island and we had the place pretty much to ourselves.&nbsp;After another arguement on the docks.&nbsp; We two were on our way.&nbsp;We stopped briefly on a island made of reeds.&nbsp; Had a snoop about on the spongey village and then we were off again for our three hour boat ride (The lake is huge)to Taquile.&nbsp; The lake is huge.&nbsp;What can I say about Tequile?&nbsp;What a chilled out place, right in the middle of lake Titicaca.&nbsp; The people are friendly, the place feels really safe.&nbsp; The whole Island is pretty much terraformed into terraces for growing crops.&nbsp; Electricity is from solar and plumbing is non existant.&nbsp;There is a bucket of water outside every toilet, with a jug for the manual flush.&nbsp; &nbsp;We had a meal of trout in the main town, and then our guide Enis, who had patiently waited for us to climb the gruling rise from the port to the peak on the island, lead us for about an hour to the western peninsular that was to be our home for the night.&nbsp;I was unaware how far the guest house was and in dier need of a horse and trap.&nbsp; In Fac. I almost soiled myself on about 15 different ocassións on the walk, but never underestimate the determination of a man not to shit his pants, I kept telling myself.&nbsp;I guess it´s kinda rude for your first words to your prospective landlord to be, ´where´s the toilet´, but formalities were no where to be seen at this point.&nbsp;(to be completed)&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;
]]> Machu Picchu — Cusco, Peru http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/adamfriend1/1/1226880720/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/adamfriend1/1/1226880720/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/adamfriend1/1/1226880720/tpod.html Mon, 17 Nov 2008 19:14:27 -0500 From Kew to South America - By Adam Friend Starring Adam Friend, Ewa Dudek and Wojtek Dudek
Cusco, Peru

Wow!(to be expanded upon, but for now just wow!)
]]> Three days in the valley — Chachapoyas, Peru http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/adamfriend1/1/1225826760/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/adamfriend1/1/1225826760/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/adamfriend1/1/1225826760/tpod.html Wed, 12 Nov 2008 12:54:21 -0500 From Kew to South America - By Adam Friend Starring Adam Friend, Ewa Dudek and Wojtek Dudek
Chachapoyas, Peru

The trek of a thousand blisters&nbsp;Ok, so I missed a day but all that happened was we kicked around Chachapoyas, went to the market, ate strange exotic fruits and booked a trek into the jungle.&nbsp;One of us almost bought a machete, no prizes for guessing who. &nbsp;Fortunately it was 26 sol and not the six sol it appeared the man was offering, and with the odd arguement that has popped up from time to time, I was pretty glad that twelve inch blades aren´t as cheep as chips (or 4 plates of chips) in Peru.&nbsp;6sol is about ₤1.40.&nbsp;Anyway, Monday we bummed about, played some cards and genuinely took it easy after the road of doom.&nbsp;Tuesday...&nbsp; Tuesday was a different store all togather, and the start of the holiday phisicalle as they say in giberish.&nbsp;We got up at 5.&nbsp; Packed our stuff and made our way down to the tour agency, who took our big bags and, as recommended for this three day experience, we took a small day bag with a change of clothes.&nbsp; &nbsp;Ywo changes of clothes World have been a more accurate estimate of what we needed as I was to find out.&nbsp; But hind sight is a glorious dry clothed devil not shivering for warmth in the night, nor wearing a t-shirt like a nappy to the dinner table because his trousers are drying in the moist jungle air.&nbsp;But I´m getting ahead of myself here.&nbsp;The first thing I should tell you is that they provided us with a pair of, one size to big wellingtons (one size to small for Wojtek), making our expensive hiking shoes redundant, and a huge (gringo no get lost) yellow proncho, that I trod on from time to time almost pulling my head off my shoulders.&nbsp;Not willing to relinquish our boots, we decided to carry them in a seperate bag.&nbsp; On the first day this was a hinderence, but slipping my blistered feet into the tight fitting leather on day two was like slipping your hand into a cheese grater.&nbsp; But still nicer than those cretinous rubber wellys.&nbsp;Am I telling this story backwards or what.&nbsp;Ok, day one.&nbsp; We went to see these amazing sacophagus´ at Karajia, buried in an inaccesible cliff face.&nbsp; Difficult to describe in words so I´ll post a pic later.&nbsp; They sacophogi themselses were shaped like the Easter Island heads, in a way, and this was a rare form of burial in the Chachapoyas area.&nbsp;The way down was extremely muddy and the wellys were now looking like not a bad idea at all.&nbsp; It´s about an hours walk from the road where the taxi dropped us, down into a secluded ravine, were a path follows under the statues passed some discarded bones that witches sometimes use in there black magic to a small ledge on the otherside where you can get an opposite view of the site and, apparently the site of another lone sarcophagous that our guide Elnando says was there, but none of our untrained western eyes could see.&nbsp;Elnando.&nbsp; Never have I met such a gentle man in all my years, (except all of my male friends reading this of course).&nbsp; No really, Elnando our guide was geniunely a pleasant company throughout the trip, and I world recommend anyone comino to the area to seek this fellow out.&nbsp; He speaks good english and is a very thoughtful guy.&nbsp; &nbsp;Bloody quick on his feet though, but don´t worry, he´ll wait for you city slickers to catch up.&nbsp;Anyway, after the statues on the cliff we had breaky at a little house in the area.&nbsp; Jam and bread for me, then our taxi driver torced his 4x4 Toyota Corolla (a implacable beast of a machine), along a water logged, pot holed be-atch of a road into the mountains.&nbsp; Where he dropped us off at a point at which was almost the point of no return for him.&nbsp;We manager to push his car up one muddy hill, but as far as I known he´s still on his way back now, 5 days after.&nbsp;Us, we had our trusty wellys, to push us through the mud.&nbsp; It was raining and the road was slippy.&nbsp;We walked for half an hour along the road we were left on and after a sharp bend we saw the ... valley Huaylla Belen.&nbsp; A beautiful serene place with a winding river cutting through a grassy plain of grazing cattle and horses.&nbsp;Your eyes just drink in the green lush dell and your feet are romanced by the nice flat pastures. &nbsp;Elnando told us a few stories about some english girls getting caught in the rain and breaking down a church door for shelter, and then came the trek real.&nbsp;After crossing the valley we left the road and ascend into the musty cloud jungle.&nbsp; 7 hours of rocky, slippery, sole punishing treking up, and down a chaotic path.&nbsp;The scenery was spectacular.&nbsp; Dense trees, cloudy valleys, walls of leaves.&nbsp; But the path littered with loose sharp rocks, bruised your feet with every step.&nbsp; I constantly fell behind the others, but I was happy with not twisting my ankle in the middle of no where, with no mobile phine coverage for 10 miles in any direction.&nbsp;My phone wasn´t to taste reception of any kind for three days until we got back within a stones lob of Chacha.&nbsp;So we plodded on, climbing to about 3000 meters above, sweating rivers, and then decending slippery trails.&nbsp; We had lunch on a rock overlooking a silent lush jungle ravine, and continued our descent to somewhere we didn´t know how far and departed the path a few times to inspect some ruins of the pre incan chachapoyan culture. &nbsp;&nbsp;Actually all that was left were a few bits of wall that were the supporting the flat areas that they built there houses on, and for 6 hours trek, weren´t that impressive.Except the last one that was pretty huge.&nbsp; The remain of a big city called the lost Paradise.We dragged ourselves back up to the road, slithering through the mud and leaves and with bruised and blistered feet, we walked another two hours to a small village, unaccessible except by mule or foot, deep inside the jungle, that was to be our home for the night.Our ´hotel´ as Carlos the silver tongued tour operator put it was a médiumly sized house with a terrace opening on to the valley, a shower that consisted of an unlit blue plastic lined area with a dangling hose that ran cold wáter (just what you need when you are already cold tired and dirty), and the hugest jungle bugs you can imagine, kamikaze diving us as we ate, our spagetti bolognese, just as mama made (without, you know, the meat).We weren´t fussy at this point.&nbsp; We´d made it, we were sitting.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;And I, as mentioned before was wearing a t shirt like a nappy, with my legs through the arm holes.After dinner,and fruitlessly hanging our wet clothes on the terraces, we hit the sack.&nbsp; &nbsp;Ewa and Wojtek had a Basic room with two single beds and I got the basic room with a double bed.&nbsp; &nbsp;In Peru the bed cloths come in layers of two blankets and a sheet and sometimes and throw on top.&nbsp; Mine was made of some kind of Lama wool and had retained a remarkable amount of odour of the original animal, so I peeled back the other layers revealing the hugest (live) moth I´d ever seen, who wiped his mouth (after chewing on my martes) and buggered of (no pun entended).&nbsp;So not wanting to keep the Light on too long for the sake of keeping my abode relatively bug free, I decided just to sleep under the pongy throw this night.&nbsp; &nbsp;Plus it wasn´t that cold.&nbsp;About half way through the night another huge insect must have infiltrated my room through the glassless window above the door. I could here it droning around in the dark, so I slept the whole night head, body and limbs under the blanket, with the fear that it may find a slither of my flash to feast on.&nbsp;After the day we´d had sleep wasn´t difficult though.&nbsp;Day 2 in the valley.&nbsp;None of my tasty flash was missing in the morning so I guess the smell of my protective Lama cloak dissuaded even the the least fickle insect of going anywhere near me.&nbsp;Elñando was up early with a spring in his step.&nbsp; The guys awoke, and we had breakfast of eggs and jam and bread on the veranda.&nbsp; I.e. they had eggs, I had bread and jam. &nbsp;It was at this pointof the trip that I began to find a taste for camamille tea.&nbsp; Being one of the two teas available here, the other mate de coca (made of coca leaves) tasting rather like my under pants did at this moment in time.&nbsp;Breakfast finished, we moved on to todays trip.&nbsp; Riding mules up the mountain towards Congon our stop for the second night.&nbsp;We were told horses in the agency, and the most dissapointed with this turn of events was Wojtek.&nbsp; Soon however and after Elñando told us that this trip was more suited to mules, we weren´t complaining.&nbsp; Rather holding on for grim life as we were some how dragged up near vertical climbs by these incredibly strong animals.&nbsp;Each of our creatures had a personality of it´s own.&nbsp; Mine, the scaredy cat (mule), forever taking the most difficult route to getting away from the whip of the mule driver.&nbsp; Wojteks, the lazy mule, constantly stopping for breaks, and Ewa´s the biter who kept trying to nip any of ours that traed to overtake it.&nbsp; Elnando´s was the pacifist, the placid one that we all wanted to ride.&nbsp;The mule guide walked the whole way with us, driving the animals on when necessary.&nbsp; Occasionally whipping them into a bolt where we gripped the saddle tightly until the animal calmed down again.&nbsp;We stopped to visit some ruins near a grassy plateau, and clime some jungle vines.&nbsp; And went for lunch at a small shack on the mountain.&nbsp; &nbsp;We had an omlette with local herbs and rice and a lemony tasting tea from a local snicket&nbsp; dwelling plant.&nbsp; &nbsp;The place has an amazing view and the man that lives there has built a little rainforest garden, with fountain, out of decay wood with plants growing out of it.&nbsp;After lunch more muling fro a few hours until we reach a ridge where we could see both sides of the mountain, and a vast grass covered mountainous land beyond.&nbsp; It was stunning.&nbsp;Here we dismounted and I shared out the biscuits and bananas, I´d somehow held onto until now.&nbsp; We said goodbye to the mule herder, and the rest of the trip was by foot along a ridge that gave a spectacular view of the surrounding country.&nbsp;The road down to Congon was smooth but very hard on the calves, but when we got there we stayed in the cleanest hotel so far. &nbsp;The bed linen was fresh with fabric softener, there was a warm shower, the meal was soup followed by chicken and rice and the owner was a really friendly chap who kept the place spottless.&nbsp;Me and Wojtek took a dip in a local river, and after the others went to bed, I shared a bottle of Inca Cola (a popular south american, unique tasting, illuminous yellow drink that I´ve become quite addicted too) and a cat about his time in the police, his family, football and the difference between south american and european culture.&nbsp;Elnando is a fantastically knowledgable guide, and was greatt company for for the trek.&nbsp; And after we returned to chacahapoyas, he invited us to his house for grape wine, yuca doughnuts and some singing and guitar playing.&nbsp; The guys got an amazing voice, and plays brilliantly.&nbsp; Don´t you just hate people like that;)&nbsp;The third day we visited Kuelap.&nbsp; A 6 hundred meter long stone fortress on a hill in northern Peru, surrounded 360 degrees by mountains.&nbsp; Cosen specifically because in overlooked many different tribal provinces, and was built by 6 or 7 different chachapoyan tribes over 900 years, it was eventually conquered by the Incas and spanish and then forgotten.&nbsp;Rediscoverd in 1843 and is now termed the Machu Picchu of the north.&nbsp;The walls are twenty meters high on top of which there was a settlement of round houses with conical shaped roofs, many burial chambers and a seat of government.&nbsp;The place is a bit overgrown with trees now but this sort of adds to its charm in a way.&nbsp; The Peruvian goverment is restoring a part of it right now.&nbsp; But the work is show due to lack of funds.&nbsp; The bit they´ve done is amazing though.&nbsp;The entire day was amazing.&nbsp; We were part of a group including an Israelí girl and two fun Americans.&nbsp; (the open minded kind)&nbsp;Neta the Israelí told us about how service in the army is compulsory in Israel.&nbsp; It got a bit political, but my brain feasted on the kina of conversation it had been starved of for three weeks.&nbsp;Elnando too, metioned Peru´s former Japanese Prime minister and how he´d attained peace with Ecuador after so many years of fighting and terrorism.&nbsp;It was an amazing three days, but all I could think about now was a steamy shower and a new set of clothes before going to Elnandos in the evening.&nbsp;Bonza!
]]> Wednesday¨- Thursday — Cajamarca, Peru http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/adamfriend1/1/1225413780/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/adamfriend1/1/1225413780/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/adamfriend1/1/1225413780/tpod.html Mon, 03 Nov 2008 20:45:04 -0500 From Kew to South America - By Adam Friend Starring Adam Friend, Ewa Dudek and Wojtek Dudek
Cajamarca, Peru

Ok, lets bring this up to date...&nbsp;So last was the baths.&nbsp; The next day me and Ewa got up early and went to the Museum of Archaeology where we met Cynthia.&nbsp; &nbsp;A lovely lady that was most interested in Polish, since some Polish students had helped the museum with restoring its pieces about three years prior.&nbsp; Prior to that Ewa and Wojtek were the first Polish in Cajamarca in 20 years.&nbsp;They chatted in Spanish for half an hour as I looked pretty on the sidelines.&nbsp; Ewa got Cynthia´s nieces email for Wojtek.&nbsp; A possible wife.&nbsp;And then we checked out the cool skulls, and the mummy in a box.&nbsp; A real one.&nbsp; And a mummified child and monkey.&nbsp; And a collection of pottery and old cloths.&nbsp;The place has an eeriness old museum about it, even though it only four rooms.&nbsp; The kind of places you´d love to spend a night in.&nbsp; &nbsp;Later we went to the Ventanillas de Otuzco.&nbsp; A series of square burial chambers dug into the rock face at Otuzco, that used to hold mummies.&nbsp;The place is easily reached by bus from Cajamarca and is quite a sight, even if it hasn´t this historical significance of Sipan.&nbsp; We walked around to site and read the English signs.&nbsp; Had our picture taken with some locals and got a bit wet when it started to rain.&nbsp;We got the bus back to the hotel and then came the low point so far.&nbsp; I left my coat on the bus.&nbsp; Bugger!&nbsp;We chased it a bit, but it was a lost cause.&nbsp;So I found myself without a waterproof mac in the middle of one of the rainiest places in the Andes and in the middle of the wet season.&nbsp; And it would seem, a place where the don´t sell waterproof jackets.&nbsp;Anyone out there who wants to make money, open a cagool shop in Cajamarca.&nbsp; It´s a gold mine waiting to be tapped, I´m telling you.&nbsp; Of course you will probably be fire bombed by the local umbrella sellers in the first week.&nbsp; But they can only afford the odd Molotov cocktail, and when they´ve run out you by up and cooking.&nbsp; Excuse the pun.&nbsp;So we had lunch and tried the market.&nbsp; No jackets.&nbsp; We walked the streets no jackets.&nbsp; On the way back to the hotel we found a cake shop and after securing a sizable wedge of chocolate cake my lost jacket didn´t seen such a problem.&nbsp;Thursday, I spent two hours looking for a replacement jacket, then joined the guys for breakfast.&nbsp;After that Wojtek chased a hat vender down the road and bought a red Nordic beanie for 4 sol, and the seller had led us to right outside a coat shop I´d missed and where I found a nice semi waterproof jacket, in rain cloud grey for 120 sol, with a free t'shirt thrown in.&nbsp; Cool.We then had a small quarrel whether to go to Cumbe Mayo, the place that had evaded us two days ago, except this time by taxi, or this small community of craft workers that has a zoo attached to it.&nbsp;We originally decide to go for the Cumbe Mayo, but after another quarrel over the taxi cost in which Wojteks hat fell into a dirty puddle, a moment that is still in contention today and that I have no further comment on, Wojtek stormed off and me and Ewa went to the community zoo thing the ´Porcon´.&nbsp;It´s well worth a visit.&nbsp; Down in a small valley, it has traditional loom weaving and carpentry and a lama farm, where the teenagers (all boys) that were on our bus went wild and chased the animal up and down the hill, throwing rocks at them.&nbsp;We had our photos taken and then went to the zoo that has, of all things, an ostrich and lions and more traditional Peruvian animals, condors, Jaguars, a cage labelled Puma (no sign of life though).&nbsp; Bears, warthogs, and leopards ;not a traditional Peruvian animal.&nbsp;As always, it started to rain, and we made our way back home.&nbsp;On the bus Ewa got a lot of attention from the kids, and I gave one especially loud kid a lesson in Polish chat up lines.&nbsp; And the quiet kid too.&nbsp; I could see a poet in this one and he thumbed through Ewa Polish'Spanish dictionary, looking like he was working on a Casanova like one liner.&nbsp;I´m not sure what the outcome was though.&nbsp; That's between him and her.&nbsp;We declined a warm offer of drinks.&nbsp; And later we went to New York Pizza.&nbsp; A must for any Cajamarca bound.&nbsp; Especially when you haven´t had a descent meal in three days.&nbsp;Later we caught up with Wojtek, still grieving his hat, so I took him to a games station and we had a couple of games of Pro Evo, to finish the day.&nbsp;Pro in Peru.&nbsp; It´s the only way.&nbsp;Then back to my mattress on the floor.
]]> 6 inches from death — Chachapoyas, Peru http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/adamfriend1/1/1225667280/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/adamfriend1/1/1225667280/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/adamfriend1/1/1225667280/tpod.html Mon, 03 Nov 2008 19:53:26 -0500 From Kew to South America - By Adam Friend Starring Adam Friend, Ewa Dudek and Wojtek Dudek
Chachapoyas, Peru

The Scariest day of my life so far...&nbsp;No the title wasn´t an exageration.&nbsp; You here i ton the news every year that some British tourist has been killed in a bus accident.&nbsp; What you assume is two buses have collided or one has crashed into a tree.&nbsp; &nbsp;It´s not until you´ve taken the crazy trip from Chiclayo to Cajamarca by bus, or worse Cajamarca to Celendin, or the worst of all Celendin to Chachapoyas, across the top of the World!&nbsp;The book says spectacular mountains and luz green hills.&nbsp; It doesn´t say ´less than 1ft away from 2000ft drops´.&nbsp;Unfortunately I don´t have any photos of the worst parts because I was too busy gripping my seat so tightly my hands started to bleed and thinking I´ve killed us all.&nbsp;Ok the bleeding hands bit is a bit of an exageration, but the danger was very real.&nbsp; This trip is probable dangerous in the dry season but in the wet, which we are in now, it is a real risk.&nbsp;First of all, the bus we took had seen better days, and the day we bought the ticket it was a three wheeler.&nbsp; That is tos ay it was on a jack with the right front wheel missing.&nbsp; &nbsp;´Ok, so they are maintaining it, that´s a good sign in a way´&nbsp;At this point the penny didn´t drop with Ewa that this was the bus we World be going in.&nbsp; That penny dropped pretty damn hard when we boarded it the day after (Sunday) and she freaked out majorly that it was too old and that they were still try to weld the wheel on that they had obviously been unsuccessful with the day before.&nbsp;To be honest, this got my blood pumping a bit too.&nbsp;I was pretty sure though that other than this vehicle only minibuses would be able to traverse the trechorous route across the mountains.&nbsp; Something the luxurious coach we travelled to Cajamarca in would not have survived.&nbsp;´It´s the mountain goat of buses´ I told her, which met with a frosty response.&nbsp;´If we take this bus we are going to die´ was the come back.&nbsp;It was at this point whilst two men rolled the old wheel down the street for god knows what, that I looked out the window and notice the license plate of a minibús parked up next to us.&nbsp;RIP116.&nbsp; I kid you not!&nbsp;I´m not to sure about the numbers but I was a bit predesposed with the R.I.P. and Ewa saying ´I want to get off, Iwant to get off´.&nbsp;She had an arguement with Wojtek about it.&nbsp; I had to warn again about being aggressive.&nbsp; The last couple of days there had been some arguements, between tose of us that wanted to sleep early and get up early (me and Ewa), and Wojtek, who prefers the late to bed, late to rise, philsophy.&nbsp;It was and is still in a way a tense atmosphere, for a few days.&nbsp; But I know this was going to happen.&nbsp; We will just have to see if we can keep the lid on it for now...&nbsp;Anyway, result of the arguement and my insisting it will be ok (which gota n even frostier reception, probably because I wasn´t to sure of my words Esther), we stayed on the bus, and after half an hour tinkering and a new wheel, we were off....&nbsp;...to the auto shop to pickup a spare.... and then we were off....&nbsp;...another hundred yards down the road to pickup some passengers and some more bags of potatoes (or some other vegetable, or some such)...&nbsp;..and we were off, on the scariest 8 hours of our lives.&nbsp;As we left Celendin, with Ewa´s words ring in my head ´we´re gonna die´ I noticed my second bad omen.&nbsp; A half painted over skull and cross bones on the wall of a house.&nbsp;This is when I turned to prayer.&nbsp; I haven´t prayed in a long time but now seemed like a good time to start.&nbsp; &nbsp;The one comfort was that the bus was full of locals that had probably done the trip 50 times, and seemed very calm about everything, so I relaxed a bit.&nbsp;The first half an hour or so was fine.&nbsp; Not as bumpy as the guide describes and the lady at the Museum of Archaology in Cajamarca mentioned that they had improved the route somewhat.&nbsp; So all seemed well, and the drop at the side of the road was only 200ft and certainly fatal, so nothing to worry about there.&nbsp;At the half hour mark though, the third and most poinient bad omen, and greatest reminder of exactly how dangerous this trip would be.&nbsp; A group of 6 or 7 crosses and a small street florists bundle of flowers, and on one cross a date just three weeks ago.&nbsp;I don´t know why the driver stopped right next to it, but if it was to shit me/us up, it worked pretty well.&nbsp;The next 6 and a half hours of my life was spent, no more than 2 foot away from meeting the maker.&nbsp; &nbsp;The road is cut onto the side of 3000 meter high andean peaks, and goes up to the very shoulders, even the head of the world.&nbsp; Most of the time with vertical or near vertical drops right outside the window.&nbsp;The view is certainly amazing, but enjoying it is almost impossible when you are one burst tyre, mud slide, attention lapse of the driver, collision with another bus, away from a fatal fall.&nbsp;It was then quite amuzing to me later when Ewa told me that one of the reasons that she was so scared was that none of the cargo in the bus was secured and there were no seat belts.&nbsp;I thought it superfluous to mention that on the sturdiest built bus, even if it were just us and the driver.&nbsp; Were we to go over the edge even the safe craddling effect of a decent European seat belt and a nice travel pillow to cushion the effect of the 1000 - 2000ft descent, there´s pretty much bugger all chance of survival.&nbsp;Ok, so the kids in Jurrasic Park were lucky enough to get wedged in a tree.&nbsp; But life doesn´t always imitate art in this fashion.&nbsp; Even if I had thought of this metaphor at the time it would have brought little comfort is what I´m trying to say I think.&nbsp;Anyway.&nbsp; After two hours we descended into a valley to the small village of Balsas (and you have to have Big Balsas to get this far) where the bus was moved with locals selling bananas, mangos, grapes, oranges and small bags of peanuts (in the shell).&nbsp; We bought some bananas and nuts and we moved off after twenty minutes.&nbsp;About ten minutes outside the village our trusty bus ran out of poop, so we sat another twenty minutes while the mechanic crawled underneath onto the wet muddy road with a bag of spanners, and somehow got the beast to breath again.&nbsp;I didn´t mention the rain did I.&nbsp; It´rained all day and torrents of water crossed the high roads at certain points and melted away the flat surface into squidgy trenches.&nbsp;&nbsp;About half way though the journey we stopped at a lonely mountain house for a break. &nbsp;The locals had dinner, some people pissed of the side of the mountain, we took a few pics and curious me took a look at the dodgy wheel and it´s counter part on the front left.&nbsp;Hmm, front left has six nuts, front right five.&nbsp; Hmm, should I point this out to the guys.Uh, no.&nbsp; I´ll wait and see if it stays on for the whole journey.&nbsp; &nbsp;Thankfully it did.&nbsp;After Balsas the road climbs again and at points, cuts through chunks of mountains, where you have lovely rock on both sides.&nbsp; However these little respites are usually followed by harrowingly sharp turns.&nbsp;And eventually we descended to the flatter plains and the town of Leimbamba.&nbsp; Where there are supposed to be more horses than people.&nbsp; I was unimpressed.&nbsp;What impressed me most at this point was when the bus driver, who had been playing a mix tape of traditional Peruvian music for 6 and a half hours, switched the tape to hits of the 80´s.&nbsp; &nbsp;Top corner my son!!&nbsp;First it was ´Men at Work´ I come from a land down under, then ´Rod Stewart´ If you think I´m sexy... I hated this song for so long, now we were bossom buddies... then ´Aha´ Take On Me, then Girls just want to have fun.&nbsp; I was in eighties heaven.&nbsp;From Leimbamba the road followed a river on the valley floor and we all relaxed in the comfort of knowing the worst that could happen now is that we could end up in the river, and I´m a strong swimmer so I didn´t care at all.&nbsp; Resides, there was a healthy grass verge with trees to cross first and the road was wide enough for three buses.&nbsp;Less than an hour we were in Tingo, where we got out in one piece, (covered in peanut shells and damp from the leaky Windows, but in one piece).&nbsp;We had a small fracour about if we would stay into the tiny Tingo or make our way to the confortable civilisation of Chachapoyas, after which we found of Colectivo Taxi (or shared taxi) to Chachapoyas, driven by Peru´s answer to Colin Mcrae.&nbsp;Splashing through rapids and screeching around tarmaced hairpins.&nbsp; We found our first proper road in a week and a half.&nbsp; We made our way to Chachapoyas, the Hostal Johumaji and a hot shower for me.&nbsp; &nbsp;And then to Mari Pizza, the nicest Pizza I´ve ever had... and not just because 8 hours ago I was thinking I´d never have another... genuinely tasty, and worthy of a mention in Lonely Planets next guide to Peru if any one from LP is reading this.&nbsp;The guy who runs it is a really top guy.&nbsp; Here we saw travellers that had obviously take the easier route here... suckers... and locals all in mid dinner banter.&nbsp; &nbsp;We got a complimentary shot of Pisco, which on it´s own is not disimilar to vodka but with a nice tang.&nbsp;We sat quietly shell shocked by the experiences of the day and returned to the Hostal to sleep.&nbsp;Chachapoyas, if no other town in the north, is definately worth a visit.&nbsp; It´s cheap and very cheerful, just don´t come the same route we took unless you like riding rollercoasters with no safety bar.&nbsp;Phew.&nbsp;
]]> A relaxing day:) — Cajamarca, Peru http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/adamfriend1/1/1225210800/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/adamfriend1/1/1225210800/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/adamfriend1/1/1225210800/tpod.html Sat, 01 Nov 2008 16:53:59 -0400 From Kew to South America - By Adam Friend Starring Adam Friend, Ewa Dudek and Wojtek Dudek
Cajamarca, Peru

The Banos de Incas - The Baths of the Incas&nbsp;First of all, I´m sorry if the entries get a bit squeezed for a while.&nbsp; We are on the move again and we are trying tostay together abit and not do the anti-social Internet café thing.&nbsp;Some arguments have cropped up but we are doing our best to stick together.&nbsp; The days out are cool anyway.&nbsp;So the week in Cajamarca starting Tuesday with the Banos de Incas, a local hot spring that has been turned into a gardens with private bathrooms around it that you can rent for 10 sols, for pretty much as long as you like.&nbsp;The hot spring water is channeled directly into your bath, which is big enough for four or five, and then basically you just stew for a few hours and sooth those aching muscles from those random hikes into the mountains.&nbsp; I.e. yesterday.&nbsp;This place is really fantastic and a must for anyone visiting this area.&nbsp; Me and Ewa went for a massage too, (my first), and I can say it won´t be my last for sure.&nbsp; &nbsp;It makes you feel like a new man/woman type person.&nbsp; The lady masseuse was a legend with the baby oil, and afterwards I could feel my legs for the first time in 24 hours.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;The place is beautiful as you will see when I download the pics.Just as we were leaving, predictable as ever, the daily torrential downpour followed by the hike in taxi prices that increase proportionately with the amount of rainfall.You may pay 2 sol (50p) instead of (25p).&nbsp; I guess I shouldn´t&nbsp; complain, London taxis charge you that just to look at them, and most of them don´t come with the complimentary plastic Jesus and illuminous purple rosary beads hanging from the rear view mirror.&nbsp; Not sure what religion the pink fluffy bird represented though.&nbsp; It was on this taxi journey back to the hotel that I realized that my new phone has google maps, (which is way too cool) and that if I´d figured this out earlier we may not have got as lost as we did the day before.Que sera sera. Anyway we didn´t need it to get back.&nbsp; We rested, an hour and then went for diner downstairs.&nbsp; Adventurous lot that we are.&nbsp; &nbsp;Again Wojtek ordered the nightmare meal.&nbsp; Lambs heart.We´ve s had a lot of bad luck interpreting menus and this, you would think would be the low point of it.&nbsp; All I can say is more to come.Ewa ordered well.&nbsp; Some delicious fish pieces in batter, and I had a strange chicken dish in a blood red sauce (that I hope wasn´t actual blood).&nbsp; Even Wojtek couldn´t eat it.&nbsp; By this point he´d given his heart to a 8 year old girl.&nbsp; Literally.They come up to the table sometimes, to sell lollies, and I´ve never seen anything so harrowing as when she took the food that Wojtek offered, straight off his plate.&nbsp; The same happened the next day, and the grim reality of the third world is brought right to the front door of your conscience.There was an incident involving the inquiring about vodka, in which I used the sign international sign language for ´she likes a drink´.&nbsp; Which got a wry smile from the waiter and we went for our beds.Sleepy sleeps...
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