TravelStream™ news feed for member bilinga on TravelPod's free travel blogs service http://www.travelpod.com/syndication/rss/bilinga en-us Copyright ©2009 TravelPod.com Tue, 09 Sep 2008 09:23:48 -0400 http://www.travelpod.com http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/bilinga/1/1220885820/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/bilinga/1/1220885820/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/bilinga/1/1220885820/tpod.html Tue, 09 Sep 2008 09:23:48 -0400 Our Great Big South American Honeymoon Adventure - the Travels and Tales of Mr and Mrs Tarvit

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Valparaiso, Chile

It was still snowing as we headed out of Mendoza towards the Chile border, where our customs and immigration process took place in the middle of a snowstorm high on an Andes mountain pass. Strange as it seems, it was only three hours later that we were enjoying sunset over the Pacific Ocean in Vina Del Mar, on the coast of Chile. Vina Del Mar is doing it´s best impression of Miami, with palm trees lining the avenues beside the ocean and the wealthy folk from Santiago driving up here to enjoy the lack of smog and sand between the toes. As far as beaches go, the Gold Coast it ain´t.

Just ten km away from Vina Del Mar is Chile´s largest port town, Valparaiso, which maintains a great vibe despite the mess of cargo containers and rusty boats scattered on the edge of the ocean. A day spent walking around Valparaiso actually revealed a bohemian side to the old town, with streets lined with colourful houses spraypainted with tasteful graffiti art and some great views over the harbour.

We checked into a sweet hotel in Vina Del Mar for a few days of ´the good life´, in a suite overlooking the ocean and complete with jacuzzi and king size bed. A far cry from many of the hostel rooms we´ve stayed in during the past six months. Dinner one night was inside a shipwreck from around 100 years ago, which has been converted into a fancy restaurant over the water. We went for a walk through one of the local national parks, where our ´guide´ summed up tourism in South America perfectly, by getting lost and being unable to keep up with us, to the point where we led her back to the car. A quick round of golf was thrown in and before you know it, we are at the airport in Santiago.

After six months exploring just some of the wonders of South America, we are gearing up for the long flight back to Australia. What started as a curiosity about the cultures and landscapes of the continent has turned into an adventure we could never have imagined. From islands and beaches to the mountains and the jungle, from long lost villages to incredibly modern cities and from traditional Andean people to city taxi drivers wearing suit and tie, South America has surprised us at every turn. And the best part is, there is so much more that we haven´t seen here, which naturally requires another trip at some point in the future. For now though, this is ´el fin de nuestra luna de meil´ - the end of our honeymoon.
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Mendoza, Cuyo, Argentina

Two buses and fifteen hours took us from the quiet streets of Cafayate to the hussle of Cordoba. Big cities rarely seem to offer great travel experiences, but we enjoyed the opportunity to check out shops in the mall and eat in an array of good restaurants. We met a very colourful character using unique techniques to ask for loose change - check out the video, it´s very funny. We took a day trip from Cordoba to the town of Alta Gracia, where Che Guevara grew up. His childhood home is now a museum dedicated to the legend and we spent some time checking out photos of the many different ´cool´ looks that Che was able to muster up with a cigar in hand.

Next stop was Mendoza, definately a great place to hang out, partly due to the fact that the region produces 70% of Argentina´s excellent wines. We visited a few wineries on an afternoon tour, one of which was an old-school, family-owned joint where they still pick grapes by hand. Had a chance to sample the left-over ´wedding wine´ the owner barreled especially for his daughter´s big day - not sold anywhere but the cellar for $30 per bottle and apparently could sell for around $250 outside the country. Good stuff. Needless to say, we took on the tough job of testing many bottles of red during our five days in Mendoza.

Apart from getting drunk, we managed to pack in plenty of daytime fun as well. PT played a round of golf at Andino Golf Club, where it´s compulsory to go around with your own caddy. We took a day trip into the Andes where we got stuck into some tobogganing at the local ski resort, visited Puente del Inca and gazed at Aconcagua, which at 6,959m is the tallest mountain in the Americas and the western hemisphere. After a string of beautiful spring days, the morning that we were going white-water rafting the skies decided to start dumping snow on the town and surrounding vineyards. We wrongly assumed that they would cancel the rafting trip and before long, we were travelling down the Mendoza River in sub-zero temperatures, covered in a blanket of snow. Despite the cold, it was a good trip and the guide handed over duties at the back of the raft to PT for the last ten minutes.

If the snow stops, we hope they will open the mountain pass for long enough to let our next bus pass from Argentina into Chile.
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Cafayate, Northern Argentina, Argentina

San Pedro de Atacama is a small adobe (mud brick) village on the edge of the Atacama Desert, the driest desert in the world due to its proximity to the Andes. It wasn´t entirely unexpected that the whole town was without water for two of the three days that we stayed there, but nonetheless it was a fun place to hang out. We rented some bikes and headed out into the canyons surrounding town and came to a narrow singletrack through Death Canyon, a tunnel-like path winding through tight turns and caves. We never found the other end of the canyon and headed back to town before we got lost in the maze of pathways. That afternoon, we visited an area known as the Valley of the Moon - the name perfectly reflecting the landscape. We were amazed at the different rock formations and the change in the colour of the rocks as the sun goes down.

The Atacama Desert has a reputation as a great place for star-gazing so we signed up to spend an evening with an eccentric French astronomer, who shares his six huge telescopes to allow you to see Jupiter, galaxies that the naked eye can´t see and a host of other wonders of the sky. Really interesting stuff and who knows, we might start looking up more at night time as a result.

After just three days in Chile, we ventured into Northern Argentina to a town called Salta. We arrived on the bus around 10pm and promptly were told that Argentina would be playing Nigeria for the soccer gold medal in the Olympics. So our first experience in a new country was cheering on the local team in a pub until 3am in the morning. Late start the next morning. Salta has a very European feel and we spent much of the day at cafes on the plaza and in a park overlooking the town, which we accessed via a cable car.

A long day trip from Salta took us into the surrounding mountains, which are full of minerals which ´stain´ the hills in the most impressive array of colour. We visited a town called Pumamarca, at the base of the ´mountain of seven colours´, each representing a different type of mineral. There were also salt flats (nothing as impressive as Uyuni) and small villages with handicraft markets.

Our next stop was Cafayate, the centre of Northern Argentina´s wine country. The town is small and tranquil, which means there isn´t much to do except sample the local wine and cheese. We did this every day, without fail, although we justified the quantity of wine we drank by walking to the local vineyards (some as much as 3km from town!!!) and also taking a hike one afternoon into a canyon full of cactii and goats. After three days of wine tasting at bodegas (cellars), eating too much and generally being lazy, we are moving on.

Having now spent a week and a half in Argentina, there´s some things which have become evident and which we really like - the steaks are enormous and must be the best tasting in the world; if you don´t feel up to red meat, empanadas (little doughy things with all sorts of tasty fillings) are just as tasty; the wine is plentiful and even nice bottles are cheap ($5 for a goodie); you can eat anything you want without getting the runs (this might sound strange, but we haven´t been crook once since we left Bolivia!) and the people go out of their way to make sure you love Argentina. Can´t say a bad word about the place....
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/bilinga/1/1219097460/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/bilinga/1/1219097460/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/bilinga/1/1219097460/tpod.html Wed, 20 Aug 2008 16:36:11 -0400 Our Great Big South American Honeymoon Adventure - the Travels and Tales of Mr and Mrs Tarvit

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Uyuni, Bolivia

Out of the green rolling hills of Samaipata and nine hours drive through the dusty cactus forests, we arrived in Sucre, the judicial capital of Bolivia and a town steeped in history. From our beautiful homestay on the hill in the suburb of Recoleta we had great views over the city, which we spent a day exploring. The architecture in Sucre is cool, with white buildings and terracota rooves being the norm. We think Sucre has the cleanest and best market for fruit and veg in Bolivia, so we indulged in the fruit juice stands and made use of the kitchen in the homestay to cook up a veggie lasagna - having the facilities to cook in South America is a rare event. The following day we hiked through Maragua Crater just outside Sucre, a beautiful valley full of coloured rock walls in unusual patterns. Our guide ensured that we were up for the altitude and the walking by liberally distributing coca leaves for us to chew.

Next we moved on to Potosi, which was the largest city in all of South America in the 17th and 18th centuries, due to the enormous silver deposits in the nearby ´Cerro Rico´, which translates to ´rich mountain´. As you would expect, they have raped the mountain ever since but there are still some hardy locals who spend days at a time working in pitiful and dangerous conditions. We visited the Money House, where all of Bolivia´s and Spain´s coins were produced until the 1950´s. Now that there is not much silver left, it was interesting to learn that Bolivia´s coins are currently made in Spain and their notes are made in Canada! While La Paz is the world´s highest capital city, Potosi takes the title of world´s highest city (4,060m) and we felt every bit of the cold that night.

Seven hours of more excellent unpaved roads and we were in Uyuni, gateway to the amazing Salar de Uyuni (Salt Flats). The town of Uyuni gets our vote for arse end of the world and we were more than excited to pile into the jeep for a three day tour of the Salt Flats and surrounding volcanoes and lagoons. The Salar de Uyuni has to be the most bizarre and impressive landscape we have seen. Twelve thousand square km of blindingly white salt and dotted with a few cactus-covered islands. We had such a fun day driving all over the place, eating at a restaurant made of salt, taking stupid pictures and at the end of the day going to bed in a hotel constructed entirely of salt bricks. The photos will do more justice than words can.

The second day of the trip we left the salt and headed into the desert in the 4WD. Harsh terrain but also beautiful, with so many minerals in the earth turning the surrounding volcanic mountains into a sea of colour. We visited coloured lagoons (red and green water in some of them), most of which were home to hundreds of pink flamingoes, which added to the visual effect. It was a long day of driving and unfortunately the accomodation in the middle of nowhere was terrible. Being high on the altiplano, once the sun goes down the temperature plummets and we endured our second night of -10C to -15C conditions rugged up in four layers, inside sleeping bags and under two blankets.

After rising at 5am to see geysers at sunrise, our driver remembered that he neglected to cover the engine the night before and the fuel lines had frozen. The car thawed out before we did and after visiting the smelly sulphur geysers we were headed for a drop off point on the Chile border, while the rest of the group headed back to Uyuni. Our Bolivian visa had expired two days earlier and we were prepared and ready to put corrupt immigration officials to the test but luckily they were busy and just waved us through. One hour later, with a hint of relief, we were resting easy in San Pedro de Atacama. If you think there is a drought in Australia, you should see this place - it is the driest desert in the world.
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Samaipata, Bolivia

After arriving back In La Paz, Alycia succumbed to Bolivia´s inevitable stomach woes. A quick trip to the pharmacy, where all medicine is available over the counter (and dirt cheap), looked to be the solution. However an allergic reaction to the drugs caused both of her eyes to swell and close over within minutes, so off we went for a taste of hospital life in South America. After an overnight stay, the eyes were getting better but we aren´t sure if that was due to the medical assistance or just not taking the drugs anymore.

We decided to take a short one and a half hour flight from La Paz to Santa Cruz, rather than endure a twenty hour bus ride. Santa Cruz was brimming with anticipation over the referendum to be held on August 9. A quick update on Bolivian politics might be useful....Evo Morales is the first indigenous president of Bolivia. The primarily indigenous population in the highlands love him as he has introduced a new constitution and is trying to redistribute wealth more evenly. The people in the lowlands (including Santa Cruz) aren´t happy about this because the majority of wealth in Bolivia comes from the natural gas resources in that area, which they have traditionally benefited from.

There´s many other side issues, but Evo called a referendum (early election) to decide if he should still be president. Leading up to the election, protests and demonstrations were rife, although none of them affected our travel plans. Stories were filtering through the media about roadblocks (organised by the opposition parties in each district) that were stopping all traffic flow to parts of the country and some of the locals were talking about revolution. Needless to say, it was an interesting and slightly nervous time to be in Santa Cruz, the centre of most of the anti-Evo pressure, so we headed for the hills to a beautiful little town called Samaipata. (Evo was re-elected by a clear majority).

Samaipata is just coming onto the tourist radar and with good reason. It´s always springtime and always green. We settled into a great homestay with fruit trees, comfy beds and excellent breakfasts - what more can you ask for. We spent a day hiking in the giant fern forests nearby and another day we trekked through an area known as the Elbow of the Andes - the point where the Andes meets the forest, before turning back towards the Chile/Argentina border. We also took a trip to Los Cascadas, a trio of waterfalls in a pretty part of the valley. The taxi driver insisted on taking corners at 100kph despite having no seat belts! Another highlight of our five days in Samaipata was visiting a local wildlife refuge, where we had the chance to become friends with one of the monkeys.

We could have spent so much more time in Samaipata but with our Bolivian visa running out and the elections over, it was time to move on to the judicial capital of Bolivia - Sucre.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/bilinga/1/1217791320/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/bilinga/1/1217791320/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/bilinga/1/1217791320/tpod.html Wed, 06 Aug 2008 12:59:22 -0400 Our Great Big South American Honeymoon Adventure - the Travels and Tales of Mr and Mrs Tarvit

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Rurrenabaque, Bolivia

A short 45 minute flight from the dizzy heights of La Paz and we touched down on a skinny grass runway in the town of Rurrenebaque. Hot and steamy is an understatement. A bumpy three hour ride in the back of a jeep the next morning and we were on board a longboat on the Ampato River, on a three day wetlands trip. Unlike our jungle trip in Peru, the Ampato is a narrow, winding stream and the wildlife is almost touching distance on the river banks. The place is teeming with animal life.

There is no lies being told when we say that each day we saw over 1,000 alligators and caiman drifting beside the boat and getting some sun on the muddy banks. Plenty of turtles, birds, capywaras (giant rodents) and blind pink river dolphins were seen along the way to our camp. The tour was somewhat rough and the guide fancied himself as Bolivia´s Steve Irwin, which lead to more than a few interesting activities and situations.

On the first afternoon, our guide decided we should go swimming in the river with the pink river dolphins. Sounds great, except for the dirty water and hordes of alligators we had just seen. We were the only two in the boat that decided to take up the offer, although it was a nervous five minutes in the water. On the second day, we donned gumboots and went tramping around the wetlands in search of the anaconda. After an hour and a half under the draining sun, our guide dived on an anaconda cobra and managed to catch it by the tail but the snake won out on that occasion. Shortly after, he successfully caught a baby anaconda constrictor (2 metres long) and then passed it around for cuddles.

The afternoon trip to swim with the pink dolphins was put in doubt with a fairly large alligator looming nearby, but again the guide put our fears to rest as he casually walked over to the edge of the river, patted him on the snout and then jumped in the water. PT was the only one to swim with the dophins that afternoon, after he was also introduced to the alligator. Things became more interesting when the guide found an anaconda cobra, which bit another guide before being put on show for us gringos (we aren´t sure that we agree with the lengths the guides go to). That night, after a few beers and a nice sunset, we drove around the river with flashlights looking at alligators and checking on a group of baby alligators. On the final morning, we did a spot of piranha fishing and Leesh brought two of the fiesty little buggers into the boat. These were cooked up for lunch but sadly they lack both meat and taste.

There had been some rain in Rurrenebaque while we were on the tour and flights had been cancelled because the planes couldn´t land on the wet grass. There isn´t much to do in town and with the sweltering heat, many beers and games of pool at the pub were the order of the day....well actually the next day and a half, until our plane finally took off 36 hours later than scheduled.
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La Paz, Bolivia

The first sight of La Paz is worth remembering. As you enter from the top of the canyon, the city sprawls out in a bowl shape and buildings creep up every wall of the valley, overlooked by huge snow-capped mountains in the distance. La Paz is possibly the most interesting city we´ve visited in South America and plenty of fun too.

The superlatives are endless....the world´s highest capital city naturally has the world´s highest golf course and we headed out to the Valley of the Moon for a round of golf with some Irish lads we first met in Cusco. The course is situated on the edge of a canyon filled with dusty pinnacles that might fit into the landscape on Mars. Some of the holes are laid out to work with the natural surroundings and this included Hole 12, a par 3 where only the tee and the green exist. In between and all around, only canyon. Two of us landed the tee shot on the green, only to watch it roll away into the depths. The local kids were only too happy to form a gallery, clapping the good shots as well as the bad ones.

We stayed in the market district of La Paz and just around the corner from our hotel were the Witches Markets, home to all manner of wierd concoctions and potions to fix any problem. Llama foetuses are one of the more popular items, apparently to be buried under the doorstep of a new home to bring good luck. The markets are colourful and friendly, without the tourist haggle we experienced in Peru.

Anyone who has read ´Marching Powder´ by Rusty Young will know that San Pedro Prison is in La Paz and we couldn´t resist the chance to go and have a look. We sat in San Pedro square for about half an hour, looking at the walls and watching locals come and go with very little hassle. Eventually we plucked up some courage and walked over to the gate, where the police were all too happy to escort us through.

Within two minutes, we were inside the jail being introduced to Daniel, a South African drug trafficker who had been in the prison for over three years. He then introduced us to a former drug lord who was the most prolific dealer in Columbia when he was busted sixteen years ago. We sat in his ´cell´, a three story apartment with better facilities than most of our hostels, for a few hours and talked with Daniel about the ins and outs of jail life.

Inmates at San Pedro prison have to buy their own cells and pay for food, clothing and other needs. Some inmates run restaurants, others sell alcohol and drugs, some conduct ´tours´of the prison (with the police being paid considerable sums to allow this to happen). Funnily enough, it was a very safe place to be and we spent six hours inside the jail. We met a range of ínteresting characters who took us around the different parts of Section Posta, but all advised us not to visit ´general population´ where gringos aren´t looked upon favourably. We had a few drinks at a pub after we got out of San Pedro prison that afternoon and both agreed that spending the day inside a Bolivian jail was the wierdest travel experience we have ever had.

La Paz is also credited with the ´world´s most dangerous road´ and so while we were in the mood for crazy adventures, we signed up to mountain bike the 64km stretch from La Paz (3,600m altitude) to Coroico (1,700m altitude). The scenery was spectacular and the first 32km was all on sealed bitumen, with plenty of wide corners and lots of speed. Not dangerous at all. Then we turned off the main road and onto a narrow dirt path just wide enough for a large car....with no guard rails and drops of over 100m at many of the tight corners. We stopped taking in the views and started concentrating on the road! Our guide was sure to point out all the places where tourists had gone over the edge (and not come back), but in all honesty, the ride was lots of fun and only a little sketchy at times.

Coroico is accurately described in guide books as ´Bolivia´s Eden´ and it was so nice that we decided to relax there for a few days after the bike ride. We splashed out on an expensive hotel room with views over the valley ($35 per night!) and proceeded to do absolutely nothing. It was nice to be able to wear t-shirts and shorts for the first time in weeks and the weather was such a pleasant change from the frosty temps on the altiplano.

So after visiting the world´s highest capital city, playing golf at the world´s highest course, riding the world´s most dangerous road and going inside the world´s most accessible jail, our next move was to jump on a plane and head into the Bolivian wetlands.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/bilinga/1/1216674960/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/bilinga/1/1216674960/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/bilinga/1/1216674960/tpod.html Thu, 24 Jul 2008 20:57:52 -0400 Our Great Big South American Honeymoon Adventure - the Travels and Tales of Mr and Mrs Tarvit

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Copacabana, Bolivia

Seeing we haven´t done too much hiking and we enjoyed our first trip to Machu Picchu so much, we decided to take an alternative four-day trek to the ruins. Known as the Inca Jungle Trail, the trip starts with a mountain bike descent from 3,500m into the jungle at 1,500m, then a two day hike to the town of Aguas Calientes and the fourth day hiking up to the ruins. Unlike our last trip, it was clear from the start that this trek wasn´t going to go well. The bikes were all faulty - one guy crashed after the brakes failed, another lost his seat, Leesh´s gears didn´t work and her chain fell off constantly, while Paul´s chain snapped completely, allowing him to sit on the bike going downhill and push it on the straight sections and uphill. Despite the problems, the ride was still good fun.

The following two days were spent hiking alongside the Urubamba River, where we stopped at some excellent hot springs and walked along disused train tracks between the mountains until we reached Aguas Calientes. On the third afternoon we hiked up a nearby mountain which offered spectacular views of Machu Picchu across the valley. The hike was very steep and involved the use of wooden ladders, one with over 100 rungs, to get up the near vertical sections of the climb. The mosquitos during these two days were oppressive and nobody was unscathed. As we walked, we would have to swat away the constant swarm of mosquitos that surrounded us.

Things started to go wrong again that night. We were told at 10pm that the tour company didn´t get train tickets for our return to Cusco the next day - the train is the only way out of Aguas Calientes- and all the tickets were sold out. The owner of the tour company was contacted and he wasn´t willing to pay for another night´s accomodation, instead asking us to leave Machu Picchu by midday and hike three hours back along the train line, before catching a six hour bus to Cusco. Extended arguments were had and magically there were train tickets for all of us the next day. The tickets were not in our names though, with Paul´s new name being Omah and Leesh´s being Cindy. Somewhat typical of how tourists are looked after around Cusco and the scams Peruvians try to get more tourist dollar.

The food on the trail wasn´t great either and four of us (Leesh and PT included) ended up sick by the time we went to hike up to Machu Picchu at 4am the next morning. Leesh had an especially rough time that day pooing and spewing her way up the mountain but recovered by the evening, whereas PT spent the three following days making friends with the porcelan bowl, before succumbing to a course of antibiotics.

Machu Picchu showed us a very different side for our second visit. The clouds were so thick around Wayna Picchu that the ruins couldn´t be seen until 10am and in some ways, we were grateful that it wasn´t our only visit to the place. Despite this, there was a mystical quality to the misty ruins and it certainly didn´t spoil the experience. It was a shame that we couldn´t hike up Wayna Picchu though as that was one thing we particularly wanted to do on this trek, but the cloud cover was just took thick to justify the one hour uphill slog.

Returning from the trip, we realised that it had been a month since we arrived in Cusco and we really needed to get out of Peru before our visa expired. The next morning we caught the bus to Puno, on the edge of Lake Titicaca. Lake Titicaca is huge and in spots you could be fooled into thinking you have reached the ocean. At 3,800m above sea level, it made for the coldest nights we have experienced in South America. We only spent one day in Puno and went to visit the Uros Islands, a unique community of 40 floating islands made out of reeds. We visited two of the communities and the locals explained how they construct the reed islands and keep them from sinking into the freezing cold waters of Lake Titicaca. In the afternoon we visited some burial ruins but decided that after Machu Picchu, we were ´ruined out´.

A three hour bus trip took us from Puno, Peru to Copacabana, Bolivia. Despite the level of corruption in both countries, thankfully the border crossing was the easiest, quickest and most relaxed of our lives. Copacabana lies on the southern edge of Lake Titicaca and is far more picturesque (and cheaper) than Puno. We took a shonky boat from town to Ilsa Del Sol (Island of the Sun) - the birthplace of the Inca people. Trekking on the mountain ridge from the north of the island to the south, we had a beautiful view over the deep blue lake. We stayed on the south end of the island overnight (freezing), before returning to Copacabana for a day of relaxation and a nice sunset over the lake.

Our early impressions of Bolivia are that the people are friendlier than in Peru and more willing to let tourists just wander around and do their thing. And it´s cheap! We paid $9 per night for a reasonable room with shower and toilet, before both enjoying a fillet mignon and a bottle of Chilean red wine for a grand total of $13. So I guess we could be in Bolivia a while.....
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Boca Manu, Peru

After numerous weeks in the mountains and at altitude, we felt that a trip to warmer climates was overdue. The Manu Biosphere is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and is considered to have the greatest diversity of plant and animal life on the planet. To reach the 'Reserve Zone' where the greatest level of animal life can be witnessed is no easy feat though. A twelve hour bus ride from Cusco took us high into the mountains and then down through cloud forest on muddy and rutted dirt roads. Along the way, we caught a glimpse of a family of woolly monkeys shaking the trees and generally misbehaving beside the road. We also saw the national bird of Peru, which has the unfortunate, but also amusing, name of 'Cock of the Rock'. It is a beautiful bright red bird with a strange head - see the photo.

The second day we arrived to the small jungle town of Atalaya where a longboat (motorised canoe) was waiting for us. The seven hour trip down the Madre de Dios River was relaxing and interesting, with shallow stretches causing the canoe to scrape along the river bed and floating trees threatening to break a hole in the wooden hull. The vegetation started to grow thicker and greener and we saw several caiman (crocodiles) within close proximity of the canoe. The birdlife was plentiful, although it's fair to say that bird-watching isn't going to become one of our greatest passions. By the end of the day we had reached the last outpost of Boca Manu, right on the edge of the Manu Reserve Zone.

The next day as we cruised up the Manu River in the canoe, it was clear that we had entered an area where there are no communities or development. The river was brown and the forest on either side was thick all the way to the river's edge. Another five hours and we were at a small group of cabins built into the jungle floor - this was our home for the next three days and two nights. We were no more than 100 metres from the river but the dense vegetation left the campsite in a permanent state of darkness. With no electricity, going to bed at night was a tranquil experience, listening to nothing but the myriad of sounds coming from the jungle around us. We saw nobody else outside our group of four during those three days. It rained quite frequently and heavily during our stay in the jungle and having an afternoon nap in the cabin with the rain teaming down outside and thunder resonating through the forest has to go into the top ten arvo naps of all time.

We left with an expectation of walking into a real life zoo, but the reality is that animal life in the Amazon jungle doesn't just parade around in front of you and often many hours can be spent sitting beside a river or on a raised platform in the trees staring through binoculars searching for activity. That being said, we were lucky enough to see five different species of monkeys playing in the trees, black caiman and white caiman cruising by the boat or lying on the river banks, turtles, an otter catching and eating a yellow piranha, countless numbers of birds including macaws, toucans, hawks and kingfisher, rodents the size of your average family dog, a tarantula (during a night walk - a bit scary!), centipedes, frogs, water snakes and all sorts of little creatures. The main object of our attention was the search for the jaguar, of which we were told there are 600 living in the 2 million hectares of national park. Much rainfall didn't mix well with the jaguar's habit of getting some sun on a branch beside the river though and during the seven day trip, the jaguar remained elusive. Oh and of course we had no problems finding a billion mosquitos per square metre.

We returned to Boca Manu where the river had risen over a metre from all the rain but the trip upstream to Atalaya the next day was a long one, with the current working against us. Despite the extra water, several times PT had to get in the river to assist the local guys push the canoe through shallow sections that couldn't be negotiated with the outboard. After a final night in a jungle lodge surrounded by monkeys who were ravaging the local banana trees, we made the drive back to civilisation with a sense of just how dense and mystical the Amazon rainforest can be.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/bilinga/1/1215015900/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/bilinga/1/1215015900/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/bilinga/1/1215015900/tpod.html Fri, 04 Jul 2008 11:04:23 -0400 Our Great Big South American Honeymoon Adventure - the Travels and Tales of Mr and Mrs Tarvit

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Machu Picchu, Peru

The last four days have been amazing. The 42km Inca Trail is an incredible trek in its own right, regardless of the final destination. Arriving at the Sun Gate just before sunrise on the fourth morning of the trek and gazing down at Machu Picchu ruins, the majestic backdrop of Wayna Picchu mountain and the Urubamba River far below is the most beautiful scene imaginable.

250 people are allowed to hike the Inca Trail each day, so it would be easy to feel swamped by gringos but luckily we had a small group of four and a guide who liked to vary our schedule, so that we could spend time away from the crowds. The first day of the trek followed the Urubamba River past some small Inca ruins before heading up the valley to our campsite. 10km of fairly level walking helped us to get the legs back in action.

The next morning we woke up at 5am and started the long hike to Dead Womans Pass, 1,200 vertical metres above our campsite at an altitude of 4,200m. A week in Cusco had us well acclimatised and with the aid of coca lollies, we powered up the hill without too much puffing and panting. Who knows, maybe we are getting fitter over here. Before we knew it, there were vistas of the mountain ranges on both sides and our next campsite lay only a few hours hike in the valley below.

Camping at 3,500m the second night was chilly and we woke at 5am again to head to the second pass at 3,800m, passing more Inca ruins along the way. The third day of hiking was the longest (14km) but the most spectacular. From the second pass, there were views over snow-capped mountains covered by cloud and valleys of dense cloud forest. The trail narrowed and followed the contours of several ridges covered in lush green vegetation. We passed through tunnels carved into huge rocks by the Incas hundreds of years ago and after reaching the third pass, where the views were amazing, we began the steep 1,000m descent along the original Inca staircases to our final campsite. We visited a number of small Inca sites during the day, which popped up more frequently the closer we came to Machu Picchu. As we headed down into the forest, the weather became very hot and we all hiked in shorts and t-shirts. At the final campsite, we enjoyed a beer and a hot shower before exploring an impressive Inca ruin nearby called Winna Waynu.

Throughout the trek, the porters are eternal reminders of who really rules the high country. With 25kg each on their backs, they quickly pack up after each meal, race past you with a quick wave and a smile and have your tents set up and a coffee ready when you arrive at the campsite. They get paid around $5 per day and never complain. In fact, they seem to love it. One of our porters holds the record for the annual Inca Trail marathon, run over the same 42km trail that we hike in just over three days. His time of 3 hours and 45 minutes was set when he was 43 years old and he still refuses to run in anything but his old leather sandals. Unbelievable. The food prepared by the chef on the trek was absolutely five star. He even made us a Happy Honeymoon cake for breakfast which was a nice sugar hit before continuing on with our trek.

The final morning of the Inca Trail is a little crazy, with all 250 people rising around 4am and then waiting in a queue at the check point for the gates to open at 5:30am. The trail is narrow and everyone is hiking in the dark, but some people push past in their haste to get to the Sun Gate before sunrise and one lady lay on the side of the trail with a twisted ankle, unable to go any further. We hiked the 6km stretch in 45 minutes, without getting wrapped up in the mayhem.

With the sun still not quite over the mountains, we passed through the ancient Sun Gate and caught our first glimpse of the famous Machu Picchu. Regardless of how many times we had seen pictures of Machu Picchu, nothing could prepare us, or compare, to the magnificant scene before us. The hike from the Sun Gate to the ruins is around 3km and from there you get the ´picture postcard´ view, which was nothing short of incredible. Most of the way down the final stretch of the trail we were pinching ourselves.

The ruins at Machu Picchu are so extensive that after our guide gave a two hour tour, we spent a few more hours exploring the different areas of the lost city. Plus another hour just sitting on one of the terraces and taking in the view. The cliffs drop away for hundreds of metres on three sides of Machu Picchu into the Urubamba River and with forested mountains all around, we couldn´t help but think that the Incas really knew how to pick prime real estate. The craftmanship of the stone walls would be hard to match with today´s modern equipment and the ability to build such a huge site during the reign of the Inca Empire which spanned less than 150 years, is hard to comprehend.

In the afternoon we headed down to the small town of Aguas Calientes and then caught the train back through the Sacred Valley to Cusco. Without a doubt, the Inca Trail and Machu Picchu goes straight into our highlights package!
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